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Round beef meatballs in a skillet of red tomato sauce, sprinkled with chopped green herbs.

Ćufte – Balkan Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

573.44kcal
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Prep 30 minutes
Cook 45 minutes
Chilling Time 30 minutes
Total 1 hour 45 minutes
Round beef meatballs browned in batches, then gently simmered in a mild tomato sauce with sweet paprika and bay. Four meatballs and an equal share of sauce make one serving.
Servings 4 servings
Course Main Course
Cuisine Balkan, Bosnian

Ingredients

Meatballs
  • 21.2 oz ground beef 80/20; keep refrigerated
  • 3.5 oz onion peeled; dice very finely, no larger than about 1/16 inch (2 mm)
  • 1 3/4 tsp garlic peeled and finely grated; US volume approximate
  • 1 egg US extra-large is closest; use Metric edible weight for precision
  • 1.4 oz plain dry breadcrumbs fine-textured; not seasoned crumbs or coarse panko
  • 3 1/3 tbsp ice-cold water for the meat mixture
  • 1 2/3 tsp fine salt for the meatballs; weigh other salt types
  • 1 1/3 tsp sweet paprika for the meatballs; US volume approximate
  • 7/8 tsp ground black pepper for the meatballs; US volume approximate
Tomato Sauce
  • 28.2 oz passata plain strained tomatoes; not prepared pasta sauce
  • 13 1/2 tbsp water for the sauce; US volume rounded
  • 1.06 oz tomato paste concentrated tomato paste, separate from passata
  • 3 1/3 tsp sunflower oil total allowance for browning; weight in Metric
  • 5/6 tsp fine salt for the sauce; choose unsalted or low-sodium tomato products
  • 1 1/3 tsp sweet paprika for the sauce; not hot or smoked
  • 7/16 tsp ground black pepper for the sauce; US volume approximate
  • 1 dried bay leaf remove before serving

Equipment

  • Kitchen scale
  • Knife and board
  • Fine grater
  • Mixing bowl
  • Measuring jug
  • Tray for raw and browned meatballs; keep separate from cooked-food dishes
  • Deep skillet with lid large enough for a single layer; use additional pans for scaled batches
  • Tongs
  • Clean serving plate
  • Food thermometer
Start Cooking

Method

  1. Keep the beef cold. Keep the ground beef refrigerated until mixing. Dice the peeled onion very finely, no larger than about 1/16 inch (2 mm), and finely grate the garlic. Measure the meatball seasonings separately from the sauce seasonings.
  2. Mix the meatballs. Combine the cold beef, onion, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, and meatball salt, paprika, and pepper. Add the ice-cold water in two additions. Mix with clean hands for about 3 minutes, just until evenly distributed and lightly cohesive, without squeezing into a hard paste. Do not taste the raw mixture.
  3. Chill the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes at 40°F (4°C) or below. Wash hands, utensils, and work surfaces after contact with raw beef. Keep the mixture cold while preparing the pan and sauce ingredients.
  4. Shape according to servings. Make four equal meatballs for every serving shown in the card. Weigh the mixture and divide it evenly so the meatballs stay about the same size at every batch setting, roughly 1.9 oz (54 g) each. Round gently with damp hands, pressing only enough to close large cracks. Place on the raw-food tray and refrigerate until browning.
  5. Brown in uncrowded batches. Preheat a deep skillet over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Divide the listed sunflower oil among the browning batches, using a little more for the first round if needed. Brown only as many meatballs as fit with space to turn, for 4–5 minutes per batch, carefully turning to color several sides. Keep waiting meatballs refrigerated. The centers are not cooked through yet. Transfer browned meatballs to the raw-food tray, which must not be used unwashed for the finished dish. Do not add another oil allowance for the sauce.
  6. Build the mild sauce. Reduce the heat to medium. Stir the tomato paste into the pan for about 1 minute. Stir in the sauce paprika for no more than about 10 seconds, then immediately add the passata and sauce water. Add the sauce salt, pepper, and bay. Stir and bring to a gentle simmer, then simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
  7. Simmer the meatballs covered. Return the browned meatballs to the gently simmering sauce, preferably in a single layer. Spoon sauce over them, cover, and simmer gently over low to medium-low heat for about 25 minutes. Turn carefully after about 12 minutes. Avoid a rolling boil, which can break them. Reduce heat if sauce catches; do not add water automatically while enough liquid remains. For larger batches, divide meatballs and sauce among additional comparable pans.
  8. Verify the safe center temperature. Insert a clean food thermometer into the center of several of the largest meatballs, avoiding the pan bottom. Every checked center must reach at least 160°F (71°C), the USDA ground-beef minimum. Do not judge safety by color alone. If needed, cover and cook for another 3–5 minutes, then check again. Wash a probe that touched undercooked meat before rechecking cooked food.
  9. Finish and serve. Remove the bay leaf. If the sauce is still very thin, lift fully cooked meatballs onto a clean plate and simmer the sauce uncovered for 2–3 minutes, then return them. Serve four meatballs per person with an equal share of the prepared sauce. Use clean utensils and dishes that have not touched raw or partly cooked beef.

Nutrition

Calories573.44kcalCarbohydrates30.71gProtein33.09gFat36.29g

Notes

  • Yield is four meatballs per serving: 1x makes 16 for 4 servings, 2x makes 32 for 8, and 3x makes 48 for 12. Keep individual size similar. In a pan that comfortably browns eight at once, those batches require two, four, or six browning rounds respectively; a smaller pan needs more. Total handling and cooking time can increase with extra rounds.
  • Ounces are weights. US volumes for garlic, spices, and oil are rounded; the Metric gram weights preserve the formula. For the sauce water, the tablespoon measure avoids combining two fixed measures in a scaling field. Use a scale for the small spice amounts when precision matters.
  • The egg amount in Metric is edible weight. Beat the egg before weighing if needed; a US extra-large egg is closer to the source's size than assuming every large egg has the same edible weight. The yield calculation divides the whole mixture rather than forcing an exact finished weight.
  • Use only beef for this version, with approximately 20% fat. Keep the recipe's plain dry breadcrumbs, ice water, and 30-minute chill. No pork, wine, animal fat, stock, flour thickener, or unlisted seasoning is added.
  • Passata means plain strained tomatoes; US cans labeled tomato puree vary in concentration. Avoid prepared marinara, tomato sauce with added seasonings, or replacing passata with concentrated paste. Prefer no-added-salt tomato products so the measured seasoning stays closer to the formula; salted brands change total sodium.
  • Refrigerate cooked leftovers in shallow containers within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C). Store at 40°F (4°C) or below and use within 2 days. Reheat meatballs and sauce throughout to 165°F (74°C). Freeze promptly chilled portions with sauce and thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
  • Nutrition is an independent ingredient-based estimate per serving of four meatballs and one equal share of sauce. It uses USDA SR Legacy composition for raw 80/20 beef, onion, garlic, whole egg, plain dry breadcrumbs, tomato paste, sunflower oil, paprika, and pepper; no-added-salt canned tomato puree is a stated composition proxy for passata. All beef fat and browning oil are counted as retained, the egg is calculated at its specified edible weight, and the removed bay leaf is excluded. Tomato concentration, brands, pan residue, and sauce portioning affect actual intake. Bread, rice, potatoes, and the photograph's herb garnish are excluded.