Karbanátek – Czech Beef and Pork Burger

Come try the Karbanátek, a delicious Czech-style burger seasoned with garlic and marjoram. It's perfectly flavorful and juicy, and incredibly easy to make.

➜ What is Karbanátek?

Karbanátek is one of the most typical Czech foods.

It is a Czech burger made from a blend of ground beef and pork and then seasoned with salt, garlic, and marjoram. Finely chopped onions are added, and white bread soaked in milk helps to make it more binding.

Then just coat the karbanátek in breadcrumbs and fry it in a pan on both sides until golden brown.

Karbanátek is served as a main dish, usually with boiled or mashed potatoes.

TIP: The Czech word "karbanátek" means one piece of a meaty burger, while two and more pieces are called "karbanátky" (plural).

➜ Pronunciation

If you want to hear the Czech pronunciation of the word Karbanátek, click on the short audio clip I recorded for you.

➜ Ingredients

To make Czech karbanatek, you will need:

• Blend of ground beef and pork; ratio 1:1
• Whole milk; cold
• White bread; 2-3 days old. Czechs use their "rohlíky" or "housky", the most common white bread in the country.
• Onion; finely chopped
• Garlic; pressed or crushed
• Salt
• Marjoram; dried
• Pepper; ground, black
• Breadcrumbs; for coating
• Frying fat; the best option is pork lard; however, some sort of table oil, e.g., sunflower or canola will also work well.

✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.

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Quick instructions:

1. Cut stale white bread into cubes and cover with milk.
2. Place the ground beef and pork in a bowl.
3. Season with salt, pressed garlic, salt, marjoram, and pepper.
4. Add the chopped onion and bread soaked with milk.
5. Stir briefly but thoroughly until it becomes a meat mixture.
6. Form small burgers, and coat them in breadcrumbs.
7. Fry them on both sides in a pan until golden brown.
8. Serve the karbanátek-burger with boiled potatoes.

➜ Detailed instructions with photos

STEP 1: Cut the white bread (a roll or a bun), 2-3 days old, into cubes. Pour cold milk over the bread cubes and submerge them to soak up the liquid.

STEP 2: Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel the garlic and mash or press it.

STEP 3: Put the mixture of ground beef and pork into a bowl and season with salt. Add the marjoram, garlic, pepper, onion, and cubed bread, including the milk in which it was soaked.

STEP 4: Mix all ingredients quickly but thoroughly by hand. The meat blend must remain cold.

STEP 5: Shape the meat mixture into palm-sized burgers, 1/2 inch (1.5-2 cm) high. Coat all sides in breadcrumbs, gently pressing them into the surface of the patties.

STEP 6: Heat the lard or other fat in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Fry the burgers on both sides until golden.

➜ Serving

Serve the karbanátky warm. Boiled or mashed potatoes are suitable as a side dish. You can add a scoop of mustard to the plate.

➜ Useful Tips

• If you shape the burgers higher, their inside may not be cooked thoroughly. In this case, put them in a baking dish and leave them to finish in a preheated oven at 300 °F (150 °C) for about 15 minutes.
• The meat, and subsequently the entire meaty mixture, must be cold all the time when preparing. Use cooled meat from the fridge and cold milk, do not knead the meat blend for a long time. The karbanátek patties will be nicely juicy this way. Otherwise, the fat separates from the lean meat, and the patties will fall apart during baking.
• You can fry the onions ahead; they will be more tender and less crispy.

More ground meat recipes:

• Sekaná – Czech beef and pork meatloaf
• Cevapcici – classic ground meat sausages
• Pork patties – known as Czech "vepřenky" with onions and mustard
• Easy pork meatloaf