Moldovan-Style Meat Sausages
Original, aromatic, spicy, and incredibly tasty! Moldovan-Style Meat Sausages are small meat sausages that resemble patties, but are still different. They turn out juicier and more tender, are traditionally grilled, and at home can be cooked in a pan.
Updated : 20 July, 2026
Easy
About 30 min.
Ingredients
Ground meat
600 grams
Pork and beef mince
4
Garlic
1.5 tablespoon
Starch
60 milliliters
Milk
0.5 teaspoon
Baking soda
to taste
Ground black pepper
to taste
Salt
Frying
2 tablespoon
Vegetable oil
Baking
1
Onions
2
Laurel leaf
10
Peppercorns
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
How do you make Moldovan-style meat sausages? Prepare the ingredients. The ground meat is usually mixed, pork and beef in a 1:1 ratio. But you can use any kind of meat according to your taste. The ground meat can be store-bought or homemade. It is better to use cornstarch, as it makes the sausages more tender.
Step 2
Place the ground meat in a bowl and add the cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and ground black pepper.
Step 3
Peel and mince the garlic, then add it to the bowl with the ground meat. You can mince the garlic in any convenient way: with a knife, grater, or garlic press. Mix the mixture until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Step 4
Pour the milk into the ground meat and mix well again. You may need 60–100 ml / about 1/4–1/3 cup of milk, depending on the moisture of the ground meat. It is better to add the milk in portions and check the consistency to see whether more is needed.
Step 5
To make the ground meat firm, it needs to be beaten well. To do this, take a lump of ground meat in your hands, lift it above the bowl, and throw it back in. Repeat this about 15 times. This is an important step. Thanks to this beating, the ground meat will fry as firm sausages and will not fall apart. Cover the bowl with the ground meat with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Step 6
Divide the prepared ground meat into equal parts and shape into sausages about 7 cm / 2.8 inches long and 2–3 cm / 0.8–1.2 inches thick. To keep the ground meat from sticking to your hands, moisten them occasionally with cold water.
Step 7
Pour vegetable oil into a pan and heat it over medium heat. Place the meat sausages in the pan and fry them on all sides until golden brown. Remove the pan from the heat. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 356°F.
Step 8
Peel the onion and cut it into half rings. Place the onion in a baking dish, spreading it over the entire surface. Arrange the fried meat sausages on top of the onion.
Step 9
Add the black peppercorns and bay leaf to the dish.
Step 10
Pour water into the dish so that it reaches halfway up the sausages.
Step 11
Place the dish in the oven preheated to 180°C / 356°F and bake for 30 minutes. The time and temperature are approximate, so adjust them according to your appliance. The sausages should be nicely browned on top.
Step 12
Remove them from the oven, arrange them on plates together with the onion, and serve.
Step 13
Enjoy!
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