This Goetta Recipe will change the way you think about breakfast meats. Ground beef and pork are made into a loaf with authentic seasonings, sliced and then cooked on a skillet. This dish was born in Cincinnati from German Immigrants and has been a mainstay in many dishes of that area for decades. With this easy recipe, you can make this delicious dish in your own kitchen. Your family will thank you for this one!
Traditional Cultural Dishes
We love to make Comfort Food here at Bubba Pie. Since we started this website, I’ve searched all around the internet for inspiration to find new Comfort Food dishes. And, while a lot of the dishes that I’ve found have been “traditional southern cooking“, I’ve actually found that many of the most wholesome dishes are recipes that have been passed down not only through many generations, but from other cultures. America, after all, is made up of immigrants. So, just like we all know that Shepherd’s Pie came from England, there are tons of other, lesser known recipes that are full of tradition, culture and flavor.
For instance, there are these Korean Sweet Potatoes, the Shrimp Mei Fun and this Trinidad Macaroni Pie. I had just as much fun learning how to make these recipes as I did learning about the history of them! The same is true with today’s recipe: Goetta
What Is Goetta?
A lot people will label Goetta (pronounced “Getta) as a uniquely German dish. And, that is sort of true. But the more accurate truth is that German Immigrants actually created this in America. Cincinnati to be exact. My father was actually born and raised in Cincinnati, so I know there is a strong German heritage in that city.
Goetta was created by immigrants for much the same reason that Haggis and Scrapple was made by the Scottish and the Dutch. It stretches the livestock to use as much of the animal as possible to feed everyone in hard times. This is often done by pairing the the meat scraps and trimming with a grain or an oat and then cooking with spices.
It is great as a breakfast meat, taking the place of other meats such as sausage, bacon or ham.
How To Make Goetta
In researching this recipe, many of the dishes had a lot in common and most had some differences too. This looks like one of those traditional dishes that has morphed slightly from generation to generation. A lot of the differences are in the spices used to season this dish. And, while I saw a lot of variety, almost every dish had Marjoram in it.
From there, we sort of made our own version of this, although there may be some that say this isn’t “traditional Goetta”. They may be right, but this is an easy, tasty version that we will stand by!
Here is what you’ll need to get started:
- 1 ¼ cup steel cut oats
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 3 to 4 bay leaves
- ½ pound ground beef
- ½ pound ground pork
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon marjoram
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Notes, Tips and Variations
Many people have noted about how frustrating Goetta can be to make. It’s really hard to keep it together in your skillet. Some common mistakes that are made that may be causing this is that you are slicing it too thin before frying it. Make sure you don’t slice it thinner than 1/4 inch. You may want to go even thicker if you’d like.
Also, don’t use oil in this recipe. I know it’s tempting when you “fry” something in a skillet, but it will just make the meat too soggy and break apart. Just use a non-stick skillet and get it nice and hot. Put the Goetta on it gently and let it sit until the first side is nice and browned. Then gently flip it over for the second side.
While we used Ground Beef and Ground Pork in our recipe, I’ve seen people use Ground Chicken and Ground Turkey as well. You could even mix in some Chorizo Sausage in place of some or all of the pork to give this dish a little bit more of a kick!
I hope you enjoy this recipe Traditional German Goetta. Let me know how it turns out in the comments section!
German Goetta Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup steel cut oats
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 3 to 4 bay leaves
- ½ pound ground beef
- ½ pound ground pork
- 1 cup onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon marjoram
- Pinch of red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
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Combine the oats, beef broth, water, salt, and bay leaves in a large stock pot. Cook over medium heat until the liquid begins to boil, then reduce heat to low and cook for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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When all the liquid has been absorbed by the oats, add the beef, pork, onions, garlic, pepper, sage, paprika, marjoram, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine.
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Cover and cook on low for one hour, stirring occasionally.
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When all the liquid has been absorbed, remove the mixture from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
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Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap and press the meat mixture into the pan. Cover and chill overnight.
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When ready to cook, remove the meat from the loaf pan and slice in ¼ inch thick slices.
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Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, add the slices of meat. Cook on one side until golden brown, around 5 minutes, then flip and cook the other side for five to seven minutes, until golden brown.
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