Polish patties (kotlety)

Name: Polish patties (kotlety)
Prep time: 8 min
Cook time: 16 min
Total time: 24 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: 1 Bread Rolls; 120ml Milk; 1 chopped Onion; 100 ml Vegetable Oil; 500g Ground Beef; 1 Egg; 1 Garlic Clove; Pinch Marjoram; 75g Breadcrumbs

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Side recipe with Polish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 41 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Step-by-step instructions

step 1.
Soak the bread roll in the milk so it softens completely. Meanwhile, fry the onion in the oil for around 8 mins or until soft and golden. Add the fried onion to the beef mince along with the egg, garlic, marjoram and some seasoning. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread roll and add it to the mince mixture. Mix everything together and season well.
step 2.
Divide the meat into 8 patties. Tip the dried breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl and coat the patties in it, all over. Heat some oil in a deep frying pan and fry the patties in batches on both sides until browned and cooked through, about 6-7 mins on each side.

Why this works on a weeknight

Polish patties (kotlety) genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Polish patties (kotlety) actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Side Polish ⚡ 30-Min Dinner