The BEST ever juicy and tender beef rissoles recipe, ready in just 20 minutes! These classic Aussie meat patties are a beloved family favourite for dinners or BBQs.
In This Post You’ll Learn
Why We Love This
Rissoles are the epitome of Aussie comfort food! They’re one our our favourite BBQ recipes for parties and gatherings or as an easy weeknight meal. You can even serve them in burger buns or between slices of simple white bread.
They’re are so easy to make as a quick and convenient meal, and are super satisfying to really fill you up.
This easy rissoles recipe is super adaptable so you can really make them your way. You can also double or even triple the recipe to make up a big batch or freeze for later.
Related: Aussie Potato Bake / Japanese Burgers / Tuna Mornay
Two Secrets to Super Juicy Rissoles
We learned today’s recipe from our friend’s mum Rosa. Her beef rissoles are amazingly popular with friends and family after years and years of BBQ catch ups. They’re the number one thing we’d all ask her to make, because they’re always juicy and tender and guaranteed to quickly disappear off the BBQ.
We’ve included all of Rosa’s tips and tricks in the recipe below, but here some of the standout secrets why her rissoles are the absolute best:
1 – Season the rissoles with French onion soup mix. It’s a quick and easy way to really amp up the flavour.
2 – Use soaked bread slices instead of bread crumbs. This makes them so juicy! No need to worry about dried out rissoles here.
Thanks Rosa!
What are Rissoles?
Rissoles (in Australia) are round, thick meat patties, similar to burgers or salisbury steaks. They’re usually made with beef mince, but can also be made with chicken, pork or turkey mince.
Aussie rissoles are quite different to other types of rissoles elsewhere in the world. In fact, the name can be used for all kinds of creations, from pastry coated fruits to mince meat encased in breadcrumbs!
As kids we grew up with rissoles being a frequent weeknight meal. They’re as popular as sausages, chops or steak at an Aussie BBQ, and are very economical to make.
What You’ll Need
- Minced Meat – Avoid lean mince and go for mince that includes some fat – this is the key to juicy rissoles! Beef is the most common protein, swap for chicken, turkey or pork mince if you prefer. You can even try them with ⅔ beef mince and ⅓ pork mince for lighter patties.
- Bread – Regular white bread is fine. Like chester squares, this is a great way to use up leftover or stale bread slices! Soaking the bread first helps the rissoles stay juicy and hold their shape. Just make sure to squeeze out the excess liquid before mixing into the mince. Sub with 1-2 tbsp breadcrumbs if you really need to.
- Egg – This helps bind the rissole ingredients together.
- French Onion Soup Mix – The blend of herbs and spices in French onion soup mix really adds to the savoury flavour in homemade rissoles and is a quick and easy way to season the patties. You can use the whole packet in this recipe. If you can’t source it, sub with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, Italian herbs and spices such as oregano or thyme, garlic salt or celery salt (just don’t sub 1:1 for the soup mix).
How to Add Hidden Veggies to Homemade Rissoles
Adding veggies is a great way to add extra nutrition to your rissoles. Grated carrot, finely chopped onion and/or garlic, and grated zucchini (squeezed and well drained) are popular options. You could also try them with broccoli or cauliflower (blitzed or pureed in a blender). Pick your favourites or add them all!
Whichever veggies you choose, make sure to grate, chop or blend as finely as possible, then squeeze out any excess liquid to stop your rissoles ending up a soggy mess.
How to Make Rissoles at Home
To Make The Rissole Patties
- Soak white bread pieces in water to soften in a large mixing bowl. Then squeeze out and drain as much liquid as possible.
- Sprinkle over French onion soup mix and add the egg and beef mince over soaked bread and use your hands to mix well until ingredients are well combined. Optional: Add grated carrot and onion and mix through.
- Form mince rissoles – any size you like. You can do them as small as meatballs or as big thick patties depending on your preference. A good medium size is around 100 g / 3.5 oz per rissole.
- You can store uncooked patties at this stage between layers of baking paper in an airtight container for 1-2 days in the the fridge or 1-2 months in the freezer.
To Cook
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan, skillet or BBQ. Add the rissoles and cook for 3-5 minutes each side until cooked through. Optional: Flatten them out a little with a spatula and tip them on their sides for a minute to seal if you like.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Patties – Mix the ingredients really well by hand for a nice, smooth texture. This will also ensure the seasonings and bread are evenly mixed through the mince. You can form them up into large patties to serve as a main meal, or as small mini rissoles.
- Cooking – Rissoles are amazing on a BBQ or cooked over charcoal, but are perfectly fine when cooked on the stove in a frying pan. You may like to experiment with steaming them while cooking to get them even more juicy, similar to our Japanese hamburger steaks!
FAQs
You may not have drained enough water out of the bread. OR if you added vegetables, they may not have been small enough or may have added too much moisture to the mix. Make sure to finely grate them instead of chopping, and squeeze out any excess liquid. This will help the rissoles hold their shape better next time.
If your rissoles are dry instead of juicy after cooking, it could be that your ground meat was too lean. You need some fat content in the mince for nice and juicy rissoles.
If they’re dry on the inside and too crunchy, over browned or firm on the outside, you’ve probably overcooked them. Ty cooking them for a few minutes less next time. If you’re concerned that they haven’t cooked all the way through, you can take them off the heat and wrap in aluminium foil to rest before serving. The residual heat will finish them off without risk of overcooking (and as a bonus, they’ll be extra juicy too!).
Rissoles go with just about anything! For dinner, serve them up alongside mashed potatoes and steamed veggies or greens. And don’t forget the tomato sauce / ketchup on top!
As part of a BBQ, they’re perfect alongside cauliflower cheese, potato bake or potato salad, shopska salad or wafu salad. Leftover rissoles could even be chopped up and added to a batch of campfire stew or zucchini slice instead of the bacon.
Serve them as a main, as an Aussie burger with the lot, over potato mash or drizzled with stroganoff sauce, curry sauce or gravy (regular, mushroom, diane etc).
You sure can. Depending on the thickness of your rissoles, you can start with 10-12 mins at 200˚C / 400°F, flipping halfway through. Slice one in half to check the colour – if they’re still pink in the middle, continue air frying for a few more minutes until cooked through.
Variations
- Add Flavour – Add Worcestershire sauce, baharat spice blend or curry powder to the rissoles mixture before forming into patties.
- Make Them Spicy – Serve with homemade gochujang sauce or bibimbap sauce on the side.
- Extra Nutrition – Add a small tin of mashed beans into the mix. The starch will even help bind the patties.
- Add a Coating – Roll them in flour or breadcrumbs (regular or Japanese panko breadcrumbs for extra crunch). Or wrap them in pastry for a more European style rissole parcel.
- Shapes & Sizes – Serve as burgers with lettuce, cheese and tomato, or form them up into sausage shapes similar to cevapi. Mini rissoles are also perfect in creamy sausage pasta or on rice bowls.
Try these amazing recipes next:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef mince 2 lb
- 4 slices white bread torn into pieces
- ½ cup water
- 1 egg
- 40 g French onion soup mix 1 packet, sub 2 tsp chicken stock powder
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil for cooking
Optional Veggies:
- 1 carrot grated
- 1 onion finely chopped or grated
Instructions
To Make The Rissole Patties
- Soak white bread pieces in water to soften in a large mixing bowl. Then squeeze out and drain as much liquid as possible.4 slices white bread, ½ cup water
- Sprinkle over French onion soup mix and add the egg and beef mince over soaked bread and use your hands to mix well until ingredients are well combined. Optional: Add grated carrot and onion and mix through.1 kg beef mince, 1 egg, 40 g French onion soup mix, 1 carrot, 1 onion
- Form mince rissoles – any size you like. You can do them as small as meatballs or as big as burger patties depending on your preference. A good medium size is around 100 g / 3.5 oz per rissole.
- You can store uncooked patties at this stage between layers of baking paper in an airtight container for 1-2 days in the the fridge or 1-2 months in the freezer.
To Cook
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan, skillet or BBQ. Add the rissoles and cook for 3-5 minutes each side until cooked through. Optional: Flatten them out a little with a spatula and tip them on their sides for a minute to seal if you like.1 tbsp vegetable oil
Video
Recipe Notes
- Patties – Mix the ingredients really well by hand for a nice, smooth texture. This will also ensure the seasonings and bread are evenly mixed through the mince.
- Cooking – Rissoles are amazing on a BBQ or cooked over charcoal, but are perfectly fine when cooked on the stove in a frying pan.
- Add Flavour – Add worcestershire sauce to the rissoles mixture before forming into patties.
- Extra Nutrition – Add a small tin of mashed beans into the mix.
- Add a Coating – Roll them in flour or breadcrumbs (regular or Japanese panko breadcrumbs for extra crunch). Or wrap them in pastry for a more European style rissole parcel.
- Shapes & Sizes – Serve as burgers with lettuce, cheese and tomato, or form them up into sausage shapes similar to cevapi. Mini rissoles are perfect on rice bowls.
Nutrition
2 Comments
Margaret
26/09/2023 at 5:07 pmVery juicy and full of flavour
Wandercooks
28/09/2023 at 6:38 pmThanks for the feedback Margaret! So glad you enjoyed and that’s just how a rissole should be! Now you’re making us want them again!