These homemade sausages also known as mici (which will translate as “small” or 'little' and pronounced “Meech”) are a Romanian BBQ staple. There is no bbq without these tasty little ones. Mici or mititei is street food in Romania and they are loved by everyone that likes meat. Love at first taste and sight too as they do look appetizing.
Generally, people purchase them ready from local butchers raw and grill them at home. Mici is now available to buy here in the UK, but why buy them ( mainly frozen) when they are so easy to make at home? So, please give them a try and let me know how they came out for you.
If you are a Romanian and have visited Romania, you know what I am saying. If you are not, never visited Romania, or never met a Romanian, then, you must try these delicious little ones aka mici (mititei) immediately.
What is mici or mititei?
They are small homemade sausages with no casing and they’re so different in many ways, they're super, super nice!
Ideal for a picnic or BBQ especially to grill them and eat them freshly on the spot there and then. They can be pan-fried or baked but.... they will not be the same.
The best mici are the homemade ones obviously as they’re the real stuff. You know what’s in them and that is an absolute must as far as I believe. No need to add anything nasty for those to be the ‘real stuff’. Many people buy them ready-made because they think they’re too fancy to prepare. They are not. Not at all!!
Keep the recipe simple and you’ll see how beautiful they’ll turn out.
Traditionally the recipe calls for quite a bit of fat but I have made them with super lean (just 5% fat) pork mince and 5% fat content beef mince. The result?! Simply gorgeous, super juicy, and absolutely delicious mici. A lot healthier too!
But there is not to say that are no secrets to making those little ones, there are!
The secret to making and preparing mici….
The fat content, as believed by many, isn’t the actual secret to getting nice juicy mici, not at all.
The very secret to good mici or homemade sausages are a couple of things :
- The moisture level - need to add liquids to the mixture (see ingredients)
- Soda bicarbonate and the beer (the star ingredients)
- Fire (needs to be cooked on fairly rapid-fire) and this is the key to success.
More Important Tips
- Fresh minced meat/ground meat is important to get the best-tasting mici;
- Mici need and must be cooked on fairly rapid fire and this is to keep them juicy and tender.
- Serve immediately as they come off the BBQ;
- For the best results, taste, and flavors wise, the mixture needs to rest for a couple of hours in the fridge. No need to rest for more than a couple of hours but if no choice, make the mixture the night before.
Serving Suggestions
- traditionally, mici must be served on their own with your favorite mustard and a cold, cold super good pint of beer. Once you have all these in place you’re good to go.
- they can be served with chips, bread or buns, or a salad of your choice too (I know I will be told off by a Romanian for saying this lol).
FAQs
Can I freeze mici?
Yes, you may. If you think you made too much mici mixture and might not use it all, freeze it. Place it in a freezer bag and you may keep it frozen for up to two months. You may freeze it as a chunk or as readily formed mici. If you decide to form the mititei and then freeze them, you may do so but place them next to one another in an airtight container on layers separated by parchment paper. Remove it from the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge overnight to thaw it out.
How long can I keep mici?
They are best when consumed fresh, however, they can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. They will need to be reheated in a pan before serving.
Here’s the recipe folks, and I’ve had quite a few requests for this recipe (sorry for the wait) but here it is now, so let’s start rolling these yummy meaty open amazing little case-free sausages.
Before getting these done, here are some more nice BBQ side dishes that you may like to make in addition to enjoying a real feast.
More recipes you might like
- Cabbage And Carrot Salad
- Courgette Salad
- Homemade Burger Buns
- Korean Corn Dog Recipe
- Delicious Egg Chicken Roll Recipe
Did you make this mici recipe? Leave a comment and even rate the recipe to tell us what you thought and how it came out for you!
Homemade mici - romanian garlicky meat open sausages
Equipment
- glass bowl
- spatula
- tongs
- tray
- mug
Ingredients
- 500 g ground beef (17.7 oz or 2.2 cups) I used 5% fat content
- 500 g ground pork (17.7 oz or 2.2 cups) I used 5% fat content ( you can use more fat content)
- 180 ml beef stock (6.09 floz) ideally homemade * see recipe notes
- 50 ml beer ( 1.69 floz)
- 1 teaspoon soda bicarbonate * ½ US teaspoon as that is larger
- 1 teaspoon salt * ⅓ US teaspoon
- 2-3 cloves garlic (small cloves) grated and made into a paste
- 1 teaspoon thyme dry or fresh
- 1 pinch nutmeg (optional)
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper or chilli flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Place the meat into a bowl, you can give it another whizz into the food processor for a double grinding but don’t worry if you don’t fancy doing this. There is another solution - extra mixing/kneading.
- In a larger mug, I mix the beef stock with beer, soda bicarbonate, spices, salt pepper and give it a good stir until the salt has dissolved entirely.
- Add this liquid mixture to the meat and mix really well until the mixture becomes almost a paste. And this is your double grinding technique
- You can now work with a dash of oil or water to form the sausages into their shapes. A little touch of oil takes you a long way so just grease your palms with a tiny dash of oil or, use a bit of water. I always use oil. It helps with preventing them from sticking. Place all on a plate or a little tray, something that can easily be placed in the fridge.
- Transfer the open sausages to the fridge to rest for 2 to 4 hours but you can leave them overnight too, it’s absolutely okay.
- Place them onto a hot, hot grill or in a hot pan and cook them on each side ( x 2) for no longer than 4 min.
- Mici must be served with mustard and a super cold glass of beer. HEA VEN!
Notes
- To make the beef or lamb stock at home I always choose oxtail or lamb neck and boil these for a good few hours. They can be made separate or mixed it really does not matter.
- If you don’t eat pork replaced this with lamb but if you do, feel free to mix all three types of meat to a ratio of 2:1:1 meaning 2 parts of beef, 1 part pork and 1 lamb. It’s a sensational one.
- Needless to say that I always add chilli flakes to spice things up a little or serve them with nice 'n spicy mustard.
- Resting time it’s an important step as they will soak in all the spices and all flavours will blend in nicely.
- Mixing the meat is crucial - this needs mixing by hand until resembles a paste
- Mici can be grilled, ideally on the charcoal grill but a gas or electric grill would do the job too. They can be even fried in a pan or baked in the oven.
- These need to be grilled on quick-fire. High temperature is another secret to PERFECT MICI and turned a couple of times - this is for the best-looking mici (see picture below) but also for delivering some really nice mouthwatering and very juicy mici 'little ones' 😉
- To check whether Mici or the little ones are cooked to perfection while on the grill tap them harder with a fork or the tongs and if they are bouncy, they are ready.
Daniel Negoita says
Sound good Ramona,dar ai uitat de carnea de miel tocata. Altfel e bine.
Kate says
Thee mici were beyond good - i have tried other recipes but none were near as good as those. First time I ate them in Romania last year and i had to try and make them at home - WOW!! Thanks Ramona's Cuisine for those little wonders that taste out of this world!!!
Ramona says
Thank you so much dear Kate - I know exactly what you are saying - I make them often so I have twicked the recipe until it reached perfection (in my opinion and anyone has had them). thanks a million for stopping by and taking time to leave a feedback.
Bella says
I have a question: when it comes to the tsp measurements, on some items you say to reduce the amount as US tsps are bigger, however, on other items you don’t specify. Should I reduce the amount of thyme, pepper, coriander etc or is it ok to use US tsps measurements? Thank you.
Ramona says
Hi Bella, thank you very much for stopping by.
The spices and herbs measurements are arbitrary Use any quantity you feel comfortable with.
When it comes to the soda bicarbonate, this is Slightly different If you go heavy-handed on it, it will have an impact on the outcome and will alter the taste of those wonderful mici. I really hope this answers your question. Good luck with making those and please do let me know how you liked them. Many thanks once again. Have a wonderful weekend!
Ramona xo
David says
I don't think that teaspoons are significantly different in US and UK. 5ml in UK and 4.929 ml in US. Maybe she was thinking of dessert spoon, which is around 10ml?
Ramona says
Hi David,
Thanks for this, I have not yet made it to the US but someone suggested that there is quite a difference. From what you are saying the difference is minimal but I thought I mention just in case. Also, how full is the teaspoon will also make a difference.
Zachariah says
A M A Z I N G!!! Succulent, bouncy exactly how they should be.
Tabitha says
Dear Ramona, your recipe is certainly a keeper! My Romanian husband absolutely loved this recipe:-)
His Father used to cook Mici for himself, but I think that he used to use garlic, paprika salt and pepper, with bicarbonate of soda for his recipe…
Coming from the UK, and now living in Germany, I used 2 UK Oxo stock cubes, a couple of teaspoons of Marmite and a little bit of UK Worcestershire sauce for the stock, and added both Cayenne pepper AND Birds Eye pepper, which it made it more spicy, as my husband loves spicy food, which our dog also loved 🙂
Again, thank you SO MUCH for sharing this recipe online 🙂
All the best to you from Germany! 🙂
Ramona says
Hey Tabitha, thank you so much for your lovely and very kind comment and feedback. Adding marmite it’s such a unique idea and I might have to try that. I’m living in the UK so I have that very handy. I’m so happy you guys loved my recipe, I truly am and I hope you will try some other recipes of mine too. Have a wonderful weekend and a great Easter if you guys celebrate it. Love and the best wishes from London coming right back at you ❤️🙏🏼❤️
John Turnea says
Home girl is sleeping on Romanian condiment #1 Mujdei.
Mici and Mujdei is like French fries and ketchup.
Ramona says
Hey John! Thanks for stopping by! I am not sure I get your comment? Please clarify 😉 but I do love mici with mustard and not mujdei I will have to confess that bit 😉 and that’s purely because they already contain quite a bit of garlic. I find it overpowering but I might of misunderstood your comment 😀🙌🏼
Andrei says
The text in step 2 of the recipe seems to be corrupted.
Ramona says
Thank you Andrei, I am not sure what happened there but I have rectified it and it makes more sense now.
I hope you will give my recipe a try and come back to rate it. 😉
Thank you again for taking time to comment and bring the error to my attention.
Tabitha Collins says
I made your recipe this evening for my husband, who originally came from Romania… who sooo loved your recipe! This certainly is a keeper! Again, thank you so much for posting this recipe 🙂
Ramona says
Thank you so much dear Tabitha, I am so happy you guys enjoyed my mici recipe!! And thanks for taking the time to give me feedback.
Donna says
I made Mici just yesterday, but used another recipe. It was very close to this one but used 2 teaspoons of baking soda (as we call it in the US). The taste was fabulous but the texture was spongy. I'm convinced that baking soda was the culprit as this recipe calls for a quarter of the amount I used. Next time, I'm using this recipe. Thanks.
Ramona says
Hi Donna,
Thank you so much for stopping by.
I do think 2 US tbsp it's quite a lot of soda bicarbonate but it depends on the meat quantity. The texture should be fluffy as that is a mici characteristic. Please use my recipe next time and see how it goes, but, I am 100% sure you will love it ;-). It would be absolutely lovely to hear back from you to know how it went xoxo
Susan says
These were simply FANTASTIC!!! My husband's boss is Romanian and they have made this for him several times because it is is favorite. They even go to the Romanian restaurant here in Las Vegas. He told me that these (my first time ever making them) were the BEST he ever had and he told me he really meant it. THANK YOU!
Ramona says
Awww, thank you so much for your lovely feedback and comment dear Susan.
I’m so happy you liked them and with a comment like that coming from a Romanian for my mici recipe I can only feel chuffed 🤗.
How funny though, I’m actually just making mici now they are on fire as I type this message to you.
I do hope you guys were not short of beer and mustard. Noroc 🍻
Chana says
I truly liked your mici recipe .Really what I was looking for and so so authentic to the real street ones I have had in Romania if not better now that are made at home with all natural ingredients. Brilliant recipe - it is saved and the only one I would follow going forward. Excellent and thanks for sharing. I will try your Spanish omelet too - that's next on my list. It looks amazing!! Thanks for all these wonderful recipes you share here Ramona. 😉
Ramona says
Thanks so much dear Chana, I am thrilled you liked my mici recipe - they are truly wonderful, and although they are a BBQ season dish I must admit I make them all throughout the year sometimes pan-cooked or in a griddle pan. I am looking forward to your feedback on the Spanish omelet too. Enjoy!!
Jonathan says
After living in Romania for a couple years I came home and tweaked "Mici" a bit. I pretty much follow your recipe but I also add some well chopped fresh herbs, such chives and italian parsley, in addition to thyme. I also mince the garlic so it mixes in better (and try to use elephant garlic). I serve them with grilled flatbread and creamy cole slaw. Even my Romanian wife thinks they are great that way (though she says it is not really mici without mustard)
Ramona says
I totally agree with you Jonathan, mici are so great and versatile and can be tweaked endlessly to everyone's liking - you are great for tweaking the recipe - I do too, and have it however I fancy at that particular time. Your version must be absolutely amazing so keep up the good work!! If you want them authentic, yes, mici with mustard is the way but who can ever say we cannot tweak the recipe? I am all up for it. Noroc! 😉
Thank you so much for stopping by and for your lovely comment.
Gemma says
Hey just wanted to give you a verdict on this recipe. It is the best recipe for these little Romanian beauties, oh yes, Definitely the best recipe for Romanian mici I have ever made. A M A Z I N G!! I have saved it and I will frame it - thanks Ramona, I am forever grateful!!
Ramona says
Aww, Gemma , you have made my day! Absolutely wonderful! I am super grateful for your feedback and I am soooo happy that you liked my mici recipe. I hope you will give other recipes a try and give me a verdict on. I am looking forward to that!
Gina says
Good recipe. Close to real thing but IMO you’re way off on garlic 2-3 small cloves? I’d say more like the whole head.
Ramona says
Hi Gina and thanks for your feedback, it is greatly appreciated.
I am very glad you liked my mici recipe. They are truly delicious, aren't they?. The only reason this recipe it's not quite the real thing but close to it, it's because I do not add the fat amounts an original recipe calls for. There are two reasons for this:
- the fat amount
- the spices added
I don't feel there is a need for more than 5-10% fat but this is entirely my opinion and my liking as I do like to cut on my unhealthy habits.
I do agree with you on the garlic, you can go as garlicky as you wish and this is a personal choice. This recipe can definitely cater for anything between 3-4 cloves to a whole garlic head. Absolutely! This is entirely left to everyone's taste and preference.
Thanks again! xx or xo 😉
Bobby says
A buddy of mine recommended your blog on Facebook. I can see why. Great posts here.
Ann says
These look delicious! I have never made these before, but I am excited to give these a try! Thanks for the share!