These homemade sausages are also known as mici (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 appetising.
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 (need 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 flavours 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 favourite 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)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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 reheating 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
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 tsp soda bicarbonate * 1/2 US teaspoon as that is larger
- 1 tsp salt * 1/3 US teaspoon
- 2-3 cloves garlic (small cloves) grated and made into a paste
- 1 tsp thyme dry or fresh
- 1 pinch nutmeg (optional)
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder (optional)
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin (optional)
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp 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 a beer so that be carbonate spices seasoning 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.
Allyssa says
Super easy to make and really helpful! Thanks a bunch for sharing this recipe, will surely have this again!
Veronika says
I've never been to Romania or tried any of their food so I was definitely curious and excited to try these. They were delicious! Really flavorful and pretty easy to make.
Luke says
This sausage recipe is delicious. I will be using this over the weekend with the BBQ 🙂
The family will love this 😉
Yvette says
Thanks so much for sharing this mici recipe Ramona.
I always wanted to make mici at home after visiting Romania a few years back. I have tried this and it is the best thing ever. I am sooooo happy I can make mici in my own kitchen now as I was really missing those. Yes, some mustard and the beer are a must indeed! My family is so happy ( hubby in particular) whenever I make your recipe as it comes out perfect and they are healthy too.
I love your presentation too!
Ramona says
Yayy, another success! I am so glad you like my recipe dear Yvette, I hope you will try other recipes too! Have a wonderful BBQ time! I am sure your bbq will never be short of mici now 😉
Colleen says
These are delicious and easy to make. They were a hit and I will definitely make again!
Kristina says
My girls devour these! They are great wrapped in a croissant or hot dog bun, too.
Oscar says
These sausages were amazing. I would have never thought to use beer. My family loved them.
Jeri says
These look so delicious! I have never heard of mici before, and I can't wait to try this recipe! I love the spices you have used, it looks so flavorful!
Marysa says
I do love lots of garlic in my recipes. This looks delicious and I'm sure it is packed with flavor.
Ciprian F says
This mici recipe is a gem. Wow, they were terrific. I was always afraid to make them at home thinking it'd be all a disaster. No Wonder your recipe is top in Google! Thank you for sharing this easy and outta this world delicious mici recipe! Honestly, it's this good! I have shared it with my friends already confidently and I will be making this on regular basis now.
Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer says
Oh I'm am so loving these! I love how easy and delicious they are! These are perfect for a summer cookout! I can't wait to make these for my next gathering! Folks will go crazy over them!
Jacqueline Debono says
These mici remind me a little of cevapcici which I love! Definitely want to make them as soon as bbq season starts. They look so good!
Moop Brown says
From someone who'd never previously heard of mici, I really appreciate all of your tips and detailed instructions throughout this recipe. Definitely something I want to try making!
Cooking with Carbs says
These looks so great. I've never tried mici before, but my family would definitely love this. It's great you found a way to use less fat but still keep the taste. I appreciate all your tips as well!
Jenny says
I had never heard of mici before; they look wonderful and mouthwatering! I have to try them! Thanks so much for the recipe.
Veronika says
I've never tried mici before but it looks so delicious! Going to save the recipe and make it sometime soon 😉