Fried breaded cheese with mashed potatoes and tartare sauce

Name: Fried breaded cheese with mashed potatoes and tartare sauce
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Hungarian
Ingredients: 4 slices of Trappist cheese (about 1.5 cm thick); 2 eggs; 150 g flour; 150 g breadcrumbs; oil for frying; for the mash: 1 kg potatoes, 200 ml milk, 50 g butter, salt; for the tartare sauce: 200 ml mayonnaise, 1 tbsp finely chopped gherkin, 1 tsp mustard, pinch of sugar

Time: 50 min4 servingsapprox. 1130 kcal / serving (estimated)approx. 36 g protein / serving

Breaded fried cheese is an eternal favourite of Hungarian school canteens and restaurants, and for many the first vegetarian dish they ever came to love. The outside is crisp, the inside molten and stretchy, and the tang of tartare sauce balances the richness of the fried cheese. The main danger is the cheese leaking out, so a double coating and chilling matter most.

Fried breaded cheese with mashed potatoes and tartare sauce (illustration)

Open in Receptnaptár — serving calculator, cook mode, save

📱 Keep the screen awake while cooking

Ingredients

4 slices of Trappist cheese (about 1.5 cm thick)
2 eggs
150 g flour
150 g breadcrumbs
oil for frying
for the mash: 1 kg potatoes, 200 ml milk, 50 g butter, salt
for the tartare sauce: 200 ml mayonnaise, 1 tbsp finely chopped gherkin, 1 tsp mustard, pinch of sugar

Method

Tap a step once you've finished it.

Peel and cube the potatoes, put them on to cook in salted water and cook over medium heat for 15-18 minutes until easily pierced with a fork.
Meanwhile, for the tartare sauce, mix the mayonnaise with the chopped gherkin, the mustard and a pinch of sugar, then chill until serving.
Coat the cheese slices twice using three bowls of flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs: flour, egg, breadcrumbs, then egg and breadcrumbs once more, so the cheese doesn't leak out while frying.
Put the coated cheese slices in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to firm up - this helps them hold together when frying.
Heat about 2 cm of oil in a frying pan over high heat until a crumb dropped in sizzles vigorously at once.
Carefully slide the cold cheese slices into the hot oil and fry for 1-1.5 minutes per side until the coating is golden and crisp - don't fry for long, or the cheese may leak out.
Lift onto kitchen paper and rest for a few minutes before serving.
Drain the cooked potatoes, mash them while hot, then beat until smooth with the boiled milk and the butter and season with salt.
Serve the fried cheese at once with the mashed potatoes and a good dollop of tartare sauce, while the cheese is still melting inside.

A Receptnaptár original recipe. Calories and protein are estimated.

Tips

Do not skip the freezing: in those 15-20 minutes the coating sets onto the cheese, so it does not leak out during frying.
The oil must be hot enough, because in cooler oil the coating soaks up fat and the cheese melts out sooner.
Fry the cheese for only 1-1.5 minutes on each side. Serve it immediately, because the inside hardens as it cools.

Frequently asked questions

Which cheese works best?

Trappist cheese is the classic, but Edam and Gouda are also good. You can make it with Camembert too, which is creamier, so it needs more careful handling.

Can I cook it in the oven or an air fryer?

Yes, sprayed with oil it is ready in 8-10 minutes at 200 °C, but the cheese leaks out more easily, so chilling matters even more here.

Similar recipes

Oven-baked tempura fish with coriander aioli · Japanese
Bhatura (Indian leavened fried bread) · Indian
Breaded potato croquettes · Hungarian
Fried breaded cheese (rántott sajt) · Hungarian
Kotlet schabowy (Polish breaded pork cutlet) · Polish
Kystyby (Tatar flatbreads with potato filling) · Russian

More hungarian ideas

How to use it · Privacy (in Hungarian) · Legal notice (in Hungarian) · Editorial principles (in Hungarian) · Cookie settings

Language: Magyar · Español · Deutsch