What’s inside: Kroket

A kroket (or kroketten if you are eating 2 or more) is a popular and typical Dutch fast-food dish.

A traditional kroket is made from a meat ragout covered in breadcrumbs and then deep fried. The kroket became popular after World War II, when several suppliers started mass-producing the fast food snack. It was a cheap dish with its contents of dubious quality meat filling.

Research carried out by Motivaction in 2008 showed that 350 million kroketten are eaten every year in the Netherlands.

What’s inside

The content of a kroket very much depends on the sort you pick. The most typical kroket is a Rundvleeskroket and it is filled with a beef based meat ragout. Also popular are Kalsvleeskroketten which are filled with a veal based meat ragout.

But it doesn’t stop there, the Dutch have come up with a whole collection of different fillings for kroketten, including:

Kipsaté kroket – filled with a peanut satay sauce and shredded chicken ragout
Goulash kroket – filled with a ragout of beef, peppers and spices
Draadjesvlees kroket – similar to a rundvleeskroket but with a different spice mix
Bami kroket – filled with bami (Asian noodles with spices)
Kaaskroket – filled with cheese
Groentekroket – filled with a mix of vegtables

You can also get a broodje kroket, which is a kroket served in a bread roll.

A smaller round version of the kroket is also popular in the Netherlands, often served with mustard as a bar snack or during borrels, they are called bitterballen.

Where to buy

You can buy frozen kroketten from most supermarkets. They can be prepared at home in a deep-fat fryer, and some brands can also be cooked using an oven or a grill, air fryer or frying pan.

If you don’t fancy cooking yourself, then head to your local snackbar and order up a few with a side of patat, or stop by one of the famous Dutch snack wall vending machines.

The Kroket is so popular in the Netherlands that even McDonald’s sells their own version, the McKroket.

What’s inside: Kroket

What’s inside

Where to buy

Also in the series – Dutch snack bar top 10 dishes:

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