Balkan Crispy Potato Cheese Bites with Garlic Yogurt 🥔✨

Description

Balkan Crispy Potato Cheese Bites with Garlic Yogurt are golden little appetizer bites made with mashed potato, white brined cheese, herbs, egg, breadcrumbs, and a cool garlic yogurt dip. They are crisp outside, soft and cheesy inside, and perfect for a Balkan meze table, party platter, family lunch starter, or warm bread board.
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Hook ✨
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Crispy potato bites, salty cheese, fresh herbs, paprika, and cool garlic yogurt make this Balkan appetizer golden, creamy, and made for dipping. 🧄

Ingredients

• Potato cheese bites 🥔
• ‌
• 🥔 650 g potatoes, peeled and diced (4 medium / 1.43 lb)
• 🧀 160 g white brined cheese or feta, crumbled (1 cup / 5.6 oz)
• 🥚 1 large egg (1 egg / about 55 g)
• 🍞 60 g fine breadcrumbs (¾ cup / 2.1 oz)
• 🌿 20 g fresh parsley, finely chopped (½ cup loose / 0.7 oz)
• 🌿 10 g fresh dill, finely chopped (¼ cup loose / 0.35 oz)
• 🧄 2 garlic cloves, finely grated (2 cloves / 0.35 oz)
• 🌶️ 3 g sweet paprika (1 tsp / 0.1 oz)
• 🧂 4 g fine sea salt (¾ tsp / 0.14 oz)
• ⚫ 2 g black pepper (1 tsp / 0.07 oz)
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• Crispy coating ✨
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• 🍞 90 g fine breadcrumbs (1 cup / 3.2 oz)
• 🌽 30 g cornmeal, fine or medium (¼ cup / 1 oz)
• 🌶️ 2 g sweet paprika (¾ tsp / 0.07 oz)
• 🫒 45 ml olive oil or sunflower oil, for brushing (3 tbsp / 1.5 fl oz)
• ‌
• Garlic yogurt dip 🧄
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• 🥛 220 g Greek yogurt or thick plain yogurt (1 cup / 7.8 oz)
• 🧄 1 garlic clove, finely grated (1 clove / 0.17 oz)
• 🍋 15 ml lemon juice (1 tbsp / 0.5 fl oz)
• 🫒 10 ml olive oil (2 tsp / 0.3 fl oz)
• 🌿 10 g fresh dill, finely chopped (¼ cup loose / 0.35 oz)
• 🧂 2 g fine sea salt (⅓ tsp / 0.07 oz)
• ⚫ 1 g black pepper (½ tsp / 0.04 oz)
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• To serve 🍋
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• 🍋 Lemon wedges
• 🌿 Extra parsley
• 🌶️ Small pinch of paprika
• 🥖 Warm flatbread or crusty bread

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Boil the potatoes 🥔
2. ‌
3. Place potatoes in salted water and boil for 16 min, until tender. Drain very well and let them steam-dry for 5 min so the mixture does not become wet.
4. ‌
5. 2️⃣ Mash the base ✨
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7. Mash the potatoes until mostly smooth. Add cheese, egg, breadcrumbs, parsley, dill, garlic, paprika, salt, and black pepper. Mix for 1 min until thick and shapeable.
8. ‌
9. 3️⃣ Chill the mixture ❄️
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11. Cover the bowl and chill for 20 min. This helps the bites hold their shape and gives the breadcrumbs time to absorb extra moisture.
12. ‌
13. 4️⃣ Shape the bites 🧀
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15. Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Shape the mixture into 22 small oval bites, about 35 g each (1.2 oz).
16. ‌
17. 5️⃣ Coat for crunch 🍞
18. ‌
19. Mix breadcrumbs, cornmeal, and paprika in a shallow bowl. Roll each bite in the coating, pressing gently so the outside becomes evenly covered.
20. ‌
21. 6️⃣ Bake golden 🔥
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23. Place the bites on a lined baking tray. Brush with oil. Bake for 18 min, turn carefully, then bake for 7 min more, until golden and crisp on the edges.
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25. 7️⃣ Make the dip 🧄
26. ‌
27. While the bites bake, mix yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, dill, salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Chill for 10 min so the garlic softens into the yogurt.
28. ‌
29. 8️⃣ Serve hot 🍋
30. ‌
31. Serve the crispy potato cheese bites hot with garlic yogurt dip, lemon wedges, parsley, paprika, and warm bread.

Total Time

⏱ Prep: 20 min
🔥 Cook/Bake: 41 min
🛋 Rest: 30 min
⏰ Total: 91 min

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