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Blinchiki are delicate Russian crepes filled with a savory ground beef and pork mixture, then double-fried until the edges turn golden and crispy. Served traditionally with cool sour cream, they're a beloved Eastern European comfort dish.
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Place a frying pan over medium heat and, once hot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
When the oil warms up, add the onions and fry until they are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
Add the ground meat, salt, and pepper to the pan and cook until the meat loses its pink color, about 20 minutes. While the meat is cooking, break it up with a wooden spoon into small bits.
After twenty minutes, turn the heat up a little and fry for another 5 minutes until the liquid evaporates, the meat browns, and you get a few crispy bits here and there. Take off the heat.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and set aside.
Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
Add milk and water to the dry ingredients and whisk everything together.
Whisk in eggs, one at a time.
Strain the batter through a mesh sieve to remove any bits of undissolved flour.
Add melted butter to the batter. If you insert a spoon the batter should coat its surface but run down easily.
Place a 24 cm (9.5 inch) pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, grease it with butter.
Lift the pan with one hand and pour the batter into it with another. Use about 1/3 of a ladle of batter to get the thinnest blini. When the batter touches the hot surface start rotating your hand to spread the batter.
Place the pan back on the stove and wait about 1–1.5 minutes until the batter becomes golden brown on the bottom.
Flip the blin with a spatula and fry for another 20–30 seconds until the other side is also golden brown.
Repeat with the rest of the batter. Place blini in a stack on top of each other.
Place one blin on a plate. Add two tablespoons of meat in the center and fold the edges inwards one by one, going clockwise, to end up with a square. Repeat for the rest of the blini.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Place as many blinchiki as fit in the pan, folded side down, so the edges seal once fried.
Fry for about 40 seconds until the bottom is brown and crispy, then flip and fry on the other side until brown and crispy too.
Repeat for the rest of the blinchiki.
Serve immediately with sour cream.
Store cooled blinchiki in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days; reheat in a 160°C oven for 8–10 minutes, or briefly in a skillet over medium heat to restore crispness.
8-inch non-stick or well-seasoned crepe pan or skillet · Deep-fry thermometer (optional but recommended for consistent oil temperature)
Blini are small, thick pancakes often served as appetizers. Blinchiki are thin crepes (like blini dough cooked thinner) that are stuffed with filling and fried.
Yes. Cook crepes, stack them between parchment paper, cool completely, wrap tightly, and refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 1 month. Fill and fry just before serving.
The first fry cooks the filling and seals the crepe; the second fry crisps the edges and exterior to golden brown without overcooking the inside.
Yes, but the beef-pork blend adds depth. If using one meat, increase it to 500 grams and consider adding 1 tablespoon of sour cream to the filling for richness.
Heat oil to 160–170°C (320–340°F). Too hot and the crepe exterior burns before the filling heats; too cool and they absorb excess oil and become greasy.
