Cevapcici or cevapi are delicious grilled Croatian sausages with lots of garlic and paprika.
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Cevapi/Cevapcici/Croatian Sausages
This cevapcici recipe is probably the best homemade sausage recipe I know. It's easy to make, incredibly hearty, and flavorful, and it's a success with anyone who has ever tasted it.
You definitely have to try them this summer. They are really summer food for me; I always associate grilled sausages with hot Romanian summers, cold drinks, and garlic sour cream sauce.
The Croatian cevapi or cevapcici are also very similar to the Romanian “mici” or “mititei”, which are THE BEST grilled sausages if you ask me. 🙂 But I might be biased here... 🙂
What are cevapcici or cevapi?
Cevapi or cevapcici are grilled sausages made of ground beef and pork, seasoned with garlic and paprika. Originally, these sausages were made with ground lamb, but nowadays, beef or pork are more common.
They are very common not only in Croatia but pretty much in all the other former Yugoslavian countries. Also common in countries around former Yugoslavia, like Romania - mici, Bulgaria – kebaptscheta, or Albania – kebape.
This cevapcici recipe is very similar to Turkish meat rolls or beef kofta. They originated in the Balkan area during the rule of the Ottoman empire, who had a century-long influence all through these Balkan and South European countries.
Here are another few Ottoman-inspired recipes that you will probably find variations of in the Balkan area and throughout the South European region: Savory Cheese Pie with Quark, Zacusca, Sarmale, or Turkish Sarma.
Recipe ingredients
Spices: Spice the sausage thoroughly with sweet paprika, hot paprika, sweet smoked paprika, Vegeta, salt, and pepper (the Amazon affiliate links open in new tabs).
Vegeta: Another “spice” I use when making the cevapi is Vegeta. (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab). Vegeta is a Croatian all-purpose seasoning used to flavor almost any meal. It can be added to soups, sauces, stews, and rice dishes, sprinkled on meat, salads, bread spreads, and so on.
- If you cannot find or don't want to buy it to make just this particular recipe, you could easily replace it with vegetable stock powder.
Onions: Make sure you chop the onions as finely as possible. There are quite a few of them in the sausages, and it is not nice if the pieces are roughly cut.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make cevapcici?
- Step #1: Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
- Step #2: Take about ¼ cup (50-55 g) of the meat mixture and form the cevapi into rolls about the thickness of your thumb and 3-4 inches (7-10 cm) long. I made 18 sausages with this recipe, but you can easily double it.
- Step #3: Grill the cevapi on a hot grill pan or barbecue for 12-14 minutes, turning several times until browned and cooked through. Check doneness by cutting one in the middle. Grill the next batches.
Good to know!
The cevapcici recipe is simple, with just one thing that makes it very different from other kinds of homemade sausage. The sausages are made with baking soda, which helps tenderize the ground meat, making the cevapi less dense, lighter, and softer. So good! You should definitely not leave the baking soda out. You could make the cevapi without it, but you will definitely miss something.
Store and reheat
Refrigerate in an airtight container for 2-3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
The cevapcici can be reheated in the oven at 350°F/ 180°C for about 10 minutes or until heated through. Check one; if it is not hot enough, give the sausages a few more minutes.
How to serve?
Well, there are lots of possibilities. One possibility would be to serve them with Djuvec rice. You could also serve the cevapi or cevapcici with ajvar, chopped onions, sour cream, feta, and flatbread.
In Romania, we would serve our version of cevapcici – mici with mustard or garlic sauce made with only grated garlic, salt, water, and white bread.
And you should definitely make a Shopska Salad on the side. This is the way we had them most of the time when on holiday in Croatia: Cevapi with rice, raw onions, and ajvar on a large plate and shopska or white cabbage salad on the side! Delicious!
Cevapi or Cevapcici Recipe – Croatian Sausages
Ingredients
- 1 lbs ground beef 450 g
- 9 oz ground pork 270 g
- 1 larger onion about 150 g/ 5.5 oz
- 4 large garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
- ½ tablespoon hot paprika
- ½ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda Note 1
- 2 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs
- 2-3 tablespoons water
- ¾ tablespoon vegeta or another vegetable stock powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine: Place the ground meat in a bowl. Chop the onion very finely and grate the garlic cloves. Add to the bowl. Add the chopped parsley, all sorts of paprika, baking soda, dried breadcrumbs, water, Vegeta, salt, and pepper. Mix well with the hand mixer fitted with the dough hooks.1 lbs ground beef/ 450 g + 9 oz ground pork/ 270 g + 1 larger onion + 4 large garlic cloves + 3 tablespoons chopped parsley + 1 tablespoon sweet paprika + ½ tablespoon hot paprika + ½ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika + ¾ teaspoon baking soda + 2 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs + 2-3 tablespoons water + ¾ tablespoon vegeta or another vegetable stock powder + 1 teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Refrigerate: Cover the bowl with cling film/ plastic foil and leave to rest for 1 or 2 hours in the refrigerator.
- Shape sausages: Take portions of the meat mixture, about ¼ cup/ 50-55 g portions, and form the cevapi. The rolls should be about as thick as your thumb and about 3-4 inches/ 7-10 cm long. I had 18 sausages. You can easily double the recipe.
- Grill the cevapcici on the hot grill pan or the barbecue for about 12-14 minutes, turning them several times in between, or until brown and cooked through. I checked by cutting one in the middle and then grilling the subsequent batches for the same time.
- Serve hot as suggested above. The cevapcici can be reheated in the oven at 350°F/ 180°C for about 10 minutes or until heated through. Check one; if it is not hot enough, give the sausages a few more minutes.
Michael Barbalic says
Made a 4x recipe
Used 50% beef 25% pork/lamb
Taste was pretty good
But from my 55+ years of eating cevapi made by my Croatian and Slovenian relatives/friends and buying from Serb/bosnian/Croat grocers these need 1/2 the onion maybe even 1/4. Also too much hot paprika.
Eszti says
Hi!
I live in Eastern Europe and I know what vegeta is.
Basically it's dried root veggies, salt and natrium glutamate which is an artificial umami. Not a healthy stuff...
These days you can buy "healthy" vegeta what are just dried veggies and nothing else.
I don't recommend using the original one.
Travnicki Cevap!! says
This is not croatoan meal... it is popular in entire region... but is part of bosnian and serbian cuisine... not croatian
KimC says
I have enjoyed cevapcici many times; made by a Croatian dance troupe in Anacortes WA to fund their travels, costumes, etc. They grill the cevapcici over charcoal and serve them on a crusty roll with an onion sauce and sometimes red pepper sauce. They sell them at an Art and Crafts festival. So delicious! I would love to know if the onion sauce is traditional and how it’s made.
Adina says
Hi Kim. I've never had the onion sauce myself, what we always had in Croatian restaurants were raw chopped onions on the side, but not cooked or in any sauce. The red pepper sauce was served separately.
Rob says
I lived in Munich in the late 1960s where I often bought cevapcici from the street vendors who had immigrated there from southeastern Europe. I loved them and have missed their delicious flavor all these near 50 years! I can’t wait to try your recipe. Thanks!
Adina says
Hi Rob. I hope you like them. 🙂
mjskitchen says
I love a good sausage so the moment I say "lots of garlic and paprika" I knew these would be awesome! Three types of paprika - I'm all in! These looks fabulous and I love that I can make them at home. There is nothing like a tasty homemade sausage. Sorry for the long absence. I see that I've missed alot. I'll be perusing them to see what I've missed. The fennel and apple have already caught my eye.
allie @ Through Her Looking Glass says
Football is not my specialty either, but it probably should be.... as I have four boys and live in New England where the Patriots are what it's all about. These sausages look to die for!!! I know nothing about Croatian cuisine, so many thanks for expanding my horizons and palate. My boys will all love these cevapcici, thank you. Hope you and your family are having a wonderful summer so far!
Kelly | Foodtasia says
Adina, these look so delicious! I love Turkish kabob so I'm excited to try these. Interesting tip about using baking soda. Will have to give that a try!
Sissi says
Great idea for a summer meal! I had cevapcici once in a Serbian restaurant and loved it! Then I even made it at home but somehow it didn't taste half as good... (Of course the real charcoal grill would have helped...). I must test your recipe, it sounds great and full of flavours! In my recipe there was no baking soda, but sparkling water! I must test both and see the difference.
I think spices and herbs are the main difference between Polish and German cuisines. Poles tend to season food much more (for example German sausages are so famous, but I always dream of Polish ones because for me they lack spices and garlic...).
Vegeta!!!! It's been so widely used in Poland, most people probably think it's Polish, haha! Now people use less of it... but it's true that everything seasoned with Vegeta tastes at least good. It's a very useful shortcut.
Adina says
I love Polish sausages as well, it is very easy to get them in Germany, so I buy them quite often.
Nammi says
wow, that looks good. Not very familiar with croatian cuisine, so thanks for the recipe 🙂
Vera says
Thank you,
I am Croatian and wanted to share a Croatian recipe with my British family. I haven’t tried cooking much until our daughter asked me too. So thanks a lot!
Vera
Adina says
Hi Vera. So nice to hear. We've just come back from Croatia, we spent two weeks there, a beautiful country. And the food was always delicious. Lots and lots of cevapcici. 🙂
Lena Condic says
I enjoyed these at a funeral reception at a Croatian church in Chicago recently. They were so delicious that I had to locate a recipe and share with my family. Thanks, Adina, for sharing your recipe with us.
Adina says
Thank you. We all love the cevapcici, I hope you liked them too.
Richard Farris says
This recipe looks delicious
Adina says
Thanks, Richard. I hope you try it. 🙂
angiesrecipes says
My husband's top favourite. He simply can't live without meat..from meatloaf, meatball, Frikadellen, to cevapcici. Yours looks so amazing that I want to taste one too.