Mititei, or little meats in Romanian, are small beef and garlic sausages flavored with warm spices like cloves and all spice. Grill them up at your next cookout.

Spice up your next cook out with some grilled Mititei, mini beef and garlic sausages grilled to flavorful perfection.

grilled beef sausages on a plate with text Romanian Mititei

I enjoy making my own sausage and trying the different flavor combinations used in different cuisines. This one is a beef sausage with lots of garlic as well as allspice and cloves.

This is a Humaciu family recipe that I got from my mother in law, who I am assuming got it from her Romanian mother in law. Mititei translates to "little meats". They are small sausages, without casings, that are a staple of Romanian cookouts.

Mititei are basically mini hamburgers that are shaped into short little rolls (think breakfast sausages only thicker) instead of flat patties.

One of my favorite parts of this sausage recipe is NO CASINGS! You can read about my sausage stuffing adventures in this post. Not hard, just time consuming and not worth the effort to do anything but a large batch.

While these are simple and quick to make, they really benefit from sitting overnight, or longer, in the fridge to let the flavors meld together. So, plan accordingly.

What fat percentage beef should I use?

The original recipe calls for grinding your own rump roast. For those that don't have the time or equipment, just get some ground beef at the store like I did.

Rump roast is in the 25% or more fat range. I went with 20% and wouldn't recommend going lower than 15% or they could get dry when grilling.

Mititei (mini beef sausages)

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds 20% ground beef
4 cloves garlic (minced)
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon thyme (crushed)
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ cup beef stock
salt and pepper to taste
additional beef stock for basting

Instructions

In a large bowl combine ground beef, spices, baking soda and ½ cup beef stock.
Roll out sausages about 4 inches by 1 inch.
Cover sausages and refrigerate overnight (can be up to 3 days).
Preheat clean grill (gas, charcoal, wood - you choose!) to medium high heat.
Grill sausages, turning with tongs (do not pierce with a fork). Baste with additional beef stock a few times while turning.
Serve hot off the grill.