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posted by Christy Denneyon Sep 21, 2021 (updated May 6, 2023) 19 comments »
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Swedish Meatballs are so tender and a topped with a flavorful gravy that is good over pasta or rice for dinner or as a hearty appetizer. Keep these warm in the slow cooker for a great potluck dish!
SWEDISH MEATBALL RECIPE
Our church was having a heritage night where we all had to bring a dish that came from our ancestors. I’m Swedish on both sides of my family so there was no question that I needed to bring a Swedish dish and one that wasn’t the iconic Swedish meatballsfrom the Ikea store.
And potlucks are always a good reason to bring meatballs.
I mean I’m obviously Swedish with my bright blue eyes (errr…green) and blond hair (that has to be bleached every two months). Honestly, we didn’t grow up having anything Swedish for holidays…evahh.
So, me bringing an authentic Swedish dish was as authentic as me stopping by IKEA on the way to the event and buying their IKEA Swedish meatballs (which I was so close to doing after 6 hours of soccer games).
I cannot attest for the authenticity of these, but I can tell you that they are delicious. I’ve made them a couple of times and have learned what works best and what doesn’t. I may or may not have forgot to put the egg in once. Oops.
This is your meatball mixture – a mixture of ground beef (2/3 lb) and 1/3 pound pork. I will say that I’ve done it with equal parts beef and pork just because it what’s I had and they were great.
There are two kinds of ways people make meatballs. Some use breadcrumbs, some use bread soaked in milk – which is the version we’re using here and in my opinion makes forjuicy meatballs.
Neither way is the correct way but the milk soaked bread version makes for a super tender meatball.
The meat mixture will be really wet so I suggest chilling it for 30-60 minutes to firm it up before making your balls and placing them on a sheet pan.
Of course the time I didn’t chill my meat was when I took a picture. Just imagine that if you chill your meat, the uncooked meatballs will be much rounder and a little more perfect.
Perfect never was my thing though. You do brown the meatballs in a skillet before baking them. Don’t skip this part. It gives them that little extra burst of flavor and makes for amazing Swedish meatballs.
The gravy is super simple to make and is rich but not too rich if you know what I mean.
HOW TO MAKE SWEDISH MEATBALLS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the bread crumbs into a small bowl, and mix in the cream. Allow to stand until crumbs absorb the cream, about 10 minutes. While the bread is soaking, melt 1 teaspoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion until it turns light brown and is soft.
Place onion into a mixing bowl; mix with the ground beef, ground pork, egg, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, and allspice. Lightly mix in the bread crumbs and cream.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Pinch off about 1 1/2 tablespoon of the meat mixture per meatball, and form into balls. Place the meatballs into the skillet, and cook just until the outsides are brown, about 5 minutes, turning the meatballs often. Insides of the meatballs will still be pink. Place browned meatballs into a baking dish, pour in chicken broth, and cover with foil.
Bake in the preheated oven until the meatballs are tender, about 20-40 minutes. Remove meatballs and place in a serving dish.
To make brown gravy, pour pan drippings into a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the flour into the pan drippings until smooth, and gradually whisk in enough beef broth to total about 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Bring the gravy to a simmer, whisking constantly until thick, about 5 minutes. Just before serving, whisk in the sour cream. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve the gravy with the meatballs over pasta or rice.
MAKE AHEAD TIP:
Keep meatballs warm in a slow cooker with gravy and stir in sour cream before serving.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH THIS
You can serve these Swedish meatballs over rice or pasta.
OTHER APPETIZER RECIPES:
- Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
- Muffin-Tin Bacon Cheeseburgers
- Chicken Parmesan Meatball Sliders
- Italian Meatballs
- Mini Italian Meatloaves
- Stuffed Mushrooms
- Asian Turkey Meatballs
Swedish Meatballs recipe
4.72 from 7 votes
These are the best Swedish Meatballs. They are pork and beef homemade meatballs that are so tender and topped with a creamy saucethat is good over pasta or rice. This is the ultimate comfort food.This is the ultimate comfort food with warm spices and delicious creamy gravy.
PrintPinRate
Prep Time: 10 minutes mins
Cook Time: 35 minutes mins
Total Time: 45 minutes mins
Servings: 18 meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 slices white bread, toasted and crumbled
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 small onion, minced
- 2/3 pound ground beef
- 1/3 pound finely ground pork
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Gravy:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 cup chicken broth, (can use beef broth as well)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, or as needed
- 2 cups beef broth, or as needed
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the bread crumbs into a small bowl, and mix in the cream. Allow to stand until crumbs absorb the cream, about 10 minutes. While the bread is soaking, melt 1 teaspoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion until it turns light brown and is soft.
Place onion into a mixing bowl; mix with the ground beef, ground pork, egg, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, and allspice. Lightly mix in the bread crumbs and cream.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Pinch off about 1 1/2 tablespoon of the meat mixture per meatball, and form into balls. Place the meatballs into the skillet, and cook just until the outsides are brown, about 5 minutes, turning the meatballs often. Insides of the meatballs will still be pink. Place browned meatballs into a baking dish, pour in chicken broth, and cover with foil.
Bake in the preheated oven until the meatballs are tender, about 20-40 minutes. Remove meatballs and place in a serving dish.
To make brown gravy, pour pan drippings into a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the flour into the pan drippings until smooth, and gradually whisk in enough beef broth to total about 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Bring the gravy to a simmer, whisking constantly until thick, about 5 minutes. Just before serving, whisk in the sour cream. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve the gravy with the meatballs over pasta, rice, or egg noodles. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
Make ahead tip: Keep meatballs warm in a slow cooker with gravy and stir in sour cream before serving.
Notes
You can use 1/2 pound beef and 1/2 pound pork instead of 2/3lb and 1/3lb. I don't notice a difference in taste.
Make ahead tip: Place meatballs in the slow cooker with the gravy if eating later. Stir in sour cream before serving.
This doubles easily!
Cuisine: Swedish
Course: Main Course
Author: Christy Denney
All Recipes Appetizers Beef Main Dishes Pork
originally published on Sep 21, 2021 (last updated May 6, 2023)
19 comments Leave a comment »
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19 comments on “Swedish Meatballs”
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Sam — Reply
Hello!,
I was wondering if you could make this as the recipe states, then freeze it? What would be the best way to reheat it?-
Christy Denney — Reply
Sure. I would thaw for 24 hours in the fridge and then reheat in a skillet or in the oven at 350.
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Ajli Müller — Reply
Hallå där (hey there!)!
I was so happy to see this in my bloglovin’ feed. What a great idea to soak the bread instead of using breadcrums. I’m goding to try that next.I also would like to say that we do not use veal. I mean, I can’t speak for everyone but I live in Sweden and am swedish and have eaten meatballs since I was born basically. The person is probably thinking about a dish called Wallenbergare.
Love,
Ajli Müller-
Christy Denney — Reply
Ha thanks for the feedback!!
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Fnaf — Reply
This is my favourite. So easy and very yummy. I should make it for dinner!
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Linda Bowen — Reply
I do not care which way you make them they are wonerful!
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Christy Denney — Reply
Thank you!
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K. Oscarson — Reply
Looking over your recipe I can tell you that it is very similar to the recipe I use, handed down to me from my mother and her mother, born and raised in Sweden. These days the veal appears to be very optional based mainly on a persons budget. The original recipe I have does call for veal but I have often made mine without. I use 2-3 slices white bread (with the crusts removed) soaked in milk and “wrung out” and no brown sugar. I also tend to increase the Allspice to taste. These are delicious and as close to the real thing one can get, outside of traveling to Sweden!
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Christy Denney — Reply
Thank you! I love hearing that.
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Echo — Reply
The recipe was very tasty! While one commenter said that they might not be Swedish, as someone who grew up in a Swedish-heavy community in northern Minnesota, I think you did an excellent job. In the U.S. it’s pretty common for Swedish meatballs to not have veal since then like no one would be able to eat them because it would be too expensive. You also make it pretty clear that these aren’t authentic—they’re your personal recipe to recreate a taste you enjoy. The only changes I made was that I used 1/2 and 1/2 instead of heavy cream (just didn’t have any on hand) and added 1/2 t of pepper. Next time I will probably omit the brown sugar, but that’s just less of a preference for a sweet taste to my meatballs. Otherwise, the meatballs were great, gravy was great, ate it over potatoes and look forward to the leftovers!
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Christy Denney — Reply
So good to hear that and thank you for your feedback.
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Donna Johansen — Reply
You mentioned Sausage and then you say ground pork. Is it pork sausage like a breakfast sausage or ground pork?
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Echo — Reply
Ground pork, not breakfast sausage. At least, based on most similar recipes, that’s what I assume. It’s what I used when making them, and it worked quite well!
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Surya-Patricia Lane Hood — Reply
They sound good but they aren’t Swedish. I learned to make Swedish meatballs in Sweden. For one thing, every authentic Swedish meatball I’ve ever had, had an ingredient yours don’t: veal.
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Sky — Reply
If you read the blog at all….you’d see she said they weren’t authentic….
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Christy Denney — Reply
🙂
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Erica — Reply
Looks good! There isn’t veal in proper swedish meatballs (only the fancy restaurant version might have veal in them). Ground beef is standard in swedish homes! Veal is used in another popular dish Wallenbergare http://www.foodetc.se/wallenbergare_recipe.php
Greetings from Stockholm
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Christy Denney — Reply
Thanks! I’m new to them and fell in love.
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