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A decadently rich and creamy gravy smothers these perfectly seasoned Swedish Meatballs, simply pair them with egg noodles for an amazing dinner. Whether you are wanting a taste of Sweden or just visiting Ikea, what could be better than a bowl full of Swedish meatballs? Fatty, meaty, rich, and all smothered in gravy, this recipe for Swedish Meatballs is the ultimate comfort food. (These are also better than Ikea, just saying.)
Want to use up some ground turkey instead? Then try out these Turkey Swedish Meatballs. For the perfect accompaniment, try a Swedish Polar Bear Cocktail.
Rich and Creamy Swedish Meatballs
The key to a really great Swedish Meatballs is high quality meatballs and an excellent gravy. You want your meatballs as tender and tasty as you can, along with a thick, creamy gravy that makes everything taste a tad sweet.
The way of making Swedish meatballs is often considered odd to most people outside of Sweden because it uses spices and ingredients not usually found in North American savory dishes like nutmeg and allspice. However, the homey, delicate touch that these spices bring is absolutely critical to the flavor of these meatballs. You literally cannot have Swedish Meatballs without some nutmeg, so don't skip it!
Ingredients for Swedish Meatballs
Here is a brief rundown of the ingredients you will need. For the exact measurements, please print the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Meatball ingredients
- Onion
- Ground Beef
- Ground Pork
- Bread crumbs
- Garlic powder (can also use garlic puree here)
- Egg yolks
- Allspice
- Nutmeg
- Black pepper
Gravy ingredients
- Salted butter
- All-purpose flour
- Beef brother
- Sour cream
- Heavy cream
- Salt & pepper
- Fresh parsley for garnish
How to Make Swedish Meatballs
Meatballs
- Combine all the meatball ingredients together in a bowl & stir until well combined
- Roll the meat mixture into small 2 inch meatballs
- Fry in a large skillet over medium heat, until well browned
Gravy
- Melt butter in the same skillet as the meatballs and whisk in the flour until it smells nutty
- Whisk in the turkey broth and cook until thickened
- Stir in the sour cream and heavy cream, and then add the meatballs
- Cook all together on medium heat for about 10 minutes until the meatball is cooked through
- Serve over egg noodles
How to Roll Your Meatballs to The Best Texture Possible
A really common complaint about making Swedish Meatballs is the difficulty of rolling the meat into the little balls. Due to their small size and how fatty the mixture is, it can easily stick to your hands.
A great secret trick for rolling your meatballs is to wet your hands before you touch the mixture thoroughly. Keep your hands really wet as you roll, dipping them in freshwater in between rolling, and you won't have any problem with meat sticking to your hands.
For the best texture, make sure that you don't mix the meatball ingredients too much. When combining all the ingredients together, you want to stop as soon as you think it is mixed – if you keep going, the mixture will get springy, almost like a sausage mixture.
Making Swedish Meatballs Even More Traditional
If you wanted to make this Swedish Meatballs dish as traditional as possible to Swedish cuisine, you’d just need to a few simple things.
Firstly, Swedish Meatballs are traditionally served with Lingonberry jam, which is sort of like a really tart cranberry. You can probably find them in the freezer section of an Ikea, but you could also just replace it with a bit of cranberry sauce and a bit of lemon juice.
Another common pairing with Swedish Meatballs would be some pickled vegetables. You could go really old school and pickle some cabbage and cauliflower, or just find your favorite brand of dill pickled and use them as well. Any kind of sharp, acidic pickled veggies works great here to balance the meatballs.
How To Freeze & Store Your Swedish Meatballs
Freezing any leftover Swedish Meatballs is as simple as sealing it in a sealed container as soon as they are cool.
However, due to how much cream is in the sauce, you might find that the fat starts to separate out a bit if you defrost it. This also makes it pretty difficult to reheat your meatballs and gravy without a lot of fat separation.
If you are making these with the intent to freeze, make the meatballs and freeze them separately and then make the sauce fresh when you want to make the entire dish.
The easiest way to enjoy these Swedish Meatballs as leftovers is just to forgo reheating entirely – just eat them cold! They will taste just as amazing, and the cold temperature will actually make them taste a little sweeter as well.
More Meatball Recipes
We love a good meatball recipe in my house! Try some of these if you're looking for dinner ideas:
- easy baked meatballs
- try a meatball sub!
- Porcupine meatballs are a retro classic we eat all the time
- Mom's sweet and sour meatballs are a reader favorite!
Happy cooking!
Love,
Karlynn
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Rich and Creamy Swedish Meatballs
- Prep Time
- 20 minutes
- Cook Time
- 25 minutes
- Course
- Main Course
- Cuisine
- Swedish
- Servings
- 6
- Calories
- 549
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
Meatball Ingredients
- 1/2 white onion grated
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1/3 cup bread crumbs
- 1/2 tsp garlic puree or powder
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Gravy Ingredients
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves to garnish
Instructions
- Combine all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl. the ground beef, ground pork, bread crumbs, egg yolks, garlic, allspice, nutmeg, salt, pepper and shredded onion.
- Stir until well combined.
- Roll the mixture into -1 1/2 - 2 inch meatballs. This should make about 18-20 large meatballs.
- Place the meatballs into a large skillet on medium-high heat and cook until all sides are browned, about 7-8 minutes.
- Remove from the skillet and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Rinse the skillet out and melt the butter in the skillet.
- Whisk in the flour, stirring until it's combined with the butter and is lightly browned.
- Slowly whisk in the beef broth - and whisking constantly- cook it until slightly thickened.
- Stir in the sour cream and heavy cream, then add the meatballs back in.
- Cook another 8-10 minutes on medium heat until the sauce is thick and the meatballs are cooked completely, stirring occasionally. If needed, thin the mixture with more heavy cream.
- Serve over egg noodles and garnish with parsley.
Recipe Notes
- Since you serve this on egg noodles usually, each serving is three large meatballs and sauce.
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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Please rate this recipe in the comments below to help out your fellow cooks!
Liz says
Is it best to eat right after serving or can I make it ahead of time for same day?
Dale says
Ingredients say beef broth. Directions say turkey broth.