Swedish Meatballs
These Swedish Meatballs are a wonderfully comforting meal. Made with a combination of beef and pork, simmered in a creamy gravy, and served over egg noodles or even mashed potatoes!
Swedish Meatballs
**Originally posted January 2016. Photos, text and recipe updated**
Ahhh, Swedish Meatballs have a very special place in my heart!! They are hands down one of my favorite meals and it was one of the first meals I learned to cook when I was young. I’m sure I cooked it way too much and I think my mom and dad probably got tired of me making the same thing over and over.
But they taste so good!! And they really aren’t that hard to make either. Sure it does require you to roll up your sleeves and get your hands a little dirty making the meatballs, but it really is worth it!! Read on to find out a few make-ahead tips to speed things up!
Some of our other favorite comforting meals are: One Pot Hamburger Stroganoff, Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping, Chicken in Garlic Mushroom Cream Sauce, and Slow Cooker Pot Roast.
How to make Swedish Meatballs:
- In this recipe, I pan fry the meatballs but you can also bake them. Just form the meatballs as usual and place them on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes. Then add them to the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Make ahead tips:
- Make the meatballs and either fry them or bake them and place on a baking sheet and freeze them for later! Just freeze them on a baking sheet for 30 minutes to 1 hour so they don’t stick together. Place in a freezer safe bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. To use: add them to the sauce, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.
- Another option is to mix up the meat according to directions and keep in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
What to serve Swedish Meatballs with:
- We serve them with hot cooked and buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes.
- Traditionally Swedish Meatballs are also served with Lingonberries but I haven’t tried them with it. I know they are hard to find but a close substitute would be to use fresh cranberries and make a cranberry sauce.
- Simple Roasted Green Beans or any steamed vegetable.
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Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 small onion, grated or finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup (20g) dry bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch allspice
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 pound (250g) lean ground beef
- 1/2 pound (250g) ground pork
- olive oil (for frying)
Gravy:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup (30g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups (475ml) beef broth
- 3/4 cup (180g) sour cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- Hot cooked egg noodles
Instructions
Meatballs:
- In a large mixing bowl combine the first eight ingredients and let sit for 5 minutes. Add ground beef and pork and mix just until combined. Form into 1 inch meatballs and place in hot skillet with olive oil. Fry on all sides until cooked through (about 10-15 minutes).
- Remove from skillet and cover loosely with foil to keep warm, set aside.
Gravy:
- Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in the same skillet over medium to medium low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the beef broth scraping up the bits stuck at the bottom of the pan (there's a lot of flavor there!).
- Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in the sour cream. Add meatballs and simmer covered for 5 minutes.
Notes
- In this recipe, I pan fry the meatballs but you can also bake them. Just form the meatballs as usual and place them on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes. Then add them to the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Make ahead tips:
- Make the meatballs and either fry them or bake them and place on a baking sheet and freeze them for later! Just freeze them on a baking sheet for 30 minutes to 1 hour so they don't stick together. Place in a freezer safe bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. To use: add them to the sauce, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.
- Another option is to mix up the meat according to directions and keep in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
- What to serve with Swedish Meatballs:
- We serve them with hot cooked and buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes.
- Traditionally Swedish Meatballs are also served with Lingonberries but I haven't tried them with it. I know they are hard to find but a close substitute would be to use fresh cranberries and make a cranberry sauce.
- Simple Roasted Green Beans or any steamed vegetable.
Can these be made with all beef? I have frozen 1 lb packs of hamburger in my freezer, so all beef would be more convenient.
So sorry I didn’t respond sooner!! Yes, all beef would work great!!
This makes A LOT of meatballs! Enough for a party. We halve the recipe and add a teaspoon of salt to the meat mixture. I also add chopped mushrooms to the sauce. Yum.
Thanks for sharing Renee!! And chopped mushrooms make a great addition! 🙂
The recipe for the meatballs is delicious. the sauce is a different story it was very Tangy from the sour cream and did not have much flavor other than sour cream we will use the meatball recipe for future dishes but not the sauce.
I am so sorry this didn’t turn out as you hoped. If you would like to try it again you could use 1/2 cup of cream in place of the sour cream and add in some beef bouillon for more flavor.
Thank you Sandy, and you too
This looks delicious!! I can’t wait to add it into our menu!!! Thanks for sharing!!
I love how this was one of the first meals you learned how to cook! I’ve never made OR eaten Swedish Meatballs, so clearly, I need to fix that ASAP.
You have to try them, so good!!
I love the mix of beef and pork, and the gravy looks to-die-for!
Thank you very much, Melissa!!
A family favorite for sure! These look super good!
Thank you very much!
I only put in the allspice-1/4 tsp. That is the way my mom made it. We usually had it with potatoes.
We like it with mashed potatoes too 🙂
Oh my gosh! I must make this for my dad, he’d flip. And honestly, I would too. The pictures are making me drool!
Thank you so much Dorothy!! Really appreciate it 🙂