Swedish Meatballs
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Nothing beats homemade meatballs smothered in a creamy gravy sauce, and yes, they taste so much better than the IKEA version!
Remember those trips to Ikea where the budget-friendly furniture finds are the last things on your mind but all you can think about are those amazing swedish meatballs? Well, that was always me. But since we’ve moved to the Bay Area, our nearest Ikea is in the middle of the most trafficked area in the entire city so it’s really hard to get my swedish meatball fix when needed. Thankfully, I’ve found a homemade version that tastes even better than the original.
These Swedish meatballs have been on my bucket list for nearly 3 years, and I’m so glad to finally cross this off my list. I don’t know why it took me so long to make it – it’s so easy to make, and it really tastes a million times better than the Ikea version. Plus, you can always make a huge batch of meatballs (by either doubling or tripling the recipe) and storing the uncooked meatballs in the freezer. When you have that Swedish meatball craving, you can just defrost these babies overnight. So simple and easy, right?
And the sauce – you can’t forget about that creamy, heavenly gravy sauce that these meatballs are smothered in with the browned up meatball bits. Those meatball bits stuck to the bottom of the pan really make the gravy what it is. I could practically drink it! Just be sure to make a little bit extra if you serve these over a bed of egg noodles – you’ll really want a portion to slurp down!
Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- ½ cup Panko*
- 2 large egg yolks
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the gravy
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups beef broth
- ¾ cup sour cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, Panko, egg yolks, allspice, nutmeg and cooked onion; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined. Roll the mixture into 1 1/4-to-1 1/2-inch meatballs, forming about 24 meatballs.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add meatballs, in batches, and cook until all sides are browned, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- To make the gravy, melt butter in the skillet. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in beef broth and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in sour cream; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through and thickened, about 8-10 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Thank you for posting this – I normally don’t like Swedish meatballs but I had all of the ingredients so I fixed them exactly as your recipe instructed. Fabulous! Family likes them also ~ 🙂 I’ll make these again.
This is delicious! My family are veggie so we used vegetable stock and Quorn meatballs for speed. Was great with mashed potatoes and piles of vegetables 🙂 Thank you 🙂
Can you make and freeze the sauce separately?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I’ve made this recipe a couple times, and each time the gravy has tasted really… Buttery? Is this how it’s supposed to taste? I followed the directions exactly, but it doesn’t seem to taste right to me..(although I’m not sure exactly how it’s supposed to taste, which is why I ask..) I think of the gravy with Swedish meatballs with a more mild taste… However the meatballs themselves come out PERFECT!
Ak, you can reduce the amount of butter as needed to suit your taste preferences.
i used approx triple the amount of flour contained in this recipe. 1/3 cup wasn’t enough,the sauce was too runny
Just want others to know!
well, after I got done reading the entertaining fights on the message board, all I have to say is great recipe! I used frozen meatballs, and half the beef broth and served it over rich, fluffy mashed potatoes. My mom couldn’t get enough
As someone who loves to cook & experiment in the kitchen… I rarely use the same recipe more than once. But I’ve made this one three or four times now, and will continue to use it. It’s absolutely delicious, exactly as written (I’ve omitted the parsley once when I forgot to buy some).
Also, the comment section on this post was hilarious and made my afternoon. Cheers to the author 😉
I make this recipe all the time….I even use the meatball recipe to make the best hamburger patties ever! My parents don’t eat pork so I always substitute it with ground turkey. I’ve never made it with pork. It comes out delicious every time with turkey. Thanks Chungah for a great recipe!
You know.. I have sat by and read all the comments on this blog about recipe substitutions and what not. I think its stupid to call the author rude because she doesn’t know how YOUR food will taste in YOUR kitchen once YOU substitute something. Its like the dumbness level for some of you ig-nits are its just thru the roof! If you can pull the word rude out of your bum, then perhaps you can pull this out of there as well… FIGURE IT OUT FOR YOURSELF oooooor USE THE FREAKEN INTERNET TO FIND ANOTHER VERSION OF THIS RECIPE.. bunch of idiots, i tell ya! Lazy arm chair food critics and what not… If you can’t stomach pork.. then don’t use it! What else besides beef can you stomach? Chicken? Turkey? Its not rocket science. You want this author to think for you, well I’m sure she’s too darn busy for all that! Stop being dum-dums and do something for yourself. Jeez! Never in my life have I gotten this irritated looking up what to make for dinner! Just.. numba sign all of your worthless hides down and stop being dumb. Common sense just isn’t common anymore! So freaken frustrating.
Now… To the author. I have been looking for a nice recipe like this, and I will try it tonight. 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing. I love your professionalism when dealing with the cyber trash on your blog. You are not rude, because trust me, I have been far worse to far greater people. So you just keep doing what you’re doing, and making us happy with your home cooked recipes 🙂
Chung-Ah, the meatballs are cooking as I type, and they smell DIVINE! Ignore the haters, the world is full of them. Those who can’t, critique those who can. And you my dear, CAN! Thank you SO much for sharing this amazing recipe!
Wow. I look for recipes as an inspiration, a guideline. And enjoy the comments from those who’ve made the dish, as is or what they had on hand. I feel cooking is an art, or a labor of love.
Chungah, you put forth great recipes for greater inspiration. And although I am not fan of those who comment beforehand, I can say when I make this tomorrow for Sunday dinner with mashed potatoes and fresh green beans, I know this will be a family favorite.
Just made and with a side of mash potatoes …….OMG.
THANK YOU so much for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Cheers 🙂
I just made these tonight, with one change, but they turned out delicious! I did substitute the pork for veal but other than that I followed everything precisely. I’ve never eaten a Swedish meatball, so I don’t have much to compare it to, but it reminds me of a Middle Eastern recipe I make, macaroni bechamel, which if I had added white pepper and pasta it would have been just that!! I will be making this again next week for a party I am having, I’m glad to have made this ahead of time to test it out. Oh, definitely add the freshly chopped parsley, it really makes all the difference!!!!!
I find this website by Chungah very useful and entertaining. Honey, don’t pay any attention to the haters. Some people need to complain about everything. Keep up your good work 🙂
So I made these awesome meatballs with my 6 year old. She did a great job. They were so good that this tiny 6 year old ate 6 of them. Then asked: Why would anyone want to substitute anything. I love this kid. Thank you so much for the recipe. The two of us looked and found many of your recipes that she really wanted to try. She is a very picky eater. your recipes were so good and with helping to prepare them (very simple recipe) she is eager to get started. I look forward to your recipes.
thank you so much.
Cid
I plan on making this tonight, and I might make some rice or noodle to smear it on top of :O I wonder how that would turn out! I shall post once I find out.
No offense but my point was that she said she didn’t know what to substitute and that this recipe was what she did. How many times did she have to explain that. Then ended up having to defend herself from these same people. These are the arrogant people I was referring to. I am sure that if you read all those entries that you could see that. I’m sure you didn’t write again asking for a substitution or berating her for not wanting to change her recipe. I hope you find what your looking for.
I’ve been browsing around for Swedish Meatball recipes for a party I will be having soon. I do not eat pork for religious reasons as many people do, so I am researching what I can do in substitution for the pork. Reading over the comments, many were offensive.I don’t see an issue with someone asking what’s a good substitute for an ingredient, it’s a recipe for goodness sake!! I could see where Rebekah was coming from, I don’t think she was expecting that kind of answer which was very formal and insisting she must stick with the original pork or else get mediocre (aka crappy) results. But Chungh-Ah answered the best she could. I don’t believe substituting pork will ruin a dish, there are groups of people who have created sophisticated culinary works of art out of meat with a pork less culture.
I love how most came to defend Chungh-Ah but then completely ignored this comment:
joe says
November 6, 2014 at 11:14 AM
Many people I know are Jewish and are forbidden to eat pork..so when they come to my house I tell them there is no pork in the recipe even though I put it in…I really do not give a fat rats ass if they are forbidden to eat pork..I love it and will use it…get over it……OMG…..how shameful is that…lllooolll
And to Joe, you must really only love Joe. What a huge disrespect and betrayal to your Jewish friends. Is it all that necessary to lie about it? Is it that much to ask that when your friend asks if there is pork in something, you just tell them the damn truth? I assume that your actions are based in bigotry.
I agree with this. In all honesty, the question did not require the sort of response many of the bloggers gave. The author answered the best way she could. However, I do not think one should immediately resort to being butt-hurt because a chef doesn’t know how best to suggest something to you. That would require her to know what you like, and don’t like. Only you can answer that question, so why waste time asking it? And another thing, if you happen to ask this question.. don’t resort to being a twat just because the chef/cook simply doesn’t know how to answer it.
And to the Joe person you pointed out.. I agree with that as well.. he is very disrespectful to mislead his friends. It goes to show how much he values them as people. Can he truly even call them friends? Now, my husband doesn’t eat pork.. not for religious reasons, but because he literally can’t stomach it. It makes him sick. So, out of courtesy, I don’t cook it. His family is Muslim, and they don’t eat pork for religious reasons. So when they come visit, I am sure to keep my packet of bacon, that make for my breakfast, hidden in the back from sight. Is this a lot of hoops to jump through for family or friend? No. I choose to respect my friends and family even if I don’t agree with their customs.
I cannot believe what I have just read!!!!!!! What is wrong with you people? I realize this is a late post, as I just found this site while looking for and AUTHENTIC Swedish meatball recipe. What part of “authentic” Swedish recipe do you not understand? If you want to make this specific recipe, then you would need to follow the recipe that makes the dish what it is! If you change it, it is no longer that recipe but a “SUBSTITUTE. Call it what you want, but it is not the same recipe posted. It will never taste the same as what this person has made with these ingredients,therefore it is different. For those of you who are so ARROGANT that you cannot understand the simple FACT, that a substitution for the ingredients IS NOT THE SAME RECIPE, Please look up the word ARROGANT.) How difficult of a concept is this for you BULLIES! Why was this so hard for you people to understand? You were mean and nasty! Are you adults? My six year old asked that as we read it. Smart kid. It is not a problem to change a recipe and make it your own! That is encouraged. So, the next time you ask for a substitution and the author replies with the fact that this is how they made it and didn’t know of a substitute, as this is their recipe, then figure it out for yourself!!!! NEVER continue to bully and berate a person for SHARING THEIR RECIPE!! DON’T BE RUDE. I hope that someday someone does what most of you did, happens to you. Maybe then you will learn manners (again from the mouth of babes). I feel very sorry for this GRACIOUS person, who has SHARED this recipe. Thank you Chungtah for this AUTHENTIC recipe!! I am making them today and my six year old can’t wait to help! For the rest of you BULLIES out there, every school in America has a NO BULLIES policy. Maybe you should try bullying the person in the mirror and see just how far you get. …………Cid
I’m making these right now for dinner. yummy. ..this recipe sounds delicious. Making it just as it says, but have about 1/2 more pork to use so added about another 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and an extra egg as they were small. the meatballs are delicious so I’m sure dinner will be a treat. I will make this again.
××××Judy….use what éver meat you like. .
I made the recipe today as written. I did find that 4 cups of beef stock created a thinner gravy. I did allow thickening time and double checked the ingredient list. Next time I will use 3 cups of stock and see how it goes. The meatballs were great and my young kids ate them up! Will make again for sure.