Swedish Meatballs
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
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?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Novice cook and wondering for any help or tips – made this recipe and my gravy/sauce was thin – I expected it to be a bit thicker, like a gravy and to stick to my egg noodles but it didn’t. any helpful tips to what I could do to improve it next time would be appreciated. thanks for sharing the recipe.
Tammie, this step is crucial for a thick gravy sauce:
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.
It is best to be patient to really let the sauce thicken.
Made these for a funeral today, and they were delicious. I mixed and formed the meatballs yesterday, and made the sauce *but didn’t add the sour cream.* Today, I skimmed the fat off the cold beef broth mixture, warmed the meatballs, poured them in the crock pot, then reheated the broth. I added the sour cream, simmered for a few minutes, and poured the gravy over the meatballs.
Great recipe, now I’m looking for other fun recipes on your site!
I just tried this recipe this evening for dinner. I did everything exactly per the recipe and they were delicious! A very easy recipe that doesn’t take long to prepare. Great for busy weeknights.
Thank you!
Just made these tonight — overall was really delicious! This will be my go-to meatball recipe from now on :). After scanning through I didn’t see others have this issue so this is the only criticism I have. I found the sauce/meatball ratio to be a bit much, as well as the beef broth making the sauce too beefy and fatty tasting. I prefer a lighter, tangier sauce, so I wonder if chicken stock would do just as well? Also, Whole Foods carries a mushroom stock right now, so I’m looking forward to experimenting with that (love me some ‘shroom flavor). Anyway, thanks for adapting and for the yummy meal!
Used frozen meatballs, but made the sauce and it was fantastic! Will make this again for sure, because the family really enjoyed this recipe.
Ok this might be a way stupid question – I’m kind of new to the cooking thing, so don’t laugh 😉
I had ground pork and ground beef in my freezer that I took out to defrost before I left for work this morning to make this recipe. Since it’s just me and my husband (of only 3 weeks, which is why I am new to cooking) I know 2 pounds of meat will be WAY too much for us, so I thought it would be perfect to make the meatballs and then freeze them like you mentioned in another comment.
So my stupid question is can you refreeze meat uncooked meat? Would it be ok to defrost my frozen meat – make the meatballs – then freeze the uncooked meatballs for another meal? Is that Ok to do or am I going to get sick and be on my death bead from eating re-frozen meat? or do you think I would be better off cooking all of them and then freezing half of it, and then just reheating the already cooked meatballs later? Oh, and have you tried freezing the sauce? I was thinking I could just half the sauce recipe and remake it fresh when I use the other half of the meatballs, unless you think the sauce is ok to freeze too.
I read all the comments people posted on this feed – people are crazy. I promise I’m not crazy. I know you aren’t a chef, obviously neither am I! Just asking for your opinion. If it doesn’t turn out I won’t be back to post that this recipe is worst recipe ever because I understand whatever I end up doing is my own damn fault…unlike other people on here! Haha!
Thanks for sharing your recipes!! It’s people like me who appreciate it!!
Heather, I am certainly not an expert on food safety but I will say that it is best to be safe than sorry. That being said, if it were me, I would not consume re-frozen meat but please use your best judgment.
Thanks for sharing your recipe! I was wondering if you have any troubleshooting tips for a beginner cook…the flavor is right on, but the sour cream never really incorporated. And it came out a touch thin in the end. User error, I’m positive. Any tips appreciated 😀
Your heat source may have been set too high.
Can any bread crumb can be used or is Panko the best to use?
Panko is really best but please feel free to use what you have on hand.
I just wanted to say that these were amazing. I always go by the book when trying a new recipe and then tweeking it later on but with this recipe i couldnt think of anything that I would change. I used my little cookie dough scoop and made about 35 or so meatballs. My 10 year old daughter helped me make these. We had these on the table with mashed potatoes and some lingonberry jam when my husband came home from work. After dinner my husband was peeking around in the garbage can looking for the Ikea meatball bag. LOL He thought that I had bought them and the gravy! Definitely a keeper! This recipe is now printed and laminated stuck to the inside of my spice cabinet for quick use. Thank you for sharing this delicious entrée.
Made your recipe pretty much as written. I am challenged with having to make everything GLUTEN FREE and wanted to share how I did that and it still came out wonderful. I subbed the panko crumbs with an equal amout of crushed Rice Chex and instead of using flour as a thickener for the sauce, I made a cornstarch slurry. I took a hint from a previous poster and put the meatballs and broth plus 4 bay leaves in a covered dutch oven and baked at 300 for about an hour. I worried that a potentially more rigorous simmer on the stove might disintegrate the meatballs. (this has happened to me before when making spaghetti with meatballs) After I took the pot out of the oven I returned it to the stove burner, brought it up to a strong simmer and added the cornstarch slurry. Once it was as thick as I cared for it to be (used about same ratio as your recipe did for flour) Stirred in the sour cream right before serving. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
I used ground chicken and chicken broth with this recipe. That’s a good meatball.
Thank you for sharing!
I love your recipes. All of them; however I would like to make a comment on the Swedish meatballs. I lived in Scandinavia nearly 30 years and the recipes I ever saw on Swedish meatballs, all of the also contained veal (beef, pork, veal.)
Surya, thank you for your comment but not once did I mention that these are “authentic” Swedish meatballs. This is simply my take on it with easily-accessible ingredients.
Apologies for my last comment! I see now that someone else posted saying they used ground turkey instead. My mistake!
Has anyone tried this using ground turkey instead of beef and pork?
Thanks for taking your own personal time and sharing this nice recipe. As for all the whining asshats out there you need to stfu you are so pathetic going on about your who gives a f*ck dietary needs the author of this doesn’t owe you a friggen thing so stop being so useless and stop bothering everyone else who can think for themselves.
Last evening I was reading and finally looked at the clock and it was 8:41. I had a real craving for Swedish Meatballs, but I had never tried to cook them myself. I found your recipe online and ran to get the ingredients at the local WM. Came home and had the table set and eating just after 10:00. I have to tell you that it turned out SUPERB! I was able to put this together for my wife and I for a little less than $20.00. I am not sure who the snobs are that get down on your blog here, but from an inexperienced cook that can sometimes burn water, this was an amazing meal and all I did was FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS and it was a winner. Thanks again and Merry Christmas, Happy Chanakah, Happy Quanza, Happy Festivus or Happy Week, whatever your flavor wishes.
Stumbled upon your blog recently and love it, thanks for your ideas. I’m making these meatballs today. I am appalled at the rudeness of some comments. Do people actually troll sites looking for mean things to say? Chungah, I am sorry you experienced unkindness here on your site and you are so professional in your replies. I likely would have told some of these commenters to f… themselves. Wishing you all the best and happy holidays. 🙂
I made these tonight and they were every bit as good as you said and I am glad I doubled the sauce part because it was yummy. I can’t wait to make them again because I did make two careless mistakes hurrying. I put the whole eggs in instead of just the yolks. I also put 4 cups of beef and 4 cups of chicken stock. Again, this was my mistake at the store. It came out good though but I am interested in doing it right. Thanks for the great recipe. BONUS, my son and husband loved it!
To the author~ I want to apologize to you on behalf of all the rude people who are reading your blog. I have been pinning your recipes for an hour now and came across this~ reading the comments and shaking my head! You were MORE than nice when you responded about substitutions and did provide a link for them to use. Some people are miserable in life and I absolutely LOVE your blog and look forward to following you. The older I get more and more I realize that there are givers and takers in this world….thank you for being a GIVER and sharing these recipes with us and PLEASE ignore the ones on here who take your FREE info and choose to be ugly to you….Merry Christmas!
could these be made a ahead and frozen for a few days, then just make the sauce when I am ready to serve??
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. I recommend using your best judgment for freezing and reheating.