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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This looks and sounds DAMN DELICIOUS!!!! I am making it tonight for our sons football party. I am hella doubling up on everything!!! Wish me luck!
Just made this with beef mince. Followed the recipe exactly otherwise but now that the meatballs are in the sauce there is blood from the meatballs leaching into the sauce. Is this meant to happen? I am unsure as it will be safe to eat due to this. Should I have cooked the meatballs completely beforehand? Was really looking forward to this tonight :S
No, blood should not be leaching into the sauce. I worry that perhaps there is something wrong with the beef you used.
Just made this for dinner tonight — used exact recipe — and it was delectable. I kicked the sauce up a bit with a touch of cayenne pepper which added another layer to the deliciousness of the dish. I ended up with 32 meatballs and will be freezing leftovers (including sauce and noodles separately).
Thanks for sharing such a lovely and simple dish! My husband nearly licked his plate clean ; )
Just wanted to say that I made these tonight. I only had ground beef so I used a pound of beef and regular bread crumbs. I have a new favorite meal!! My kids gave me the thumbs up and I am waiting on my husband to get home to give me his. Thanks so much for this. Your recipe was very well written, easy to follow and the pictures are great. 🙂 I have many of your other recipes saved, and if your others are anything like this one, I better make room in my family cookbook!
Oh my gosh, the slurp factor was definitely very high in this dish! I served it over wide egg noodles. I did not have Panko or any other kind of bread crumbs (and my blender is on the fritz), so I had to substitute with crushed Ritz crackers. I am surprised at how damned good it turned out! The meatballs were my favorite part, and I’m not usually a huge meat fan! Oh, and my stupid old electric cooktop is unreliable – the longer it’s on the more variable the temperature, it seems – so by the time I was done browning the meatballs, the bottom of the pan and the onion bits were far too blackened to use as the gravy base. So I started over for the gravy with a clean pan, made the gravy, added the meatballs to finish, and it STILL tasted awesome!
I will probably not make this very often because the time involved is more than I usually have on any given night, but I will say that the results were definitely worth the time I took to make it. Thank you for a very good recipe!
I bet you could do a big batch and freeze it in freezer bags and then toss in the crockpot to thaw and be hot and ready for dinner. Then just boil the noodles.
I love Swedish meatballs! I plan on making this one just the way it is. It sounds delicious!
I made these last night, I was a bit nervous with the addition of the nutmeg and all spice – but they were amazing. They were even better today (the day after!) I served over Egg Noodles and it was a fantastic meal. Thanks for the great recipe!
Made this tonight and turned out wonderful, I had to use 2lb ground turkey and fat free sour cream because that’s what I had on hand and was still fabulous. It made 30 meatballs for me using a 2T measuring spoon.
For all those asking for substitutions, just try what you think’ll work and do it! The recipe looks great as is and I will definitely be making the gravy as written.
Yum! I just made these with turkey and pumpkin spice in lieu of the other spices, about 2 teaspoons worth for 2 pounds of turkey. I sauteed one up to try it and froze the rest for a non-traditional (Canadian) thanksgiving dinner.
Instead of panko, I used up some stale white bread soaked in milk. Squeeze the milk out and add to the rest of the ingredients.
Some of you need to live a little 😉
Cripes! What a bunch of whiners. 🙁 It’s a wonder that anyone blogs at all.
Mary, You made me laugh. I have been considering starting a blog, but after reading this string….I don’t know!
Bought all the stuff to make a triple batch for potluck at work on Tuesday. I want to make meatballs ahead of time & freeze. Can I cook them 1st and then freeze them? Also want to follow ur receipe for the sauce..cant figure out if this will work ahead of time. I will be warming the whole dish in a crockpot. I was told I could just use packets of brown gravy 🙁 but I really like the creamy soyr cream aspect…help! The guys at work were requesting IKEA….I so want to impress them…please advise…help!
Lisa, unfortunately, I cannot advise if you can make this ahead of time and freeze as I have never tried it myself. I also do not recommend using “packets of brown gravy”.
The meatballs themselves can be cooked and frozen just like any other meatball (this is part of why cooks since the 50s have liked meatballs. You can make them in quantity then freeze until needed). When you want to use them, take them out of the freezer, let them sit long enough to thaw completely, warm them up a little so that they don’t cool your sauce when you add them, then proceed as per normal. What you cannot do is make the meatballs, put them in the sauce, then try to freeze the whole thing. Meatballs can be frozen, sauce cannot.
“Packets of brown gravy” sound like a bad idea. Just follow the recipe for the sauce that she gives here. It only takes like 15 min tops to make, I promise, and it will taste much better than some grocery store packet. Not doing the sauce right after the meatballs means you won’t get all the pan drippings in the sauce, but with that much beef stock it should taste plenty beefy anyway.
I usually put the sauce with the meatballs in the freezer if there is any sauce left… Usually 1 portion or for the whole familly. Meatballs frozen without sauce is great to just take a few from the package if needed 😉 Great on sandwiches if sliced and with some mustard too
I made this dish two nights ago and it was delicious! I served the meatballs with some egg noodles, as there was plenty of sauce to coat the noodles — my family raved about the meatballs. I think sauteing the onions until tender and translucent is a great idea — same thing for meat loaf. Thanks for the great recipe!
I don’t have Panko (don’t know what it is), can I use bread crumbs?
Thanks
Debbie, please refer to the notes section in the recipe.
Very good we made it last night and thats the Swedish meatballs recipe ive been looking for since my junior high basketball coach’s wife made…….well its close enough hers was still the best ever…
I made this, and it turned out delicious! The only changes I made were as follows: 1) I minced up about three cloves of garlic and added it towards the end of the onions’ saute, so the sauteed garlic got added to the meatball mixture as well (tasty, and makes your kitchen smell fantastic!); 2) I sliced up 4 oz of white mushrooms and 4 oz of baby bella mushrooms, and added those to the pan after browning the meatballs, but before adding the butter to start the sauce. The mushrooms sauteed in the remaining oil/fat from the meatballs, then got incorporated into the sauce and added a deeper flavor to that. It tasted absolutely wonderful. Seriously, try this with mushrooms, your tastebuds will thank you.
The addition of mushrooms sounds amazing – will definitely have to try that next time!
Has anyone ever made this recipe in a slow cooker? Any suggestions?
Im sorry, I followed this recipe exactly. The sour cream did NOT blend it well and left little white specks all in the gravy and the entire gravy tasted like flour.
Why? If this is how its supposed to taste, then I wont be making it again lol help?
No, Jenny, that it not how it is supposed to taste. The sour cream had curdled, and it may be attributed to your heat source being set too high.
My husband told me to give the sauce the time it is required to cook before getting upset and bent out of shape (I always get bent out of shape when it comes to cooking, I love food lol) I did as he said, the sour cream actually smoothed out and the sauce became creamier like it was supposed to. I turned down the heat to a simmer and let it thicken up and then added the meat balls, and cooked an extra 10 minutes. Came out delish! I was suprised. Next time tho (i think this had a hand in maybe the mistakes I made) I wont use so much oil (did that by accident my 5 year old wouldnt stay out of the kitchen and bumped into me as i was putting the oil in the pan)
I’m so happy to hear it was able to be salvaged!
I was skeptical about nutmeg and allspice in the meatballs – but for the sake of trying a recipe that wasn’t my own inspiration I kept it as written above and they turned out great! That being said, next time I may add a little onion powder and/or garlic salt to give the meatballs a little more “zest” since I like a lot of flavor in my meat. The gravy was SUPERB!!! Thank you for posting this!
hi there!!! i just wanted to take the time to congratulate you on your website! i was browsing for a new meatballs recipe (vs. the traditional spaghetti marinara ones), and i really liked yours. i made your adapted recipe last night, and it was soooo WONDERFUL!!! i added my own seasonings to the meatballs(no nutmeg, etc.), made the gravy with chicken broth, and with these few alterations i was able to make it “my way.” it was my first time making swedish meatballs and i’m so glad i did. your recipe inspired me to try them. they were sooooo great and tasty!!!! thank you so much for all your recipes!!! you are talented. and i will most certainly keep coming back to try other ones. God bless you! 😉
I can not find Allspice in any store what else can I use or do I need it at all?
It is best to use the ingredients listed here to obtain the best results possible. You can certainly omit it but I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish.
Hi Mary Beth, if you can’t find Allspice, you can make it using equal amounts of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. You can play around with the amounts of each if one of them seems too strong.
Chungah, you are amazingly patient to put up with some of these nasty people! I have seen internet bullies and trolls for years, but it still surprises me when I see the pettiness and sense of entitlement some of them have. Over recipes freely given after a lot of work no less. Keep up the great work !! I do a lot of substituting because my husband is eating low carb and I’m vegetarian, so sometimes I try to figure out how to make a recipe with meat into a veggie recipe. Not this one though! Haha. But I would never in a million years demand that someone provide me with substitutions and then get huffy if she won’t guarantee results- that is ridiculous.
Found your site a few weeks ago and I’m trying this recipe out this weekend. I keep wanting to make swedish meatballs but often intimated by complicated recipes. Yours are very simple. Also, LOVE your Le Creuset pan color!