Swedish Meatball Pasta
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Everyone’s favorite Swedish meatballs with pasta noodles tossed right into that cream sauce goodness. So heavenly, so good.
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reasons to make swedish meatball pasta
- Easy weeknight dinner recipe. With its quick cook time and make ahead meatballs, this pasta dish comes together lightening fast, ideal for those super busy weeknights.
- Homemade meatballs. This includes a recipe for easy, homemade meatballs that just puts this recipe over the top – juicy, flavorful and melt-in-your-mouth tender.
- Crowd favorite. With homemade meatballs alongside elbow macaroni coated with a dreamy, caramelized, cream sauce gravy, this is sure to be a guaranteed hit with kids, toddlers, and grown ups alike.
- Freezer-friendly. This is a great make-ahead freezer meal! Skip the takeout and fast food, and turn to your freezer for the most favorited quick and easy weeknight meal.
tips and tricks for success
- Prep the meatballs ahead of time. The meatballs can be assembled up to 1 day in advance and placed in the fridge until ready to use. The uncooked meatballs can also be stored in the freezer for up to 1 month (once flash freezing), thawing overnight in the fridge.
- Use tube pasta. Tube pasta such as elbow macaroni, penne, rigatoni and ziti are great options. The hollow center allows to effectively capture and hold onto the cream sauce gravy, while also creating more surface area for the sauce to cling to compared to other pasta shapes.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your dish. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety.
- Make it lighter. For a lighter option, substitute plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
what to serve with swedish meatball pasta
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Swedish Meatball Pasta: Frequently Asked Questions
You can substitute ground turkey for both.
Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb and can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store. But you can also substitute breadcrumbs to serve as a binder for the meatballs.
Place the uncooked meatballs on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper, freezing for 1 hour until solid. Transfer the meatballs to an airtight, resealable freezer bag. Label, date and freeze up to 1 month.
Use tube pasta with a hollow center that can help sneak in some of the sauce. Penne, rigatoni or ziti are all great options.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Yes! Swedish meatball pasta freezes very well. Let cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer (this will help them freeze quickly). To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Swedish Meatball Pasta
Ingredients
- ¾ pound ground beef
- ¾ pound ground pork
- ⅓ cup Panko
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 ounces elbow macaroni
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups beef stock
- ⅓ cup sour cream
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, Panko, egg yolks, green onions, parsley, allspice and nutmeg; season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined. Roll the mixture into 1-to-1-1/4-inch meatballs, forming about 24 meatballs.
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add meatballs, in batches, and cook until all sides are browned, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
- In a large stockpot or Dutch oven of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Melt butter in the Dutch oven. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in beef stock and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through and thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in pasta and sour cream until heated through, about 2-3 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
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I agree with others that the sauce was a little one note, one of sour cream! I think it needed salt, maybe saute some onions before adding the flour to pan. The meatballs also made so much I didn’t think the 8 oz of noodles was enough. Would cook meatballs in the oven next time to make it easier. I did add steamed broccoli just to get some veggies in the mix.
Loved this recipe. Like others tweaked a tad. Added garlic worchester and a bit more nutmeg (I love it)
Very very delicious!
Thanks
This recipe has potential! My family enjoyed it, but next time I’ll make a couple tweaks. I didn’t want to save 1/4 pounds of meat so I used full pounds. I increased the other ingredients in the meatball mixture, but next time I’ll increase it more as mine were a tad bland. I made the sauce as written in the recipe and it was very thin. It tasted good though! Next time I may try using a little more flour. I’m eating some leftovers right now and it’s even better next day!
I made this recipe because I had all the ingredients except I used frozen meatballs which I had in my freezer. Turned out pretty good. I think this will make the dinner rotation. My kids loved it! Thanks for the recipe. Only other change I saluted onions in the butter before adding the flour and put some garlic powder in the sauce. Yum
how can i make this healthier? thanks
You could sub the sour cream with Greek yogurt! You could also use a leaner meat like ground turkey or chicken.
This was SO delicious! My young boys and husband all loved it as well, which is a great feat! It’s hard to fine a recipe that everyone says they like. I was a little nervous to make this because of some of the reviews commenting that the sauce was lackluster. However, I made it as written except I used salted butter instead of unsalted, as that’s all I had on hand. The sauce was SO flavorful. All the brown bits from the meatballs and the flavors inside the meatballs created a beautifully tasty sauce. JUST right! Can’t wait to make this again.
Does this freeze well?
My husband loved this but I’m on the fence!
The meatballs are very flavorful but I felt the sauce was lacking. It tasted like a lighter version of the sauce made for beef stroganoff. If I make this again, I’d like to add something to thicken it and add a bit for flavor.. Maybe some parmesan, garlic…
I would definitely add garlic, dash or two of Worcestershire sauce, and top with fresh shredded (I think) Gouda and/or mozzarella cheese. I’ve made this only a few times by combining a couple of different recipes. Baked it in the oven at the end… 350 for 30 minutes, or so. But I have to Google it each time to remember what I did, but it’s fabulous! Good luck!
Looks delicious! Planning to make today. Does this freeze well?
This recipe is AMAZING. I just finished the leftovers and felt compelled to leave a review. I used whole grain elbows, turkey instead of beef in the meatballs, and added a dash of cayenne to the sauce. It was incredible! My husband and I both adored this recipe.
So, so good! Had no sour cream used plain yogurt- Aldo used ground turkey with the pork.. delicious!
Made this tonite with crusty sourdough bread, was a total hit. Sauce is very flavorful can’t wait to try leftovers too
I made this and it’s delicious! I used Spaghetti noodles instead of elbow macaroni. Thank you!
Any idea if I could use spaghetti squash?
Really loved the flavor of the meatballs. The sauce was a little underwhelming in flavor. I did use better than bullion beef instead of beef broth so maybe that would make a difference next time. I really enjoyed it and will try it again another time.
I don’t eat beef or pork so I made it with ground turkey and chicken stock, it was really good!
It turned out well but was a little watery. I followed the recipe using 3 cups of beef stock though. Next time I would use less stock. I put a little extra sour cream & my husband loved it.
Did you add the beef stock all at once? I slowly add it so I can control how thick the sauce is. Also..save the pasta water! Great thickener.
More flour. Increase to 1/3 cup.
Excellent
This is such a flavorful meal. It is now a staple in our home. Not a single alteration. LOVE it!
This is divine! I love a true Swedish meatball recipe. I didn’t have pork to do 3/4 of such ground meats, but had venison only. Even with only ground venison and adding coriander this was spot on!
My picky 7, 5 and 2 year olds had seconds! Thank you!