Perfect Swedish Meatballs
FYI: The origin of this dish turns out to be Turkish, not Swedish as per an official 2018 tweet off of Sweden’s own national account. Apparently King Charles XII of Sweden, resided in the Ottoman Empire for 4-5 years in the early 18th century. When he returned home to Sweden he brought this recipe back with him.
This dish is also widely popular at all IKEA store cafeterias. I’ve enjoyed it there myself. Well the good news is, you don’t have to go to Turkey, Sweden or Ikea to enjoy these beauties. This recipe is a fantastic and delicious delight.
The meatballs are made with not-your-usual spices consisting of allspice and nutmeg. I also sautéed the chopped onions to sweeten the flavor- you don’t have to though. The sauce is so velvety good with the flavor really kicked up with that combination of a butter rue, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon and heavy cream – CHEF’S KISS!
Serve these silky beauties with some mashed potatoes, rice or egg noodles for optimal sauce pleasure – you wanna enjoy all that glorious sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley and freshly cracked black pepper.
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Perfect Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1/2 onion, fine chop
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 lbs ground pork (or beef)
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground all spice
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Sauce:
- 4 tbs butter
- 3 tbs flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- salt + pepper to taste
Instructions
Meatballs:
- Preheat your oven to 400° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Sauté your chopped onion in a little olive oil until just translucent – 2 minutes.
- In a large bowl combine the meatball ingredients with your hands. Form medium sized balls and place onto the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until internal meatball temperature registers 160° F.
Sauce:
- On medium high heat, melt your butter in a pan and add the flour. Continuously whisk until the rue turns brown. Slowly add and whisk in the broth and then heavy cream.
- Next, mix in the Worcestershire and Dijon and bring everything to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook until your sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the cooked meatballs to the pan and continue to simmer for another few minutes, drizzling them with the sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Looking for more?
Stella,
Can greek yogurt be used in place of the heavy cream?
Hi Mary Lou, I havent tried it with yogurt.
I would temper the yogurt so it doesnt separate the sauce when added into the pan
Stella!! Oh My God!!! These Swedish Meatballs were OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!! I absolutely love Swedish Meatballs, but I’ve never made the same recipe twice because the sauce isn’t good enough. THIS IS THE RECIPE!! The only addition/change I made, was I added about 1 1/2 tsp. of Trader Joe’s Umami seasoning, and I used white pepper instead of black. I will make this again and again! The meatballs were very delicious, too!!!
I’ve been following you on Instagram for a while and have saved zillions of recipes, but this is actually the first one I’ve made. My next one is definitely the Spicy Salmon Rice Muffins!
These look fabulous! I haven’t made Swedish meatballs in a long time. Thanks!
http://www.chefmimiblog.com
This recipe was delicious! Fairly easy to make and an affordable meal. My boyfriend ate two portions so it gets a good vote from us!!!
Hi Rachel, thank you so much! I’m so glad you both loved them!
I make these at least 2-3 times/year. A huge favorite with the family
Hi Kara, that’s awesome! I’m so glad you all loved the recipe! <3
These are close to the recipe I have in a old cookbook. Used ground beef and fresh garlic. Added a little milk in the beef mixture and left out the mustard in the gravy. Still delicious!
Thank you Stella, this was incredible! So much flavor!! I could lick the sauce off my plate!
I usually try your Mediterranean recipes so this was a wonderful departure. I wish I had taken a photo. I put lignonberry sauce on the side and yummmm!!
This was SO YUMMY !!
I made it as directed except used Half&Half (because that’s what I had) & omitted the small amount of Salt, also I didn’t have any Cardamom. Next time, I’d make even MORE of that sauce! We served it over Egg Noodles.
made these, will DEFINETLY be sharing with my mum
As a Swede I can’t wait to make these, they look and sound amazing. In Sweden you’d serve them with boiled potatoes (I really like new potatoes, skin on), lingonberry jam (that might be an IKEA job) and cucumber dill pickles.