Homemade Swedish Meatballs
User Reviews
5
15 reviews
Excellent
-
Prep Time
20 mins
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Cook Time
20 mins
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Total Time
40 mins
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Servings
8
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Calories
586 kcal
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Course
Main Course
Homemade Swedish Meatballs
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These Homemade Swedish Meatballs mix ground beef and pork with soaked bread, eggs, and spices to create tender, flavorful meatballs. They are browned for a crisp outer texture, then cooked in a creamy, savory sauce made with butter, flour, beef base, and cream. The sauce is rich with mushroom, soy, and onion notes. The dish pairs well with potatoes or pasta and is garnished with parsley or dill for freshness.
Description
Homemade Swedish Meatballs use a mixture of ground beef and pork combined with softened bread soaked in milk, sautéed onions, eggs, and seasonings including nutmeg, allspice, mustard powder, and a touch of hot sauce. The soaking bread and eggs add moisture and tenderness, while the spice blend gives a characteristic warm flavor. The meatballs are shaped uniformly and pan-fried for a crisp, browned exterior that contrasts a tender interior.
The accompanying sauce is made from butter, flour, mushrooms, beef base, soy sauce, and cream. This gravy achieves a smooth, thick consistency rich with umami from beef and mushrooms, lightly flavored with soy and finished with black pepper and salt to taste. The sauce envelops the meatballs, enhancing their savory profile.
Traditionally served with mashed potatoes or pasta, the dish is garnished with bright parsley or dill to add a fresh note. Variations allow for baking the meatballs instead of frying, and the recipe can be made ahead and reheated gently without losing texture or flavor. This balance of textures and deeply savory taste makes it a comforting meal option.
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Ingredients
- 2 lices white bread
- 1 cup milk I use whole milk
- 1 tablespoon butter for softening onions
- 1 onion chopped and divided
- 1 and 1/2 pounds ground beef I like 85%
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 2 large egg
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon mustard powder dry
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg I love to grate fresh nutmeg.
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 10 dashes Tabasco sauce
- neutral cooking oil for frying, generic cooking oil
For the sauce
- 7 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup mushrooms optional, chopped tiny
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon Beef Base**
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce***
- 3 & 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup heavy cream or half & half
- black pepper to taste
- more kosher salt to taste
To serve
- parsley to garnish, or dill
- 1 batch potato or cooked pasta, mashed
Instructions
- Make the meatballs: In a large bowl, tear up 2 pieces of white bread into pieces. Pour 1 cup of milk over the top and smoosh the bread into the milk to get it soaking. Let sit for a while.
- Meanwhile, chop an onion small. In a large, high sided 12-inch skillet (preferably non-stick), melt about 1 tablespoon butter (from a 1/2 cup stick of butter, save the rest of it for the sauce) over medium heat.
- Add a little more than half of the onions to the butter in the pan, and saute for about 4-5 minutes, until the onions are soft but not yet turning brown. Remove from the heat. (Save the remaining onions for the sauce.)
- Meanwhile, stir your soaking bread and use a spatula to break up the bread and turn it all to mush. Add the softened onions to the bowl with the bread (Don't bother washing the pan, we need it later).
- Add all the remaining meatball ingredients: 1 and 1/2 pounds ground beef, 1/2 pound ground pork, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 3/4 teaspoon dry mustard, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon allspice, and about 10 shakes from a jar of Tabasco.
- Put on your big girl pants and mix up these meatballs with your hands. A spoon will just not do. I like to wear disposable gloves for this task. Mixing meatballs with your hands and squeezing all the ingredients together really gives you the best meatball texture. Don't over mix, or your meatballs will be tough. But do make sure the ingredients are fully combined and the meat broken up.
- Shape the meatballs. Use a cookie scoop to form the meatballs, You want your meatballs to all be uniform in size so they cook at the same rate. I like to shape them to about 1 and 1/2 inches across. Use your fingers to press each meatball into the scoop, to help it create its shape. These meatballs are very soft and tender, making them a little challenging to work with, but you will appreciate this once you bite into one. If you are planning to fry, and you have a lot of time, chill your meatballs in the fridge for 1-2 hours. This will help the meatballs keep their shape.
- Fry the meatballs. (You can skip this step and move straight to roasting them in the oven, if you prefer. See notes)Heat the same pan you used for the onions over medium heat. Add about 1 tablespoon oil and swirl it around. Wait a minute, and when it is nice and hot, start adding in your meatballs. I scoop the meatballs as I go. Do not crowd the pan, you need to leave about 1 inch of space in between each meatball so that they are able to brown. You will fry in several batches.Let the meatballs fry undisturbed for about 1 minute, until the bottom is quite brown. Then use a spatula to gently scrape up the bottom and turn the meatballs onto their sides, not completely flipped. Do your best to keep the meatballs together. The more often you turn the meatballs, the more round the shape will be. Continue this process until the meatballs are browned on most or all of the edges. It should take 2-4 minutes for one batch. They do NOT have to be cooked all the way through. Remove the browned meatballs to a large baking sheet or tray.Continue with another batch of meatballs, repeating the process and adding oil as necessary.
- Make the sauce. Once the meatballs are done and removed from the pan, add the rest of the stick of butter (that you used for the onions earlier) to the pan. (Do not remove meatball drippings unless are is more than 1/4 cup). Melt over medium heat.
- Add a 1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms (optional) and the remaining onions to the butter. Season with 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Saute over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes until the onions are translucent.
- Slowly sprinkle 1/2 cup flour over the onions and mushrooms, using a wooden spoon to stir the flour in a little at a time. Add 1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon Beef Base, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce.
- Gradually add 3 and 1/2 cups of water to the mushrooms. Start slow and stir in between every addition of water. You want the water you add to be mostly incorporated into the sauce before adding more.
- Add 1 cup cream or half and half to the sauce.
- Once the sauce has come together, add the meatballs back into the pan, including any resting liquid. Cook the sauce and meatballs over medium heat, making sure there are some slow bubbles happening, for another 10 minutes, until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F in the center of a meatball. If the gravy gets too thick, simply add more beef broth, a little at a time, stirring completely with every addition, until it is the consistency you want. The longer you cook, the thicker your sauce will get.
- Taste the sauce and decide if you want to add more salt and pepper. An optional and excellent garnish is chopped fresh parsley or dill, either adding it to the pan and stirring in, or topping each plating.
- Serve Swedish Meatballs with Aunt Shirley's Creamy Mashed Potatoes, or with buttered pasta. It's also excellent with a jar of Lingonberry jam, or Homemade Cranberry Sauce!
- Store meatballs in the fridge for 4-5 days.
- How to freeze: Meatballs and sauce freeze beautifully! Freeze in ziplocks. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then add to a pan with a bit of water. Heat over medium low, whisking the sauce in between meatballs as it heats. Add more beef broth if your gravy has become too thick.
Notes
- You can vary the meat ratio; pork adds fat and tenderness, so adjust according to lean beef quality.
- If preferred, bake meatballs at 450°F for 12-15 minutes until browned, then combine with sauce without further cooking the meatballs.
- Make ahead by cooking meatballs and sauce, then gently reheat in a crock pot on low or warm setting, stirring occasionally to prevent drying.
- For sauce substitution, use high-quality beef stock instead of water and beef base; Worcestershire sauce can replace soy sauce if desired.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Calories
586kcal
(29%)
Carbohydrates
14g
(5%)
Protein
25g
(50%)
Fat
48g
(74%)
Saturated Fat
24g
(120%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
2g
(12%)
Monounsaturated Fat
17g
(85%)
Trans Fat
2g
(100%)
Cholesterol
195mg
(65%)
Potassium
497mg
(11%)
Fiber
1g
(4%)
Sugar
4g
(8%)
Vitamin A
908IU
(18%)
Vitamin C
2mg
(2%)
Calcium
110mg
(11%)
Iron
3mg
(17%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 8Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 586 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 586kcal | 29% |
| Carbohydrates | 14g | 5% |
| Protein | 25g | 50% |
| Fat | 48g | 74% |
| Saturated Fat | 24g | 120% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 2g | 12% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 17g | 85% |
| Trans Fat | 2g | 100% |
| Cholesterol | 195mg | 65% |
| Potassium | 497mg | 11% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 4g | 8% |
| Vitamin A | 908IU | 18% |
| Vitamin C | 2mg | 2% |
| Calcium | 110mg | 11% |
| Iron | 3mg | 17% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
15 reviews
Excellent
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