The Best Swedish Meatballs Recipe

Authentic Swedish Meatballs with a creamy sauce and a side of cucumber and lingonberries, these meatballs are a taste of Sweden made at home.

Sharing this recipe for Swedish Meatballs was an adventure. From the journey in Sweden, to the table in Chicago, this is one dish that was a labor of love!

Swedish Meatballs

My family comes from Gotland, Sweden, so on a recent trip to Sweden I knew I couldn’t leave the country without finding the very best Swedish Meatballs around.

Every restaurant claims to have the best meatballs, so I knew I’d have to dig a little deeper if I wanted to find the most authentic Swedish Meatballs in Sweden.

To lead me on my quest, I asked a local where SHE would go to eat. She pointed me to her favorite restaurant and I’m so glad she did.

The meatballs were superb. A side of lingonberries, cucumber salad, and creamy potatoes made the authentic Swedish Meatball experience complete!

I’m sharing my version of those meatballs with YOU.

I used a combination of pork and beef to add more flavor to the meatballs. The recipe is inspired by the ones I tried in Sweden.

What makes these Meatballs Authentic?

While Ikea meatballs and sauce are delicious, I had to do a little research on what makes the meatballs I ate in Sweden truly the best.

In my research for authentic meatballs, it turns out many places in Sweden add Allspice to the meatballs. It gives them a wonderful flavor note that makes these stand out from many of the meatballs I’ve eaten in the United States.

Swedish Meatball sauce is always creamy and rich, usually because of sour cream. This recipe gets all its creaminess from heavy cream.

Homemade Swedish Meatball Ingredients

• Meat- While I chose to combine ground beef and pork in my meatballs, you could also use all ground pork or all ground beef.
• Minced onion gives a tasty bite of flavor to these meatballs and breadcrumbs and egg hold everything together.
• For the sauce, be sure to use real heavy whipping cream. Milk or other substitutes will change the texture of the sauce leaving it thinner and less creamy.
• Beef broth adds rich flavor to the gravy.
• Allspice– to give them that authentic flavor!

How to Make Swedish Meatballs

Surprisingly, making meatballs in not complex.

1. Mix breadcrumb ingredients. Use your hands to combine until thoroughly mixed.
2. Roll into balls. Roll the meatball mixture into 1-inch balls with your hands, packing each one tightly. Continue until all the mixture is used. You should end up with about 75 meatballs.
3. Cooking the meatballs. Heat a cast iron skillet to medium high heat. Add meatballs in a single layer and cook several minutes rotating to cook them evenly on all sides. Repeat until all the meatballs are cooked, then remove from the pan and set aside.
4. Make the sauce. Use the drippings in the pan to help create depth of flavor in your sauce!

Once the sauce is thickened, return the meatballs to the large skillet and simmer until heated. This should only take a couple of minutes.

Serving Suggestions

Serve your Swedish Meatballs the way the Swedes do! Sprinkle with parsley. Enjoy with mashed potatoes on the side.

I served our Swedish Meatballs just like they did in Sweden, with a side of creamy (pureed) potatoes, a Cucumber Dill Salad , and of course Lingonberries! If you can’t find lingonberries, our homemade cranberry sauce is a delicious substitute.

I even made an easy version of Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs for busy weeknights.

Egg noodles are also a delicious side instead of mashed potatoes.

More Easy Dinner Recipes

• Meatloaf Recipe
• Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe
• Crack Chicken
• Beef Bourguignon
• Garlic Bread
• Instant Pot Salisbury Steak

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Swedish Meatballs Recipe

5 from 3 votes

By: Aimee

This Authentic Swedish Meatballs recipe is delicious enough for a weeknight meal, and impressive enough for guests! You'll love the creamy sauce and the sides of cucumbers and lingonberries!

Prep Time: 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 75 meatballs

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

For the meatballs:

• ▢ 1 pound lean ground beef
• ▢ 1 ½ pounds ground pork
• ▢ ½ cup minced onion 1 small white onion**see note below
• ▢ 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
• ▢ ½ teaspoon allspice
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ ¼ cup heavy whipping cream

For the sauce:

• ▢ 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• ▢ ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ 3 cups beef stock
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon allspice
• ▢ ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon parsley

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Instructions 

• In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, minced onion, breadcrumbs, seasonings, eggs, and heavy cream. Using your hands, combine ingredients completely until thoroughly mixed.
• Roll mixture into 1-inch sized meatballs, packing tightly. Set aside until all the mixture is used. You should be able to make about 75 meatballs.
• Heat a large cast iron skillet on medium high heat. Add meatballs in a single layer with a little bit of space between each one. Cook several minutes then rotate the meatballs to cook evenly on all sides. Once cooked, remove meatballs onto a serving plate, and add more (I had to do about 3 rounds).
• Once all the meatballs are cooked, remove them all from the pan and add the butter for the sauce. Using a whisk, melt butter with the drippings in the pan. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and whisk over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add in the beef stock, salt, pepper, and allspice. Whisk until no lumps (except the possible meatball pieces from the pan). Turn heat down to low, add in the heavy cream, and simmer for another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the sauce is thickened, return the meatballs to the skillet and simmer until heated (only takes a couple minutes).
• To serve, sprinkle with parsley. Enjoy with mashed potatoes!

Notes

• Minced onion is easy to do! Peel your small white onion, and using a grater (or zester) rub onion over the zester (over a bowl) until the entire onion is grated. It will be a mushy, watery mess…which is exactly what you want!
• Serve the meatballs over mashed potatoes or egg noodles.
• Store leftover meatballs and sauce in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 606kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 45g, Fat: 39g, Saturated Fat: 18g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 18g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 215mg, Sodium: 572mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Swedish

Did you make this recipe?Mention @shugarysweets or tag #shugarysweets!

Dinnertime doesn’t get any tastier than flavorful authentic Swedish Meatballs simmered in creamy sauce!