Swedish Meatballs

Swedish Meatballs are so tender and a topped with a flavorful gravy that is good over pasta or rice for dinner or as a hearty appetizer. Keep these warm in the slow cooker for a great potluck dish!

SWEDISH MEATBALLS RECIPE

Our church was having a heritage night where we all had to bring a dish that came from our ancestors. I’m Swedish on both sides of my family so there was no question that I needed to bring a Swedish dish.

And potlucks are always a good reason to bring meatballs.

I mean I’m obviously Swedish with my bright blue eyes (errr…green) and blond hair (that has to be bleached every two months). Honestly, we didn’t grow up having anything Swedish for holidays…evahh.

So, me bringing an authentic Swedish dish was as authentic as me stopping by IKEA on the way to the event and buying their IKEA Swedish meatballs (which I was so close to doing after 6 hours of soccer games).

I cannot attest for the authenticity of these, but I can tell you that they are delicious. I’ve made them a couple of times and have learned what works best and what doesn’t. I may or may not have forgot to put the egg in once. Oops. 

This is your meat mixture – 2/3 pound ground beef and 1/3 pound pork. I will say that I’ve done it with equal parts beef and pork just because it what’s I had and they were great.

There are two kinds of ways people make meatballs. Some use breadcrumbs, some use bread soaked in milk – which is the version we’re using here.

Neither way is the correct way but the milk soaked bread version makes for a super tender meatball.

The meat mixture will be really wet so I suggest chilling it for 30-60 minutes to firm it up before making your balls.

Of course the time I didn’t chill my meat was when I took a picture. Just imagine that if you chill your meat, the balls will be much rounder and a little more perfect.

Perfect never was my thing though. You do brown the meatballs in a skillet before baking them. Don’t skip this part. It gives them that little extra burst of flavor.

The gravy is super simple to make and is rich but not too rich if you know what I mean.

HOW TO MAKE SWEDISH MEATBALLS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place the bread crumbs into a small bowl, and mix in the cream. Allow to stand until crumbs absorb the cream, about 10 minutes. While the bread is soaking, melt 1 teaspoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion until it turns light brown and is soft.

3. Place onion into a mixing bowl; mix with the ground beef, ground pork, egg, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, and allspice. Lightly mix in the bread crumbs and cream.

4. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Pinch off about 1 1/2 tablespoon of the meat mixture per meatball, and form into balls. Place the meatballs into the skillet, and cook just until the outsides are brown, about 5 minutes, turning the meatballs often. Insides of the meatballs will still be pink. Place browned meatballs into a baking dish, pour in chicken broth, and cover with foil.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until the meatballs are tender, about 20-40 minutes. Remove meatballs and place in a serving dish.

6. To make brown gravy, pour pan drippings into a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the flour into the pan drippings until smooth, and gradually whisk in enough beef broth to total about 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Bring the gravy to a simmer, whisking constantly until thick, about 5 minutes. Just before serving, whisk in the sour cream. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve the gravy with the meatballs over pasta or rice.

MAKE AHEAD TIP:

Keep meatballs warm in a slow cooker with gravy and stir in sour cream before serving.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH THIS

You can serve these Swedish meatballs over rice or pasta.

OTHER APPETIZER RECIPES: