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The best Swedish meatballs are made from scratch with an easy homemade gravy. Make a huge batch of meatballs and keep them in the freezer for a quick meal!
Roll up your sleeves! Made from scratch, bite-sized, and tender, homemade Swedish meatballs and an easy gravy are on your horizon. Unlike Italian meatballs, they’re held together with something called a panade, a paste made of bread and milk (or cream).
Instead of Italian herbs and spices, Swedish meatballs use warming spices like allspice and nutmeg which make the ground meat mixture taste unique but also somehow familiar.
The creamy gravy is perfect for the mountain of buttered egg noodles or potatoes you’ll be serving alongside your new favorite dinner.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Beef and pork: Ground veal is traditional in Swedish meatballs, but it’s also hard to find. So, I use a 50/50 split of beef and pork.
- Onion: To avoid biting into large chunks of onion in your meatballs, grate them on a box grater.
- Chicken broth: Most canned beef broths taste like the metal can they are in, so I use chicken broth from a carton and supplement with beef base.
- Beef base: Similar to bullion cubes, beef base is highly concentrated beef stock. You can find it in powder or paste forms. I love “Better than Bouillon” brand, a paste which is widely available and tastes delicious.
Step-by-step instructions
I like to bake my meatballs in the oven, but the recipe card below includes instructions for pan-frying.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, set a rack on top, and coat the rack with nonstick spray. To make the panade, mash the egg, cream, and bread together in the bowl until it forms a paste.
- Add the ground beef and ground pork, grated onion, spices, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper).
- Working with 1 heaping tablespoon at a time, roll the meat mixture into 1-inch balls and lay on prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. (I use the OXO medium cookie scoop, a size 40 portioner). Wet your hands so the meat mixture doesn’t stick to them. You should have 24 meatballs.
- Set the rolled meatballs directly on the rack. Bake the meatballs for 15 to 20 minutes until brown and crispy looking at the edges (they’re done when an internal thermometer reads 155 degrees for 15 seconds). Once the meatballs are out of the oven, you can start on the gravy.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until foaming.Whisk in the flour and cook until the roux is light in color, about 1 minute.
- Add the broth, beef base, and brown sugar. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes until the mixture reduces by about a third.
- Stir in the cream and return the gravy to a simmer.
- Add the browned meatballs, cover, and simmer until the meatballs are heated through and the gravy has thickened. Then season to taste with salt and pepper.
Recipe tips and variations
- Pan-frying the meatballs: Heat vegetable shortening or olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the meatballs in batches until browned on all sides and the meatballs are cooked, about 5 to 7 minutes per batch (an internal thermometer should read 155 degrees for 15 seconds). Add more shortening between batches if the skillet looks dry. Leave all the delicious bits in the skillet for the gravy.
- Freezer: Arrange meatballs in a single layer on a baking sheet or plate, not touching. Freeze until solid, about 1 hour, then transfer to a freezer-safe container and label it. Meatballs keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months. The gravy does not freeze well, so make that when you need it.
- Reheat: No need to thaw before you reheat these. Throw the frozen meatballs directly into the gravy and allow an extra 10 minutes or so for them to be heated through.
- Slow cooker: Keep Swedish meatballs and gravy warm in a slow cooker for parties and buffet dinners.
- Serving suggestion: Enjoy these meatballs with a delicious pile of mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, or even cooked rice. And if you can’t find lingonberries, cranberry sauce is an awesome substitute.
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The Best Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 slice white sandwich bread
- 8 ounces ground beef (see note 1)
- 8 ounces ground pork
- 1 onion grated (see note 2)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Gravy:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups chicken broth (see note 3)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon beef base (see note 4)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Mashed potatoes or buttered egg noodles for serving (see note 9)
- Cranberries for serving (see note 9)
Instructions
To make the meatballs:
- Adjust 2 oven racks to the upper middle and lower middle positions. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil and set racks coated nonstick spray on top.
- In a large bowl, mash together egg, cream, and bread until a smooth paste forms. Add beef, pork, onion, allspice, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Using a strong rubber spatula or your hands, mix well.
- Working with 1 heaping tablespoon at a time, roll the meat mixture into 1-inch balls and lay on prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. (I use the OXO medium cookie scoop, a size 40 portioner, and do meatballs per rack). If rolling by hand, wet your hands so the meat mixture doesn't stick to them. You should have 24 meatballs.
- Arrange on rack and bake until browned with crispy edges, about 15 to 20 minutes (an internal thermometer should read 155 degrees for 15 seconds).
To make the gravy:
- In a large skillet, melt butter until the foaming subsides. Stir in flour and cook for one minute. Add chicken broth, brown sugar, and beef base. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes until reduced to about 2 cups.
- Stir in heavy cream and return to a simmer. Add meatballs, cover and cook until the meatballs are heated through and the gravy has thickened (allow about 10 minutes if the meatballs are frozen). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve with mashed potatoes or buttered egg noodles and cranberries (or lingonberries, if you can find them).
Recipe Video
Notes
- Beef and pork: Ground veal is traditional in Swedish meatballs, but it’s also hard to find. So, I use a 50/50 split of beef and pork.
- Onion: To avoid biting into large chunks of onion in your meatballs, grate them on a box grater.
- Chicken broth: Most canned beef broths taste like the metal can they are in, so I use chicken broth from a carton and supplement with beef base.
- Beef base: Similar to bullion cubes, beef base is highly concentrated beef stock. You can find it in powder or paste forms. I love “Better than Bouillon” brand, a paste that is widely available and tastes delicious.
- Pan-frying the meatballs: Heat vegetable shortening or olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the meatballs in batches until browned on all sides and the meatballs are cooked, about 5 to 7 minutes per batch (an internal thermometer should read 155 degrees for 15 seconds). Add more shortening between batches if the skillet looks dry. Leave all the delicious bits in the skillet for the gravy.
- Freezer: Arrange meatballs in a single layer on a baking sheet or plate, not touching. Freeze until solid, about 1 hour, then transfer to a freezer-safe container and label it. Meatballs keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months. The gravy does not freeze well, so make that when you need it.
- Reheat: No need to thaw before you reheat these. Throw the frozen meatballs directly into the gravy and allow an extra 10 minutes or so for them to be heated through.
- Slow cooker: Keep Swedish meatballs and gravy warm in a slow cooker for parties and buffet dinners.
- Serving suggestion: Enjoy these meatballs with a delicious pile of mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, or even cooked rice. And if you can’t find lingonberries, cranberry sauce is an awesome substitute.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
This recipe looks awesome I’m excited to try it! One question though, if I double the recipe do I need to add in more crock pot time?
Hi Kimberly, thank you for your question. The meatballs are made in the oven or pan fried on the stove, they have Crispy brown edges. The slow cooker is for keeping them warm. They may take a little more time to bake or pan fry. I hope you love them! – Meggan
I thoroughly enjoy your site and recipes. I know I can trust them to turn out just as you describe. Keep up the great work, as there are many of us depending on you for our culinary inspirations!
Hi Linda, thank you so much! I’m so happy you enjoy my recipes, and I will! Take care! – Meggan
Just like IKEA. SO good!
This does not read like any Swedish meatball recipe I’ve ever seen, not even close to my Swedish grandmas recipe. I am from Karlskrona, Sweden. However, I plan to give this recipe a try and I hope it measures up! ;-)
Can frozen meatballs be used? If so, how do you reccomend we cook them?
Hi Melissa, yes definitely! I’m sorry this info isn’t in the post, I thought it was but maybe it got lost. Skip all the instructions about making meatballs, obviously, and just go to the “to make the gravy” section. Follow the instructions to make the gravy and add the frozen meatballs to the skillet with the gravy as directed in Step 3 of the gravy section. It should take about 10 minutes to heat them through. That’s really all it is – the easiest thing ever. I love making this recipe with frozen meatballs. If you have anymore questions, just let me know! Thank you! -Meggan
oh yeah i love sweden
My understanding that “beef base” means the meat and sauce are all made with beef. Every Swedish meatball I have ever eaten in Sweden and Denmark were made of 1/3 beef, 1/3 pork and 1/3 veal. I can see that Inaya Shujaat has a real challenge as a Muslim and I am very interested in hearing how her combination of beef and chicken turn out.
When cooking at home, it’s not quite the challenge that people may think it is. Basically, any recipe that calls for the addition of ground pork, ground chicken can be used as a substitute.
The real challenge comes from eating out. I can never try the IKEA Swedish meatballs, but that’s okay. They probably don’t come close to homemade. 😊
I have a question: what is “beef base?” I’m not familiar with this term at all.
Also, I’m Muslim, so I’ll be substituting chicken for pork when I make these. I live in New York City, so finding ground veal won’t be a problem (all the kosher markets have it), so I’ll try the 1/3 chicken, 1/3 beef, 1/3 veal combination.
I’ll let you know how it turns out! 😊
I just made the meatballs, and they turned out amazing! I used equal parts ground beef, chicken, and veal. I really do think the veal is what made it. My hubby and kids were impressed with the results and gobbled them up.
This is definitely going into the “rotation!”
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