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This is hands down the best Swedish meatballs recipe you’ll find! Made the traditional way, these easy Swedish meatballs use ingredients you probably already have on hand!
Swedish meatballs recipe
When it comes to dinner recipes, I tend to favor the quick, fairly easy ones. However I don’t want to sacrifice flavor for convenience, I want the best of both worlds. This recipe for the best Swedish meatballs is just that! A thirty-ish minute meal perfect for hectic weeknights but so jam-packed with flavors everyone will love and rave about it.
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How to make Swedish meatballs
These meatballs are just like Italian meatballs, but they are softer and tender. The secret to making perfectly tender meatballs at home (and therefore making the best Swedish meatballs), is adding some bread soaked in milk to the mixture. I prefer to use day-old sandwich bread heavily soaked in milk until soft. The stale bread will retain all the moisture of you meatballs when cooking resulting is super tender and juicy little balls of meat.
Swedish meatballs sauce
The other thing that makes these simple meatballs different from any other meatball? The sauce! The Swedish sauce is basically a quick pan sauce made with the juices remaining from frying the meatballs, a bit of flour, some stock a teaspoon of mustard and a splash of heavy cream. That’s it! Simple and cozy.
I like to cook the meatballs in the sauce for a couple of minutes but that’s completely optional. In my opinion, meatballs get even more tender and juicy (and flavorful if that’s possible) when simmered with the sauce.
What to serve with Swedish meatballs
Simply put, they go great with everything! They are amazing over pasta, served with rice and even with a salad on the side. However, the most traditional way is to serve them with mashed potatoes or boiled potatoes. Swedes usually also serve the recipe with some lingonberry jam on the side.
Best Swedish Meatballs
To make these tasty Swedish meatballs you’ll need ground beef, bread, milk, egg, red onion, allspice, salt and pepper, olive oil, flour, beef and heavy cream.
In a bowl combine bread and milk. Let it set for around 5 minutes or until bread has completely soaked up the milk. Mix to combine.
In another bowl combine ground beef, red onion, egg, soaked bread and spices. Mix until everything is well incorporated.
With the help of your hands shape small balls.
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add meatballs and cook for 3 minutes per side or until golden brown and fully cooked.
Transfer to a plate.
In the same pan add flour and cook for 3 minutes or until golden.
Add stock and mix until everything is well incorporated. Mix in heavy cream and bring to a soft simmer for around 2 minutes.
Add meatballs and cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from fire.
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Best Swedish metaballs
This is hands down the best Swedish meatballs recipe you’ll find! Made the traditional way these easy Swedish meatballs use ingredients you probably already have on hand!
Prep Time5 minutes mins
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Total Time40 minutes mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Swedish
Keyword: best swedish meatballs, easy swedish meatballs, simple swedish meatballs, swedish meatballs recipe, tasty swedish meatballs
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 Pound ground beef
- ½ Cup bread
- ½ Cup milk
- 1 Egg
- ⅓ Red onion chopped
- 1 Tsp allspice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp flour
- 1 ¼ Cup beef stock
- ¼ Cup heavy cream
Instructions
In a bowl combine bread and milk. Let it set for around 5 minutes or until bread has completely soaked up the milk. Mix to combine.
In another bowl combine ground beef, red onion, egg, soaked bread and spices. Mix until everything is well incorporated.
With the help of your hands shape small balls.
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add meatballs and cook for 3 minutes per side or until golden brown and fully cooked. Transfer to a plate.
In the same pan add flour and cook for 3 minutes or until golden. Add stock and mix until everything is well incorporated.
Add heavy cream and bring to a soft simmer for around 2 minutes. Add meatballs and cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from fire.
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FAQs
If you like to do OAMC cooking, these freeze beautifully, in fact, I never make less than 100 meatballs at a time, lightly brown them, then flash freeze to finish later. The traditional recipe calls for a mix of beef, pork, and veal- if you object to veal, they work equally well with an even mix of beef and pork.
How do you keep Swedish meatballs from falling apart? ›
Roll your meatballs in flour
Roll the finished meatballs in plain flour before frying. This is, hands down, one of the easiest ways I've discovered to prevent meatballs from falling apart when cooking.
What's the difference between Swedish meatballs and other meatballs? ›
Italian Meatballs vs Swedish Meatballs: Swedish Meatballs are typically smaller in size than Italian meatballs and they are usually made with a 50-50 ratio of ground pork and ground beef.
How do you make meatballs that aren't tough? ›
Add moisture.
Eggs and binders like breadcrumbs mixed with milk all help with keeping meatballs tender and moist, so don't skip any of these.
What is the sauce for Swedish meatballs made from? ›
Whisk together stock, cream, flour, soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon rosemary in a large saucepan over low heat until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in thawed meatballs, and continue cooking until meatballs are heated through, about 5 more minutes.
Why do Swedish meatballs taste so good? ›
The Seasoning
While both varieties include ingredients such as grated onion and panade (milk-soaked bread) or bread crumbs, plus the usual salt and pepper, Swedish meatballs traditionally use spices like allspice, nutmeg, white pepper, and sometimes ground ginger as flavoring.
What is the secret to making tender meatballs? ›
Egg and breadcrumbs are common mix-ins to add moisture and tenderness. Another binder option that people swear by is a panade, which is fresh or dry breadcrumbs that have been soaked in milk. “The soaked breadcrumbs help keep the proteins in the meat from shrinking,” as food writer Tara Holland explained in the Kitchn.
Should I roll my meatballs in flour before baking? ›
A traditional size for this sort of meatball is 2 to 3 inches across, but you can make them any size you want. Once you roll the meatball in your hands, roll it in the flour to give it a good coating. Set each one on a baking sheet as you work.
Should you chill meatballs before cooking? ›
Chill your meatballs: refrigerating your meatballs an hour before cooking helps them hold their shape throughout the cooking process. They can chill in the fridge for up to 24 hours before cooking, making meatballs a great make-ahead dish, too.
Are homestyle meatballs the same as Swedish meatballs? ›
While they are all balls of meat, the ingredients, the meat mix, the spices (perhaps the biggest difference) and the way they are served and the sauces used for service are very different.
These meatballs tend to be a bit smaller in size and are more savory than their Italian counterpart. They are seasoned with aromatic allspice that balances out the rich flavor of the white, gravy-like sauce they're served in.
What do you eat with Swedish meatballs? ›
Buttered egg noodles (or spaetzle) or alternately buttered and parsleyed boiled potatoes, steamed green beans. Or go with mashed potatoes, green peas and lingonberry jam.
Is it better to use milk or water in meatballs? ›
Milk, definitely. Water doesn't add flavor or fat, so it detracts from the finished meatballs. If I don't have milk, or I'm making them for people who don't eat milk with meat (a significant portion of my family keeps kosher) I use beef or chicken stock. It adds moisture and flavor, which is what you want.
What does adding milk to meatballs do? ›
When it comes to adding liquid to meatball mixtures, milk is often used for its versatility, depth of flavor, and richness. Without the use of milk, you may be faced with a plate of dry meatballs. Milk adds a certain level of moisture that helps produce perfectly tender meatballs.
What does Bobby Flay put in his meatballs? ›
Ingredients
- Deselect All.
- 2 tablespoons, plus 1 cup pure olive oil.
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped.
- 2 large eggs.
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley.
- 1/3 pound ground chuck.
- 1/2 pound ground veal.
- 1/2 pound ground pork butt.
Combine beef and pork mince until all lumps are smoothed. Add finely chopped onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg and mix. Then add milk and salt and pepper to taste. Grab small handfuls and roll into a ball shape.
What's the difference between Swedish and Finnish meatballs? ›
"Finnish meatballs are meatier and bigger than Swedish meatballs. They are also served with lingonberry jam and boiled/mashed potatoes, and a gravy, but they are juicier and yummier.
How are Swedish meatballs different from Italian? ›
The major difference between Swedish and Italian meatballs is what they're accompanied with. Swedish meatballs are traditionally topped with a creamy gravy and served with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce to cut through the richness, similar to how they're cooked at the two-Michelin-starred restaurant, Aquavit.
