These homemade Swedish Meatballs are tender, juicy, and smothered in the very best creamy brown gravy! This classic comfort food pairs perfectly with pasta, mashed potatoes, and of course some lingonberry jam.
Meatball night is family’s favorite night, try my Italian Meatballs, Creamy Turkey Meatballs, or even Shrimp Meatballs.
Table of Contents
What Are Swedish Meatballs?
Swedish meatballs, köttbullar, are probably one of the best-known Swedish cooking specialties. IKEA made them popular in the states and I’m very grateful for that! These meatballs are made with a combination of ground pork and ground beef (or sometimes veal), bread or bread crumbs, milk, onion, and spices.
The combination of spices like allspice, nutmeg, white pepper, and sometimes ground ginger is what separates these meatballs from others. All of the warm spices come together to create the most incredible depth in the meatballs that pairs beautifully with the rich brown gravy.
Traditional way of serving Swedish meatballs is with creamy brown gravy, mashed (or boiled) potatoes, and of course, lingonberry jam. But there is no one “authentic” recipe for Swedish meatballs. Much like Italian meatballs, everyone’s grandmother makes the meatballs their own favorite way and those are considered to be the best.
Ingredient Notes
Ground Meat – You’ll need both ground beef and pork for this meatball recipe. For the ground beef, choose the 85/15 meat to fat ration for juicier, tender, more flavorful meatballs.
Egg – This will act as a binder for the meatball ingredients.
Onion – A white or yellow onion will both work well.
Bread – It will need to be soaked in milk and gently squeezed. If using a small or thin slice of bread, you can use two. If needed, use gluten free bread and if it also a small size, use two slices.
Seasonings – Ground allspice, ground nutmeg, white pepper and salt are needed for the meatballs and gravy.
Sour Cream – I recommend using sour cream with its full fat content. Low fat sour cream will not create the same rich, thick consistency.
Beef Stock – Use a low sodium beef stock to control the amount of sodium in your dish. Beef Stock will have a richer, deeper flavor than broth but if stock in not available, use broth.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and instructions.
How to Make Swedish Meatballs
Make the mixture. Combine all of the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl. Mix until everything is evenly incorporated.
Scoop it. Use a scoop to get even amount of meat mixture so that all the meatballs are the same size (1). Roll all the meatballs before starting to cook and lay them out on a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil (2).
Cook the meatballs. Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the meatballs to the pan and cook until about half way done and bottoms are browned (3). Flip the meatballs and cook until almost done (4).
Make a roux. Take the meatballs out of the pan and leave all the juices in the pan. In the same pan, melt a little more butter and whisk in the flour (5). Once the flour mixture looks smooth, keep whisking and start pouring in warmed beef stock (6).
Make it creamy. Let the mixture come to simmer, while still slowly whisking. Add sour cream, Dijon mustard, heavy whipping cream, salt, nutmeg, and pepper and whisk until smooth (7, 8).
Add the meatballs to the pan. Once the sauce starts to thicken, add meatballs back in and simmer everything together for a few minutes (9, 10).
Recipe FAQs
I always recommend serving Swedish meatballs with a base like egg noodles and lingonberry jam. You can also try Mashed Potatoes, pasta, or Rice Pilaf. That way there’s something there to help you soak up all of that delicious brown gravy and not one drop goes to waste!
You can also lighten up your plate with a veggie side dish like Sautéed Mushrooms or Haricots Verts. Broccoli and cauliflower are always good vegetables to soak up the sauce.
Swedish meatballs pair perfectly with lingonberry jam! It is the authentic way to serve these meatballs with a little side of lingonberry jam. It’s a slightly sweet jam made from lingonberries and it balances the savory gravy and meatballs in the best way.
Use a cookie scoop to get an even amount of meat mixture so the meatballs are all the same. I like to use #40 cookie scoop. If you don’t have a scoop, just use a soup spoon and roll the meatballs freehand but try to get them the same size.
Tip: Grease your hands with some cooking spray so the meat mixture doesn’t stick while rolling the meatballs.
Yes! To make this recipe gluten-free, simply use gluten-free bread in the meatballs and gluten-free all-purpose flour in the sauce.
How to Make Swedish Meatballs Ahead of Time
You can make just the meatballs ahead of time or you can prepare both the meatballs and the sauce ahead. Store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container and reheat the next day.
This dish is easy to reheat using your stove-top. Transfer the meatballs and the sauce into a pan and reheat it with the lid on over medium to medium-low heat.
If you prepared just the meatballs ahead of time, make the sauce as directed, add meatballs to the sauce, and cook until meatballs are hot throughout.
Storing and Reheating
In an airtight container in the fridge, your meatballs and gravy will stay fresh for about 2-3 days.
While it’s okay to reheat individual portions in the microwave, the results are better to do it in the pan on stove-top. In the microwave, make sure to reheat them in increments of about 30-45 seconds and just until hot. You don’t want to scald or overheat the sauce. In a pan, reheat over medium-low and covered with a lid just until hot.
How to Freeze Swedish Meatballs
Meatballs are wonderful to prepare ahead of time and freeze. You can portion them into several batches and thaw overnight in the refrigerator for an easy weeknight dinner.
I have a whole post dedicated to freezing meatballs, so give it a read!
To freeze the meatballs, prepare them as instructed in the recipe and lay the cooked meatballs on a cutting board covered with parchment paper. Once they are cooled to room temperature, place the cutting board in the freezer for 1-2 hours. (Set a timer!)
Portion the frozen meatballs into zip-lock freezer bags, get as much air out as you can, label, and place in the freezer.
Thaw meatballs in the refrigerator overnight. Prepare the sauce according to the recipe and simmer meatballs in the sauce until reheated. Don’t freeze the sauce!
Tools For This Recipe
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Cutting Board – use plastic cutting board when working with raw meats! If working with a lot of meat, this large cutting board is great. Wooden Cutting Board
Measuring Cups and Spoons and/or Tempered Glass Liquid Measuring Cups
More of Our Favorite Comfort Food Recipes
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Swedish Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground beef (85%/15%)
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1 slice of bread soaked in milk and gently squeezed
- 1/4 cup milk from soaking the bread
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- salt to taste
- 3 tbsp butter for cooking
Sauce:
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups beef stock warmed
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- salt to taste
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- dash nutmeg
Instructions
Meatballs:
- Combine all ingredients for meatballs in a bowl and mix until everything is evenly incorporated.
- Use a scoop to get even amount of meat mixture so that all the meatballs are the same size. Roll all the meatballs before starting to cook and lay them out on a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- Melt butter in a large cooking pan over medium heat.
- Add meatballs to the pan and cook until about half way done and bottoms are browned. Flip the meatballs and cook until almost done.
- Take the meatballs out of the pan and leave all the juices in the pan.
Sauce:
- In the same pan where you cooked the meatballs, melt a little more butter and whisk in flour. Once the flour mixture looks smooth, keep whisking and start pouring in warmed beef stock.
- Let the mixture come to simmer, while still slowly whisking. Add sour cream, Dijon mustard, heavy whipping cream, salt, nutmeg, and pepper.
- Once the sauce starts to thicken, add meatballs back in and simmer everything together for a few minutes. Take off heat and serve.
Video
Notes
- Gluten Free Notes: To make this recipe gluten-free, simply use gluten-free bread in the meatballs and gluten-free all-purpose flour in the sauce. Double check the labels on the remaining ingredients just in case.
- Lingonberry Jam: Swedish meatballs pair perfectly with lingonberry jam! It is the authentic way to serve these meatballs with a little side of lingonberry jam. It’s a slightly sweet jam made from lingonberries and it balances the savory gravy and meatballs in the best way.
- Storing: In an airtight container in the fridge, your meatballs and gravy will stay good for about 2-3 days.
- Reheating: While it’s okay to reheat individual portions in the microwave, the results are better to do it in the pan on stove-top. In the microwave, make sure to reheat them in increments of about 30-45 seconds and just until hot. You don’t want to scald or overheat the sauce. In a pan, reheat over medium-low and covered with a lid just until hot.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on October 10, 2011.
Sasha says
I made these for some friends yesterday & we all LOVED them! The nutmeg & allspice made them especially delicious. Your website is beautiful & will be my go-to spot to find recipes for every cooking occasion. Thank you!
Jessica says
I’m Swedish and live in Sweden (as I see someone else above do as well) and I must admit I’ve not seen meatballs like this – BUT that is NO critique, so I do not mean it in a bad way at all 😀 And as you say; there are many different kinds (the basic is more or less always ground beef/pork, onion, black pepper, egg, breadcrumbs+milk/water or cream and salt). Anyways, I found the photo of your meatballs on Google; thought they looked different and delicious so I clicked – and after reading the recipe I’m definitely gonna try this some day 😀 I’m in a come-up-with-new-kind-of-meatballs-spree so it’s fun to go outside “the Swedish meatball-thinking” and see what people abroad do and come up with 😀 Anyway, great page and lovely photos! 🙂
lyuba says
Thank you for your comment, Jessica! Every cook definitely has their own touch to recipes. My main though on trying to cook an authentic recipe from a different cuisine is the ingredients. Not all ingredients are available or even the same in every country. For example, my Russian dishes (and I am Russian, born and raised) never come out the same here as they did in Russia. And that is due to the difference in ingredients.
I’m glad you like my version and I do hope that you try it! They came out delicious!
JillGruetz says
My recipe handed down from my Swedish grandmother (born in 1899) had cardamom, nutmeg and allspice in the recipe (I used a scant amount of allspice and cardamom.) It called for soaking bread in milk and used a mixture of beef, pork and veal. Fry in butter and use the pan drippings for the gravy. I still make them for our family. We like to serve with Swedish Rye Bread. I just found your site and am enjoying perusing. Thank you very much.
Matilda says
Amazing to see a version of Swedish meatballs outside of Sweden. Though that was a very local dish
The traditional way here, is to serve them with boiled potatoes, lingonberry jelly, pickled cucumber and sauce.
If you lose the dill in the sauce, and the nutmeg and the allspice in the meatballs you’ll be even closer to the original.
And instead of flour on the hands while rolling, dip the hands in water 🙂
But I’ll try to sell this recipe to the family, not sure if I can convince them to have dill in their beloved sauce though;)
Love, the girl from IKEA land
lyuba says
Thanks for letting me know that I was close 🙂 Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Sweden but it’s always great to know the authentic way of cultural cooking! Thanks, Matilda!
Matilda says
Great blog you have by the way!
And if you would be planning a trip to Sweden,
Wait at least until May or June:)
By then the ices have melted and the weather would hopefully be at its best behaviour;)
lyuba says
Thank you!
We are actually going to Russia in May (home for me). Some day, I’d like to travel the while Europe 🙂
Rebecca says
Hi!
Totally agree with Matilda, you should drop the dill and nutmeg. 🙂 Also, most of us swedes doesn’t use a whole slice of bread in milk (never heard of!), instead we just use some plain bread crumbs in the mix. Another thing I thought about is that we don’t cook the meatballs in the sauce, we fry them by them selves first and then make the sauce in the same pan after to get all the flavours. 🙂
lyuba says
Thank you for the suggestions, Rebecca! The meatballs are actually not cooked in the cause, they are cooked first, taken out and then added back to the sauce. The bread is something that my grandmother used to always do when making meatballs, so that’s my own little touch. I like it that way so I shared it 🙂 This is my take on the recipe but I will definitely try your suggestions!
Cathy says
This looks like one of those comfort dishes you NEED when it’s cold outside! My family would devour these!!
lyuba says
Thank you, Cathy!
My boys requested even in the summer 🙂
Katerina says
Beautiful meatballs! We have something similar in Greece too!
Ashley says
Yes! I love how juicy these were and getting the lingonberry jam was absolutely worth it!
Emily says
I love that I don’t have to go to IKEA to get those!
Lindsay says
Is that really all there is to it?? I have got to try this! I always thought it was much more complicated. Great job!
Casa De Luna says
Yum! Bring on the lingonberries!
sugarspiceiced says
These look fantastic!! I love eating Swedish Meatballs at IKEA! I have even bought them from their freezer section to make at home. I’ll have to try this recipe from scratch sometime. Thanks for sharing it!!
BigBear says
I’ve never tried Swedish meatballs, but they do look good. Must try!
Kelley says
This looks great! I love Swedish meatballs but never thought to make my own meatballs. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂