Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (2024)

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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

Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (1)

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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Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (2)

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.

Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (3)

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

Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (4)

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.

Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (5)

In another bowl combine ground beef, red onion, egg, soaked bread and spices. Mix until everything is well incorporated.

Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (6)

With the help of your hands shape small balls.

Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (7)

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.

Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (8)

Transfer to a plate.

In the same pan add flour and cook for 3 minutes or until golden.

Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (9)

Add stock and mix until everything is well incorporated. Mix in heavy cream and bring to a soft simmer for around 2 minutes.

Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (10)

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

Author: Petro Neagu

Ingredients

  • 1 Pound ground beef
  • ½ Cup bread
  • ½ Cup milk
  • 1 Egg
  • 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.

Tried this recipe?Mention @easy_peasy_creative_ideas or tag #easy_peasy_creative_ideas!

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Best Swedish Meatballs Simple & Easy Traditional Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are traditional Swedish meatballs made of? ›

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.

What is the secret to firm meatballs? ›

Massage your meat

Get your hands into your mixing bowl and combine the ingredients for your meatballs using your fingers. The heat from your hands will help release the proteins in the meat which will in turn help the mixture stick together when it cooks. Don't overmix, just a few minutes will do.

What's the difference between Swedish meatballs and regular 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 keep Swedish meatballs from falling apart? ›

Eggs: Eggs help bind the meatballs together so they don't fall apart. They also help keep the meatballs soft and tender. Bread crumbs: Bread crumbs are almost always used in meatball recipes because they absorb the fat and, along with the eggs, serve as a binder.

What is the sauce for Swedish meatballs made from? ›

Onions and garlic add flavor and texture, and milk, egg, and breadcrumbs act as a binder. Finally, Parmesan cheese is a little “Cozy” touch that adds a subtle pop of flavor. The sauce itself is an amazing combination of beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon, and sour cream.

What is special about Swedish meatballs? ›

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 not to do when making meatballs? ›

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Making Meatballs
  1. Not seasoning the meat.
  2. Not adding any moisture to the meat.
  3. Over-mixing the meat.
  4. Not shaping the meatballs correctly.
  5. Not forming evenly-sized meatballs.
May 1, 2019

What does adding milk to meatballs do? ›

Milk: Milk adds moisture, ensuring the meatballs don't dry out during the cooking process. Onion: An onion lends bold flavor. Meat: You'll need a pound of ground beef and a pound of ground pork. Egg: An egg adds moisture and helps bind the meatballs together.

What is the best binder for meatballs? ›

An egg is usually a good start, as that can help with the tenderness and texture, but the king of meatball binders is breadcrumbs soaked in milk (also known as a panade). Soaking the breadcrumbs first makes them pliable and soggy, which allows them to easily and evenly mix into the ground meat.

Why do Swedish meatballs taste different? ›

Deborah, in my experience Swedish meatballs are more to do with what's in the meatballs than anything else. Spices like nutmeg, allspice maybe cardamom, sometimes lemon.

What meat are Ikea Swedish meatballs made of? ›

Steps for the meatballs

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 Norwegian meatballs? ›

Norwegian recipes are made with all beef, while some Swedish recipes also use pork. Norwegian meatballs tend to be larger and flatter than their Swedish cousins.

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.

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