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The Best Swedish Meatballs are smothered in the most amazing rich and creamy gravy. The meatballs are packed with such delicious flavor. Savory, comforting and smothered with a sauce that melts in your mouth. You will quickly agree these are the BEST you have ever had!
Serve these scrumptious vittles over buttered noodles or rice with a Caesar Salad, Fruit Salad and Rolls for a dinner to satisfy!
The Best Swedish Meatballs
Swedish meatballs have always been super delectable, and Ikea has made them popular. With this recipe you can make them in the comfort of your own home without the making an adventure to the store. And I dare say they are even better! Super easy to make you’ll be surprised you haven’t made them sooner. So what are you waiting for?!
The secret to these heavenly swedish delights is the unique spices of allspice and nutmeg. And then in the sauce you add worcestershire sauce and dijon mustard for tantalizing flavor. The combination is irresistibly the best meatballs ever!
Swedish Meatball Ingredients
There’s a list of ingredients here, but don’t stress, it’s super simple and totally worth it.
- Ground Beef: Regular ground beef
- Bread Crumbs: I used Panko
- Parsley: Freshly chopped
- Allspice and Nutmeg: Trust me, these spices are what make it uniquely delicious.
- Onion: Finely chopped
- Garlic Powder: Gives flavor without the bulk.
- Salt and Pepper To taste.
- Egg: The binder for the meatballs
- Olive Oil: To brown the meatballs in.
- Butter: Creates the perfect flavor while helping the beef brown, you’ll add more for the sauce.
- Flour: The thickener.
- Beef Broth: Creates the base for the sauce
- Heavy Cream: This creates the creamy velvety sauce.
- Worcestershire Sauce: Secret ingredient that creates a rich flavor.
- Dijon Mustard: Spice
Constructing these Swedish Vittles
These will come together quick and cook in about 30 min total, so dinner is quick.
- Mix: In medium sized bowl combine ground beef, panko, parsley, all spicee, nutmeg, onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper and egg. Mix till combined.
- Roll: Roll into 12 large meatballs or 20 small meatballs. In a large skillet heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter.
- Brown: Add the meatballs and cook turning continuously until brown on each side and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil.
- Sauce: In the same skillet add 4 Tablespoons butter and flour and whisk till it turns brown. Slowly stir in beef broth and heavy cream. Add the worcestershire sauce and mustard and bring to a simmer till it starts to thicken.
- Simmer: Add the meatballs back to the skillet and simmer for another 1-2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Tips and Variations
A few ideas to keep in mind for a dinner that’ll tickle the taste buds.
- Meat: You can use a combination of beef and pork for this recipe. Using pork add extra fat which will give a moist tender meatball. You can also use ground turkey, chicken or combination of meats.
- Spices: The nutmeg and allspice are unique to this swedish dish. Don’t leave them out if you want truly divine fare.
- Overmixing: Be Careful to not overmix the meat mixture or it can become tough.
- No Bread crumbs: You can get the same result by making a panade (bread and milk mixture) Use two pieces of bread and process till crumbs, add in 1/4 cup milk to create a paste. Add the egg and mix. Add to your meat mixture.
- Saute: For softer sweeter flavor to your onions saute them first.
- Bake: Brown the meatballs in the skillet in oil and butter. Then remove to a baking tray and finish cooking in the oven at 350 degrees F. till done. There shouldn’t be any pink.
- Cream: Do not substitute out the heavy cream for half and half, it could separate. You can also cut some of the cream for sour cream for a nice tang to the sauce.
Freezing and Storing
One of the best things about this recipe is I can double it and freeze some for another meal.
- Freeze: After cooking the meatballs transfer to a cookie sheet. Make sure they are not touching or they will freeze together. Freeze for 2-4 hours on the cookie sheet, then transfer to an airtight container or freezer bag. These will keep for up to 3 months. To thaw you can cook in the microwave,or oven. I like to partially cook them in the microwave and then finish heating them in the sauce.
- Don’t freeze the Sauce: Dairy, especially a sauce with heavy cream can sometimes separate when thawing and turn grainy. I don’t recommend it. Make the rich gravy fresh when ready to serve.
- Freezer to Pan: As long as you cook them through you can also freeze these raw and cook them in the pan the same way. They will take longer to cook through however. This is a great way for your meatballs to keep their shape. Frozen will hold up better than fresh. Just be sure to cook till no longer pink.
More Meatball Loving Recipes
Meatballs are just fun to eat and the flavors in these recipes are spot on!
- Saucy Asian Meatballs
- Easy, Delicious Porcupine Meatballs
- Chipotle Honey Meatballs
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Cranberry Balsamic Meatballs
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The Best Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon parsley chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup onion finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ⅛ teaspoon Pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 5 tbsp. butter
- 3 tbsp. flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl combine ground beef, panko, parsley, allspice, nutmeg, onion, garlic powder, pepper, salt and egg. Mix until combined.
- Roll into 12 large meatballs or 20 small meatballs. In a large skillet heat olive oil and 1 Tablespoon butter. Add the meatballs and cook turning continuously until brown on each side and cooked throughout. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil.
- Add 4 Tablespoons butter and flour to skillet and whisk until it turns brown. Slowly stir in beef broth and heavy cream. Add worchestershire sauce and dijon mustard and bring to a simmer until sauce starts to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the meatballs back to the skillet and simmer for another 1-2 minutes. Serve over egg noodles or rice.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you make ahead and freeze? I’m worried that the cream sauce would separate when warming up. Unless you have some tips on freezing and instructions on reheating? I’m planning on making a bunch of freezer recipes for my In-Laws.
Yes, the cream sauce would separate even if warmed up slowly. I would recommend freezing the meatballs by themselves then reheating with the sauce.
OMG this is good! Husband lost his mind with this recipe and so did I. I made it once before but didn’t have the nutmeg…this time I did, and it truly could not be better! I did add about 1/4 cup sour cream. This is the first meal they serve you in Heaven!!!!!!!
Very good–and easy to prepare! I had it both with newly made meatballs and with thawed frozen ones, and both were good.
Hello, has anyone ever tried to make this with cashew cream instead of heavy cream? Dairy does not agree with myself or my children. If no one has tried it yet I might try it tonight and see how it goes.
My husband doesn’t do super well with a lot of dairy either, so I’ve made these before with just subbing canned coconut milk for the cream and it worked great (just make sure to shake the can really well to incorporate the solids first if your can is separated). I haven’t tried with cashew cream but imagine it would work similarly.
Love this recipe both ways 🙂
Made with ground turkey instead of ground beef…. really really excellent, and very easy to make. Will definitely make again!
Loved this!
I have made this recipe several times now for different occasions ,dinner ,appetizers they were always a HIT! My husband absolutely loves these meatballs over egg noodles. They are fairly easy to make. I totally recommend this recipe.
I cheated and used Aldi frozen meatballs. I also doubled the sauce. It was a big hit with the family. Very good flavor. Definitely a keeper.
Since we no longer live near an IKEA we no longer had Swedish meatballs. I looked on Pinterest for recipes and came upon “the best” Swedish meatball recipe and had to give it a try. My husband and I agree they are the best. Simple to make but full of flavor. Followed the recipe except for the addition of 1/4 tsp of cardamom to the meatballs. I saw many other recipes that had that ingredient and it was on my spice rack so why not. The gravy is sooo good. Since I didn’t have lingonberries to serve on the side, I served with cranberry sauce and it was a nice compliment to the meal. Along with mashed potatoes and green beans. Will definitely be adding this to our dinner menu more often.
Truly fabulous. I’ve made Swedish meatballs many times and knew the type of recipe I wanted (recently lost all my recipe bookmarks), and I went through so many recipes before finding the one I knew would be delicious, and this did not disappoint!
I so want to try this but for spices I only have pumpkin pie spice. Would that work?
That does sound delicious but I have not tried it yet with pumpkin pie spice. Let me know how it turns out!
Delicious !! My partner and I loved it 😊 I did substitute oat milk for the cream as dairy doesn’t agree with me. I served it with rice and peas, it was perfect !! My dad would have called it a Blue Plate Special 😄
I made this recipe regularly. It’s so tasty! The creamy sauce, the meatballs are so flavorful! 5 stars!
Just made them for dinner and they were a huge hit. Thanks for sharing.
I used frozen/ cooked meatballs browned them in the oil/ butter mixture and then made the sauce per the recipe, added some nutmeg as that flavor was not in the frozen meatballs and it was delish! Quicker for weeknight…
Vegetarian version! (Note: I did not make the sauce, but will try next time!) I simply substituted 12 oz. Impossible ground “meat” and followed the recipe as-is otherwise. I’ve been trying to make veg Swedish “meat”balls for years and this recipe and the arrival of Impossible finally made it happen: thank you!
Must be something in the initials (I’m also AF and also vegetarian). I did the very same and made the sauce as well. I substituted vegetable Better than Bouillon but at 3x concentration to be more “beefy.”
I used 12 oz. Impossible meat as well and made the meatballs smaller (36 meatballs) to get the right inside vs. outside texture.
After 25 years of trying to make veg Swedish meatballs and failing miserably, this recipe plus Impossible meat has made me so happy!