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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:Â 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:Â The nutmeg and allspice are unique to this swedish dish. Don’t leave them out if you want truly divine fare.
- Overmixing:Â Be Careful to not overmix the meat mixture or it can become tough.
- No Bread crumbs:Â 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:Â For softer sweeter flavor to your onions saute them first.
- Bake:Â 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:Â 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:Â 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:Â 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
- â…› 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.
I made them last night, even ran to the store for the All Spice and Nutmeg. I really didn’t like the strong taste of either, neither did the kids. seems to have too much All Spice and Nutmeg! I would cut back on them. And I thought the gravy was too thin also.
Delicious easy recipe. My husband loved it served over egg noodles. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Absolutely perfect with the creamy sauce! My mother always a coffee based sayce, but this recipe is better. Thank you for sharing, it has quickly become a family favorite!
I can’t wait to try this, but has anyone tried to do this in a crockpot? I was planning on cooking the meatballs first in the oven and then add to the crockpot with the ingredients for the gravy…just wondering if anyone has tried it.
So this was amazing. The food science behind just adding 2 ingredients is phenomenal. Thank you, the Husband loves Swedish Meatballs and now the whole family does too! Awesome. ?
The stars won’t light up…you get 5 stars!
This was so delicious! Having it again this week. The kids all loved it. Thanks for sharing!
Dear Alyssa,
I made these tonight and I really did not care for the allspice and nutmeg in it. It just didn’t coincide with my taste at all. I think the best Swedish Meatballs so far, for me, is the basic old-fashioned recipe.
So excited to try these! Not sure if people are having difficulty reading this recipe but I see people complaining about the use of oregano and not using nutmeg or allspice. Maybe we see different recipes but there is NO oregano listed and there IS nutmeg and allspice listed. Hate to see unnecessary criticism. Thanks for the recipe!
This sounded much better than it was. The spice wasn’t even noticeable. I should have increased Allspice and Nutmeg. After the balls were cooked I left the grease thinking it would add more flavor to the gravy. Not so much, gravy was way too thin.
Terrific. Made exactly as the recipe…Will make again and again.
Could I replace the cream with whole milk and the beed broth with wine?
You definitely can.
Amazing! I HATE Swedish Meatballs, but these are fabulous. For us, there was a little too much salt in the meat mix, but that is an easy fix. This will definitely stay in my recipe rotation. Thank you!
Made these tonight. Used meatloaf mix and half-half instead. They were pretty good. Made a double batch and will freeze the other batch. I want to star this but that’s not working. 3 stars
I made this recipe for clients of mine (I work as a personal chef). They absolutely loved it! I personally thought it was WAY too much cream and lacked flavor. Though I salted it, I ended up squeezing lemon juice into the sauce and adding much more dijon. When I cook a new dish, I typically scour the internet and get a general recipe and tips from people from all over. This time I did not do that and just went with this one. I would be curious what a recipe from a Swede would be like. Next time….
My wife just made this recipe for dinner. It was just fantastic. She doubled the recipe and it came out great. Looking forward to the leftovers. Thanks so much for sharing. This recipe is a keeper.
As I am sure these are delicious meatballs, I feel the “Swedish” should be deleted from the name. I think just because they are small people consider them Swedish. Raised in a Swedish home with family from Sweden, this is nothing like the meatballs they would make and serve! Can we get a rename please??? Oregano? Nope, allspice. Just sayin!