This website may contain affiliate links and advertising so that we can provide recipes to you. Read my disclosure policy.
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
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
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.
My boyfriend and 3 year old LOVE this recipe. We also do ours over noodles but may try rice next time. I didn’t have heavy whipping cream and I was too lazy to go to the store so I added 1/4 cup more broth for Some more liquid and added about 1/2 cup of sour cream (at the very end). It cane out perfect thanks so much for this recipe. It’s a keeper!
This was so delicious!!! I enjoyed serving this to my family!!! Thank you!!!
Delicious, Delicious, Delicious I fixed this recipe for our Church function
And everyone loved it. I would love to try more of your receipts.
The meatballs were so easy and turned out great! And the sauce was so simple. Overall, a very easy and delicious recipe! Thank you!
We love these, thanks for sharing. And where are all these rude people coming from commenting that these are ‘Swedish’ and dont use the name swedish?! Seriously what is wrong with people?! If you dont have something nice or useful to say, say nothing at all. Can you imagine how much better and quiter the world would be if everyone would shut their trap more and be kinder. You dont ‘just have to say it’ you really don’t. If you dont like something just go away quietly.
What can I replace the heavy cream with for the Swedish meatballs? Will sour cream work?
That sounds great!
Does this freeze well? I just made it and the party we were going to tonight was postponed a week due to weather. I actually haven’t even put the meatballs into the sauce yet, but I’m worried that the sauce wouldn’t be the best to freeze.
Let me first say that I usually never feel the need to leave a comment or review on a recipe, but I love this dish so much that I felt that I needed too! Not only is this recipe easy, it is hands down the best Swedish Meatballs that I have ever had (yes, even better than IKEA’s). On days when I’m feeling especially lazy, I just brown the beef with some onions, cook up some egg noodles, and use the sauce to make a super easy stroganoff type dish! Thanks again for sharing this amazing recipe!
This was so yummy! My kids and I loved it! I was surprised because all of the other swedish meatball recipes I had tried used sour cream. This one does not, but we will definitely be using it again!
This is excellent! By far the best Swedish Meatball recipe I’ve ever tried, didn’t change a thing! My husband (who is hard to impress) loved it. Will be adding to my 5 star recipe collection. Thank you!
What did I do wrong? It tastes great but it won’t thicken for me?
I want to cook Swedish meatballs, I will be freezing should I make sauce now or wait till the day I will be using.
Recipe was great but wish I would of added some mushrooms.
Tried this recipe tonight- the best Swedish meatballs I’ve ever made! I substituted chicken broth for beef (that’s all I had on hand), used half heavy and half light cream- sooooo yummy, will make again for sure!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I made a double batch tonight and they were awesome. I used to love Ikea’s version and now I can’t eat them because they contain gluten, so I needed to find a recipe I could modify to make gluten free to satisfy my craving! I substituted corn starch for the flour and used gluten-free panko and the turned out amazing! I couldn’t believe how close everything tasted to the Ikea version that I was craving. Thanks so much for helping me finally taste this amazing dish again!
MMM!! I LOVE Ikea’s version! You are making me hungry now;)! I love that you made it your own! Thanks so much for sharing! XOXO
Made this last night and it was excellent. The spice of the meatballs was great, and the gravy is delicious. I have always had issues with meatballs breaking apart and crumbling, these ones held together decently but I still had to watch them closely and turn them constantly. I put them in the gravy for longer than the 1-2 minutes to ensure they were cooked through. They were still a little pink.
I am so happy that you enjoyed it as much as our family did! Thanks so much for sharing! XOXO