Serves a Crowd

Old-School Swedish Meatballs

by:
December 13, 2014
5
13 Ratings
Photo by Mark Weinberg
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

These aren't from Ikea. They contain no pre-made meatballs, onion soup mix, or cream of mushroom. They are not healthy in any way. Old-school Swedish meatballs are a hassle to make but are absolutely worth it -- even in the triple batches you will have to make to satisfy your family, friends, and yourself. Merry Christmas to all!

New-School Tips:
- When browning the meatballs, roll them frequently to maintain any semblance of roundness. Cooking chopsticks (the long ones) are a great asset for this and keep your wrists away from sputtering melted butter to boot.
- Swedish meatballs do quite well in a warm crockpot, should you find it in your heart to share them.
- Homemade, collagen-rich broth adds a lot to an already fantastic recipe. Out of distaste for store-bought broth, I once used homemade pho broth in the recipe and it complemented the spices in the meatballs nicely. —Corby

Test Kitchen Notes

WHO: Corby has been a member of the Food52 community for the past year and a half.
WHAT: Classic Swedish meatballs made painstakingly from scratch -- but worth the effort.
HOW: Combine ground pork and beef, butter, onions, egg, sugar, spices, and moistened bread into balls, then brown them in a large skillet. Place in a baking dish with broth and bake them until cooked. Add a healthy serving of gravy, made from the skillet drippings, and enjoy.
WHY WE LOVE IT: Once the meatballs, filled with a slew of spices (Ginger, Allspice, Nutmeg) have been baked in broth, they are irresistible -- as is the smell that will be emanating from your oven. Make the most of your gravy, and pair the meatballs with mashed potatoes for the ultimate comfort food combo. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Swedish Meatballs
  • 2 pieces day-old white bread, crumbled
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon butter plus 1 tablespoon butter, divided
  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 2/3 pound ground beef
  • 1/3 pound finely ground pork
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper, white if possible
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup beef stock or bone broth
  • Brown Gravy
  • 2 tablespoons Swedish meatball pan drippings
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 cups beef stock or bone broth
  • 4 ounces sour cream
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
  1. Swedish Meatballs
  2. Preheat your oven to 350º F (175º C).
  3. Place the bread and cream in a small bowl, mix, and let stand about 10 minutes until absorbed.
  4. Melt the teaspoon of butter in a large, shallow skillet and cook the onion for approximately 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer browned onion to a large mixing bowl and add the meats, brown sugar, salt, spices, and egg, then mix until nearly combined. Add the moistened bread and mix gently until combined.
  5. Melt the tablespoon of butter in the skillet over medium heat. Form meatball mixture into 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized balls and cook in batches until the outsides are evenly browned, approximately 5 minutes. The meatballs will still be pink inside. Transfer to a baking dish when browned and add more butter to the skillet as needed to cook all of the batches of meatballs.
  6. Pour 1/4 cup of broth into the baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for 40 minutes, until the meatballs are fully cooked and tender.
  7. Transfer meatballs to a serving dish and pour gravy over (recipe follows).
  1. Brown Gravy
  2. After making the Swedish meatballs, transfer their drippings to a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook until light gold in color, then slowly pour in broth or stock while whisking constantly.
  3. Simmer the gravy until thick, about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Just before serving the meatballs, stir in the sour cream.
  5. Note: If you are not serving all of the meatballs at once, reserve gravy before adding sour cream. Reheat the meatballs and gravy separately and combine the sour cream with the gravy after heating to prevent the sauce from breaking as it is heated.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

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  • Austin Burges
    Austin Burges

68 Reviews

Kay March 3, 2024
Delicious! I didn't brown in the pan, baked at 425 for about 20 minutes and then broiled 1 minute (I made large meatballs). Used all ground beef. Great blend of spices, love the white pepper
 
rob W. April 14, 2022
I look forward to making these. A recipe I've made for years has cardamom as one of the spices added which I find to be a pleasantly warm comfort spice. But for this recipe I promise to stay true and not add the cardamom. Thanks.
 
Pat R. August 10, 2020
Looks wonderful; can’t wait to try.
 
Regan S. February 22, 2020
I love these meatballs! They are fabulous without the gravy. Full of flavour and they pair well with scalloped potatoes, salad too of course. ;)
 
Marie December 19, 2019
These are absolutely delightful! I had never tried making them from scratch before so I figured why not go big and make complicated ones in a triple batch, lol. Time consuming but perfect. There are only two of us in our household so I froze 2/3 of the meatballs after browning.
 
Austin B. February 14, 2019
Happy Valentine's day to one of the best recipes on this site!
 
Macy M. January 9, 2019
Made this tonight and loved every bit of it. Doubled it and froze half of the meatballs for quicker prep next time. Thank you for this divine recipe!
 
Rosemary M. December 27, 2018
These are amazing! And not difficult. This is my first ever review but I was compelled by this awesome recipe. Next time I will try an "everyday" version with milk instead of cream. The original recipe is delicious. I have celiac disease so I made it gluten-free with gluten-free white bread and GF flour. A winner! And I suspect kids would love these too.
 
Vicky M. February 18, 2018
Perfect Swedish Meatball recipe. I served over rice and with roasted cumin and coriander carrots on the side. Delicious.
 
Änneken December 25, 2017
I make these regularly and they continue to amaze me every single time. I am so in love with the seasoning and the gravy. I always have them with Marcells Hazan's mashed potatoes. A total winner!!
 
tosacem December 30, 2017
Can you share Marcells Hazan's mashed potato recipe?
 
Jennifer B. September 30, 2017
Do you add all the cream with the softened bread or just the bread?
 
Rob D. August 22, 2017
What a great recipe! I added some fresh dill to the meat mixture as well. I think the baking in the oven with a little broth really does it justice. They were incredibly tender and flavorful. The apartment smelled great. This is the best Swedish meatball recipe I have tried, hands down. I am an Italian-American and cook make types of meatballs and have to say this recipe is right up there. It is not difficult and try it as directed!
 
Salinas R. June 26, 2017
Congratulations @food52 ! this is the first recipe I try and now you have my trust. I didnt read the ingredients carefully and started cooking until I realized I didnt have sour cream so I used heavy whipping cream ( and no egg). The instructions leave room for interpretation that being said my final results were delicious. Im looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
 
Annika H. February 9, 2017
Sorry to say but this is not Swedish meatballs but I will try it anyway! Annika from Stockholm Sweden
 
valn February 9, 2017
Annika, I would love to hear how you or your friends in Sweden would make "Swedish Meatballs".
 
toweringinferno September 22, 2017
I made a recipe similar to this for a Midsommar gathering, and was told the flavours were on point but what differentiates Swedish meatballs is the texture. Apparently they whip the meat mixture so it becomes aerated and gets that spongy feel. Delicious either way, but for authenticity the devil's in the details!
 
Donna F. February 8, 2017
Question for you Corey- we wouldn't go through a big batch but I can see making a large batch at once is worth the effort. For th freezer- must they be cooked first and then frozen or do you freeze them raw? Which is preferable for best results?
 
Corby February 8, 2017
Since the balls are cooked in two stages- pan fried and then baked-I would pan fry them until they have enough structure to transfer to a bag, then freeze them in a single layer. They will finish cooking when they are thawed and baked in the oven. This leaves you without gravy drippings for the frozen batches, just plan accordingly.
 
Nancy F. December 1, 2016
I used ground veal instead of pork. I only had light cream instead of heavy. I didn't have beef stock so I had to use HERB-OX--UGH!!! But it all came out delicious. Next time, I'm going to do the crock pot. I like serving over egg noodles. Thank you!
 
Rhonda35 April 17, 2016
Corby, these meatballs are delicious! I didn't change much - added minced mushrooms to the onion, and added fresh dill and parsley to the meat mixture and also to the gravy. My husband, whose grandmother was 100% Swedish, said the meatballs tasted like the ones she used to make. :-) Thank you for sharing your recipe!
 
Kimberly M. December 24, 2015
How to change this to a crock pot recipe?
 
Corby October 21, 2016
I think you can transfer to a crock pot after searing the meatballs. Add the broth to the pot and cook on high until the meatballs reach 165 F
 
Julia C. December 19, 2015
So happy to find this recipe in time for Christmas! It seems to duplicate my mother's recipe traditionally served on Christmas Eve in our family. She began serving it after moving to Minneapolis as a newlywed and being befriended by Scandinavians. It joined a spaghetti dish taught to her by an Italian family as brand new bride during WWII on the table. You could say our Christmas Eve dinner was a symbol of her gratitude to the women who befriended a young bride by inviting her husband and and her to their family celebrations and gifted her with cherished recipes. I now honor and celebrate all their memories at my holiday table with those and other similarly given recipes.
 
Mike September 7, 2015
The recipe card looks exactly like my mothers! I don't know where it is, so glad to have the pic! I'll be configuring these to gluten-free now that I am older. Thanks for the post!
 
Horto May 6, 2015
How can we make these vegetarian
 
Corby June 2, 2015
Hi Horto,
I'm afraid I don't have much experience with mock meats, but my inkling is to use seitan and fully caramelize the onions. You might need to omit or reduce the sugar. For the gravy, I would favor mushroom stock over other vegetables. Let me know if you try it out, I'd love to share these with vegetarian friends.
 
Karyn G. February 17, 2020
Just made these using Beyond Meat. They were excellent! I'm not vegan, so I used beef broth, but I think mushroom stock would be great in this. Also, I'd probably use cashew cream instead of sour cream and cashew or soy milk instead of the heavy cream.
 
Susan April 19, 2015
Made these for the first time last week. Years ago I began asking my family to rate new recipes on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being excellent! This recipe earned a 10 by all. The meatballs are very tender when done in in the oven with the broth or stock. You'll NEVER eat IKEA's again!
 
Tony February 8, 2015
This Swedish meatball recipe is a winner! I had to comment the meatballs are so moist and tasty!
 
Tony February 8, 2015
Swedish Meatballs

2
pieces day-old white bread, crumbled
1/2
cup heavy cream
1
teaspoon butter plus 1 tablespoon butter, divided
1
small onion, minced
2/3
pound ground beef
1/3
pound finely ground pork
1
tablespoon brown sugar
1
teaspoon salt
1/4
teaspoon ground pepper, white if possible
1/4
teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4
teaspoon ground allspice
1/8
teaspoon ground ginger
1
egg
1/4
cup beef stock or bone broth
Preheat your oven to 350º F (175º C). Place the bread and cream in a small bowl, mix, and let stand about 10 minutes until absorbed. Melt the teaspoon of butter in a large, shallow skillet and cook the onion for approximately 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer browned onion to a large mixing bowl and add the meats, brown sugar, salt, spices, and egg, then mix until nearly combined. Add the moistened bread and mix gently until combined. Melt the tablespoon of butter in the skillet over medium heat. Form meatball mixture into 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized balls and cook in batches until the outsides are evenly browned, approximately 5 minutes. The meatballs will still be pink inside. Transfer to a baking dish when browned and add more butter to the skillet as needed to cook all of the batches of meatballs. Pour 1/4 cup of broth into the baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for 40 minutes, until the meatballs are fully cooked and tender. Transfer meatballs to a serving dish and pour gravy over (recipe follows).
Brown Gravy

2
tablespoons Swedish meatball pan drippings
 
Michelle G. January 19, 2015
Like u would use a chicken to make chicken broth, bone broth is made using bones from beef, lamb, veal and making it richer is the marrow.
 
Diane January 19, 2015
What exactly is "bone broth"?
 
Julie R. January 19, 2015
Bone broth is stock made from meaty bones....I use beef or veal stock which I have made and keep in my freezer. Always low sodium....
 
pamela January 19, 2015
thank you for the comments in answer to my query.
 
inpatskitchen January 18, 2015
Congratulations Corby! What a wonderful take on Swedish Meatballs!
 
Michelle G. January 18, 2015
Creme Fraiche or sour cream....the key is not to boil.
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
Or even close to simmer...mine curdled last time and I watch it carefully.
 
pamela January 18, 2015
If I used creme fraiche instead of sour cream, do you think the gravy could be reheated without splitting?
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
Waiting to hear opinions on this. I think so. Sr. cream is a definite negative.
 
Michelle G. January 18, 2015
Always mace (outside of nutmeg) for Swedish meatballs...much more pungent taste! And parsley!
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
Yes, forgot about mace...
 
Nance L. January 18, 2015
These sound good, but nothing like the Swedish meatballs my grandma (who was from Sweden) made).
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
Nancy, I think there are as many meatballs as there are Swedes! When I lived in Sweden beef was only for a luxury meal so pork and veal were readily available, even for a Doctors's family. The addition of beef became a Christmas tradition for a very special meal.
 
valn January 18, 2015
This is an interesting spice combination. Will have to try. Have been using a recipe received by my mother in the late 40s from Dean Bergstrom at the UConn School of Home Economics -- kottbullar: 2T butter, 1/3 cup minced raw onion, 1 egg, 1/2 cup milk, 2 1/2 tsp. salt [I reduce it to 1/2 tsp.], 2 tsp. granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp. ground allspice, 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1 lb ground chuck, 1/4 ground pork shoulder. Method is similar to Corby's except the baking is done in a white sauce: 2T melted butter, 3T flour, 1/8 tsp. ground pepper, 1 tsp. salt [I use 1/2 tsp.] 1 tsp. granulated sugar, 3/4 cup light cream mixed with 1 cup water, sprinkle of fresh minced dill. And right on to Amy Pozin Kelly with the mashed potatoes, fast cucumber pickles and the lingonberries!
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
Vain, I have had the meatballs in the white sauce and with fresh dill. But the sugar surprises me...never for me. Yes to potatoes and dilled cucumber salad Cabbage steamed with caraway seeds is a great winter vegetable combo.
 
valn January 18, 2015
Julie, I think there is something about sugar and salt that was inherent in recipes from the first half of the 20th Century! ;D -- VALN
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
Probably so...like sugar with cabbage, vinegar, cucumbers, etc. was it a German influence? Or just an affluent addition? Certainly Lingonberries are changed with sugar.
 
valn January 18, 2015
The world grew smaller each decade and probably more inter-country travel became possible, influencing palates. Tend to agree with sugar as an affluent addition.
 
Smaug February 2, 2016
I think it's as bad or worse now. At least they didn't throw in any bacon.
 
Cindy January 18, 2015
I am a widowed empty nester living with my sister. We're very active on weekends where cooking usually doesn't play a roll. We both love Swedish meatballs and this recipe will be a definite make-ahead on Friday night. Served with crusty garlic bread and who needs noodles? Perfect no-cook weekend meal for us.
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
Cindy, my kids love with egg noodles too. I serve with pumpernickel or rye and cabbage cucumber salad...more German influence. Lingonberries are a necessity for us.
 
Cindy January 18, 2015
I had the privilege of living next to Germans for 12 years. Salt of the earth they were. And Inga was the best cook ever. (I'm Spanish and speak German as well) I sucked up every recipe she had and she had none, so I watched. I in turn gave her merengue recipes for desserts that she missed so much when she lived in Germany. I had forgotten about the lingonberries. Shame on me!!
 
Teresa R. January 18, 2015
My German mother put bone marrow in with the meat mixture. I have no idea what her recipe was though, anyone ever hear of doing that?
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
Oh sounds good. IKEA are nothing like I ate in Sweden. I still have my recipe which uses pork, veal and beef....the veal makes much lighter..a big difference.
I always use nutmeg, allspice, and marjoram..with some freshly minced parsley.
Pan gravy is essential and always with lingonberries.
 
Cindy January 18, 2015
Nice touch with the lingonberries. I'll remember that.
 
Amy P. January 18, 2015
This is practically my great-grandmother's recipe that my sister and I make on "meatball day" before Christmas each year. This year we made 250 of them and we've devised our own two person assembly line to process them all! If any readers are up in the air about trying this recipe--do it! The extra steps are worth it and make all the delicious difference. For traditional Swedish accompaniments, serve with mashed potatoes and lingonberries with quick pickled sliced cucumbers. Skal!:)
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
Skal! Yes, I was served with Johnssons potatoes...like scalloped potatoes but with anchovies or some other fish.
I make them whenever we want a comfort meal...cold weather season and mine a a bit larger...
 
Nancy M. January 14, 2015
My mother made the most delicious Swedish meatballs, for which I do not have a recipe. I can hardly wait to make these and see if they bring back just a little bit of my mother for me.
 
EmFraiche January 12, 2015
I was a tester for this recipe and have already made them again. SO good!
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
Lucky...how does one get that job? I want to apply too.
 
Abbie C. January 8, 2015
These look fantastic, and I will definitely be making these ASAP! Congratulations on being a finalist!!!
 
Abbie C. January 11, 2015
Update: I made these tonight and they are fantastic! The recipe is easy to follow, and I love the "new school" suggestions! The meatballs were so tender and the spice mix is so flavorful. I made mashed potatoes to go with them, which was a great way to further express my love of the gravy :)
 
sexyLAMBCHOPx December 27, 2014
Looks delicious. Good luck and plan on trying soon.
 
Barbara G. December 24, 2014
Made a savory version with thyme, sage and parsley. A Little herbes de Provence. I made the meat mixture equal parts lamb, beef and pork. The other parts are pretty much as my Norweigen grandma did it. Yum.
 
Corby January 14, 2015
I know the baking spices sound a little odd, but try them sometime! The brown sugar and ginger are optional, and the beef:pork ratio (or venison or boar) can be adjusted according to the original recipe card.
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
We have been buying bison instead of beef but still use pork and veal. One could make Greek style too and add rice for their savory meatballs.
 
Julie R. January 18, 2015
I should say that beef meatballs Are not Greek..so they use pork, lamb or goT.