Swedish Meatballs (so delicious!)

close up shot of Swedish meatballs on mashed potato on small white plate

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Here I'll share with you some tips and tricks to make the most irresistible Swedish meatballs!

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Total Time50

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: Swedish

Servings: - 5

Author: Chris Collins

Cost: £2.50 / $3

Equipment

Large Pan & Wooden Spoon (see notes)
Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
Food Processor (for breadcrumbs)
Box Grater
Large Bowl & Fork
1 tbsp Measuring Spoon
Large Tray
Jug (for stock)

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 medium White Onion
1 1/2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
45g / 1.5oz Fresh Soft White Bread, pulsed into a crumb
3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp EACH: Ground Nutmeg, Ground Allspice, White Pepper
3 tbsp Double/Heavy Cream
1 Egg
250g / 9oz Minced/Ground Beef (20% fat!)
250g / 9oz Minced/Ground Pork (20% fat!)
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Sauce

3 tbsp Flour
480ml / 2 cups Beef Stock (use low-sodium if sensitive to salt)
120ml / 1/2 cup Double/Heavy Cream
2 tsp Soy Sauce (light/all purpose)
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/8 tsp White Pepper, or to taste

Instructions

Halve and peel the onion, then finely dice one of the halves. Fry it with 1/2 tbsp butter in a large pan over low-medium heat until soft & golden (try and go low and slow to tickle out the natural sweetness - about 10mins or so). Scrape out and leave to cool, then dice it as fine as you can get it. Grate the other half on a box grater and place both in a large mixing bowl.
Use a fork to stir in the breadcrumbs, cream and all of the seasoning until the breadcrumbs soak in the liquid. Stir in the egg until well-combined, then add in the pork & beef and mix well with your hand.
Use a 1 tbsp measuring spoon to scoop out 24-25 chunks of meat and place on a large tray, then roll each one into a ball (lightly wet your hands if the mix is sticky).
Heat 1 tbsp oil and butter in the pan over medium-high heat and add half of the meatballs. Swirl the pan to coat them in the fat, then continue frying and gently turning until brown all over, about 5-6mins. Remove and place in a bowl to one side and repeat with the second batch.
Pour all of the leftover fat into a bowl and place 3 tbsp of it back into the pan. Lower the heat to medium and stir in the flour to create a roux. Gradually pour in the beef stock, stirring as you go to ensure no lumps form, then stir in the cream, soy sauce, Dijon mustard and seasoning to taste (I typically go for 1/8 tsp white pepper and no added salt).
Add the meatballs into the sauce alongside any resting juices. Simmer for 5 or so mins to thicken the sauce and heat the meatballs back through, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat then serve up and enjoy!

Video

Notes

a) Frying pan - I typically use a non-stick pan because quite frankly I don't trust many of my other pans to not cause the meatballs to stick. A regular pan or well-seasoned cast-iron pan should do the trick though.

b) Onion - I like to fry half of it and grate the other half. This gives you a nice balance of sweetness and sharpness. Try and fry the onion fairly low and slow to properly soften and sweeten it (lower heat if it starts to char). From there, just make sure it cools before adding to the meatballs, otherwise it can 'cook' the meatballs from the inside and cause them to crumble. I also recommend very finely dicing it - larger chunks can often fall out of the meatballs and burn in the pan. You want more of the flavour than you do the texture.

c) Meat - Make sure you're using high fat meat, just to keep the meatballs nice and juicy! Whilst you'll want to mix the meatballs well, don't squeeze the meat into oblivion, otherwise the meatballs can come out tough and dry.

d) Serving - I believe you traditionally serve Swedish meatballs with lingonberry jam and a pickled cucumber salad. Lingonberry jam is quite tricky to find, so I typically sub cranberry sauce or red currant jelly. I recommend using some sort of jam/jelly as the sweetness works really nicely with the rich sauce. Alongside the meatballs and sauce, I recommend some Mashed Potato - or another form of carb to mop up that delicious sauce!

e) Calories - Just the meatballs and sauce divided by 5.

Nutrition