Swedish Meatballs
These soft, flavorful meatballs in creamy sauce are always a favorite.
Swedish Meatballs
Print RecipeIngredients
Meatballs:
- 2 cups soft bread crumbs (*special diet note – use gluten free crumbs)
- 1 ½ cups half & half
- 1 Tbsp butter
- ¾ cup onion (diced)
- 2 lb ground beef (or 1 1/2lb ground beef and 1/2lb ground pork)
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup fresh parsley (minced)
- 3 tsp salt (may need a tad more)
- ¾ tsp ground ginger
- ¾ tsp ground allspice
- ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
Gravy Option #1: Flour Gravy (The best option if you have time)
- 3 Tbsp butter (If there are any drippings from the meatballs, use them and then add butter until you have a total of 3 Tbsp of grease.)
- 4 cups beef broth (divided)
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream (or sour cream)
- 3 ½ Tbsp all-purpose flour (*special diet – see note about gluten free)
Gravy Option #2: Traditional gravy (If you don't have time for the meatballs to simmer in the gravy)
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour (*special diet – see note about gluten free)
- 3 cups beef broth
- 3 Tbsp butter (If there are any drippings from the meatballs, use them and then add butter until you have a total of 3 Tbsp of grease.)
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions:
Meatballs:
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 10×15 baking pan.
- In a large bowl of a stand mixer, soak the bread crumbs in the half & half for 10 minutes.
- Melt 1 Tbsp of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft – about 3 minutes.
- Stir into the breadcrumb mixture.
- Add the beef (& pork), eggs, parsley, salt, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg.
- Beat at high speed until the mixture is fluffy.
- Dip 2 teaspoons in ice water until cold. Use the cold spoons to shape the meat mixture into tiny meatballs and place in the baking dish.
- Cover with foil and bake until the meatballs are cooked – about 40 minutes for normal sized meatballs, and probably about 25 minutes for tiny meatballs. (They don't have to be totally cooked because they will simmer in the gravy for a while.)*Save the drippings for the gravy.*
- Optional step: The meatballs are best if they have a crispy outside, so after they were baked, I pan-fried them for a couple minutes to get them crispy.
Gravy Option #1: (the best option if you have time.)
- When the meatballs are cooked, dump them in a large pot and add 3 1/2 cups of broth and the meatball drippings. (You may need to add some butter if there aren't many drippings.)
- Simmer until close to serving time – the longer they can simmer, the more flavor they will have.
- Close to serving time: (You may need to remove some meatballs to make it easier to whisk the flour mixture in.)In a cup, whisk together 1/2 cup broth & 3 1/2 Tbsp flour.
- Add the broth to the pan and whisk until beginning to thicken.
- Add the cream (but don't bring back to a boil because it might curdle).
Gravy Option #2:
- If you need to make these quickly and don't have time to let the meatballs simmer in the broth, here are the instructions for traditional gravy.in a saucepan, whisk together the flour and broth.
- Add the meatball drippings and butter and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer until beginning to thicken.
- Add the cream (but don't bring back to a boil because it might curdle).
- Pour over the meatballs and serve.
Notes:
Crowd Size: 6x for 12lb meat – makes 224 meatballs. Feeds 43 people with 2 serving bowls left over.
Make Ahead: You can easily make these meatballs ahead of time and either freeze or refrigerate them. You could just make the meatballs and store them raw, but it saves a step later on if you go ahead and bake them. Then you can just combine the with the gravy and allow them to simmer on the day you plan to serve them.
Gluten Free: This is best made with flour gravy, but you can also make this gluten free by using gluten free bread crumbs then using cornstarch instead of flour in the gravy. Just use half as much cornstarch as you would flour (5 1/4 tsp cornstarch instead of 3 1/2 Tbsp for gravy option #1 and 4 1/2 tsp instead of 3 Tbsp for gravy option #2.)
Diet: Gluten Free
These are very good! The meatballs might need a tad bit more salt.