Swedish Meatballs (2024)

This easySwedish Meatballs recipe includes homemade meatballs smothered in creamy sauce and served over egg noodles or rice. This is a meal the whole family will love!

Want more Kid Friendly Recipes? My kids love American Goulash, Hawaiian Haystacks, and Breakfast Taquitos!

Swedish Meatballs (1)

Why I love this meal:

  • Pantry Ingredients – The perfect budget friendly meal that requires basic ingredients you may already have on hand.
  • From Scratch – The homemade meatballs and sauce are what really set this recipe apart, and they’re both very easy to make.
  • Easy enough that the kids could even make this one.

What are Swedish Meatballs?

From what I’ve read, Swedish Meatballs were brought into Sweden by a King Charles XII, who got the recipe from Turkey. They originated in ancient Persia (Iran) and is called “koofteh” or “koofteh ghelgheli” which means a round meat in Persian. This recipe for homemade Swedish Meatballs is served with a creamy sauce, similar to the recipe found in Ikea.

Italian Meatballs vs Swedish Meatballs: Swedish Meatballs are typically smaller in size than Italian meatballs and they are usually made with a 50-50 ratio of ground pork and ground beef. Swedish Meatballs also tend to use spices like allspice and nutmeg for flavoring where Italian meatballs rely more on parmesan and garlic flavoring.

How to make Swedish Meatballs:

Make the Meatballs: combine ground beef, ground pork, bread crumbs, egg yolk, allspice, nutmeg, and sautéed onion. Season with salt and pepper. Roll the mixture into meatballs about 1 inch in size.

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Cook Meatballs: Place meatballs in a hot skillet with oil, rotating them with a fork until all sides are browned.

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Make the Swedish Meatball Sauce: Melt butter in a skillet and whisk in flour until it gets slightly browned. Gradually whisk in beef broth, stirring constantly until slightly thickened.

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Serve: Stir in sour cream and season with salt and pepper. Add meatballs to sauce and serve over cooked egg noodles, or rice. I love to serve with Roasted Vegetables, French Green Beans, or Apple Pecan Salad.

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Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:

To Make Ahead: The meatballs can be made ahead of time (cook them all the way through) and kept in the fridge or freezer until ready to use.

To Freeze: Prepare and cook meatballs. Allow them to cool before freezing in a freezer safe container. Raw meatballs may also be froze. Allow them to thaw in the fridge before cooking according to the recipe instructions.

Recipe Variations:

  • Meatballs: I’ve also made these meatballs with all beef, or half beef and half ground turkey, with great results!
  • Crock Pot Swedish Meatballs: Form the meatballs and brown them in a skillet. Make the sauce, but leave out the sour cream. Combine meatballs and sauce in the crockpot and cook on low for 2-3 hours, or until meatballs are cooked through. Add the sour cream and cook the egg noodles before serving.
  • Frozen Meatballs: Brown frozen meatballs, if desired, then place in sauce and simmer until meatballs are heated through.

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Recipe

Swedish Meatballs (6)

4.95 from 440 votes

Swedish Meatballs

This easySwedish Meatballs recipe includes homemade meatballs smothered in creamy sauce and served over egg noodles or rice. This is a meal the whole family will love!

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Prep 20 minutes mins

Cook 25 minutes mins

Total 45 minutes mins

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Ingredients

For the Swedish Meatballs:

  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil , divided
  • 1 onion , diced
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

For the Gravy:

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 3/4 cups low-sodium beef broth
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper , to taste
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley , chopped
  • 1 lb egg noodles , cooked (or cooked rice), for serving

Instructions

  • Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.

  • In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, bread crumbs, egg yolks, allspice, nutmeg and onion. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

  • Stir mixture with a wooden spoon until well combined. Use clean hands to roll the mixture into meatballs about 1 1/2-in in size (It should make about 20-24 meatballs).

  • Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add meatballs, in batches, and cook until all sides are browned, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

For the Swedish Meatball Sauce:

  • Melt butter in the skillet. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in beef broth and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes.

  • Stir in sour cream; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through and thickened, about 8-10 minutes.

  • Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

Notes

Serving size: 3 meatballs

To Make Ahead: The meatballs can be made ahead of time (cook them all the way through) and kept in the fridge or freezer until ready to use.

To Freeze: Prepare and cook meatballs. Allow them to cool before freezing in a freezer safe container. Raw meatballs may also be froze. Allow them to thaw in the fridge before cooking according to the recipe instructions.

Meatballs: I’ve also made these meatballs with all beef, or half beef and half ground turkey, with great results!

Crock Pot Swedish Meatballs: Form the meatballs and brown them in a skillet. Make the sauce, but leave out the sour cream. Combine meatballs and sauce in the crockpot and cook on low for 2-3 hours, or until meatballs are cooked through. Add the sour cream and cook the egg noodles before serving.

Frozen Meatballs: Brown frozen meatballs, if desired, then place in sauce and simmer until meatballs are heated through.

Adapted from Damn Delicious

Nutrition

Calories: 370kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 24gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 123mgSodium: 591mgPotassium: 569mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 326IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 50mgIron: 2mg

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*I originally shared this recipe August 2014. Updated March 2019 and August 2022.

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About The Author

Swedish Meatballs (11)

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

Swedish Meatballs (2024)

FAQs

How many meatballs is enough? ›

If you're planning to buy ready made, I'd go with at least 3 per person. Maybe 4 if you have a lot of big eaters. Plus the longer meatballs simmer in sauce the better they taste. And they can be frozen,sauce and all.

What is the sauce for Swedish meatballs made from? ›

The sauce for Swedish Meatballs is a creamy gravy that is made with butter, beef broth/stock, thickened with flour and made creamy with cream. But the most important flavour for the a really good creamy gravy is the pan drippings after searing the meatballs.

What makes a Swedish meatball different? ›

Italian Meatballs vs Swedish Meatballs: Swedish Meatballs are typically smaller in size than Italian meatballs and they are usually made with a 50-50 ratio of ground pork and ground beef.

How many meatballs for 4 people? ›

If you are making 1-ounce meatballs for a main course you should make 6 meatballs per person. If you have some big eaters at the party I suggest making 6-10 bite sized meatballs per person. As you can see, the number of meatballs you need depends on their size.

How many meatballs in 5 pounds? ›

Example: Small meatballs= 20 per pound; 5 X 20= 100; Halve the mixture 2 x 50; 10 x 5 and so forth. Form balls out of the square pieces of meat mixture. Place on greased baking sheet.

Are Swedish meatballs pink? ›

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Pinch off about 1 1/2 tablespoon meat mixture per meatball; form into balls. Place meatballs into the skillet and cook, turning often, until browned, about 5 minutes. Insides of meatballs will still be pink.

Why do Swedish meatballs taste so good? ›

The Seasoning

While both varieties include ingredients such as grated onion and panade (milk-soaked bread) or bread crumbs, plus the usual salt and pepper, Swedish meatballs traditionally use spices like allspice, nutmeg, white pepper, and sometimes ground ginger as flavoring.

How do you keep Swedish meatballs from falling apart? ›

Add a lightly beaten egg, but not too much. Egg acts as a binder for the ingredients, but you only need a small amount. One small egg will do for one pound of minced meat. Alternatively, if you're following an egg-free diet, you could soak fresh bread in milk, squeezing out any excess milk, to use as a binder.

What to eat with Swedish meatballs? ›

Mashed Potatoes - The creamy gravy on Swedish Meatballs is perfect with potatoes! Egg Noodles - Spaghetti isn't a bad idea either. Green veggies - I love to serve green peas with Swedish meatballs. Roasted Vegetables - Skip the starch and serve the meatballs with a combination of roasted vegetables.

Why is my Swedish meatball sauce not thickening? ›

How to Thicken Swedish Meatball Sauce. The all-purpose flour in this recipe should do the trick to thicken your Swedish meatball sauce to the right consistency. But if it doesn't, you can add a cornstarch slurry (1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons of water) to thicken it up.

Do Swedish meatballs have horse meat? ›

Swedish furniture giant Ikea was drawn into Europe's widening food labelling scandal Monday as authorities said they had detected horsemeat in frozen meatballs labeled as beef and pork and sold in 13 countries across the continent.

Can you eat Swedish meatballs cold? ›

Made in Sweden to a traditional recipe combination of pork and beef, they are truly versatile and can be eaten cold, straight out of the pack as a snack, or heated up as a main meal.

What is a fact about Swedish meatballs? ›

When it comes to the Swedish meatball it is thought that it was brought to Sweden by King Charles XII when he returned from Istanbul in 1713. The first recipe for meatballs in print was in the Cajsa Warg Cookbook in 1754.

How many meatballs are required for a party of 10? ›

It really depends on how many meatballs each person will eat. On average, each adult may eat around 6-8 meatballs, and each child may eat around 4-6 meatballs. So for 10 adults, you may need 60-80 meatballs, and for 5 children, you may need 20-30 meatballs. In total, you may need 80-110 meatballs for this party.

What is one portion of meatballs? ›

How many meatballs is a portion?? Depends on the size - we get a pack of 24 and we have 8 each and DD has 4, with 4 leftover. But they are small-ish ones. About 6 i think, but if there were any left over we would polish them off too.

How many meatballs will feed 100 people? ›

The number of meatballs needed for 100 people depends upon their size and the manner in which they are served. A standard main course serving size is 6 ounces of meat per guest, or approximately 600 1-ounce meatballs, 400 1 1/2-ounce meatballs, 300 2-ounce meatballs and 200 3-ounce meatballs.

How many meatballs is 32 oz? ›

Cooked Perfect Frozen Homestyle Bite Size Meatballs, 32 oz, 64 Count Plastic Bag.

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