Swedish Meatballs in the creamy gravy sauce. The combination of Oregano, beef and pork is what makes them so incredibly tender, pretty and flavorful. You may have seen these in IKEA, only this version is much better!
If you love meatballs as much as I do, try Turkey and Pumpkin Meatballs and Mozzarella Baked Meatballs in Marinara Sauce next.
In Sweden, Swedish meatballs in gravy are called köttbullar. The are traditionally made with a mix of ground beef and pork, breadcrumbs soaked in milk, caramelized onions, broth and cream.
You can also use only ground beef for your Swedish meatballs, but a mix of ground pork and beef (and veal) will definitely produce a very tender version of them.
How to make the best Swedish meatballs
1. Saute the onions
First of all, do not skip sauteing onions before adding the to the meatballs and let me tell you - the sweetness of the caramelized onions is mouthwatering!
Adding sauteed onions should be a requirement for all meatballs, not just Swedish meatballs! It is also this yellowish sauce/gravy that makes them so tasty. It's creamy and flavorful and really easy to make.
2. Add garlic
I know I mentioned the magic of sauteed onions. But I can't skip garlic here - I added 3 cloves of minced garlic, even though I could've gone as far as adding 5, cooked them only for a minute and it just boosted the flavor even more.
Tips for Success
- Use Worcestershire sauce. I used Worcestershire sauce in these meatballs in sauce recipe. It's a sauce that comes in a dark bottle with a beige label and wrapped in a nice paper. And in Denmark, this sauce bears a different name - it's commonly known as Engelsk Sauce.
- Use smell as you guide for cooking garlic: Garlic burns easily so you need to watch carefully when cooking it, but I've found smell to be the best indicator that it's done--as soon as you smell that strong garlic scent it's ready. I usually let it cook for a few seconds longer until it's slightly brown.
Storage
To make these Swedish meatballs ahead, you will need to prepare them for the freezer. First of all, make sure to use a baking sheet. Next, make sure there is enough space in your freezer to accommodate it - I usually fit it on top of other items in the freezer - so it ends up being closer to the ceiling of the freezer.
Finally, you want to freeze the Swedish meatballs individually so they don't stick together. After 30 minutes, you can transfer them to a freezer-safe container. Now these köttbullar are ready for you any time you need them.
To make them gluten free
Substitute regular flour for rice flour and bread crumbs for gluten-free bread crumbs in same proportions. Rice flour will create a beautifully smooth sauce for these meatballs - I highly recommend it for a gluten-free Swedish meatball version.
Good side dishes to go with Swedish meatballs
I love eating Swedish Meatballs with Irish Mashed Potatoes with Bacon or Chili Crisp Garlic Pasta
You can also enjoy a tasty salad with them, such as: Italian Salad (Olive Garden Copycat) or Brussels Sprout Cranberry Salad in Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
More delicious meatballs
Mozzarella Baked Meatballs in Marinara Sauces
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Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
Ikea Meatballs:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 10 oz ground beef
- 10 oz ground pork
- 2 tablespoon milk
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- ½ large onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 egg
Creamy Swedish Meatball Sauce:
- 5 tablespoon butter
- 3 tablespoon flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
TO MAKE MEATBALLS:
- Combine ½ cup panko bread crumbs and milk and allow bread crumbs to soak up milk.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large pan (I used cast iron one) on medium high. Add chopped onions and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and sauté for another minute. Turn off heat.
- In a medium bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, soaked bread crumbs and sautéed onion/garlic/oregano mixture. Mix in with salt and pepper. Add 1 egg and combine using a wooden spoon until the entire egg is mixed in.
- Using a tablespoon for measuring and your hands for rolling, start making those meatballs. I just rolled them between my palms and got 18 average size meatballs.
- On medium high heat, brown meat balls on all sides, carefully turning so they don't break apart. Cook them for about 10 minutes, making sure they are not raw inside. Remove meatballs and put them on a large plate.
TO MAKE SAUCE:
- Reduce heat to low and add 4 tablespoons butter to hot pan. Once butter is melted, whisk in 3 tablespoons flour and cook for 1-2 minutes until golden brown.
- Add in 2 cups beef broth and simmer for 2 minutes. Next add in 1 cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce and 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard. Simmer until sauce thickens just a bit. Taste it and add salt and pepper if necessary (depends on whether your broth is sodium free or not).
COMBINING MEATBALLS WITH SAUCE:
- Add meatballs into sauce, cover and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.
Johnny Mac says
Glad I came across this recipe, it turned out really well! I cooked the meatballs instead in the oven at 400F for about 10 minutes (turned over once) and made the sauce during this time, then added the meatballs back into the sauce at the end. Also added some sauteed onions and mushrooms to the sauce.
Only issue is cooking the flour with the butter clumped and it took a while to smooth it out when adding in the beef stock. If the flour is just to thicken (?), maybe mix it with some stock first then combine with the butter?
Olya says
If you add the flour before water it absorbs the fat/butter as well as pre-cooks it to keep it from clumping as much. However, either way of mixing the flour in should work and allow time for flour taste to evaporated.
Emily says
Easy and delicious! I added a bit of balsamic vinegar to the meatballs while cooking them to give them a nice glaze and muahh! So good. Thank you for sharing!
Olya says
Thank you for your sweet comment, Emily!
Carol L Pinola says
I've made this countless times-and passed it on. Absolutely delicious and satisfying!
Olya says
I am soooo very happy to hear that!
Richard Lycett says
Worcestershire Sauce...
I live in Worcestershire... and everyone in the whole of England just called it Worcester Sauce, pronounced
...
Ready?
....
It’s really REALLY DIFFICULT....
So it helps if you’re sitting down...
Ok
Here you go...
It’s, hang on... need to plug my lapto....
Brad says
I used chicken broth here instead of the beef broth. Not a big fan of the smell of beef broth. We loved it!