Swedish meatballs are a fun twist on the traditional Italian meatball. Made with beef and pork, serve swedish meatballs over rice or noodles for a new family favorite.
If you have ever been to IKEA, then you probably know about Swedish meatballs. Meatballs in general are great for dinner because they are easy to make ahead and freeze for later. You can cook meatballs in the slow cooker like barbecue meatballs and slow cooker pineapple meatballs.
Meatballs are also super versatile. You can use meatballs in soup Italian Wedding Soup and Italian Sausage Minestrone Soup. Of course, everyone loves them with spaghetti and marinara sauce. Swedish meatballs are just a nice change of pace from their Italian counterparts.
Swedish Meatballs Ingredients:
- Medium or small onion
- Ground meat – usually use a combination of ground beef and pork. You will always want to use at least a little bit of pork.
- Egg
- Bread crumbs
- Half and half – you can substitute heavy cream or milk
- Allspice and Cloves – these are very strong spices so the recipe only calls for 1/8 teaspoon of each but you can increase that amount depending on how you like it.
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Butter
- Flour
- Beef broth
Swedish Meatballs Directions:
Blend the onion in a food processor. You don’t need to chop it first. Just cut it into wedges and toss it in. Add the egg and pulls again to combine with the onion.
Next, add the meat, bread crumbs, 1/2 cup half and half, allspice and cloves, salt and pepper into the food processor.
Blend until almost smooth. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may have to do this in batches.
Processing the ground meat in the food processor gives the meatballs a nice smooth texture. Be careful not to over-process the meat or it’ll get gummy.
Roll the meat mixture into balls. This recipe will make 40-100 meatballs depending on size. Use a cookie scoop to scoop the meatballs and then roll out to keep them even in size.
Place the Swedish meatballs on a baking sheet or in a 9 X1 3 pan or in a cast iron pan. You want something with a lip so the grease doesn’t spill over!
Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes. When done, remove the meatballs from your baking sheet or cast iron pan to a plate. Keep warm.
Make Swedish Meatballs Sauce:
Scrape the drippings from the baking pan of meatballs into a pot on the stovetop. Or just put the cast iron skillet on the stove top. Be careful with the handle as it will be hot!
Add butter to the pot and melt. Stir in flour to make a paste (roux) and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Remove pot from the burner and slowly whisk in the remaining half and half and the beef broth. Season with salt and pepper.
Put the pot back on the stove and bring contents to a simmer until thickened. Remove from heat.
You can add the meatballs right into the pot with the gravy if everyone likes the sauce. If not, keep separate from the meatballs.
Serve the meatballs on mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.
Swedish Meatballs
Made with beef and pork, serve swedish meatballs over rice or noodles for a new family favorite.
Ingredients
- 1 medium-size onion
- 2 lbs ground meat
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 2/3 cup half and half
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 4 Tablespoons flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Blend onion in a food processor. Add egg and again.
- Add meat, bread crumbs, 1/2 cup half and half, allspice and cloves, salt and pepper into the food processor and blend until almost smooth (you may have to do this in batches).
- Roll meat into balls (makes 40-100 depending on size) and place on baking sheet or in a 9X13 pan (something with a lip so the grease doesn't spill over!)
- Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.
For the sauce:
- Scrape drippings from the baking pans of meatballs into a pot on the stovetop.
- Add butter to the pot and melt.
- Stir in flour to make a paste (roux) and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove pot from the burner and slowly whisk in the remaining half and half and the beef broth. Season with salt and pepper.
- Put the pot back on the stove and bring contents to a simmer until thickened. Remove from heat.
- Put meatballs on rice or noodles and serve with sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
50Serving Size:
5Amount Per Serving: Calories: 22Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 66mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 1g
Nutrition values will change depending on the type of meat used and the size of the meatballs.