Swedish Meatballs · i am a food blog

Real Swedish meatballs, just like in Sweden.

A few years ago, Mike went to Sweden and the number one item on my Swedish bucket list was to eat real Swedish meatballs. We went to a little place called Back pocketnestled in a corner of the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.

The meatballs were unreal. They were and still are one of my all-time favorite food memories. They were so good that we went back the next day. Super juicy and bursting with meaty flavor, served with the creamiest mashed potatoes, rich creamy gravy, lightly picked cucumbers and freshly crushed lingonberries. Every bite was a revelation. If you like, you can read more about our trip to Sweden here.

How to Make Swedish Meatballs

1. Brown the onions – brown the barely tender onions in a little butter.
2. Mix the meatballs – mix the ground pork, ground beef, eggs, panko, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cooked onions well.
3. Make the meatballs – shape into 1-inch meatballs, rolling them well so they are nice and round.
4. Cook the meatballs – melt a little butter in a non-stick pan and add the meatballs, cooking them in batches, taking care to shake the pan so that the meatballs remain round.
5. Make the sauce – in the same pan where you cooked the meatballs, melt a little butter and add a little flour. Stir in the beef stock and cream and simmer until the mixture is slightly thick. Season with a drizzle of soy sauce (it’s traditional!), salt and pepper.
6. Appreciate! – make a plate of meatballs with the meatballs, sauce, mashed potatoes, sliced ​​cucumbers and cranberry sauce.

Ingredients

Swedish meatballs have pretty standard ingredients: diced onions, ground pork, ground beef, eggs, panko, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

• Onions – the more you dice your onions, the more uniform and prettier your meatballs will be. If you have a food processor, feel free to insert it and give it a whirl.
• Eggs – eggs are the binder that helps hold the meatballs together.
  Panko – I like to use panko as breadcrumbs because panko is larger and flakier than regular breadcrumbs. Meatballs made with panko are lighter than meatballs made with regular breadcrumbs.
• Nutmeg – there’s just a little hint of nutmeg in these guys. They give the meatballs authentic Swedish flavor with just a hint of heat in the background.

Swedish Meatball Sauce

The creamy sauce takes these meatballs to the next level, but did you know that apparently (according to the internet anyway) Swedes traditionally don’t eat their meatballs with meatball sauce!??! Now, thanks to Ikea, everyone thinks Swedish meatballs come with a creamy brown sauce and, to be honest, even the meatballs we had in Sweden did. The sauce is almost the best part?!

Swedish Meatball Sauce is super simple, a butter and flour roux with beef broth and cream, topped off with a tiny bit of soy sauce for color and a touch of umami. I learned the soy sauce trick from all the Swedish YouTube cooking shows we watched. This is a game changer when it comes to sauce.

Tips and tricks

• Hard form. Don’t be gentle when shaping these meatballs. Unlike the giant, super tender, crumbled meatballs you get in tomato sauce, the key to the roundness of Swedish meatballs is that they are compacted enough to be firm on the outside and tender on the inside. ‘interior. Use a cookie scoop to help you portion out the right amount, then roll the balls between the palms of your hand and toss them back and forth so they come out perfectly round.
• Use a non-stick coating. Using a non-stick pan helps keep your meatballs nice and round. Non-stick gives you the freedom to shake and roll the meatballs while they’re still raw, before they form a crust. If you use a regular skillet you will need to brown the meatballs before they fall apart and by the time they are ready they will have collapsed from the heat and gravity and will be vaguely lopsided.
• Fry in butter. Frying in butter gives you so much more flavor. I don’t usually fry things in just butter because that tends to get too hot and burn, but that’s how they do it in Sweden and believe me when I say, it has so much meaning.

What are Swedish meatballs?

Swedish meatballs are, you guessed it, meatballs originating from Sweden. They’re called köttbullar, which means meat buns, literally the cutest name ever. Swedish meatballs tend to be smaller and are made with a mixture of beef and pork, simply seasoned with salt and pepper and a touch of nutmeg.

Are Swedish meatballs Swedish?

Yes! Swedish meatballs are definitely Swedish and are eaten regularly in Sweden, both as an everyday meal and sometimes as a special meal during holidays like Christmas.

What’s so special about Swedish meatballs?

Everyone knows Swedish meatballs from Ikea – Ikea meatballs are quite famous. I mean, Mike and I would go to Ikea just to eat meatballs. And I admit I’ve already bought a frozen bag or three. But now that I have this Swedish meatball recipe in my back pocket, I’m done!

Swedish meatballs are very tasty and full of deliciousness. They are crispy on the outside with a buttery, meaty crust and tender and moist on the inside. When you bite into them, the juices flood your mouth with flavor and all is right with the world.

By the way, I’m pretty sure the secret to why Swedish meatballs are so good is that they’re fried in butter. Mike and I watched hours of cooking videos on YouTube – in Swedish, with subtitles – and all of them emphasized the importance of frying your meatballs in butter, in a non-stick pan (more on that later) , as well as aggressively shaping the meatballs. .

What to serve with Swedish meatballs

Swedish meatball plates usually come with a creamy brown sauce, mashed potatoeslightly pickled cucumbers, and lingonberry sauce.

I hope you will try this recipe. It’s definitely one of my favorites. And if so, do like the Swedes and eat a little bit of everything in one bite: a meatball, a little mash, a little sauce, cucumber and cranberries. It’ll be like that moment in Ratatouille where Remy gets fireworks by combining flavors.

Swedish Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes Forever,
xoxo steph

PS- If you want to know more about my love for Swedish meatballs, please visit this post!

Swedish Meatballs Recipe

Real Swedish meatballs, just like in Sweden.

Serves 4

Preparation time 50 minutes minutes

Cooking time 30 minutes minutes

Total duration 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

• 2-4 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 medium onion finely dicedabout 1/2 cup
• 1 kg ground pork
• 1 kg Ground beef
• 2 eggs slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup panko
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Cream sauce

• 2 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup thick cream
• 1 teaspoon I am willow
• salt and freshly ground pepper

• Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large non-stick skillet and brown the onions. When the onions are soft and translucent, remove the pan from the heat and let the onions cool.

• Combine pork, beef, eggs, panko, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a large bowl. When the onions are slightly cooled, add them to the mixture then use your hands to mix everything well.

• Form into 1-inch meatballs, making sure to roll them tightly so they maintain their round shape. Place the meatballs on a plate or tray.

• Over medium heat, melt 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter in the same pan you cooked the onions in. When hot, add the meatballs to the pan, cooking them in batches without overcrowding. Immediately shake the pan as you add a batch of meatballs to ensure the meatballs roll and maintain their meatball shape.

• Fry, shaking the pan occasionally, until the meatballs are golden brown and cooked through. Remove the meatballs from the pan while cooking.

• When all the meatballs are cooked, prepare the sauce: add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and melt over medium heat. Sprinkle with flour, whisk and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly stir in the beef stock and cream and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce begins to thicken. Taste and season with salt, pepper and soy sauce if using.

• Serve the meatballs with the cream sauce, cucumbers and lingonberry jam.

adapted from Swedish cuisine And Say it in Swedish
If you don’t mind the slightly flattened meatballs, just let them sear, without needing to shake them.
Makes about 40 meatballs, or about 10 per person.
The estimated nutritional value is for the meatballs and sauce only.

Nutrition Facts

Swedish Meatballs Recipe

Amount per serving

Calories 580
Calories from fat 221

% daily value*

Fat 24.5g38%

Saturated fat 11.5 g72%

Cholesterol 295 mg98%

Sodium 1193 mg52%

Potassium 1071mg31%

Carbohydrates 15.6g5%

1.2g fiber5%

Sugar 2.3g3%

Protein 70.4g141%

*Percent Daily Values ​​are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.