So you're probably asking yourself - who is Omi and are her Swedish Meatballs as good as Ikea's? Let me tell you...
Well, Omi is my mom's mom!! She's responsible for MANY of our favorite recipes here on WGC and in my cookbooks and YES THESE SWEDISH MEATBALLS ARE ABSOLUTELY as good as Ikea's, if not better! Thank you very much and apologies for yelling! They just bring back mega memories of childhood and I'm very excited!
You know those fried potatoes in book 3 - those are hers!! And that green bean salad in book 2 - Omi gets full credit!! Her recipes are packed with flavor but simple and not complicated! The woman had 3 kids to feed back when they were all living at home, she needed max flavor without crazy long prep times. So today, you're getting her version of Swedish Meatballs!
Anya (my sister) and I used to BEG her to make these every time she would come visit or we'd go visit her! They are hands down one of my top 10 favorite recipes from childhood and you guys will be obsessed.
Most Swedish Meatballs are a combo of ground beef and ground pork. I know that many of you don't eat pork or just never have it on hand, so you'll notice the recipe below only calls for ground beef. But if you're into the pork, DO IT! Just do a 50/50 split of ground beef to ground pork and you'll get even more flavor!
And the creamy gravy sauce - omg. It's so simple and perfect. Starts with a little roux and gets finished with some heavy cream (whole fat milk would work too) and beef broth. It's creamy and delicious and PERFECT for dunking the meatballs in to make them extra flavorful. Swedish Meatballs coming in hot!! Enjoy!
Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 ½ lbs ground beef (alternatively you can use ¾ lb ground beef and ¾ lb ground pork if you want to use pork)
- ¾ cup bread crumbs (I prefer panko)
- ½ cup chopped yellow onion
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 beef boullion cube
- ½ cup hot water
For the Gravy
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream (or full fat milk)
- 1 cup beef stock or broth
- parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Combine the ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, milk, egg, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and let sit for 15 minutes. Then shape into balls - a little smaller than a golf ball.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and brown the meatballs on all sides until golden.
- Dissolve the bouillon cube in the hot water and pour over the meat and continue to cook until meatballs are browned. Remove the meatballs from the pan to a clean plate and set aside. The liquid will be mostly evaporated at this point any remnants, don't worry about.
- Melt the butter in the same skillet and add the flour and stir to combine. Cook until the flour is evenly combined and golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in heavy cream and beef broth and cook until mixture thickens, about 3-4 minutes. Nestle back in the meatballs and simmer together for a few minutes before serving. Garnish with parsley and serve solo or alongside any sort of egg noodle or rice.
Gaby I made these for dinner tonight and they were the BEST Swedish meatballs we have ever had!!!! Thank you Omi!!!
My husband and I really enjoyed these meatballs! Such great comfort food. I made them as written using both pork and beef. The only minor changes included using whole milk instead of cream and “Better than Bouillon” brand beef concentrate instead of the cube. Such wonderful flavors! Exactly how I want Swedish Meatballs to taste!
This was very good and I will definitely make again!
This was great! It was easy to make and my husband loved it. It reminded me of something my mom would make when I was a kid. Best of all, there are leftovers! Thanks for sharing.
Looking forward to making this tonight. Hubby is lactose intolerant. Can I sub coconut cream instead of heavy cream?
I think coconut would change the flavor profile too much. I would do an almond milk creamer
this was so good. i served it with biscuits for a biscuits and gravy situation. Def not a low-cal meal but so so cozy and delish 🙂
Never had Swedish meatballs before and decided to give them a try. WOW delicious! The whole family loved them.
Looks delicious! Can I use better than boullion instead?
sure thing
Drool. Want. Now.
Gaby, I’m not sure I’m understanding step 3 & 4 correctly. After we douse the dissolved bullion over the meatballs, what exactly do we set aside? Just the meatballs? Or meatballs AND bullion mixture... ? Thank you in advance!
just clarified!
Oh man, I saw this too late! I made another version of this tonight and it was underwhelming, to say the least. I'm excited to try yours!
hi...can i use panko instead of breadcrumb?
sure can!
Can I used ground chicken or turkey?
sure can
Where does the onion come in?
step 1! with the meat mixture 🙂
Just asking what to serve with these please ?
I usually serve pasta or rice as mentioned in the post 🙂 A big salad is nice too
I am Swedish- and my family made "Svenska Kotbullar" often. We always serve with buttered egg noodles, or if kids are involved, use macaroni. You can also make a béchamel sauce as well for the noodles. Make sure you always have a side of lingonberries, and although I haven't made Gaby's recipe yet, authentic Swedish Meatballs always have allspice in them. It looks yummy though!