Delicious Swedish Meatballs: Tender homemade beef meatballs are tossed in a luscious cream sauce that can be served over noodles, rice or mashed potatoes in this classic comfort food recipe!
When I am planning main course for our family, meatballs are the star of some of my favorite recipes. These Easy Meatballs Stuffed Bell Peppers are one of our favorites for a quick week night meal. Our saucy Slow Cooker BBQ Meatballs make a great meatball sub on a toasted roll or by themselves. Now, I’m so excited to share this easy Swedish meatball recipe with you!
Why you’ll love this recipe for Swedish Meatballs
This is quick and cozy comfort food in under an hour! Who needs IKEA meatballs when you can make them at home?
You only need one bowl, one baking dish and one skillet to make this recipe. Less dishes mean more time spent with your friends and family!
If you need to feed a crowd, you can easily double or triple this recipe for Swedish meatballs.
Serve them over mashed potatoes, egg noodles or rice for even more deliciousness, like we did with this chicken and gravy recipe!
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Ingredients
Recipes with simple ingredients are my favorite! All of the ingredients for this meatball recipe can be found at your local grocery store.
For the traditional Swedish meatballs:
- 1/2 lb. ground beef
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons of milk
- 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon onion flakes
- 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the Swedish meatball sauce:
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 teaspoons beef bouillon powder (or 3 beef bouillon cubes)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cups milk
See the printable recipe card below for recipe instructions, nutrition information and detailed recipe notes.
Instructions
Is this is your first time making homemade meatballs, it is easier than you think. (Now, we love a good frozen meatball recipe too but when you have time to make homemade like these… it’s hard to beat.)
We’ve got step-by-step instructions with photos so you can make these Swedish meatballs at home!
To make the meatballs:
- First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, use your hands or a spoon to mix together the beef, egg, milk, bread crumbs, onion flakes, dried parsley, black pepper and nutmeg until it is well combined.
- Next, use a spoon or a cookie scoop to shape the mixture into small (1-inch) meatballs. This recipe makes between 20 and 22 meatballs.
- Now, place the uncooked meatballs in the prepared baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes or until the center of the meatballs is no longer pink. You can also brown the meatballs in a large skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil until cooked through. If you cook the meatballs in a skillet, make sure to rotate the meatballs so they brown on all side and stay relatively round. Once cooked, set the meatballs aside and keep them warm.
For the cream sauce:
- In a large skillet with sides, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add the flour, bouillon powder and black pepper to the melted butter. Whisk until well combined. Add the milk slowly, whisking into a sauce that is well blended and smooth.
- Return the pan to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the cream sauce starts to boil. Boil for about 1 minute and continue stirring. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Next, add the cooked meatballs to the pan of sauce. Stir to help completely coat the meatballs with the sauce.
- Finally spoon the Swedish meatballs and sauce over hot egg noodles, rice or mashed potatoes.
Just look at that luscious, creamy sauce! The butter makes it shiny and smooth and the beef bouillon adds a depth of flavor that really complements the flavorful meatballs. You may never make meatballs any other way again!
Variations
Our recipe is a classic Swedish meatballs and creamy gravy sauce recipe. But, that doesn’t mean that you can’t switch it up to meet your family’s dietary needs or preferences. Or, if you just want to try something new, we’ve got some creative additions to the sauce that you may love!
- While we used ground beef for these juicy meatballs, you can use a mixture of ground beef + ground pork, ground pork, ground chicken or ground turkey.
- If you use ground pork, chicken or turkey for the meatball mixture, you can use chicken bouillon powder instead of beef.
- For a thinner sauce, use broth (beef broth or chicken broth depending on the ground meat you use) for some of the milk.
- For an even creamier sauce, use heavy cream in place of some of the milk.
- To amp up the flavor of the sauce, add a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard or a dollop of sour cream.
Swedish Meatballs FAQs
While Swedish meatballs are made with similar ingredients to regular meatballs (ground meat, eggs and bread crumbs), Swedish meatballs are typically smaller and have warm spices like nutmeg and allspice added.
The sauce is made with a base of melted butter and flour, seasoned with pepper and beef bouillon (or sometimes broth) and thickened with milk to a rich, creamy consistency.
Traditionally, Swedish meatballs are served over buttered noodles or mashed potatoes. Lingonberry jam or cranberry sauce are a great accompaniment to provide some tartness to cut the rich sauce. You can also serve vegetables alongside the Swedish meatballs like green beans, roasted broccoli or fresh pickled cucumbers.
Storage
Store any leftover meatballs and sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Top tips
Using a small cookie scoop results in evenly sized, perfect meatballs for this recipe.
For easy clean up while make these delicious Swedish meatballs, wear gloves while mixing up the meat and line the baking dish with aluminum foil.
More Comfort Food Classics
Chicken and Dumplings are the heart of warm and cozy comfort food, and so is these chicken and noodles! Our creamy Beef Stroganoff is old-fashioned comfort food ready in just 30 minutes!
Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a review below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!
📖 Recipe
Delicious Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- ½ lb ground beef
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoon milk
- ¼ cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon onion flakes
- ½ tablespoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Ingredients for the sauce
- 3 tablespoon salted butter
- 3 tablespoon flour
- 3 teaspoon beef bouillon powder or 3 beef bouillon cubes
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cups milk
Instructions
To make the meatballs
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Using your hands or a spoon, mix together the beef, egg, milk, bread crumbs, onion flakes, dried parsley, black pepper and nutmeg until well combined.
- Next, use a spoon or cookie scoop to shape the mixture into small (1 inch) meatballs. This recipe makes about 20-22 meatballs.
- Now, place the meatballs in the prepared baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes or until the center of the meatballs is no longer pink. You can also brown the meatballs in a skillet with a tablespoon of oil until cooked through. If you cook them in a skillet, make sure to rotate the meatballs so they brown on all sides and stay relatively round. Set the meatballs aside and keep them warm.
How to make the cream sauce
- In a large saucepan or skillet with sides, melt the butter over medium high heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add the flour, bouillon powder and black pepper. Whisk until well combined. Add the milk slowly, whisking into a sauce that is well blended and smooth.
- Return the pan to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the cream sauce starts to boil. Boil for 1 minute and continue stirring. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Next, add the cooked meatballs to the pan of sauce. Stir to help completely coat the meatballs with the sauce.
- Finally, spoon the Swedish meatballs and sauce over hot egg noodles, rice or mashed potatoes.
Notes
- We recommend making 1 inch meatballs because that size cooks through in the center without becoming too brown on the outside.
- For the best results, eat this dish while the sauce is hot because it thickens quickly and may form a skin over the top as it cools.
- Store any leftover meatballs and sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Journa Liz Ramirez says
Homemade meatballs are the best! Love how delicious these Swedish meatballs are. I’m excited to make them again. YUM!
Allyssa says
This is my new favorite meatballs recipe! Turned out really delicious and super tasty! Will surely have this again! Thanks a bunch for sharing!
jess says
I fell in love with sweedish meatballs from Ikea, and this is a great home version of this recipe!