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My favorite recipe for homemade IKEA Swedish meatballs nuzzled in a simple yet creamy brown gravy!
If there was ever a captain of comfort food, it would be these juicy meatballs in the most delicious Swedish meatball sauce.
The creamy gravy is loaded with pan drippings, from cooking the meatballs. A simple roux made with flour and butter, a splash beef broth, and a dollop of sour cream to make this cream and delicious.
I use a secret tip that my mom taught me to make the meatballs extra delicious and so moist. The meatball mixture takes minutes to mix up, then we cook them in a cast iron skillet before me make the creamy sauce in the same skillet.
The sauce starts with a simple roux and the results are truly incredible.
You’ll want to sip that sauce with a spoon!
Wondering if its legal to eat this every single day…..yum YUM:) Paired with egg noodles and large green salad. We didnt touch the salad haha! Thanks for a winner, absolutely delicious.
Ingredients for Sweden-inspired meatballs![]()
- Onion: finely chop the onions so that they basically melt right into the meatballs. I don’t use grated onion because we’ll cook them down in a little butter first.
- Butter: we’ll need butter for both the Swedish meatball sauce and to cook the meatballs in.
- Bread: instead of using breadcrumbs or panko, my recipe calls for bread soaked in milk.
- Lean Ground Beef: we’ll need a little over a pound for the meatballs recipe.
- Egg: You’ll need one egg. The egg acts like a binder in the meatballs recipe.
- Seasonings and spices: you’ll need kosher salt, black pepper, along with ground nutmeg, ground allspice, and garlic powder.
- Oil: we’ll add a little bit to keep the butter from burning in the pan.
- Worcestershire Sauce: adds umami to the recipe
- Flour: used to make a roux for the Swedish meatballs gravy.
- Beef broth: feel free to swap the beef stock or broth for chicken broth.
- Sour Cream: makes the sauce creamy and delicious at the end.
- Yellow Mustard: adds just the right hint of umami.
- Egg noodles or mashed potatoes: of course you can also do orzo, rice, or anything else you prefer for serving.
My secrets to the most tender Swedish Meatballs
I’m using an age-old trick to keep these meatballs nice and tender. This is something I learned from my mom and she from hers. Soak a couple pieces of bread in a 3 tablespoons of milk for a few minutes before adding it to the ground meat mixture. Friend, I’m telling you, not a dry meatball in sight.
How to make the best Swedish meatballs
- Cook the onions. Add a pad of butter to the cast-iron skillet and cook the onions down. This is to draw out the excess moisture. Allow the onions to cool before using them in the meatball mixture.
- Soak the bread. Break the bread into small pieces, add it to a bowl andsplash the milk over top. Allow the bread to soak up the milk for several minutes.
- Make meatballs. Combine the soaked bread, sautéed onions, and the ground beef, egg, seasoning, and mix together to fork the meatball mixture. Divide the ground beef into balls. Place uncooked meatballs on a plate.
- Sear the meatballs. Heat a skillet, drop a little bit of butter and oil and sear the meatballs. Sear all over them remove to a plate.
- Make the sauce. In the same skillet, add the remaining butter and allow it to melt. Season with the flour mixture. And prepare roux. Pour the beef broth in as you whisk to keep it from forming lumps. Whisk in the sour cream on low heat to keep it from curdling.
- Soak in the sauce. season the gravy with garlic powder, mustard, Worchestershire sauce and allow it to come to a gentle simmer. add the meatballs back in and let them soak up the sauce. Serve with your favorite carbs.
if you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Comforting French Onion Meatballs
- Cozy Creamy Chicken Tetrazzini
- Chicken Piccata Meatballs
- Mongolian Beef Meatballs
Seriously Amazing Swedish Meatballs in Brown Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 2 slices white bread torn into small pieces
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 ¼ pound ground beef 93% lean
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or similar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 ¾ cup beef or chicken broth low sodium
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ – 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes for serving
Instructions
- SAUTE: In a large skillet, heat a tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the onions and allow them to soften and become translucent about 3-5 minutes. Remove to a medium bowl and allow them to cool.
- SOAK: In a small bowl, pour the milk over the bread and press down with a spoon or your fingers so that the bread soaks up all the milk, let sit 5 minutes.
- MIX: When the onions have cooled, add the ground beef, bread mixture, an egg, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and allspice to the bowl and mix until just combined. Don't overmix the meat as it will result in tough meatballs. Shape into 18-22 meatballs that are about 1- 1 ¼ inch in diameter.
- SEAR: Heat 1 tablespoon of butter along with oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook for 6-9 minutes, turn every couple of minutes to ensure even browning. Remove to a plate. If you don't have a skillet large enough to hold all the meatballs, do it in batches, do not overcrowd the pan, you don't want them to steam as they won't develop that brown outer crust and as a result, the sauce will be very light in color.
- ROUX: Add the remaining 3 tbsp of butter to the skillet on medium-low heat. Sprinkle the flour in and whisk for 1-2 minutes or until it turns golden brown. Slowly pour the beef broth in while you whisk. Lower the heat, whisk in the sour cream until it dissolves completely.
- GRAVY: Add the garlic powder, a ½ teaspoon of mustard, and Worcestershire sauce and let come to a gentle simmer before lowering the heat. Allow sauce to thicken for 6-10 minutes or until it reaches desired consistency. Taste and adjust with additional mustard as desired. Add meatballs in when there are 4 minutes remaining. Keep in mind the sauce will thicken as it sits, so if you aren't serving right away, consider leaving it a little thinner.
- SERVE: on top of buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes. Top with fresh parsley if desired!
Notes
- Edit: 05/19/2019 some readers have mentioned that they thought the mustard flavor was a little strong in this recipe. The original recipe calls for 2 teaspoons, however, if this is your first time making this recipe, I suggest starting with a ½ teaspoon and then adjusting it as desired, up to 2 teaspoons.
- I’ve only tested the recipe with sour cream so not sure if greek yogurt can be substituted. But really, it’s Swedish meatballs, go with the sour cream, just this once.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Hi Marzia, I’m planning on using this recipe for a party. will ground turkey work with this recipe?
Robin
Yes, I think you could make this with ground turkey. You may need to play around with the binding ingredients a little bit (a little more bread, maybe) but it should work out well.
Wow. No words but wow. These are AMAZING! Who knew I could make such delicious meatballs 😉
Fantastic recipe. I goofed and added garlic to the meatballs so I also added it to the sauce, along with 1/4 cup white wine. I decreased the amount of sour cream slightly, and served the dish over rice. Was fantastic
When you added the white wine did you substitute it or was it used in addition to?
Absolutely amazing. Got great reviews
How many meatballs is a serving?
Thanks!
I got 18 meatballs out of a batch, so we had 3 per serving.
I made this recipe tonight for dinner and while it wasn’t bad, I found the heat and time settings to be completely off. Takes almost twice as long as indicated to cook the meatballs well done, and when making the gravy to start at medium low it will not come to a gentle simmer in anything less than 10 minutes. And even at twice the time indicated, the grave it did not turn brown. Overall, this is an OK recipe, but I will not be making it again.
This was so good, we loved it my husband thought he would not like it, (he don’t like sour cream) he loved it.
Thank you four this amazing recipe.
Why do you put mustard in it?
The mustard adds complexity to the sauce and gives it a nice depth of flavor.
Made this, super yummy!! I doubled the recipe for the meatballs and froze half so all I need to do is make the sauce next time <3
Beautiful. Perfect for a winter night in January. My husband loved them 🙂
Thanks 🙂
I really want to make these because they sound so yummy!! Just a quick question for you. My husband’s not a fan of sour cream is it necessary to use it?
The sour cream gives this that creamy, rich flavor that Swedish meatballs are known for, so personally, I wouldn’t leave it out, i’d use heavy cream as a replacement. Without it, it’ll be more of a brown gravy – nothing wrong with that, just a little different. Heavy cream makes a good substitute as it still give it that little bit of richness.
Amazing gravy! Mine did not get as brown as yours, but tasted delicious! Love that it made lots, too!
Wondering if its legal to eat this every single day…..yum YUM:) Paired with egg noodles and large green salad. We didnt touch the salad haha! Thanks for a winner, absolutely delicious.
What kind of bread?
White bread or wheat bread, either will work.
These were fantastic! I made enough for leftovers and, even though I was planning on them for dinner again tonight, I may serve them for breakfast. Seriously. They were that awesome. Depending on the fat content of the hamburg, one may choose to drain the grease before making the sauce. I wanted a very little in there for flavor but because I mix ground sirloin and ground chuck, I find it necessary to add that small step. Be careful not to lose all the browned bits and pieces (fond) that are in there and stuck to the pan when you drain the grease, that is your money in this dish when you deglaze!
Can we use ground chicken instead or would it be too “dry”? thanks!
I’ve only tested the recipe with ground beef so i’m a little unsure whether the chicken meatballs will actually even hold together with the same binding ingredients (and quantities).
We just had these for dinner tonight. They were great!
So happy to hear that Brittany. Thanks! 🙂
I made this this evening and it was so dang good. I may take it a little easy on the butter next time. Or I may not. Lol!! Some of my meatballs fell apart a little, and I think it’s because I didn’t break the bread up small enough. But it was still so good!! One question though, my sour cream looked grainy when I mixed and never fully dissolved. Did I put too much in too fast? Thanks so much for the recipe, it’s a favorite.!!
Glad to hear you enjoyed it Jae! Sometimes the meatballs also fall apart if they don’t sear on all sides properly but yes, the bread may have also been the culprit. For the sour cream, did you happen to use low-fat or fat free? I find these types almost always leave the sauce a little grainy. Also, for next time, you can try lowering the heat setting or moving the pan completely off the stove when adding it in. I’ll also add a little note to the recipe card about it. thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Great recipe! Do you use dijon mustard or regular yellow mustard? Thanks! Will be making this soon!
Cheers!
Thanks Candace! Just regular yellow mustard, such as French’s. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Looks good! And I should know, I’m Swedish!
Glad I have your stamp of approval 🙂