My family absolutely loves this recipe for Swedish Meatballs! It is one of their favourite meals and I’m sure it will become one of your family’s favourites as well. Serve Swedish Meatballs with broad egg noodles, rice, or even this great tasting recipe for Garlic Mashed Potatoes.
The key to making the sensational sauce is scraping all the browned meatball bits off the bottom of the skillet after frying the meatballs. I use a combination of butter and olive oil when browning the meatballs, the olive oil helps prevent burning the butter. Burned butter will not make a great tasting sauce, so keep an eye on the heat while browning your meatballs! Serve with egg noodles or even mashed potatoes and you’ve got a recipe the family will be asking you to make often!
Meatballs covered in a rich, creamy sauce! Whats not to love about that!
Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fresh oregano chopped or 1 tsp. dry oregano
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 5 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 cups beef broth warmed up
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
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In small bowl combine panko bread crumbs and milk. Let sit for 10 minutes until bread crumbs have soaked up milk.
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In large skillet heat 1 tbsp. olive oil with 1 tbsp. butter, medium heat.
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Add onions and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes, add garlic and oregano and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
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In large bowl, combine ground beef sautéed onion, garlic and oregano.
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Mix in salt, pepper and egg, combine until egg is mixed in.
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Add bread crumbs to meat mixture and combine well.
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Use a tablespoon or scoop to make equal sized meatballs. Recipe makes approximately 20.
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Reheat skillet used to sauté onions and garlic, adding a bit more olive oil and butter if needed.
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On medium heat, brown meat balls on all sides, carefully turning so they don't break apart.
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Don't overcrowd skillet with meatballs, work in batches.
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Transfer meatballs to baking sheet and keep warm in oven while making sauce.
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Add 4 tbsp. butter to skillet, when melted whisk in flour, cook until golden brown.
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Slowly stir in heated beef broth, cook at temperature that keeps sauce at slow bubble.
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Add in cream, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard, simmer until sauce thickens at bit.
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Add meatballs into sauce, cover and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes. Season to taste.
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Serve with egg or broad noodles or mashed potatoes.
Recipe Video
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Really tempting meat balls
They are good Beena!
Can’t wait to try these
Bridgette, I’d love to hear back when you try the recipe.
Just made this recipe tonight…very very good! I didn’t change the recipe at all and my girlfriend and I both thought it was delicious. Served on wide old fashioned egg noodles.
Thank you Gus, it always means a lot to me when people take the time to drop me a note. Your girlfriend is so lucky to have you cook for her.
If I don’t have heavy cream, can I use whole milk?
Hi Kathy, whole milk will not work as well as cream as it doesn’t not thicken like cream does. Cream also adds better flavour.
My Swedish Grandmother Maya always added allspice to her meatballs. I don’t think she used oregano.
Allspice is used in the authentic recipes I’ve found. But this recipe is my favorite!
Yes I have seen allspice in many recipes, but my husband is not a fan of allspice so I don’t add it. So glad you enjoyed the recipe Jennifer.
But they are not Swedish, sorry.
I’m Swedish and we use a equal parts beef, pork & veal mix for the meat. I will try this recipe, it sounds very tasty. My Greek husband will tell you that oregano improves everything. As for the non-Swedish aspect-we have our Christmas meatballs with a BBQ sauce that includes grape jelly. So there! Sounds kinda icky, definitely non-traditional, but very good and always a huge hit. Some of my family even prefer them without any sauce at all.
My grandmother used either nutmeg and allspice or just nutmeg. Definitely not oregano.
Grandma’s are the best cooks Danielle! Great thing about recipes, you can adapt them to suite your taste and sometimes just what you have on hand. I love the flavour of the meatballs in this recipe.
I have made these…delish! You will love them. Making this recipe in a cast iron skillet or dutch oven really does make a difference too!
Agreed Kari, dutch ovens and cast iron skillets get great sears on meat.
thank you for this recipe. Most of the time it calls for mushrooms which I do not like. I will definitely try this…
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Oh man, these look soooo good!
Thanks Nicole, so sweet of you to comment 🙂
This recipe is amazing! I just made it for my mom and her boyfriend and they loved it! Thank you so much! I will definitely keep this recipe for the future 🙂
Thank you Malyssa, so glad you all enjoyed the recipe!
These look great. Heading out to store now for ingredients.
This should make a great Sunday meal.. Bet the toddler loves them!!!!
Debbo, the toddler will love them, but so will Momma 🙂
I have just cooked this our dinner, have to say it tasted absolutely fantastic and will do again, however I followed the recipe exactly even though I thought 3 Tbsp of flour was a lot, and it was 🙁
So had to remake the sauce but using 3 tsp and it turned out absolutely delicious.
Thank you for this yummy recipe 🙂
Hi Dee, so glad you enjoyed the recipe, when making the sauce you are starting with the butter/flour to make a roux, which will be very thick until you start whisking in the beef broth.
Hi,
Yes I did make a roux using your quoted 3 Tablespoons of flour, even when I added the stock it was so thick and gluppy, so I made again but using 3 teaspoons of flour and it was absolutely perfect.
Wondering if UK spoon sizes could be different from US spoon sizes.
Anyway have cooked this recipe so many times now and it is absolutely delicious – thank you so much for sharing it 🙂 🙂
When do you add the heavy whipping cream? I’m going to try your recipe tonight.
Hi Linda, I update the instructions a bit, the cream goes in right after beef broth, simmer until sauce thickens a bit, then add meatballs and simmer for another 10 minutes.
My family loved these. A few thing I might do differently next time: there was so much sauce- I could easily have double the meatballs and still have lots of sauce (And have leftovers!) And the meatballs were on the verge of falling apart while cooking them. I am going to refrigerate them to firm them up and then fry them.
Will definitely make them again and again!
Thanks for the great feedback Meg!
I would add an egg to the beef mixture, as it acts as a “glue” to keep them from falling apart.
We made these today. Great recipe, except it needs something to make it less bland. Will experiment with it a little, but overall, the perfect recipe for the family! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Patty, try adjusting the Djion mustard, worcestershire, and oregano to your taste.
Hi. I think the recipe was very good. I served it over egg noodles and my picky eaters (2 teen sons and husband) really liked it. They are normally opposed to ground beef outside of spaghetti but this, they have already asked me to make again! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Terrific Kim, so glad you tried the recipe
Make this dinner. We loved it! I wouldn’t change a thing about this recipe!
Thank you so much Denise, so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Yummed and pinned! I’ve been looking for a really good Swedish meatball recipe in…..forever. Looking forward to trying this one. It’s looks divine!
Thank you Carol.
Im so excited to Make this! It seems really simple! 🙂 thanks for sharing the recipe!
yes Abbi, simple and tasty!
I tried this tonight. Very easy and good. I think i may have overused the Dijon mustard but it was still so good!
That is awesome to hear Ashley, glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Have you ever tried adding a little sour cream to the dauce? I have not tried the recipe yet but I think I may when I do. Sounds really good…
Hey Lisa, I don’t to this recipe, but have make other types of stroganoff that I do add sour cream to. I’m sure it will taste great.
Thanks for the recipe Laureen. Those are definitely better than the IKEA version… unless you prefer horse meat 😉 Prepared kottbullar yesterday (slightly tweaked this recipe with allspice instead of origan) and served them with lingonberry jam, pressgurka (pressed cucumbers) and potatismos (mashed potatoes). They were absolutely DELICIOUS! I am ready to go back to Stockholm and celebrate Midsommar next week 😉
Have a great celebration in Stockholm, appreciate you taking the time to give me the feedback on the recipe. Like how you changed it up as well 🙂
This recipe is fantastic! My family asks for it over & over. The only thing I’ve done differently is bake the meatballs. It saves me time & I have to say I’ve been known to pulverize my meatballs when trying to pan fry them. 🙂 this recipe is a keeper! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Rachel, so glad your family enjoys it, so does mine 🙂
How long did you bake the meatballs and what temperature?
Hey Lucy, depending on what size you make the meatballs they should cook until internal temperature of 160º.Browned on all sides and cooked throughout. Mine unusually take about 10 minutes.
Michelle, thank you!
Wonderful dish! I used coconut oil instead of olive and horseradish brown mustard. Came out perfect! Thank you
Hey Hollie, I bet that horseradish mustard added some tasty zip, I’ll have to try that.
Made these tonight, I used a half pound of ground beef and a half pound of ground pork mixed together for the meatballs as a little twist on the recipe! Turned out great. Only comment I have is that I felt there was a little too much heavy cream. The sauce almost had that feeling of coating your mouth. I’d reduce the cream by a touch and I think it’d be perfect! Thanks for the recipe!!
Thanks for the great feedback, appreciated!
I made this tonight. My husband and I both liked it a lot and will make it again.
Connie, it is a recipe I make quite often, so glad you and your husband enjoyed it.
This was SO good.
I totally messed up and didn’t add the carmelized onion to the meatballs, I realized after I formed them so I scooped the onions into a cup until time to add the meatballs back, it was still awesome and I enjoyed having the onion in the sauce!
My insanely picky 6 year old ate 2 servings and said “super awesome dinner!” which is quite a complement coming from him.
My husband loved them as well, he’s not as picky though 😉
So glad I found this!
Oh and I served on some pappardelle. I feel fancy saying that. I promise I’m not, I just always get excited any time a new pasta comes to my publix and I had it on hand.
Sorry for the novel, thanks for the great recipe !
Amanda thank you, I’ll really enjoyed your comment, it made my day. I need to try some of that pasta, it does sound fancy. We have an Italian shop in town, so I’m going to check this week to see if they carry it.
Fantastic recipe, thanks. I added a little more Dijon as my whole family are mustard lovers!!!
Absolutely loved that it had a lot of sauce, it’s hard to find recipes that have that, I usually make double batch.
Will definitely be cooking again
Thanks Carrol, my husband doesn’t like too much Dijon, I like more, so I just serve it on the side, but it always does seem to taste just a bit better cooked in
I made this dish tonight for dinner . DELICIOUS !!!!!
My husband loved it. Me, too. I did add a little nutmeg to the meatballs.
I used the 3 tbsp. of flour and the sauce came out perfectly. The trick to making a smooth non-lumpy roux is to add the flour a little at a time whisking the entire time . Don’t dump the flour in all at once. I learned this from my French Mother-in-law who was a genius making French sauces. Thank you so much for this awesome recipe .
Thanks for the tip MaryAnn
I just made these with my daughter. I can only describe them as manna from heaven. We tripled the recipe, in hopes of freezing some, but lets face it folks, we’re pigs, and they were that good, sadly they will not make it past the leftover stage! LOL. So if you’re thinking of making these, and dont have all the ingredients on hand, I say run, dont walk to the nearest grocery store, and be sure to buy extra because you want to double even triple this one!
what are you still doing here? I said RUN!!!!! GET!!! NOW!!!
Thank you for that wonderful comment, you sure made me laugh. So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Making these tomorrow! Can’t wait! Will let you know how they turned out! 🙂
Great Shannon, I would love the feedback
I am going to make these this weekend. My 8 year old loves meatball anything!! We will have so much fun making these together! Thanks for the recipe~
This will be a great recipe to make together and your 8 year old will love eating his cooking with this recipe.
I made this last night and it was divine! I added some sautéed mushrooms and onions to the sauce as well! This was such a hit ! I couldn’t believe how tender the meatball was!
Awesome Madison, mushrooms and onions are a great addition!
Just made this! The sauce is just “saucalicious” is that a word? ….I mean just perfectly yummy for the meatballs!! I added some dill to the sauce and that made it even better! My kids loved it!! Thank you so much!
Nazia, love that saucalicious, describes this recipe very well!
I’m going to try this recipe. I love Beef Stroganoff. Have had Swedish Meatballs but only has an appetizer. Had a craving for Swedish Meatballs and have Sour Cream in the fridge.
Hi Caroline, I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as my family does.
Made this last night and followed the instructions all the way.. the entire family loved it! This will be a regular meal now.
Terrific Jamie, so glad you and your family enjoyed the recipe
So looking forward to trying this recipe out! I’m not a pork eater so I wanted to find a Swedish Meatball recipe without pork and this one looks like it is a winner. I’ve never made Swedish Meatballs before but have a little potluck at the end of our Bible study and was thinking what to bring…this just sounded yummy and perfect for the colder weather setting in. Thank you so much for the recipe…all all the helpful tips that others posted.
I’m planning on doubling the recipe for sure after that one comment 🙂
Okay, I made them tonight. I did refrigerate them first before cooking as one person suggested. Well, my refrigerator is tiny because I’m off grid, and it’s a propane refrigerator, but this time of year outside is my extra refrigerator….so I put them on a cookie sheet, two actually, wrapped them up and put them outside to chill them 🙂
They are pretty soft and fragile so the chilling and firming them up helps.
Okay, the sauce…wow is that rich! It is delicious, but when I make this again…I will probably use half and half rather than heavy cream. Also I wanted more of the mustard taste, so I kept adding more and more until I got the flavor I wanted, I also increased the Worcestershire sauce and added some white pepper. I didn’t have Dijon but I had a horseradish mustard which was is good flavor.
Thank you for the recipe!
The meatballs are a bit more delicate that the usual dense meatball recipes, but I think that’s what makes them so good. I haven’t chilled them myself before cooking but I will try that. Half and half should work well as a substitution, and perfect that you season to your liking. That is what cooking is all about. Thank you!
This recipe looks great! going to try it for thanksgiving, going to double the recipe by mixing 1lb of ground beed and 1 lb of sausagfe. I was thinking of doing this in the crockpot. I actually have a multicooker where I can brown/sear in the same pot and then change it over to slowcooking mode. Im thinking of searing the meatballs (not completely cooking), removing them. then making the sauce with tbe browned bits on the bottom, then add the meatballs back in. 2 hours covered on high, add the cream and heat another 30 minutes uncovered so the sauce thickens.. ..
Hi Alexis,
I have never tried this recipe in the crockpot and now sure how it would turn out. The one concern I would have is that the meatballs would fall apart doing this recipe in the slow cooker. I would give it a try ahead of time, so you don’t have a recipe that doesn’t turn out for Thanksgiving.
Hi Alexis! Just wondering how if you tried this recipe in a slow cooker and how it turned out??
Hi Randee, I have not tried this recipe in a slow cooker.
looks so delicious
Thanks so much.
This recipe is amazing. I doubled it and it is absolutely delicious. This will definitely be my go to recipe for now on. Thank you
Thank you so much Missy
I followed this recipe exactly (except for the Dijon Mustard because I didn’t have any) and it was AMAZING. My first ever attempt at meatballs, let alone Swedish meatballs, and I’m so glad I didn’t take a short cut and use cream of mushroom! This will be my go-to recipe and is going in the cookbook binder! You rock, Laureen!
Wonderful Kaitlyn, so glad you enjoy the recipe
Do you think half and half would work instead of heavy cream?
Hi Rebecca, yes half and half would work, but may not thicken up as much.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Jill, thanks for dropping me a note.
I made these meatballs about a month ago and they were absolutely delicious. Great as leftovers, also.
Thanks Pattie for dropping me a note, I really appreciate when people take the time to comment.
It might save some time to bake the meatballs wouldn’t it?
Made this tonight with brown rice noodles. So good. Only thing I changed was I used half and half and source am mixture to get the creamy sauce. I used an all natural beef broth paste which eliminated the need for Worcester and dijon. Thank you. This recipe was great!
Fantastic Stacy, so glad you tried the recipe
I just made this and it was really good. I followed recipe exactly. It was so good I had to run back to the store to get more meat to make another batch. 🙂
Thank you Lori for taking the time to drop a comment. So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
I’m going to cook this recipe later, has anyone tried it without the cream? Some of my friends are dairy intolerant.
Helen, I not sure what type of dairy substitute you could use because the cream is an important ingredient to making this dish taste as good as it is.
Tried the recipe tonight and it was great. Definitely a keeper.
Do you have a printer feature for your recipes? I can’t seem to find it
Hey Paul, its there, right under the small photo beside the recipe.
I made it once before using this recipe and it was great. Thinking of making it tonight, but I don’t have beef broth, do you think chicken broth might work as a replacement?
Hi Deidra, so for slow response, I was out all day. Chicken broth should work.
This looks so amazing!! I am so bummed I don’t have ground beef defrosted, but I will make this tomorrow. Awesome recipe! Thanks for posting!
Terrific Sarah, let me know when you make it.
These look very good and the picture is perfect. I love that it is also shown in a cast iron skillet, as that is how my mother made them for me every year for my birthday.
HOWEVER – this really shouldn’t be called Swedish Meatballs as the recipe, and the spices is not at all how Swedish meatballs are made. The only thing similar to the Swedish recipe is that it is in a creamy gravy.
Nonetheless, it looks like a good recipe for meatballs, regardless of not being a Swedish meatball.
Just prepared this tonight and my granddaughter’s and I are all fans. We’re not fond of mushrooms so I’m happy to have found your recipe. Thanks so much for sharing!!
Happy Eating 🙂
Thank you for trying the recipe LaMinta
I doubled this recipe for a group of 6 adults and 2 teenage boys! We had plenty leftover and all of the guys literally went into a food coma right after dinner! In the south, a food coma is the best compliment you can give the cook….. Ha ha ha!
Fabulous recipe….. Will DEFINITELY make again and again!
Thanks!
Thank you Kim, I feel honoured to have a “food coma” recipe.
SO yummy! My husband asked what brand they were! LOL!! Thank you for the great recipe!
Thank you Caitlin, so funny that your husband asked what brand 🙂
Is it possible to sub ground turkey for beef and then chicken broth for beef?? These look so tasty!
asolutely Nikki, that would taste great. The sauce would be lighter, but still taste great!
Just finished making these and they looked perfect until I added the cream. Perhaps it was an error in my measuring but my sauce went from a beautiful golden brown to milky white. I was expecting a lightening effect but the one cup of cream was just too much in my opinion. I have two grandkids visiting. Hopefully they will taste great.
Hi Lisa, I cook the meatballs in a cast iron skillet so it may brown the meatballs a bit more. Its those little bits that stick to the bottom of the pan that add flavour and colour to the sauce.
Just made this for the first time tonight. It was yummy, and the family liked it…even our picky 7 year old. I will definitely make it again.
When the 7 year old likes a recipe, that is a true compliment 🙂
Can I use Italian bread crumb or would that be too much? Looks like a great recipe!
Hi Emily, are you using the seasoned Italian bread crumbs? if so it would work, but the flavouring would change from the original recipe, which would still probably taste good.
I am considering this for a large crew as a part of a donation meal we are doing for a shelter home. Any suggestions on how far in advance this canned by cooked and the best way to transport and reheat?
Hi Frances, you cook it a day ahead, keep refrigerated and then reheat.
Thank You so much for this awesome recipe. I not only make it for my family but even have several times for company (especially company with kid) always to rave reviews! I actually despise the Ikea version of this and have tried other recipes that were just OK This one rocks!
you made my day with this comment Tara 🙂
Hello,
This recipes looks great, but I was wondering is it possible to switch out beef for chicken or do you not recommend it? I was planning on using ground chicken and chicken broth for this recipe. Please let me know. Thank you.
I think ground chicken would be a great alternative to try!
Hello Laureen,
Thanks for the fast response. I just tried your recipe with ground chicken and chicken broth tonight and it was delicious. I added in some fatty ground pork so that it would balance out my lean ground chicken though. In all, I recommend this recipe and will be making it again in the future. Thank you.
Terrific Emmie!
This was absolutely fantastic! I loved it so so much! And it was damn the torpedoes as far as all the oil, beef fat, butter and cream went. I used a spoon to clean the suace off my plate and when cleaning my cast iron pot there was a moment where I was tempted to lick it. I used my fingers instead 🙂
Thank you so very much!
Lindsay
That is awesome Lindsay, so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Making this hopefully tomorrow….plus making extra meatballs to freeze for busy nights with school and homework.
Having a extra meatballs in the freezer is a great idea for those busy days!
So, I’m a bit picky and I hardly EVER follow a recipe precisely. This one is as close as I’ve gotten. The only change I made was that I was out of panko so I made my own bread crumbs. I found that it took about 2x the amount of crumbs to the same amount of milk. Otherwise, I followed the directions exactly. It was fantastic. I am about to make it for the 2nd time. Thank you for sharing. 🙂 PS – I don’t even like meatballs. LOL 🙂
I a thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for taking the time to drop me note.
I made this tonight and it was SO GOOD. I used regular bread crumbs instead of Panko and didn’t soak them in milk but kept everything else essentially the same. We served it over rice because it’s typically a heavier dish and felt the rice kept it a little lighter, but it was a perfect dish for a rainy day!
Hi Michelle, thankyou for dropping me a comment, so glad you enjoyed the recipe
I made this tonight, and hands down, this is the best Swedish Meatballs I’ve ever had! I followed your recipe exactly, and it turned out so amazing! Thank you so much for the recipe, I’ll be making this dish often!!
Thank you so much Jules. Thanks for taking the time to comment. So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Made a few days ago. Very good thank you.
thank you Belinda for dropping me a comment, glad you liked the recipe.
Pinterest brings me to so many yummy recipes, and this is one of them!
I made these for our family of 5 last week and even the picky kids ate them! Now that’s a miracle lol!
I made the recipe exactly as is and served with mashed potatoes and carrots. There was a good amount of sauce which was fantastic with the potatoes!
The Worcestershire sauce is definitely the ingredient that makes the flavor pop.
Thanks for sharing! This one is definitely a keeper!
Thank you for taking the time to drop me a comment, its awesome when you find a recipe the whole family loves.
I made this for my wife and daughter tonite it was easy and very good ,can’t wait to eat the left overs
That’s great Scott, happy your family enjoyed the meatballs!
Do I use whipping cream or 18% cream or is there a different one? Also I doubled the meatballs so should I double the sauce too or just leave it
Hi Sherri, I use whipping cream. Yes I would double the sauce.
I really like this recipe for meatballs and I’ll try it but there is no Swedish about these meatballs. Trust me, I’m Swedish! 🙂
Mayby a little bit italian and a bit english but you don’t have garlic and oregano in swedish meatballs. Nor Worchester sause and Dijon mustard.
But I’ll still try it out because it sounds really good. But I would not try to have the on the Christmas table! 🙂
These were absolutely delicious. Loooooooved them. Will definitely make these again.
Thank you Tina, so happy you enjoyed the recipe.
I made these, good but next time I will use fattier beef as I used grass fed lean and think fattier would be better.
In real swedish meatballs there is also pork
If the sauce is to liquified does it thicken as it cools?
Hi Denise, the sauce will thicken as it cools.
I am going to make this for dinner tonight! I can’t wait to try it. Thanks so much for the recipe. 🙂
Have you made this recipe and froze it ? I’m catering a wedding rehearsal dinner and would like to get them done ahead of time .
Hi Becky, I have not froze this recipe. I never have enough left over. Meatballs usually freeze quite well, so I don’t think it should be a problem. Best it probably make a batch and test freezing them.
Hallo and Greetings from Sweden the meatballs looks good but are not Swedish!.
We dont put oregano and djon mustard and garlic in the meatballs.
We only have salt and black pepper and onion.
A brown sause made of salt pepper and cream then some soy sause for color
Then we eat them with boiled and lingon berry jam.
Brilliant!nice warming supper for Christmas Eve at our daughters ,grandson Matty will be looking for more and our Fikey eater (son in law John ) will have a problem with Santa if he complains!!! Great recipe thank you ,Merry Christmas Jan in the Scottish Borders
Thank you Jan, hope you have a wonderful Christmas season.
If I want to triple this recipe do I literally triple everything? Any ingredient I shouldn’t triple but maybe double?
Hi Gail, I would only double the oregano, and start with double Worcestershire sauce
and Dijon mustard, then add more to taste.
Thank you. Husband-approved meal. I was attracted to them by the gravy–it looked like my mother’s. They are not really Swedish meatballs with the oregano, but they will be made again, husband liked.
Hi Jean, so glad your husband enjoyed the recipe. Have a great Holiday season
Seriously good sauce. I had left over meatballs in the freezer and used this sauce. It was great.
thank Kathleen, yes I love the sauce. One of my favs is on mashed potatoes.
This was an awesome dinner! I made a change to make it gluten free. My husband, daughter and I loved it.
Thank you Brandy,
I have celiac The first time I made this a couple months ago I made it over rice which was delicious. The meatballs and sauce were rich and tasty!! (drooling writing this haha!) I finally found some really GOOD tasting gluten-free egg noodles; therefore, I am going to make this again this week with the noodles this time. Can’t wait!! Great great great recipe!!! Yummm!!!!
Thank you so much, I love these meatballs over rice as well.
Absolutely the best Swedish meatballs recipe I’ve ever had! I love the sauce so much that I double it – YUM!
Thank you Shannon, I really appreciate that you took the time to comment. Happy New Year!
Loved this recipe. I cooked it for my daughters, for their freezer, and I made more tonight for my husband and me. Delicious. I only cook about 7 meat balls in the frying pan, the rest I cook in the oven on a wire rack at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. It is quicker and the meat balls are perfect.
Hi Faith, you daughters are so lucky. I often sear the meatballs, then transfer to oven to finish cooking as well. Searing them 1st leaves all those great browned bits that are needed to add flavour to the sauce.
My sauce didn’t seem very thick, however, it tasted delicious and the meatballs were so yummy!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Karalee, not sure what could have affected the thickness of the sauce, but if this happens again you can thicken it up with a bit of flour or cornstarch. Scoop out a bit of the sauce, then whisk it together with about 1 tbsp. of flour or cornstarch to make a slurry. Then whisk slurry back into sauce.
Made this last night and it was great! Its a cold weekend here in Michigan and this warmed us right up! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Kourtney, Michigan is sure getting blasted with some cold weather lately. So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
These were so very good. And they got the ultimate seal of approval, my picky tween boy. He loved them. Thanks for a great, easy recipe!
So glad to hear your family enjoyed the recipe, makes my day when I get messages like yours. Thanks!
I made this recipe for dinner tonight and we LOVED it! I had Omaha steaks meatballs, so I used them, but I love your meatball recipe and will make them next time. The seasonings for the sauce were amazing and the sauce thickened beautifully. I am disappointed to see so many comments from people who didn’t like the recipe. I am sorry people feel the need to say these aren’t real Swedish Meatballs or that the recipe is bland. I thought it was comforting and full of flavor! Thanks for sharing the recipe, I love it!
Thank you Crissy, so glad you enjoyed the recipe. An extremely large percentage of people who have tried my recipe love it, my family loves it, and that helps me ignore the negative comments. As food blogger, I have to accept the fact I’m not going to please everyone 🙂 Thanks again for your kind comments.
I made these the other night and they were delicious. I didn’t have heavy cream so I added an extra tablespoon of flour to the butter and flour mixture and used skim milk instead and it turned out great!
I’ll definitely be making these again!
That is great Penny, good way to make the recipe lower fat.
Hi! This recipe looks delicious! I don’t have any Heavy Whipping Cream and am stuck at home with a broken ankle. Would 1% Milk work? Maybe a little sour cream?
Hi Rochelle, use milk and thicken the sauce a bit more by adding 2 more tbsp. of flour and 1 more tbsp of butter. you may also have to add a bit more seasonings.
Fabulous! Thank you very much!
You can call them meatballs, but don’t call them swedish meatballs. That is not even close to swedish meatballs.
Peter, in the United States “Swedish meatballs” has evolved to be a generic term for meatballs that are smaller than the larger Italian meatballs. Swedish cuisine and culture. make that Scandinavian, is pretty much non-existent to the general public except for Ikea. I live just outside Chicago. At one time (1890s) Chicago had more Swedes than any other city except Stockholm. The last Swedish deli here closed in 2007. There is little Swedish presence today except for a small Swedish American Museum, one restaurant and North Park University.
This was really good! I think I’d add more garlic and possibly some Allspice and nutmeg for more authenticity. I liked that there was extra sauce.
Thank you Christy, allspice and nutmeg sound like delicious additions
And it’s even less SWEDISH meatballs!!!
Seriously we get you don’t like the name Swedish meatballs. Don’t make it then!
I could make them, and call them mediterean meatballs. Because there is nothing swedish with them. It’s just plain ignorance to call them swedish meatballs.
More ignorant to give a recipe 1 star that you haven’t made because you don’t like the name. Again we all get you don’t like the name.
Oh, I made italian spiced meatballs many times. I can give the recipe 1 star because expecting swedish flavour and get italian is not correct.
He’s a very cranky Swede….
Amazing!!!! Made tonight, my 14 yr old son asked what we were having. When I told him, he said he wasn’t really hungry. I knew he didn’t really like meatballs, but I told him he had to try it. Okay so his fork was going so fast from the bowl to his mouth I was afraid he was gonna choke. He said it’s a keeper!! My husband kept making mmm noises every bite. He loved it!! Thank you great recipee
Your comment made my day Christina, thank you!
I made this tonight for dinner using ground turkey and served over mashed potatoes- everyone loved it! I didn’t have heavy cream so I substituted it with whole milk and sour cream. I also threw in some paprika. It was delicious and was a great dish that I will make again.
I have made these meatballs several times, and the only thing I changed was I used 50 percent beef, and 50 percent ground pork. These meatballs are so tender and flavorful. I am so glad that I tried this recipe. I make it at least once a month.
Made these tonight for dinner. O.M.G. best meatballs ever!!
I just made these for dinner and my brother and I devoured them! They were so delicious. We did use ground turkey instead of ground beef and they were still just as juicy and tender! I also paired it with oven-roasted sweet potatoes and it was perfect! Great recipe, and easy-to-follow directions.
Thank you Maria, Ground turkey is a great substitution and I bet it tasted great with sweet potatoes!
I just made these on Monday – went back today to print the recipe and it has changed?? I’m not seeing Allspice and nutmeg and the Worcestershire sauce was 1 Tbsp not 1/2…am I missing something??
Hi Mommadubs, I have a feeling you were looking at a different recipe, because mine has not changed since I 1st posted it. Do you have a link or the photo, maybe I can help you find the recipe you originally looked at.
Just made it tonight , the Hubster and I loved it. Thank you!
Made these last night and we all enjoyed them! My boys loved the gravy and I liked that their was enough gravy to go over our mashed potatoes as well. Will definitely make again and again!
Fantastic your family enjoyed it! I love this recipe with mashed potatoes!
Thank you so much for this recipe! My dad would’ve been so proud!
Hi Lauren,
Whatever people calls it, the name doesnt matter, it is the taste of the food that matters. The outcome really👌👌👌
My thoughts exactly Beth.
This was amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. Loved the sauce especially.
Thank you Saunny, the sauce is my favourite, love this recipe with mashed potatoes as well as pasta.
Made this over the weekend and we both loved it. Next time I’ll put more garlic and onions but that is just a personal thing for us. Great recipe and it tasted good as leftovers the next night. Just let the sauce warm up really slowly and steamed the pasta in a double broiler. Thanks so much.
thanks Sam, glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I just made this exactly as listed. It is fantastic!!!
thanks so much Lori for leaving a comment, Glad you enjoyed the recipe
this is such a great recipe and I think is even better than IKEA’s ones. Thank you!!
Thank you so much Nerissa
This is the fourth time that I have made this recipe. My family loves it!
Wonderful Lisa, means a lot to mean when people take the time to comment on my blog. So glad you found a recipe the family loves.
Hi Laureen,
I don’t usually follow recipes to the letter, but I did on this one and my boys just loved it, all 3 requested I add it to our arsenal of top ten recipes. For years their mum took blue ribbon on Swedish Meatballs, now dads got it!
Thanks Laureen for such a great recipe.
Hey Guy, I am truly humbled by your comment. I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment. So great your boys enjoyed the recipe!
can we use half and half? I dont have heavy cream in the house? thank you
Yes you can use half and half, it may not thicken up quite as much and in that case use a bit of cornstarch (2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp water) stirred in to thicken it up.
I have made these a few times and they are AMAZING!!!! I do have a question. I want to make them ahead of time. Is that possible? Would I just keep them warm after searing or should I refrigerate? I want to make them around noon – 2pm and serve around 8pm. Thanks!
Hi Debbie, I would definitely keep them refrigerated. You can reheat in oven. I would suggest 30-40 minutes before serving at 300º
I’m sure these are tasty meatballs. PLEASE do not call them authentic Swedish meatballs. Authentic one always have allspice in them and no oregano. These lean towards Italian. Also Swedish ones have beef, pork, and veal in them.
Absolutely delicious! This is my 9 year old son’s favor meal! Thank you.