The Cozy Cookbook is here! 
These juicy and flavorful Swedish Meatballs are smothered in a savory gravy cream sauce and are perfect over noodles or mashed potatoes. This is like no other recipe you’ve ever tried!
Be sure to try my Chicken and Dumplings and Slow Cooker Beef Stew recipes next!
Swedish Meatballs
I’ll just go ahead and say it: I do believe that these Swedish Meatballs are quite possibly the best of the best!
These are not an IKEA replica, (I’ve actually never been to IKEA! 🤯) and I can’t say that I’ve been to Sweden either, but they are amazing, and include some standout ingredients that we’ve come to know and love in America when it comes to this particular dish.
The meatballs themselves are made with a combination of ground beef and pork, along with a touch of allspice and nutmeg. Onions and garlic add flavor and texture, and milk, egg, and breadcrumbs act as a binder. Finally, Parmesan cheese is a little “Cozy” touch that adds a subtle pop of flavor.
The sauce itself is an amazing combination of beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon, and sour cream. My secret ingredient? Chicken Bouillon. It adds the best depth of flavor and contrasts perfectly with the beef broth.
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, egg, milk, onions, garlic, salt, oregano, allspice, nutmeg, and pepper. Gently incorporate the meat until evenly combined.
Roll into 1+ 1/2 inch meatballs and chill for 15 minutes, (or overnight). Brown in batches and set aside.
Melt butter in the same skillet and whisk in flour. Add the sauce mixture (beef broth, chicken bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon, and parsley), in small splashes, stirring continuously. Add the sour cream to a medium bowl along with some of the sauce, and stir until combined. Stir it into the skillet.
Add the meatballs back and spoon the sauce on top. Cover partially, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through. Serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles!
Using Frozen Meatballs
- Frozen meatballs can be used in a pinch, just note that the allspice and nutmeg seasonings are what give the meatballs themselves that traditional Swedish meatball flavor, consider adding 1/4 tsp. of each to the sauce itself instead.
Make Ahead Method
- Roll out the meatballs, cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 days prior to serving, then follow recipe as outlined.
- You can also flash freeze the uncooked meatballs on a tray for 1 hour. Transfer them to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then follow recipe as outlined.
Pro Tips
- The chicken bouillon in the sauce adds depth of flavor and contrasts nicely with the beef broth. Beef bouillon can be used instead if needed.
- Use full-fat sour cream to ensure that it doesn’t curdle.
- Heavy cream can be used instead of sour cream if preferred.
- Any combination of ground beef, pork, and veal can be used in this recipe.
- 1 + 1/4 lbs. of meat is perfect for fitting in a 12-inch, high-walled skillet.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Leftovers freeze fairly well, let them thaw prior to reheating.
- Reheat in a makeshift double boiler for best results. Refrain from reheating over heat that is too high, as the sauce can break.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 3-Quart Stainless Steel Sauté Pan– The same size as pictured in this recipe.
- Small Cookie Scoop– This is perfect for creating perfectly uniform meatballs.
- Box Cheese Grater– For grating the Parmesan cheese.
- Better Than Bouillon– This is what I always use for broth in my recipes. It takes very little space and makes it easy to measure out customized amounts of broth.
Try These Next
-
- Creamy Chicken Pasta
-
- Steak Bites
-
- Marry Me Chicken Pasta
-
- Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
-
- Baked Ravioli
-
- French Onion Pasta
Get My Free E-Book!
- I’ve got a FREE e-Book with 7 super popular dinner recipes! Click here to join my email list and I’ll send your e-Book right over!
- And be sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, & Facebook!
Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Swedish Meatball Recipe
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided in half
- ½ cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg, whisked
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¾ lb. ground beef, 80% lean
- ½ lb. ground pork
Sauce
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 cube chicken bouillon, see notes
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, can sub mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ cup sour cream, at room temperature
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat ½ of the olive oil in a large, high-walled skillet over medium heat. Add the finely diced onions and garlic. Soften for 5 minutes. Set aside and let cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, whisked egg, milk, cooled onions/garlic, salt, oregano, allspice, nutmeg, and pepper. Gently incorporate the meat until evenly combined, but without overworking it (otherwise the meatballs will be tough instead of tender).
- Roll into 1 ½-inch meatballs and place on a plate. (A small cookie scoop makes it easier to roll balls of uniform size.) Transfer to the fridge and let them chill for 15 minutes, or up to overnight. Cover if chilling overnight.
- While the meatballs chill, combine the beef broth, chicken bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon, and parsley in a large measuring cup with a spout. Set aside.
- Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Brown the meatballs in batches, leave plenty of room around each so that you can easily rotate them with a spoon to brown on all sides. Brown for about 1 minute per side. Remove and set aside. Add additional oil and/or decrease heat slightly as needed throughout cooking.
- Melt the butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom of the skillet. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring continuously, until it begins to brown.
- Add the beef broth mixture in small splashes, stirring continuously. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Place the sour cream in a medium bowl. Spoon some of the sauce into the bowl (about ¼ cup), and stir until well-combined. Stir it into the sauce over low heat until incorporated.
- Add the meatballs back to the skillet along with any juices from the plate. Spoon the sauce on top. Allow them to heat through over low heat for 10-15 minutes (or until cooked through), partially covered. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles.
Notes
- The chicken bouillon in the sauce adds depth of flavor and contrasts nicely with the beef broth. Beef bouillon can be used instead if needed.
- Use full-fat sour cream to ensure that it doesn’t curdle.
- Heavy cream can be used instead of sour cream if preferred.
- Any combination of ground beef, pork, and veal can be used in this recipe.
- 1 + 1/4 lbs. of meat is perfect for fitting in a 12-inch, high-walled skillet.
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Leftovers freeze fairly well, let them thaw prior to reheating.
- Reheat in a makeshift double boiler for best results. Refrain from reheating over heat that is too high, as the sauce can break.
Nutrition information is an estimate, is per meatball, and includes the sauce. This recipe makes 33 meatballs.
This was excellent! Whole family absolutely loved it.
can i bake the meatballs instead?
Hi Emily! You should be fine to bake them in a 400 degree oven for 18 minutes 🙂
can i make these and put in a crockpot to warm up the next day and keep warm?
Hi Barb! That should be just fine! I haven’t tested it but I think you’d be good to go!
can I make this in the crockpot ?
Hi Leslie 🙂 This particular recipe was designed around using the stove top. (Searing the meatballs to add fond to the skillet, making a roux, adding the liquid slowly to it, bringing it to a boil, allowing it to thicken/reduce, etc.) That’s not to say that a Crock Pot can’t be used, but I don’t have instructions outlined as I haven’t tested it that way 🙂 If you do make it in the crock pot, be sure to add the sour cream at the end over warm heat so that it doesn’t curdle.
Sorry forgat to rate it
Love this recipe.
When writing the directions could you please just say
‘Heat 1 TBL of olive oil’ instead of
‘Heat ½ of the olive oil’
or
‘Heat 1 TBL of olive oil’ instead of
‘Heat remaining olive oil’
By the time the directions show up the 2 TBL quanity is long gone.
It seems like every recipe does this but please do your part to save us.
Hi Sam! So glad that you love the recipe! The quantities are purposely not included in the written instructions. If you wanted to make a double batch of this, you can change the serving size at the top of the recipe card and the ingredient list will automatically double. But the written instructions would not double. Therefore, there would be a mismatch between the ingredient list and the written instructions if the number of servings were changed.
The written recipe does not tell what to do with cooked onions and garlic after set aside you have to watch the video to know they go in the meat mixture before making them into balls
Sure it does Lauren, step 2 “In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, whisked egg, milk, cooled onions/garlic, salt, oregano, allspice, nutmeg, and pepper. Gently incorporate the meat until evenly combined, but without overworking it (otherwise the meatballs will be tough instead of tender).”
This recipe is awesome! I didn’t have Dijon mustard nor Worcestershire and looked up substitutions so added prepared mustard and soy sauce it’s amazing and so easy to do.
Hi Debi! Those would have been the exact substitutes that I would have recommended, nicely done! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipe, thank you so much for the review!! -Stephanie 🙂
Better than Ikea Swedish meatballs
Thanks Pam!❤️
Loved the flavor they were really good, when I went to brown them they stuck and fell apart, what do I need to do different?
Hi Jeff! When my meatballs are cooking, I handle them *super*gently, and I make sure there’s enough oil on the bottom so that they’re not going to adhere to the skillet and get stuck when I try to rotate them. Using a nonstick skillet helps as well.