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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!
I love this recipe and have made it several times but for some reason I never noticed the avocado oil in the ingredients but do not see it in the directions. Am I missing something?
Hi Carol! Step #4, you add the butter and oil together 🙂
Love your simplerecipe
Can you brown these in the oven?
I came here thinking the same! Made these last night and they were delicious! I used ground chicken so my meatballs were kind of losing shape, so I’m thinking of doing the oven as well. I’ve bounced through a few of my other meatball recipes and think I’m going to try either:
1-Broil on High for 10 minutes, if they need to finish in the sauce, that’s easy
or
2-Bake 375-400 for about 18-25 minutes?
If you try it let us know! Would love to hear how they come out.