SWEDISH MEATBALLS RECIPE (2024)

Swedish meatballs from Ikea are probably one of the most comforting meals known worldwide. Finally, you don’t need to run to Ikea anymore for this delicious meal, you can make these Swedish meatballs at home from scratch. Scroll down for the recipe.

Do you know Swedish meatballs aka IKEA meatballs

Are you craving for Swedish meatballs right now? Then you will love this recipe, because it’s exactly for you; who wants to munch on; rich and creamy gravy with juicy meatballs. You surely have heard of Swedish meatballs from IKEA store, which I have to say, that they have pretty decent Swedish meatballs, but these are the one made with love and made at my kitchen, so I call it the best Swedish meatballs’ recipe ever.

Soft and juicy on the inside, and a little crunchy on the outside. Swimming in a delicious creamy gravy, with flavours like honey & mustard. You won’t buy any more of those meatballs at the IKEA or any other store. Unless you are extremely in a hurry.

Ingredients for Ikea Swedish Meatball

• Ground meatmix of beef, veal & pork
• Italian bread crumbsseasoned (you can use toasts instead of bread crumbs)
• Parsley
• Seasoning: allspice, nutmeg, smoked paprika, salt & pepper
• Onion
• Garlic
• Eggs
• Olive oil
• Unsalted butter

For gravy

• All-purpose flour
• Beef broth
• Heavy cream
• Worcestershire sauce
• Honey mustard
• Salt and pepper

Swedish meatballs can be made from ground beef, pork and veal

I like using trio gourmet ground meat from a mix of beef, pork and veal. I strongly believe that combining all three ground meats together; beef, pork and veal, taste is much, much better than using only one type of ground meat. The meat is much tastier, juicier and have much better texture, if combined.

I have been using trio ground meat, in all my recipes, when it involves ingredient such ground meat. And here are some recipe where I love using this trio of gourmet meats:

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• THE BEST SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Another key ingredient for the great taste of the ground meat is garlic. Garlic is intensely aromatic and flavourful for any preparation of meat. The more garlic you add, the more flavourful your meal will be. Another great ingredient is seasoned bread crumbs. I always opt for Italian seasoning with Romano cheese. If you need breadcrumbs gluten-free, here are gluten-free breadcrumbs.

How to prepare and cook Swedish meatballs

Tips:

It’s nothing complicated. All the ingredients are tossed in one large ball, combined all together and rolled in balls. Great tip to prepare and roll the meatballs the night before you plan on making the dish, it will save you 30 minutes of preparation. Keep the prepped meatballs in an airtight container and in the refrigerator.

How to:

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, veal and pork. Add seasoned Italian bread crumbs, freshly cut parsley, ground allspice, ground nutmeg, chopped onion, minced garlic, pepper, salt and egg. Mix with spatula or your hands *, until well combined. *Always wash your hands prior and after handling raw meat.

With a help of tablespoon or small size ice cream scoop, take the mixture of ground meat and roll small meatballs in a desired size. I made them 1 -1½ inch large, which will make around 60 small meatballs. Set them aside, in a large bowl.

In a large pan, reheat on medium high heat, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 5 Tbsp of butter. Add the meatballs and cook, turning continuously, until each side of the meatballs is browned and cooked throughout. If the meatballs are turning quickly brown, lower the heat to medium low.

Once the meatballs are cooked, transfer them to a plate and cover with a food foil or aluminum foil. Keep the pan on the stove.

How to make a gravy/sauce for Swedish meatballs

Tips

This gravy for Swedish meatballs is incredibly rich and creamy. It also has a little sweetness, because I use honey mustard when preparing the gravy. If you don’t have honey mustard, you can use regular mustard and add 1-2 teaspoons of honey into the gravy.

My kids love it this way, a bit of sweetness always brings out the savoury side of this dish. When you decide to use Worcestershire sauce as a seasoning for the gravy, go slowly when adding it to the gravy. My recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, which might be already enough of salt, considering we use beef broth, which is also salted. Taste before adding any other additional salt to the sauce.

How to:

In the same large pan, change the heat to medium high and add remaining 5 Tbsp of butter to melt. Add all-purpose flour and, with a wooden spatula or better with a whisk, stir quickly until combined. Lower the heat to medium low now and stir until it turns lightly brown, about 4-5 minutes.

Slowly add beef broth, cup by cup, to the flour and butter mixture and stir continuously. After each addition of beef broth, let the liquid and flour to combine until smooth and creamy. Continue adding the broth cup by cup until you have béchamel sauce. Slowly add also heavy cream, cup by cup.

To season the gravy, add Worcestershire sauce and honey mustard. Bring the sauce to a light simmer until the sauce starts to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste.

Add the meatballs back to the pan with the gravy and reheat the meatballs. Serve Swedish meatballs over mashed potatoes, noodles or rice.

Is baking meatballs in the oven healthier aka healthier methods of preparing meatballs

Here are three types of healthier methods for preparing Swedish meatballs.

Baking the meatballs in the oven is much healthier. You can place the rolled meatballs on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them in preheated oven to 177 C / 350 F for 30-35 minutes. After baking the meatballs, you simply toss them in the gravy sauce and serve.

Meatballs baked in the oven are healthier than the one cooked in butter on the pan, but then they might be slightly less flavourful because of the butter used in the frying pan.

Simmering in the water or the gravy. Meatballs can be also cooked by simmering in salted water or the gravy. You can bring to a boil a pot of hot salted water, about 2 litres / 8cups (for 1 litre / 4 cups of water use 1 tablespoon of salt) and simmer for 10-12 minutes.

If you decide to simmer the meatballs in the gravy, prepare the gravy in advance and dilute it with water. Add 1 or 2 cups of extra water. The water will evaporate while the meatballs will be cooking in the gravy. You might need to season the gravy with a bit more salt also. These meatballs won’t be as crunchy on the outside as if you would fry them on a pan in the butter.

Fry the meatballs in the Air Fryer. There are plenty of choices of Air Fryers on the market. So frying the meatballs the healthier way is certainly possible. I haven’t tried these myself, so please follow the instructions for frying the meatballs in the manual of the Air Fryer you own.

How to save a preparation time for meatballs

Over all, this recipe for Swedish meatballs is fairly easy and quick to make. The only time-consuming is rolling the meatballs. You might want to opt for the preparation of meatballs (rolling it) the night before and store it in the refrigerator, in an airtight container. This should save you about 30-40 minutes.

I usually serve Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes, but over a nice bowl of rice or spaghetti is a great idea as well.

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