Scrumptious Swedish Meatballs Recipe

You’ll just love this scrumptious Swedish meatballs recipe. It is an easy and traditional recipe that never fails to please anyone I serve it to.

Being, Italian, I love any kind of meatballs. Meatballs are a universal food. Although the meatball is typically associated with the Italians, hence, “spaghetti and meatballs”, every country has their own take on these little globes of tastiness.

Ingredients of meatballs vary greatly from country to country. Meatball cooking methods and ingredients even differ considerably in different regions in the United States. But, it all comes down to usually some ground beef, ground pork and each areas ethnic spices. Yet, the different spices and cooking methods, make for many different and wonderful cultural flavors. I’d love to taste them all.

Though it is traditional for Swedish meatballs to be made with a mixture of ground pork and ground beef, in the interest of ease, I use only ground beef. If you are going to use both pork and beef, you will have to have the butcher grind the meat at least twice for proper integration. See why I use ground beef only??

You might want to try this Swedish meatballs recipe both ways and see what you think. 

Print Recipe

Scrumptious Swedish Meatballs Recipe

How To make Meatballs Recipe ?

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: international

Servings: 2 serves

Calories: 400kcal

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs (Japanese fine bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbl fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tbl grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 tbls butter or margarine

Gravy

• 1 beef bouillon
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 tsps tomato paste
• 1 tsp instant coffee crystals
• 2 tbls flour

Instructions

• Soak bread crumbs in milk. Combine soaked bread crumbs, ground beef, onion, salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley, Parmesan cheese and egg until well mixed. Form little 1 inch meatballs. Set aside.
• Melt butter in skillet. Brown meatballs well on all sides until they have a dark crust on them. This really adds to the flavor of the meatballs and the gravy. Remove meatballs when done and set aside.
• For gravy, add to the skillet where meatballs were sauteed, water, beef bouillon cube, tomato paste, coffee crystals and flour. Turn up heat and stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil (about 2 minutes). Turn down heat while continuing to stir for several minutes. Add meatballs back into skillet. Cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes until gravy thickens. Serve over mashed potatoes or noodles. For a simple side dish to this meal, add a tomato salad with sliced red onions, oregano and Italian vinaigrette dressing.

Notes

TIP: The key to good meatballs is the right combinations of bread crumbs, liquid and egg measurements. If any of them are off, your meatballs will be either too soft and fall apart or, something you could break a window with. Make sure not to over mix the meat. If the meat feels too soft and squishy, than the meatballs will probably fall apart. So adjust ingredients accordingly. Remember, bread crumbs soaked in milk, contribute to the softness of the meatballs. The egg is what holds them together so they don’t fall apart during cooking.