These heavenly Swedish Meatballs are a homemade version of the iconic Ikea meatballs. They’re a whole lot easier than assembling flat-pack furniture, that’s for sure! Extra-soft and juicy, with a dash of classic spices like allspice, they’re smothered with the bread-mop-worthy sauce.
Swedish Meatballs
I’m that person who goes into Ikea just to pick up tea lights, only to emerge 2 hours later with all sorts of useful organisation solutions, looking for a problem to solve.
I’m also that person who confidently puts together Ikea furniture (I’m a chartered accountant! I can do this!), only to worryingly end up with one leftover screw or bracket. Thankfully, none of my Ikea furniture has come tumbling down (yet), so now I have a theory that Ikea throws an extra piece into every flatpack just to mess with us.😂
As for their meatballs? Flatpack shopping is hard work. I can’t blame anyone who needs a pick-me-up after making it out the other end of the Ikea maze.
But once you’ve tried homemade Swedish Meatballs, you’ll never order these at the Ikea cafe ever again!
What’s so special about Swedish Meatballs?
If you’re wondering what’s so special about Swedish Meatballs, or what they taste like, close your eyes and imagine this: incredibly soft meatballs, made extra juicy by using a combination of both pork and beef and soaked bread instead of breadcrumbs, lightly spiced with just a touch of nutmeg and all spice that gives it the signature Swedish flavour, smothered in a creamy gravy that is absolutely to-die-for.
These are meatballs unlike any other – and regular readers know I have a very big soft spot for my favourite Italian Meatballs.
But I’d go as far to say that if you aren’t a regular maker of meatballs for whatever reason (pain to roll them, don’t like mixing meat with your hands etc etc), but you have the inclination to make ONE meatball recipe, make it these Swedish Meatballs.
You won’t regret it. I promise.
What goes in Swedish Meatballs
Here’s what you need to make the Swedish Meatballs.
Beef AND pork – the beef gives it flavour, the pork gives it juiciness and tenderness;
Bread – the secret to extra soft meatballs! Far more effective than breadcrumbs;
Nutmeg and All Spice – the signature spicing, just a small, subtle amount. All Spice is a particular type of spice made from a plant called Pimenta dioica. It smells like cloves. It’s a common spice found in normal supermarkets, and costs no more than usual spices. Best substitute is Mixed Spice.
Beef stock/broth and cream – for the creamy gravy;
Flour – to thicken the gravy;
Egg – for binding the meatballs together.
How to make Swedish Meatballs
Here’s how to make them:
FIRST, chop up sandwich bread, the soak in grated onion. This is a secret tip for ultra soft, extra tasty meatballs. Grating onion = no need to pan fry chopped onion AND extracts onion juices which soaks the bread, which later puffs up inside the meatballs as they cook, creating ultra soft meatballs!
How I roll meatballs
And here’s how I roll meatballs. It’s the fastest method I’ve been able to come up with!
Use an ice cream scooper with a lever to scoop up the mixture. Standard size is 3 tablespoons – I use slightly less than the scoop (3 tablespoons is quite large);
Scoop and dollop all the mixture;
THEN roll them all;
Voila! Even size meatballs, rolled relatively quickly!
Sauce for Swedish Meatballs
The sauce for Swedish Meatballs is a creamy gravy that is made with butter, beef broth/stock, thickened with flour and made creamy with cream.
But the most important flavour for the a really good creamy gravy is the pan drippings after searing the meatballs. All the brown stuff left in the pan after browning the meatballs adds incredible flavour into the gravy, which is why baking these meatballs is not an option!!!
What to serve with Swedish Meatballs
The Swedish Meatball eating experience is incomplete without creamy Mashed Potato. You need the mash so you can savour every last drop of that wickedly delicious creamy gravy.
Having said that though, rice, noodles or pasta are adequate fall backs, or some bread for mopping up the sauce (try this easy Artisan bread, or emergency No Yeast Sandwich Bread). And if you’re really trying to cut down on carbs, Creamy Mashed Cauliflower is your answer!
If you start now, you’ll have these on the table in less than hour. Are you ready for the most sinfully delectable meatballs you’ve ever had in your life?? – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Swedish Meatballs (homemade Ikea Meatballs)
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2 slices white sandwich bread , crusts removed, chopped into small cubes (Note 1)
- 1 onion , small (brown, white or yellow)
- 300g / 10 oz ground beef (mince)
- 300g / 10 oz ground pork (mince) , or sub with more beef (Note 2)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg , preferably freshly grated
- 1/4 tsp All Spice powder (Note 3)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp oil
Gravy
- 40g / 3 tbsp butter , unsalted
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 cups beef broth/stock (salt reduced), or sub with chicken
- 1/2 cup heavy / thickened cream (Note 4)
Instructions
- Grate onion using a standard box grater (see video).
- Scrape onion and juices into bowl. Add bread and mix well – onion juice should make bread soggy (if not, add a tiny splash of milk). Set aside to soak for 1 minute.
- Add remaining Meatball ingredients EXCEPT oil. Mix well.
- Using a tablespoon measure and measure out a heaped tablespoon (or use ice cream scooper which is what I do), dollop on work surface. Repeat with remaining mixture: 25 – 30 meatballs. Then roll into shape.
Cooking
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add half the meatballs and brown all over (but raw inside still) – about 3 minutes. Remove onto plate, then brown the remaining batch.
- If there is lots of oil, pour off excess and discard. Lower heat to medium.
Gravy
- Add butter into skillet and melt. Add flour and stir in. Cook for 1 minute.
- While mixing, add about 1/4 of the beef broth – it will thicken quickly. Then gradually add remaining beef broth, stirring as you go. Switch to whisk if required to make it lump free.
- When the liquid is simmering, add meatball and juices pooled on plate.
- Turn up heat slightly to keep it at a rapid simmer. Cook for 8 – 10 minutes or until the liquid thickens into a thin gravy, stirring occasionally.
- Add cream, simmer for a further 2 minutes then remove from stove.
- Serve over mashed potato (or Cauliflower Mash for low carb). For a truly authentic experience, add a dollop of ligonberry jam on the side!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published January 2017. Post updated 13 May 2020 with improved videos, plus ingredients and step photos added. No change to recipe, it’s perfect as is!!!
Life of Dozer
Dozer – I love you, but if you bump that tripod while I’m filming, you will be in a LOT of trouble!!
And from the original publication date:
Trying to negotiate with Dozer using a Swedish Meatball…..
Very successful recipe. I used all beef and the meatballs are soft and juicy, the tip of soaking the toast with the shredded onion really works 😉
Hi. Would you recommend freezing these meatballs before or after cooking if I want to make some extra? Thank you.
This is a family favourite and in winter I usually made weekly. Making double/triple batches of the meatballs placing individually on a tray when freezing then pack into a freezer bag. Take out the desired meatballs seperate on a plate to defrost and follow recipe. Great for a quick tasty dinner. 😊
Hi, do you freeze them cooked or just the raw mixture prepared ready?
Thankyou
HI B – believe it or not I have just received an email to say you had asked a question – just 2yrs too late! Talk about snail mail lol. I double or triple the meatball receipe and open freeze them raw….once frozen pack them into small serves ready for another weeks meal when I work out how many I am serving and then make the sauce to that number of serves. Still a fav in the household. Again apologies for not replying til now – I hope you get this today and not in 2yrs lol
A question about the IKEA meatballs. Are the bread cubes ok to just mixing with the meat mince after soaking in the onions? Expected don’t have to be broken up a lot more than that. Thanks for the great recipes!
I did not make this recipe. Went to the Mall of America MN. IKEA shopping w/ my nephew, my brother, sister & my husband. We were very worn out from the huge crowds of people on a Saturday. Went to the supper area, they were low on food. Did get the Swedish meatballs in white sauce, no potatoes. Maybe 1 side dish & a brownie type dessert. The meatballs were the worst thing I had tasted in a very long time, very bland & dry. (My Mom was an exceptionally good cook & we had a big farm family.) Would not recommend them & probably never go there again, to eat. Shopping was OK, my brother was looking for a cowhide (for rug), for his living room. We did find them, he looked at the quality & just to get a feel for what it would be like. He did not buy it. Did you say the store is built in a maze like pattern? Way too many people. We did notice there were many sales & had to rush by cause it was getting near closing time. I would like to visit a different IKEA store & compare experiences. Thanks for reading !
What the heck Sylvia
Excuse me but what does that have to do with this recipe (which is delicious by the way)?
I don’t think it has anything to do with it but it was a fun read 🙂
I cannot stop laughing. Maybe Sylvia got confused and thought she was reviewing IKEA? I wonder if her brother ever did the sheepskin rug in the quality he was looking for? 😂
Sooo funny 🤣🤣🤣
Really delicious. I do not like cooking and rarely do it. Made this dish a few weeks ago and my wife has been bugging me ever since to do to again. So it’s apron on again tonight, bugger !
Absolutely delicious!! Served it to friends over the weekend and had so many compliments! Doubled the recipe (big appetites, lol) and we demolished the lot, hahaha.
I served this with lingonberry jam and quick pickled cucumbers, which I read somewhere was a traditional side.
Wonderful recipe! This is my first time using pesto and what an enjoyable and healthy meal, thank you! https://am.nure.ua/ Absolutely delicious
Pesto?
Can I use veg broth instead of beef/chicken for the gravy?
Made this and making it AGAIN! Delicious!!! I make extra gravy (kids love it) then serve the meatballs over buttered egg noodles
I made this and subbed white bread slices for half cup of dehydrated mash potato soaked in the onions, and used the tip to add little milk. Turned out amazing !
Hi Cassandra,
I’m thinking of making these sweedish meatballs for Christmas but I have 2 family members with celiac disease. The dehydrated potato would make them gluten free. How do you dehydrate potatoes? Thanks in advance.
MC
I’m Swedish and I always use leftover boiled potatoes instead of bread. Just mash them with a fork. Some people use bread as above, some use potatoes and some use breadcrumbs soaked in milk or water. All those variations are to make the meatballs a bit fluffier and they all work just fine. I personally would never use nutmeg or all spice in my meatballs, just salt and black pepper, but all spice is not uncommon. Good luck!
I thought the hint of nutmeg made this dish! I’m not fond of making meatballs and hadn’t done so in years. So glad I tried this as the flavor of these can’t be store-bought. Again, I attribute this to the nutmeg and allspice. THESE MEATBALLS ARE SIMPLY FANTASTIC! AND THE SAUCE TOO!
Hi Marvis, you can buy dehydrated potato or “instant mash potato” at a major grocery store. It’s usually around the jarred vegetables aisle. The brand I use is Continental Deb.
Absolutely incredible recipe. Exactly like IKEA meatballs (or perhaps better). My family loved it. Will definitely be a favourite in our house
I have never had this dish at IKEA before but it sounded so good I had to make it. It was so tasty & just something different about it, I think it was the freshly grated nutmeg as Nagi suggested. I followed the recipe except that I used all pork mince & used light cream, we couldn’t get enough. This is another Nagi recipe that is getting added to, what we call our Nagi list 😋
Couldn’t stop eating them. Delicious.
Can I make these as an appetizer, or are they too large in size?
Amazingly easy and delicious, the hubby couldn’t stop himself.
They are bite size (1 Tablespoon) so would make a good appetiser! N x
Thank you very much for replying! Your timing is perfect—we hope to make them Saturday!
Used panko instead of bread crumbs, it was really good. I didn’t have all spice so I used oregano. Also only beef mince.
My nieces said it tasted like ikea meatballs.
So thank you so much for the recipe!
I literally just finished eating this and had to write a review immediately. This was delicious. The meatballs were moist and tasty, the sauce was thick and amazing. Thank you for this great recipe.
Thanks! N x
The meatballs tasted great and smelled like Ikea meatballs as soon as they hit the pan.
Thanks! N x
I liked this recipe a lot, but had 1 complication I wondered if anyone could help me with. Since I don’t like finding even small chunks of onions in my meatballs, I pureed them, basically, before adding to the meat mixture. That probably explains why my meatballs were rather flat, like thick discs. Should I reduce the amount of onion, or add more bread crumbs to mitigate the problem?
I would use some onion powder. 😊
I will try this recipe, I’m sure that this meat balls will be great., said that because I follow your recipe for lamb shanks slows cook with red wine and it was superb. Thanks for that recipes.
You’re welcome!
Tried this recipe tonight and there is a house of happy people. How would you freeze these?
I do not have an accessible IKEA, so being able to make them is incredible. Thank you so much for the recipe.
All the comments are extremely helpful too. x