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…..
Can this be made ahead and reheated in a crockpot? Any specific suggestions?
Hi Mabry, you could easily make in advance and reheat in a crockpot!
Thank you for another hit recipe! My 1 year old and husband inhaled the balls like there was no tomorrow! Another recipe to add to my repertoire.
Awesome!!! Glad you enjoyed this Chantelle! N x ❤️
Dear Nagi,
THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your effort you put into the recipes! Your passion for food is a life changer (and safer!) indeed.
Since I am blessed with two children (baby & toddler), there is only a limited time for preparing meals. I’ve been following you on instagram for a while and when the second child was born I started to actively cook your recipes. On Sunday evening, I go through your website and pick out the recipes I want to cook during the week. On Monday, I go grocery shopping with the kids and then I cook the different meals during the week. My older child (now two years old) often helps me with it and tries everything we prepare. Today, we had the Swedish Meatballs. My children LOVED it and my husband ate around 25 meatballs with the gravy! I have to admit: I am vegetarian, so I only cook meat and fish recipes for my family. But the Swedish Meatballs smelled delicious and I am glad and relieved that I – as a vegetarian – am able to cook your recipes without any difficulty and that the food always turns out so tasty! So: THANK YOU again and keep up with that great work!
You’re so welcome JayDee! I’m glad you are enjoying my recipes, thank you for letting me know!! N xx
Hello Nag, I’m new to your website, but so appreciate your extra notes to explain food prep! Very helpful. Now onto review. Once upon a time, I was an exchange student to Sweden.. (like 25 years ago). I’m a big fan of all things Swedish and I have to say YOUR recipe is the “IT” recipe for Swedish meatballs… indeed, it’s the bread crumbs soaked in shredded onions for sure! This subtle approach is what makes this dish go from nice to over the top YUMMM! I don’t care how enticing the pictures are on other recipes, this is a keeper! I look forward to trying your many other recipes as well! A standing ovation from our farm in Central Virginia!
So glad you enjoyed this Mary! Thanks for letting me know – N x
I like your recipe and I’ll try it cause it is so different from mine.
I have been making my blue plate special with:
Minced onion, crushed Saltine crackers, 1 cup of half-and half, 1 egg in the meat balls.
Flour, salt & pepper, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 cup water, 1 1/4 cup half-and-half, simmer 15 min.
to make the gravy. Light airy meatballs with a smooth sweet creamy gravy. A winner!
Sounds amazing Patricia!! N x
It is amazing. The Swedes like sauces but not all gravies.
By NOT adding your staple beef broth, the meatballs are
less salty and the gravy has a light cream color as intended.
BTW. . . by making the meatballs smaller, they can be served
as hors d’oeuvres in a chafing dish.
Hey Nagi thank you for your great recipes. Wondering if there ia a way to make beef broth in larger quantities and how long i can store it for…noticed you use it in a lot of recipes and I am not sure how to make and keep good beef broth.
Hi Shey! I plan to start adding more staple recipes to my collection soon! Beef broth will be one of the first that I do! N x
For me, the recipe success was mixed. I liked the tenderness of the meatballs (great idea to soak small cubes of bread in onions first) and the texture/creaminess of the sauce (used full cream). However, I felt it needed more flavor. I used only beef and I could imagine a beef/pork mix would be more flavorful. I ended up adding garlic powder, but this was not enough.
Nagi – what would you recommend for a family which likes strong flavors? Should I increase the amount of the listed spices, add fresh herbs at the end (e.g. chives, parsley or green onions) or try mixing the broth with marsala or red wine for more flavor? I really want to try this again as an alternative to the standard meatballs in a tomato sauce.
Hi Barb! Pork will certainly make a difference, it adds flavour and compliments the spices in this recipe. I would then increase the salt and all the spices by 50% 🙂 Hope that helps! N x
So good! The question now being, what did we eat for dinner before you came into our lives?
You flatter me Stephanie!! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed this! N x
oh my gosh! these were SO good. I just cleaned up from us having them tonight and it is hard to avoid the leftovers…filling and comforting, but not overly heavy. The minuscule onion gave great flavor but did not cause my picky eaters to go excavating for the onion. Economical but elegant. I opted for all beef as I do not care for veal or pork and they were simply fantastic (like everything else from you I make!).
That’s wonderful to hear Kristen! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed this! N x
having them again tonight!!! can’t find lingonberry so we have cranberry sauce 😉
Love the recipe and plan to try it. However, if I want to add pasta, what do you suggest? Increase cream & broth?
Thaks
I find there is enough sauce to serve over pasta but if you want to increase the sauce, just the recipe scaler by clicking on servings then SLIDE! N xx
Just made this recipe, being a cook by trade, it was excellent!! But I did alter this. I cook a lot with basil, so added basil, seasoning salt, 2 lg. cloves of crushed garlic, did not make the sauce this time, But next time I will, making a sweet sour sauce for finger food for the party. Thanks a lot. Good job!!
Found some nice ground pork and beef on sale this week and I decided to give Swedish Meatballs a try. I looked at a lot of recipes online and settled on yours….I’ve only tried them at IKEA so I was hoping these would be better. Your recipe made wonderful, tender and flavorful meatballs. A real treat for us. Thanks for the recipe!
Hey there! Thank you for this amazing recipe! I was thinking about actually making it into a meatloaf and was wondering if you had any ideas on how I could go about doing that?
HI Mei – what an amazing idea! Just shape it into a meatloaf and bake for about 50 minutes! 🙂
Hi Nagi, made them for dinner last night. Used minced veal and pork…already mixed…woolies. This dish turned out a winner…big success, got a “very very good” approval rating from Norwegian hubby. Have never made them before but will definitely make again. I added a touch of fresh thyme to the mixture. Served with boiled potatoes coated in fresh dill and a touch of butter, the meatballs enveloped in that gorgeous gravy and of course the obligatory dollop or two of lingonberry on the side. So tasty. Great recipe and method. Thank you.
So great to hear Liz!! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this – N x
Delicious! My husband prepared this yesterday for dinner. The recipe is perfect as written. We both preferred the heavy cream for the gravy. Sour Cream would have made the gravy too tart and tangy. This is now added to my rotation. Thanks again.
Love hearing that Pollie! So pleased you enjoyed this 🙂 N x
Hey I wrote a long comment where did it go? Anyway where’s the ground veal? Ground beef,ground pork,and ground veal. I found ground veal at stater brothers in frozen section near the meat counter.everything else looks good. But I once had a recipe that asked for freeze dried coffee crystals it was the boom. And I bet you’re buddy has had a meatball or two he’s handsome too.
Without ground veal You have just meatballs! Had a recipe once that called for 1teaspoon freeze dried coffee and that made a sauce I still long for today. I’ve come close bit haven’t dialed in the beef bouillon yet. But hey this recipe looks really good. And I think You shared more than one meatball with you’re handsome friend there.
Threw out my old recipe for Swedish Meatballs and this is IT from now on. Delicious!
I’ve been looking here lately for a Swedish meatball recipe.and theres been a few. And the last recipe before You’re recipe just so happened to call for both heavy cream and sour cream. But the sour cream wasn’t called for until the recipe was complete. Only thought I have is thats slot of rich fat?
LOVE HEARING THAT!! Whoot! N x ❤️
Made these tonight and they were delicious! Thanks for making your recipes so easy to follow .
Love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed this Chele! N xx
Huge success! and that trick for portioning and rolling them is the best!! *****
Teaspoon and keep hands moist.I roll about 5 to 6 rinse off hands and keep on truckin’ The size of a jaw breaker about 1 inch in diameter. But I like them bite sized so I can munch without having to cut them up.I should try My hand at writing a recipe for Swedish meatball and post it. I’ m closing in on a master piece of a recipe based on tens of recipes I’ve tried.My advice try these meatballs and tweek some or don’t if you’re happy. And thanks for giving Me a chance to comment and I see you take the time to answer kudos.
So glad you loved these too! 🙂 N xx
I haven’t had Swedish meatballs in years and I have never made them. I can’t wait to try this recipe out! Thanks for posting.
Hope you love it Kim! 🙂 N x