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…..
Tried the recipe, amazingly simple to make and relatively quick (though I doubled it), Only modified the gravy a bit by adding chopped fresh dill, turned out amazing
I made this and it was delicious but I got food poisoning, even after cooking for longer than recommended.
A recipe doesn’t give you food poisoning 🙄 Obviously something you used was spoiled unfortunately.
This recipe was the best! I loved to put all of the balls in my mouth and they tasted great with the gravy! Would recommend
I was eating this and my cat had a seizure it was very good though!
First let me start by saying this was my first time EVER trying to make Swedish meatballs! This recipe was very easy and it’s absolutely delicious 😋 the flavors that run through the meatballs and gravy are definitely something special. I highly recommend trying. They only thing I did different was make extra gravy cause we like it sloppy and our noodles saturated. If you make this enjoy and thank you to the chef!
Excellent! Added several splashes of Worcestershire sauce while cooking the Meatballs. Sooooo good!
Can these meatballs be baked in the oven instead of frying and gravy made separately?
Yes, this works.
What a yummy recipe! Thank you.
These Swedish Meatballs are just divine! So tender, so moist, so tasty. The gravy is lick-the-plate excellent! These will be going into my ‘forever’ recipe book to be used on repeat!
I made this. I followed to recipe almost exactly—I used a mix of beef, pork, and veal instead of just beef and pork.
The meatballs were delicious— nicely seasoned and tender. The gravy, however, was absolutely flavourless. I added a good amount of onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, chives, a bit of nutmeg, salt, & pepper and I was able to salvage it.
I will make the meatballs again and consider the included gravy recipe as a base which needs to be doctored.
Made these for the second time tonight and I watched both my husband and son scrape their plates of the gravy. Yummy! Served over mashed potatoes the first time and buttered noodles tonight — good both ways. Brilliant recipe! I bumped into your site sometime during the covid lockdown and every single thing that I have made is perfect. Thank you!
Don’t throw out the extra grease from the meatballs. Use that for your roux and it will add much more flavor
Great recipe! Substituted allspice for Oriental five spice cuz that’s what I had. Also use chicken broth instead of beef broth just cuz I had that. But the recipe couldn’t be easier turned out great taste authentic would recommend and will make again!
Why no coffee? My old recioe had coffee, swedes like coffee!
Better than Ikea! Brilliant recipe! I used to love Ikea meatballs – before they changed the sauce recipe then the meatballs themselves. This recipe is just like the meatballs I ate so many times in Sweden. We had them with homemade redcurrant jelly, as I didn’t have a jar of sylt lingon. Thank you. Your recipes always turn out so well.
Hi Nagi and Dozer, this is a tremendous recipe for Swedish meatballs. I used 3x the spices but followed the rest of the ingredients exactly. The whole family loves this recipe and I have leftover meatballs (without sauce) to freeze. Your website is the first one I check for a recipe because every time is a success.
These meatball were Amazing! I love the fact that a true cook uses hands to mix! I’m 56 never used measuring cups or spoons to measure. My theory..may sound crazy but I have to feel to see if it’s Rite! Loved the fur baby!!!
Hi Nagi, Great recipe! We just got back from a trip to Sweden and these meatballs were equal to anything we ate there. I followed the recipe but just made slightly larger quantity which worked perfectly. I couldn’t get lingon berry jam but substituted cranberry sauce instead which worked really well. I also wanted to say that most places in Sweden serve picked cucumber as a condiment with this dish. It adds another dimension with a bit of tang and is a very nice addition to the dish. Tesco’s in the UK offer a Swedish Pickle Salad which works perfectly. Anyway, thanks again.
Hi Nagi.
thank you for the recipe books and for this wonderful recipe. It came out perfect and we loved it 😋. All I have to do now is locate some lingonberry jam…
Kind regards
Steve
I made this tonight and the meatballs turned out really tough. 🙁 Would anyone know why??
It was my first time making meatballs and I followed this recipe exactly. I also bought the 5 star rated mince.
The leaner the meat more dry/ tough they will be. You need fat in the mice so a 3 start is a much better option
I used the Bolognese mince that Coles sells and they turned out really good, you might have overmixed them (pretty easy to do).
Hi Ena, All ground meats require light handling. Overmixing leads to tough meat. I mixed everything except the meat in a separate bowl, then added it to the meat so that I only had to mix once gently. I hope that helps. 🙂
Try adding 1/4 cup water to the mix.
2 things Ena, Be careful not to mix them too much. They should not look like paste. Mix the bread cubes with a couple of Tbsp, of milk, until it is paste. This is called a Panade, and it makes a world of difference! And always Smile, too!
Five star mince is lean mince, meaning very little fat content. If suggest you may have over cooked them and because of the very low fat content it’s easy to overcook and toughen the meat. Suggest you use normal mince next time 😊
I’d* suggest (not if)
I had made a three-pound basic batch of an equal ratio of beef, chicken, and pork with just panko soaked in some half-and half, finely diced onion, eggs, and salt and pepper. I’ll add my typical seasonings (always a bit of hot sauce) and make and freeze regular meatballs with the rest, but last night I took a third of the mix, added nutmeg and allspice, then followed your recipe for browning and making the gravy. Excellent! I’ll try your meatball recipe soon. Thank you!
I made extra saucy gravy by adding the entire beef stock container (4C) and an extra T of flour. I got the lumps out using a milk frother (don’t judge!) I split half the balls and sauce before adding the cream so I could freeze some for later. Also added a smidge of garlic powder and a drop of liquid smoke to the gravy. YUM! I will be making these again for entertaining! Thanks for the recipe 🙂