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…..
I made them from your book! But I don’t enjoy standing by a fry pan as I need to almost double the recipe, so I baked them with the grill on, prepared the sauce and then plonked them in it for a few minutes. Absolute success.
Wow! What can I say. I made this tonight for my kids, two are on the spectrum and super duper fussy with new foods, I feel a bit emotional because they loved them and my eleven year old fussy eater asked for them again. You have no idea how huge this is for him and his eating journey. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe ❤️
Really tasty! Thanks for the recipe – I wouldn’t have thought of using allspice and nutmeg. I’ll be making these again,
This is SOOO good! My family loves Swedish meatballs, so this is comfort food that makes my tummy and my heart happy. I can’t get enough of this dish! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I love all your recipes so far but get really confused with your ‘cup’ measurements. I know you’re more precise with baking recipes, but it would be so much simpler if you gave millilitres or grams which are the same whether you’re in Sydney, Singapore, South Carolina or Somerset !
Just so you know for next time, there is an option in the recipe to swap from cups to metric. 😊
This was my first time trying a Swedish meatballs recipe and I am so impressed! I didn’t have any all spice, so I cooked some star anise into the gravy. I used panko breadcrumbs which worked well. So much flavour in these meatballs, and the gravy was delicious. Served with rustic mashed potatoes and baby peas, you can’t go wrong!
There’s a toggle button right above the ingredients list if you prefer metric measurements 🙂
It’s so nice to find a recipe that are so close to the authentic ones you can come 🙂
I grew up in Sweden and pretty much every family have their own favourite recipe for meatballs.
But one thing they all have in common (as far as I know) is that you always make the sauce from the pan drippings. Otherwise it’ll taste very flat and strange.
It’s also the step a lot of people outside Sweden seems to miss, which is a shame.
I have made this recipe 4 times now for my family of fussy adults and each time it’s been a winner so much so that I now have to double the recipe so there is left overs for them to take for lunch the next day – definitely a new family favourite that I’m sure will be made over and over again
Spending Friday night reading “DINNER”, as ya do and had to comment on your Swedish Meatballs. Probably the best meatballs I’ve ever tried. My sons Swedish gf reckons they’re better than her mothers. But we won’t tell her mum that!
I made these last week and my whole family (even the fussy 7 yr old) really enjoyed them! So much so that I’ve been asked to make them again tonight by the fussy 7 yr old. I followed the recipe almost to a tee, the only thing I did differently was to sub sour cream for the cream as that’s what I had in the fridge, I was worried this would ruin it but the sour cream actually added a really nice flavour to the sauce. I personally don’t think it needs Worcestershire sauce like others have said, but I’m not a lover of Worcestershire sauce.
This recipe is amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Another yummy, fast, easy, recipe from Nagi. I added worchestershire sauce too. Glad I did.
These meatballs are absolutely sensational. MOTH and I really, really enjoyed them and they were so easy to make. Like some others I added Worcestershire sauce.
We’re very much enjoying the read of ‘Dinner’
I have 4 teenagers who used to LOVE the packet mix that used to be in supermarkets for a while. It was deleted a few years ago and they kept nagging so I thought I’d try this receipe. They DEVOURED it, absolutely loved it, more than the packet version.
I followed the receipe except I added 1 tsp of dijon mustard and a bit of worcestershire sauce because I felt like the sauce needed a bit of a lift.
Your recipes are changing my life here, thank you!!
My 21 y.o. son cooked it for us. We didn’t have beef stock liquid, so used Veggie stock plus beef stick cubes. Recipe was fantastic and easy to follow. Thank you Nagi
Really liked this, and agree with the additions of Worcester Sauce and Dijon in sauce, also added some garlic to the meatballs. My question is…why can’t leftovers be frozen???
FAB U LOUS !!!!!! Wonderful meatballs…….but can leftovers be frozen?
My husband—a/k/a Mr. Fussy and a Nagi fan—chose this recipe from Nagi’s cookbook DInner, so I made it tonight. We both loved it! I’m not much of a meatball maker so it was a bit of a production. I don’t use pork so I subbed ground turkey. Oh, my, so good! It’s not something I would have picked so I’m glad he did! Pretty much followed the recipe but used homemade bread crumbs and added a bit of dill to the sauce.
PS—I had the pleasure of meeting Nagi at a workshop she led in LA in Nov. 2015. When we were in Sydney Oct. 2017, she joined us for lunch. What a treat!
Stuck to the recipe and was good but it was just missing one ingredient! As I cooked the meatballs I got a smell across my nose that told my senses use Worcestershire sauce.
I would do it next time.
The gravy looked like it was spot on before adding the cream but also was delicious with the cream.
I will mix it up next time and was a family favourite. Thank you
As I was cleaning up after making the recipe I noticed an egg on my counter:(. Yup I forgot to add the egg in the meatball mix. The recipe turned out eggcellent anyway and the sauce was sooo good my husband kept scraping his empty plate with his fork, very annoying:)
I will make this recipe again for sure but will pay attention and add all the ingredients, no egg left behind.
This is an amazing recipe. Grating the onions makes a big difference! The only thing I did was add a splash of Worcestershire sauce and a dap of Dijon to the gravy! Delish!