Easy Swedish Meatballs
A good Swedish Meatball recipe always starts with a good meat ball recipe.
My meatball recipe has lots of flavor without using tons of ingredients. My Swedish Meatballs have no salt added and no butter in the recipe.
After recently acquiring a few ‘new to me’ cookbooks from an old book sale, I came across a recipe for Swedish Meatballs which I knew I could adapt to use fewer ingredients without compromising the flavor.
Admittedly, Swedish Meatballs are an acquired taste. Everyone doesn’t like them. I think that is more as a result of the gravy than the meatball itself. This is however the best meatball recipe I have tried and I think you will love it too.
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Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl with the meats and blend well. I do this by hand.
The flavor is packed into my meatball recipe with the combination of two types of meat, seasoned bread crumbs, and the dry onion soup mix. It’s only 4 ingredients with lots of flavors.
Printable recipe below.
Shape the meatballs into your desired size. An ice cream scoop works well for being sure they are all similar in size. Just get a scoop full and roll around between your hands until they are rounded and compacted.
TIP: Meatballs freeze well. Double the recipe and make enough for several meals at one time.
Brown the Meatballs
Heat the oil in a large skillet.
Brown the outside of your meatballs in the hot oil and drain on paper toweling. You are not trying to cook them through at this point. Your meatballs will finish cooking through while simmering in the gravy, soaking up all that flavor.
Drain Meatballs
After removing all of your browned meatballs, you should have some yummy tidbits left in the oil in the skillet. Leave them there to add flavor to the gravy.
Those tidbits will make the roux for the gravy.
Add Flour to make the Roux
Add the flour to the remaining heated oil in the skillet. Stir with a whisk until the flour is completely dissolved, leaving no lumps. Do this quickly so that you don’t burn the oil. You have just made a roux.
Add the Beef Broth
To your roux, add the broth. Steam will rise as seen in the photo so be careful.
The broth is going to also cool down the skillet so you will want to adjust the heat accordingly. Bring the gravy to a boil while stirring using a medium-high heat stirring constantly.
Add the Half and Half
Add the half-n-half and stir well. Bring to a good rolling boil again stirring constantly with the whisk.
Bring to a boil
Your gravy should look like the above photo. The bubbles indicate a rolling boil.
Add the Meatballs to the Gravy
Add your meatballs into the gravy and reduce heat to simmer. Stir the meatballs gently to completely cover them on all sides with the gravy.
Stir occasionally while simmering until done, about 15 to 20 minutes. I prepare mine uncovered but you can turn the burner down lower and use a lid on your skillet if you like. Keep in mind that using a lid produces steam which will weaken the flavor of your gravy.
Swedish Meatballs are delicious when served on a bed of cooked egg noodles and garnished with curled leaf parsley. Some folks enjoy Mashed Potatoes with their Swedish Meatballs.
[Tweet “Homemade Swedish Meatballs!! Delicious easy recipe with only 8 ingredients! #meatballs #weeknightdinner “]
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 lb. ground mild sausage
- 1 pkg. beefy onion dry soup mix
- 1 cup garlic and herb bread crumbs
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup half-n-half
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp. flour
- In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients with the meats until well blended.
- Shape into meatballs.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil.
- Brown the meatballs and drain on paper toweling. (Don't cook them all the way through, just brown the outside)
- To the remaining oil in skillet, add the flour and blend with whisk, quickly, until all lumps are gone.
- While on medium high heat, add the beef broth stirring while adding.
- Add the half-n-half while continuing to stir.
- Bring the gravy to a rolling boil while stirring.
- Add the meatballs into the gravy and stir to completely cover the meatballs.
- Turn the heat down to simmer, uncovered, gently stirring occasionally.
- Cook about 15-20 minutes until meatballs are done.
- Serve on cooked noodles and enjoy!
Meatball Sandwiches
Prepare extra and make Meatball Sandwiches the next day!
All you need to do is save enough uncooked meatballs in the refrigerator for the next day.
Cook the meatballs in a skillet that has been sprayed. Drain the meatballs on paper toweling. Add your favorite BBQ sauce to the skillet and add the meatballs back in, stirring to cover. Heat through and make your sandwiches on hoagie buns!
Such a great tutorial with pictures and a yummy looking recipe! I love that is has no butter or salt.
These look nice and easy. I also like the short list of ingredients. Will have to give it a try.
This looks like a wonderful family meal. I love that it uses minimal ingredients, which is a good thing when I need to make something quickly.
Swedish meatballs is a dish that I used to enjoy as a child. This post brings back so many memories for me. I will be filing this one away to give it a shot with my own family.
I love Swedish meatballs and always remember being excited when my mom made them. I hate pre-cooked meatballs that you buy in the freezer section because they just have not taste. I will be bookmarking this recipe because it has made me realize it has been too long since I had them.
I haven’t tried a Swedish Meatball as it’s not so common in our country but this recipe looks flavorful! You made it seem easy to create. This would be a great recipe to try and prepare for the upcoming family gatherings at home. Wish me luck! Hope to get the right taste. Hehe.
I have fond memories of my mom cooking Swedish Meatballs as a child. It is one of my favorite dishes. I don’t think she used dry onion soup mix, though. I need to try that!
I love this recipe! Such a classic dish and you can literally eat it any time of the year! Yum!
Okay I have to confess that I have never made meatballs before! I am so excited to give them a try, especially this recipe with only 4 ingredients! Now that is even something I can pull off! This dinner looks amazing. Thanks for sharing I can’t wait to give it a try.
Your easy Swedish Meatballs looks so yummy! I am thinking of trying your recipe and making these gluten free. I bet they would be just as good. I like how you can use them for subs too! YUM!
I love Swedish meatballs and often serve them as a buffet item at Christmas, but I have to confess that I buy the frozen ones. I have never made them from scratch before, but your recipe looks pretty easy so I might try it!
Confession: I have never made Swedish Meatballs. You make it look less intimidating. I usually bake my meatballs, so I’d definitely see if I can do that to lessen the oil. They look delicious and I know my husband would love this entire meal. I’m pinning!
I had never made them before now. You can use less oil in the skillet but you will need some to be able to make the gravy for this particular recipe.
Wow! These look delicious, too bad I’m a vegetarian. Living in Scandinavia, I’m often at IKEA and they’ve finally started serving veg-friendly Swedish meatballs, which is really groundbreaking in this meat loving country. I must have them everytime I’m there, regardless of the time of day and whether or not I’ve already eaten. They’re like crack…lol!
We don’t live near an Ikea but have visited the one in Atlanta. We both ate the Swedish Meatballs while we were there. It seems to be the most popular item on the menu at Ikea.
This recipe looks really yummy and I am going to try it. I am pretty sure it will be a hit with my boys.
My hubby sure loves it. He has requested it several times recently. Homemade is always better and this recipe is very flavorful. I hope your boys like it too.
You know what, I don’t have a good recipe for Swedish Meatballs, but this one looks amazing! I’m gonna try to make them gluten-free and see if my hubby notices 🙂
I bet he won’t even notice Kristen! It’s such a flavorful recipe. So glad I finally figured out how to make these!
I haven’t had Swedish Meatballs in forever! I love your easy, no fuss recipe and especially the changes you made to the original recipe. This would be a great meal to serve when all the family is over for dinner or Sunday lunch. Looks so delicious!
It is so much fun to take recipe and adapt it to be your own. My thing is always less ingredients without losing the flavor. Stacy has requested this several times recently. It’s a winner with him.