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THE BEST SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Swedish meatballs are an iconic comforting meal from Ikea, now you can make them home from scratch, and it will take you under one hour.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Sweden
Keyword: beef meatballs, creamy sauce with meatballs, ikea meatballs, pork meatballs, swedish meatballs, swedish meatballs, creamy sauce with meatballs, meatballs
Servings: 5 servings
Author: Julia

Ingredients

For meatballs

  • 2 lb (908 g) ground meat mix of beef, veal & pork
  • ½ cup Italian bread crumbs seasoned
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ medium onion finely chopped
  • 2 medium garlic minced
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt more to taste
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika or regular
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 10 tablespoons butter

For gravy

  • 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 4 cups beef broth
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons honey mustard
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For meatballs

  • In a large bowl, combine ground beef, veal and pork. Add seasoned Italian bread crumbs, freshly cut parsley, ground allspice, ground nutmeg, chopped onion, minced garlic, pepper, salt and egg. Mix with spatula or your hands *, until well combined. *Always wash your hands prior and after handling raw meat.
  • With a help of tablespoon or small size ice cream scoop, take the mixture of ground meat and roll small meatballs in a desired size. I made them 1 -1½ inch large, which will make around 60 small meatballs. Set them aside, in a large bowl.
  • In a large pan, reheat on medium high heat, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 5 Tbsp of butter. Add the meatballs and cook, turning continuously, until each side of the meatballs is browned and cooked throughout. If the meatballs are turning quickly brown, lower the heat to medium low.
  • Once the meatballs are cooked, transfer them to a plate and cover with a food foil or aluminum foil. Keep the pan on the stove.

For gravy

  • In the same large pan, change the heat to medium high and add remaining 5 Tbsp of butter to melt. Add all-purpose flour and, with a wooden spatula or better a whisk, and stir quickly until combined. Lower the heat to medium low now and stir until it turns lightly brown, about 4-5 minutes.
  • Slowly add beef broth, cup by cup, to the flour and butter mixture and stir continuously. After each addition of beef broth, let the liquid and flour to combine until smooth and creamy. Continue adding the broth cup by cup until you have béchamel sauce. Slowly add also heavy cream, cup by cup.
  • To season the gravy, add Worcestershire sauce and honey mustard. Bring the sauce to a light simmer until the sauce starts to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Add the meatballs back to the pan with the gravy and reheat the meatballs. Serve Swedish meatballs over mashed potatoes, noodles or rice.