Recipe for Easy Swedish Meatballs

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Easy Swedish Meatballs are a great choice when you want a simple, yet filling dinner for your family. The meatballs are tender and delicious, served over a mound of noodles or mashed potatoes with a dreamy, creamy sauce. Did I hear Comfort Food? You bet I did! Comfort Food Deluxe!

Swedish Meatballs in a Brown Cream Sauce

If you browse this recipe site, you’ll find several recipes for meatballs. Italian Meatballs. Barbecue Meatballs. German Meatballs. And now Swedish Meatballs. Why so many meatballs? And what makes them different or the same?

Types of Meatballs

The easiest explanation for meatballs is what they are served with, what type of sauce is used, how big they are, and also the ingredients that go into them.


  • Appetizer Meatballs – This type of meatball is usually medium-sized and served with a toothpick. They might be made with lean ground beef, ground turkey, or even venison.
  • Italian Meatballs – Usually served in a tomato sauce with spaghetti, but could also be served in soup. Typically, Italian meatballs are smaller in size.
  • Meatballs in Sauce or Cream – These meatballs are larger in size and are served in sauce, such as my German-Style Meatballs, which are served in a sauerkraut sauce. Or perhaps a creamy gravy made from beef broth, cream, and sour cream. Like this recipe.

Most of my meatball recipes are baked in the oven, but I cooked these Swedish Meatballs on the stove in a skillet. Mostly because I first made them in the summer (I didn’t want to heat the house with my hot oven), but also for the delicious bits of meat left in the skillet (fond) that I used in the creamy gravy. So good! Are you drooling yet?

More Meatball Recipes

Ingredients for Easy Swedish Meatballs

(As a Walmart Affiliate, I earn from qualified purchases at the links below. See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)

Instructions for this Recipe

Ingredients for this Recipe

Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.

Using a knife and cutting board, dice the sweet onion. Prepare the beef bouillon cubes with boiling water to make the beef broth. Set aside until ready to make the sauce.

Make the Meatballs

Place the lean ground beef and ground pork sausage in a large bowl.

I like to buy Oldham’s Country Sausage (16 g fat), or William’s Sausage (11 g fat). Both are lower in fat than most on the market and have a lovely mild flavor that I like in my recipes.

Mix Ingredients to Make the Meatballs

Add to this the buttermilk, seasoned bread crumbs, large egg, diced onion, dried parsley, kosher salt, garlic powder, allspice, freshly ground nutmeg, and freshly ground black pepper. Mix together with a long-handled wooden spoon or your hands until everything is fully combined.

Form Meatballs and Place in Hot Skillet or Saute Pan

Using a large spoon or a large cookie scoop, form the mixture into meatballs that are approximately 1 1/2-inches and place on a baking sheet.

As you’ll notice in the above photo, I placed the meatballs directly into the hot skillet, but making them ahead would have been even faster. 

Melt butter and olive oil in a large skillet on medium-low heat. Place meatballs in the skillet, and try not to crowd them too much. Cook 18-20 minutes until they are cooked through on all sides, turning every 3-4 minutes. Transfer meatballs to a baking pan and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Prepare Egg Noodles

At this time you’ll want to prepare the egg noodles, as it doesn’t take long to complete the cream sauce. Or if you’re serving mashed potatoes, start making them at the same time or before the meatballs.

Use your favorite egg noodles for this recipe and make according to package directions. I like to use the curly style egg noodles or Amish noodles for this dish.

Make the Cream Sauce

Add 3-4 tablespoons butter to the skillet and sauté the diced onions until tender, about 3-4 minutes on medium-low heat.

Prepare the Brown Cream Sauce

Sprinkle all-purpose flour into the butter and onions and stir to make a roux. Add the prepared beef broth, half and half cream, sour cream, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir or whisk to combine.

Simmer Sauce with Meatballs. Garnish with Fresh Parsley

Reduce heat to low and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add in the cooked meatballs. Simmer on low until the sauce has thickened, carefully stirring with a wooden spoon, approximately 5-8 minutes.

Serve Meatballs and Sauce over Egg Noodles and Mashed Potatoes

Serve this dish over prepared egg noodles and/or mashed potatoes. This recipe will serve 6-8 people.

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Recipe for Easy Swedish Meatballs

Easy Swedish Meatballs

Easy Swedish Meatballs are a great choice when you want a simple, yet filling dinner for your family. The meatballs are tender and delicious, served over a mound of noodles or mashed potatoes with a dreamy, creamy sauce.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Serving Size 8

(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Ingredients 

Meatballs

  • 1 pound lean ground beef (80/2)
  • 1 pound ground pork sausage
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup sweet onion (minced or diced)
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground, if possible)
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons butter

Cream Sauce

  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup sweet onion (diced)
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cube beef bouillon cubes + 1 cup water (or beef broth)
  • 1 cup half and half cream
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • fresh parsley for garnish

Instructions

  • Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
  • Using a knife and cutting board, dice the sweet onion for the meatballs and the sauce.
  • Prepare the beef bouillon cubes with boiling water to make the beef broth. Set aside until ready to use.

Make the Meatballs

  • Place the lean ground beef and ground pork sausage in a large bowl.
  • Add to this the buttermilk, seasoned breadcrumbs, large egg, 1/2 cup diced onion, dried parsley, kosher salt, garlic powder, allspice, freshly ground nutmeg, and freshly ground black pepper. Mix together with a long-handled wooden spoon or your hands until everything is fully combined.
  • Using a large spoon or a large cookie scoop, form the mixture into meatballs that are approximately 1 1/2-inches and place on a baking sheet.
  • Melt butter and olive oil in a large skillet on medium-low heat. Place meatballs in the skillet, and try not to crowd them too much. Cook 18-20 minutes until they are cooked through on all sides, turning every 3-4 minutes.
    Transfer meatballs to a baking pan and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
  • At this time you'll want to prepare the egg noodles, as it doesn't take long to complete the cream sauce. Also, if you are serving mashed potatoes, start making them at the same time or before the meatballs.
    Use your favorite egg noodles for this recipe and make according to package directions. I like to use the curly style egg noodles or Amish noodles for this dish.

Prepare the Cream Sauce

  • Add 3-4 tablespoons butter to the skillet and saute the remaining diced onions until tender, about 3-4 minutes on medium-low heat.
  • Sprinkle the all-purpose flour into the butter and onions and stir to make a roux. Add the prepared beef broth, half and half cream, sour cream, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir or whisk to combine.
  • Reduce heat to low and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add in the cooked meatballs. Simmer on low until the sauce has thickened, carefully stirring with a wooden spoon, approximately 5-8 minutes.
  • Serve over prepared egg noodles and/or mashed potatoes. This recipe will serve 6-8 people.

Notes

*Unless otherwise indicated, all butter used on this recipe site is salted.

Nutrition

Calories: 518kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 132mg | Sodium: 1267mg | Potassium: 510mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 664IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 111mg | Iron: 3mg

 

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