Real deal Swedish food, just like in Sweden.
A couple of years ago, Mike and I went to Sweden and the number one item on my Swedish bucket list was eating real Swedish meatballs. We went to a small place called Bakfickan, located in a corner of the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.
The meatballs were unreal. They were and still are one of my favorite food memories of all time. They were so good we went back the next day. Super juicy and full of meaty flavor, served with creamiest mashed potatoes, a rich creamy gravy, lightly picked cucumbers and fresh crushed berries. Every bite was a revelation. If you want, you can read more about our trip to Sweden here.
How to make Swedish meatballs
- Sauté the onions – cook the onions until soft in a little butter.
- Mix the meatballs – Thoroughly mix ground pork, ground beef, eggs, panko, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cooked onions.
- Make the meatballs – form into 1 inch meatballs, rolling hard so they are nice and round.
- Cook the meatballs – Melt some butter in a non-stick pan and add the meatballs, cooking them in batches, taking care to shake the pan so the meatballs stay round.
- Make the sauce – In the same pan where you cooked the meatballs, melt some butter and mix some flour. Pour in the beef stock and cream and simmer until slightly thickened. Season with a little soy sauce (it’s traditional!), salt and pepper.
- Enjoy! – make a meatball dish with meatballs, gravy, mashed potatoes, thinly sliced cucumbers and blackberry sauce.
The ingredients
Swedish meatballs have some pretty standard ingredients: diced onions, ground pork, ground beef, eggs, panko, salt and pepper, and nutmeg.
- Onions – the finer you chop the onions, the more even and beautiful your meatballs will be. If you have a food processor, feel free to pop them in and give it a whirl.
- egg – the eggs are the binders that help hold the meatballs together.
Panko – I like to use panko as a breadcrumb because panko is larger and more crumbly than regular bread. Meatballs made with panko are lighter than meatballs made with regular bread. - Nutmeg – there’s just a slight hint of nutmeg in these guys. They give the meatballs an authentic Swedish flavor with just a hint of warmth in the background.
Swedish meatball sauce
The creamy sauce makes these meatballs next level, but did you know that apparently (according to the internet anyway) Swedes traditionally didn’t eat their meatballs with meatball sauce!??! Now, thanks to Ikea, everyone thinks Swedish meatballs come with a creamy brown sauce, and to be honest, the meatballs we had in Sweden did too. The sauce is almost the best part?!
Swedish meatball sauce is very simple, a butter and flour roux with beef stock and cream, finished with a little soy sauce for color and a touch of umami. I got the soy sauce trick from all the Swedish cooking youtube shows we watched. It’s a sauce game changer.
Tips and tricks
- Form tightly. Be gentle when shaping these meatballs. Unlike the giant, super-soft, crumbly meatballs you get in tomato sauce, the key to the roundness of Swedish meatballs is the fact that they’re compressed enough to be firm on the outside and soft on the inside. Use a cookie scoop to help you scoop out the right amount, then roll the balls between your palms and toss them back and forth so they’re perfectly round.
- Use non-stick. Using a non-stick pan helps keep your meatballs nice and round. Non-stick gives you the freedom to shake and roll the meatballs while they’re still raw, before they form a crust. If you use a regular stick pan, you will need to brown the meatballs before they are released, and by the time they are done, they will have collapsed due to heat and gravity and will be mushy.
- Fry in butter. Frying in butter gives you much more flavor. I don’t usually just fry things in butter because it tends to get too hot and burn, but this is how they do it in Sweden and believe me when I say, it makes a lot of sense.
What are Swedish meatballs?
Swedish meatballs are, you guessed it, meatballs from Sweden. They are called köttbullar, which means meat buns, literally the cutest name ever. Swedish meatballs tend to be on the smaller side and are made with a mixture of beef and pork, simply seasoned with salt and pepper and a little nutmeg.
Are Swedish meatballs Swedish?
yes! Swedish meatballs are definitely Swedish and are eaten regularly in Sweden, as an everyday meal and sometimes as a special on holidays such as Christmas.
What’s so special about Swedish meatballs?
Everyone knows about Swedish meatballs from Ikea – Ikea meatballs are quite famous. I mean, Mike and I used to go to Ikea just to eat meatballs. And I admit, I’ve bought a frozen bag or three before. But now that I have this Swedish meatball recipe in my back pocket, no more!
Swedish meatballs are super tasty and full of flavor. They are crisp on the outside with a buttery meaty crust and soft and tender on the inside. When you bite into them, the juices fill your mouth with flavor and all is right with the world.
By the way, I’m pretty sure the secret to why Swedish meatballs are so good is the fact that they’re fried in butter. Mike and I watched hours of cooking videos on youtube – in Swedish, with subtitles – and they all emphasized the importance of frying your meatballs in butter, in a non-stick pan (more on that later), and shape the meatballs aggressively. .
What to serve with Swedish meatballs
Swedish meatball dishes usually come with creamy brown sauce, mashed potatoes, pickles and lingonberry sauce.
I hope you try this recipe. It’s really one of my favorites. And if you do, please do as the Swedes do and get a little bit of everything in one bite: a meatball, some mash, some gravy, cucumber and blackberry. It will be like that moment in Ratatouille when Remy gets the fireworks from the flavor combination.
Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes forever,
xoxo steph
PS – If you want to read more about my love for Swedish meatballs, please visit this post!
Swedish meatball recipe
Real deal Swedish food, just like in Sweden.
It serves 4
- 2-4 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 medium onion finely choppedabout 1/2 cup
- 1 £ ground pork
- 1 £ ground beef
- 2 egg lightly beaten
- 1/2 CUP panko
- 1 SPOON salt
- 1 SPOON freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 SPOON freshly ground nutmeg
Cream sauce
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon flour
- 1 CUP beef broth
- 1/2 CUP heavy cream
- 1 SPOON I am willow
- salt and freshly ground pepper
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Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large non-stick pan and sauté the onions. When the onions are soft and translucent, remove the pan from the heat and let the onions cool.
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Combine the pork, beef, eggs, panko, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a large bowl. When the onions have cooled slightly, add them to the mixture and use your hands to mix everything thoroughly.
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Form into 1-inch meatballs, rolling them tightly so they hold their round shape. Place the meatballs on a plate or baking sheet.
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On medium heat, melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter in the same pan where you cooked the onions. When hot, add the meatballs to the pan, cooking in batches without overcrowding. Shake the pan immediately as you add a batch of meatballs to ensure the balls roll and retain their meatball shape.
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Fry, shaking the pan occasionally, until the meatballs are golden brown and cooked through. Remove the meatballs from the pan as they cook.
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When all the meatballs are cooked, make the sauce: Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and melt over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour, mix and cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the beef stock and cream and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to thicken. Taste and season with salt, pepper and soy sauce if using.
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Serve the meatballs with the cream sauce, cucumbers and blackberry jam.
If you don’t mind the meatballs being slightly flattened, just let the meatballs brown, no need to stir.
Makes about 40 meatballs, roughly 10 per person.
Meals rated are for meatballs and sauce only.
Nutrition facts
Swedish meatball recipe
Amount per service
Calories 580
Calories from fat 221
% Daily Value*
Fat 24.5 g38%
Saturated fat 11.5 g72%
cholesterol 295 mg98%
Sodium 1193 mg52%
potassium 1071 mg31%
Carbohydrates 15.6 g5%
Fiber 1.2 g5%
Sugar 2.3 g3%
Protein 70.4 g141%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
