Swedish meatballs can be made in a variety of ways, but this is how we prefer them. In a creamy and thick sauce, they are delicious, juicy, and tender. We like them served with lingonberry sauce or cranberry sauce over mashed potatoes or buttered noodles.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- cooking spray
- 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ pound lean ground pork
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup finely chopped celery
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a baking rack on top. Spray the baking rack with cooking spray.
- Combine bread crumbs and milk in a large bowl. Allow bread crumbs to soak up the milk for about 10 minutes. Mix in ground beef, ground pork, onion, parsley, celery, egg, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper until combined; mixture will be fairly wet. Shape into 36 meatballs with a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop. Place meatballs on the prepared baking rack.
- Bake in the preheated oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball reads 160 degrees F (71 degrees C), about 18 minutes.
- While the meatballs are baking, melt butter for sauce in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in beef broth and Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Cook, stirring often, until slightly thickened, about 12 minutes.
- Remove meatballs from the oven and add to the sauce mixture. Simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in sour cream, dill, and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 417 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 14 g |
| Cholesterol | 133 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 26 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Sodium | 856 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 28 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
The whole family loved this recipe. Thank you. 🙂
delicious recipe but I had to double the gravy ingredients. it wasn’t enough for us. also it made 50 1 inch meatballs and not 36.
I used Publix premade meatballs and baked those (18 minutes was enough time). I used 1 tbsp of dried dill for the sauce and it was still a lot of dill. The ligonberry jam REALLY made this tasty. I think if it wasn’t for the ligonberries, this sauce by itself would’ve been just 3 stars.
We didn’t like this. Too much dill flavor.
Made as written and it was just ok to us flavor wise. I’d cut back on the dill if I were to try this again. Felt like something was missing in the overall flavor of the dish. While the texture of the meatballs was good, we thought they were on the bland side. I didn’t have that lovely jam to serve with the dish though so maybe that was the missing component.
very good, a little labor and time intensive, I may cut some corners next timel I don’t see why the sauce had to cook for so long
I used to make this recipe when I was a teenager and thought it was the best thing I had ever tasted! I’m a little bit older now and when I saw this I thought I hit the jackpot! I made it tonight for my mom and stepdad. It still was wonderful but it didn’t measure up to my childhood memory I’m sad to say. I would still make it again but not here. I had ankle surgery on May 1st so I’m having to stay with them for 8 weeks. I’ll be happy to get home and make it without so many cooks in the kitchen. Lol!
Whenever I make Swedish meatballs, I always use ground turkey instead of beef. I like the lighter flavor with the cream sauce. I didn’t have celery, fresh parsley, or fresh dill on hand. I dis without the celery and used dried parsley and dill paste. The meatballs seemed so wet before cooking, but they baked perfectly and were melt in your mouth moist. The sauce was so delicious. I only had salted butter and it turned out fine. The family absolutely loved it and I will 100% make this again! I can’t wait to make it again with fresh herbs and celery next time. I served it over wide butter egg noodles with a side of petite peas. I think I would even venture to put the peas directly in the sauce next time.
My younger daughter loved it, but my older daughter thought it was a bit salty. I think I would just cut down the salt to half the amount. Since I didn’t have fresh dill, I had to substitute with dried, but think using the fresh dill would have made the recipe perfect. I used oat milk, & it was fine. I also added in a bit more lemon zest. Will definitely make this dish again!
I will definitely make again. We love sour cream so always put in extra in the sauce.
I thought I had a great swedish meatball recipe but it has been replaced by this one. It is easy and delicious!! I cut the amount of dill to 1/3 using dried dill.
Excellent meat balls. My family is swedish so i grew up with my grandmother’s meatballs from sweden…these are just as good!
Loved it; will definitely make it again. Made no changes.
Yes, I made the Swedish meatballs and they were delicious. It was easy and the entire family loved them, ages 71 to 3. Thanks.
I use to make this for my family. They liked it.
Really good recipe. My husband loved them and it was pretty easy.
Yes . they were delicious.
I must say this recipe has become my all time favorite. I’ve been cooking for my finicky parents and they also loved them. Thank you so much for the recipe. It will be my “go to” Swedish Meatball recipe!!
Made it .. loved it… and there was nothing left over.
These were pretty easy to make and I thought they were delicious!! Made a large batch and froze half of it for another time.
I think 3 tablespoons of dill is too much….I will cut it down next time I make.