Our easy Swedish Meatballs are full of flavor and perfect for a warm, cozy dinner! Made with the most tender meatballs, a creamy sauce, and served over fluffy mashed potatoes. It is a family favorite dinner that you are going to be making all winter long!
The Best Swedish Meatballs
Table of Contents
Here at The Wooden Skillet we have been making our own homemade meatballs for years! Everything from basic chicken meatballs to ground beef oven baked meatballs, to lamb meatballs and everything in between. We have loved the flavor and creaminess of traditional Swedish meatballs for years and knew it was time to develop this amazing recipe. Trust us, it does not disappoint! The whole family absolutely loves this delicious meal and we know that yours will too!
Looking for More Meatball Recipes?
If you love a good cozy meatball dish as much as we do, you definitely need to try our Meatballs and Rice!
What You Will Need
- bread slices – any type of bread will work here and soaking it in your creamer of choice adds so much moisture to the meatball mixture.
- creamer – love using a dairy-free creamer to lighten up this Swedish meatball recipe, but half & half or heavy cream would work too!
- ground beef & ground pork – a perfect combination of ground meat that adds a great depth of flavor but you can easily switch them up for ground turkey, if desired.
- large egg – an essential binding ingredient for meatball recipes.
- onion powder, garlic powder, ground nutmeg, salt and pepper – these simple seasonings add all the best flavor to this easy recipe.
- butter & all-purpose flour – melted butter whisked with flour to create a roux are the thickening agent of the creamy sauce.
- beef broth – just pick-up your favorite beef broth from your local grocery store.
- sour cream – adds a little bit of tangy flavor to the creamy gravy right before serving.
- serving suggestion: mashed potatoes, egg noodles, and/or lingonberry jam.
How To Make Swedish Meatballs
The first steps to making this delicious recipe is to gather all of the simple ingredients. Place the slices of bread in a shallow dish and pour 1/3 cup of creamer over them. Let them soak for 5-10 minutes.
Use a fork to mash up the soaked bread and add the rest of the meatball ingredients. Mix it all together.
Use a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to create uniform, 1 tablespoon portioned meatballs. Place all of the formed meatballs in a single layer on the bottom of the skillet, rimmed baking sheet or other oven-safe dish. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F for 22-24 minutes.
Pro Tip
Highly recommend baking the meatballs in the same skillet that you will be using to make the gravy sauce, because that means less dishes and it’s easier to keep some of the meatball grease for added flavor!
Transfer meatballs from the large skillet and leave behind about 1-2 tablespoons pan drippings and browned bits in the bottom of the pan. Bring the skillet to a medium heat, melt butter, and whisk in the flour. Gradually pour in the broth and creamer, while whisking continuously to create a thick sauce. Let simmer over low heat to thicken to your desired consistency. Finally whisk in the sour cream and salt.
Add the meatballs back to the pan and toss in this flavorful cream sauce.
What To Serve With Swedish Meatballs
This delicious Swedish meatball recipe is perfect for serving over creamy mashed potatoes. And if you have never tried adding some lingonberry jam or a dollop of cranberry sauce to your Swedish meatballs, we highly recommend it! If mashed potatoes aren’t for you, these creamy meatballs would also be great over your favorite cooked noodles. Or simply enjoy them all by themselves – so good!
Substitutions
- Creamer: any variety of half & half, heavy cream, or dairy-free creamers will work great in this recipe.
- Meatballs: making your own meatballs is surprisingly easy and adds flavor to the sauce, but if you are short on time you can also make swedish meatballs with frozen meatballs. Simply cook according to the package directions, make the gravy as instructed, and add the cooked meatballs to that gravy.
- Dietary Restrictions: in the notes section of the recipe card below you will find info on how to make this recipe dairy-free and gluten-free.
Recipe FAQs
- How to cook Swedish meatballs? We used the oven to bake the meatballs and then the stovetop to create an easy Swedish meatball sauce. It is a surprisingly easy cooking process!
- Do Swedish meatballs contain sour cream? Highly recommend adding sour cream at the end of making the sauce to add an amazing depth of flavor, but this recipe would work without it too.
Storage
Leftover meatballs with or without the mashed potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. It makes great leftovers!
Made this recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Other Meatball Recipes You Might Like
Swedish Meatball Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner/Entree
- Method: Stovetop + Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Our extra saucy Swedish Meatballs recipe is a warm and cozy dinner that you will be making all winter long!
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 3 slices of white bread
- 1/3 cup unsweetened/unflavored dairy-free creamer or half & half
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1/2 lb. ground pork
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Gravy:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 cups beef broth
- 1/3 cup unsweetened/unflavored dairy-free creamer or half & half
- 2 tablespoons sour cream, (regular or dairy-free sour cream)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Serving Suggestion:
- mashed potatoes or cooked noodles
- lingonberry jam
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Make Meatballs: Place bread and 1/3 cup of creamer in a large bowl; let sit for 5-10 minutes. Use a fork to mash up the soaked bread and add ground beef, ground pork, egg, onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper to the bowl. Mix to fully combine. Remove one tablespoon of the meat mixture at a time and roll into a meatball (highly recommend using a small cookie scoop). Continue this process with the rest of the meat mixture. Place meatballs in a single layer in an oven-safe cast iron skillet or braising pan.
- Bake: Move the entire skillet to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 22-24 minutes or until cooked through. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked meatballs from the hot pan and set aside. Drain remaining grease, leaving about 1-2 tablespoons in the bottom.
- Make Gravy: Bring large skillet to a medium-high heat and add butter to melt. Whisk in the flour to create a roux. Gradually pour in the beef broth, whisking continuously, until it is fully incorporated. Continue this process by pouring in the 1/3 cup of creamer, whisking continuously. Let simmer and thicken a bit, if needed to reach your desired consistency. Whisk in the sour cream and salt right before adding the meatballs back to the pan.
- Combine: Add the meatballs back into the pan and toss in the cream sauce.
- Serve: Recommend serving over mashed potatoes with or without a side of lingonberry jam.
Notes
- Mashed Potatoes: feel free to make our Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, store-bought instant mashed potatoes to keep it easy, or any other favorite mashed potato recipe.
- Creamer: option to use half & half or keep it a little lighter with an unsweetened, unflavored dairy-free creamer. We used a NutPods dairy-free creamer, but we also love the Silk Dairy-Free Half & Half or Califia Farms BetterHalf.
- Gluten-Free: simply use gluten-free bread when making the meatballs, gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour in the Swedish meatball sauce, and serve over mashed potatoes or gluten-free noodles.
- Dairy-Free: use a dairy-free creamer, plant-based butter, and dairy-free sour cream.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6oz
- Calories: 380
- Sugar: 1.1 g
- Sodium: 671 mg
- Fat: 21.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 16.1 g
- Protein: 27.5 g
- Cholesterol: 125.2 mg
E says
So good and surprisingly easy!
Renee says
These were Amazing! Very easy recipe to follow. I made a double batch and shared with our son who is a huge foodie. He loved them too!
Erin says
Aw yay, Renee!! That is so awesome to hear!
Sarah Gragson says
Delicious! A hit with all 8 of us!
Erin says
Yay! So happy to hear that, Sarah!