The best Swedish Meatballs are made from scratch with a savory beef and pork blend, simmered in a creamy homemade gravy. This is a classic comfort food that brings restaurant-quality flavor to the kitchen!
Swedish Meatballs is that dinner my whole family begs for.
Swedish Meatballs is that dinner my whole family begs for.We make this Swedish Meatballs recipe all year round, because it uses simple pantry staples, and is a super budget-friendly dinner I can throw together without a special grocery trip. The meatballs and creamy sauce are both made completely from scratch, which gives them that comforting, homemade taste you just can’t get from store-bought or frozen versions. Best of all, it’s easy enough that my kids can help make it; they love getting involved in shaping the meatballs or stirring the sauce, and they all love eating it.
Check out all of my kid-friendly recipes like Healthy Muffins, Mongolian Noodles, American Goulash, or Baked Mac and Cheese!
How to make Swedish Meatballs:
Form and Cook Meatballs: Combine ground beef, ground pork, breadcrumbs, egg yolk, sautéed onion, allspice, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Roll into 1-inch balls and cook in a hot skillet with oil, turning until evenly browned.
Make Sauce: In the same skillet, melt butter and whisk in flour until golden. Slowly add beef broth, stirring until thickened. Stir in sour cream, season with salt and pepper, then return meatballs to the sauce. Serve these easy Swedish Meatballs over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice. I love serving it with a side of French Green Beans or Roasted Vegetables.
Follow me for more great recipes
Recipe
Swedish Meatballs
Equipment
- Meat Chopper , to mix the meatballs
Ingredients
For the Swedish Meatballs:
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil (28g), divided
- 1 onion , diced
- 1 pound lean ground beef (454g)
- 1 pound ground pork (454g)
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (60g)
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (0.5g)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (0.5g)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (9g)
- 3/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (1.5g)
For the Gravy:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (57g)
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (40g)
- 3 3/4 cups low-sodium beef broth (900mL)
- 3/4 cup sour cream (180g)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper , to taste
- 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (8g), chopped
- 1 lb egg noodles (454g), cooked (or cooked rice), for serving
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.1 onion
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, bread crumbs, egg yolks, allspice, nutmeg and onion. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.1 pound lean ground beef, 1 pound ground pork, ½ cup breadcrumbs, 2 large egg yolks, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- Stir mixture with a meat chopper or wooden spoon until well combined. Use clean hands to roll the mixture into meatballs about 1 1/2-in in size (It should make about 20-24 meatballs).
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add meatballs, in batches, and cook until all sides are browned, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
For the Swedish Meatball Sauce:
- Melt butter in the skillet. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in beef broth and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes.¼ cup unsalted butter, ⅓ cup all-purpose flour, 3 ¾ cups low-sodium beef broth
- Stir in sour cream; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through and thickened, about 8-10 minutes.¾ cup sour cream, Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
Notes
Nutrition
Follow Me
*I originally shared this recipe August 2014, adapted from Damn Delicious. Updated March 2019, August 2022 and July 2025.
This post contains affiliate links.
I’ve made this close to a dozen times or so. Recipe is pretty spot on but I do add a bit more nutmeg and allspice, I also double the gravy as week like our egg noodles well coated.
I would highly recommend this recipe
Love them meat balls
Could be just personal preference, but I thought the meatballs were too mushy. I followed the recipe without any changes since it was my first tome ever making this. If I wanted them firmer would I leave out the egg, breadcrumbs, or both? Also I think I’ll dial up the spices a bit too. Good base recipe, thanks!
Used butter instead of olive oil as that’s how my Swedish grandmother would make them. Olive oil is not traditional.
Not bad, my only tweak would be to brown the meatballs first and then add the onions after. The onions get overcooked and bitter when you start w them first and you’re trying to brown the meatballs. Brown the meatballs, remove and then sweat the onions and continue on. I had to use a lot more cream and salt to battle the bitterness of the overcooked onions.
Chris – I think you misunderstood the recipe. You soften the onions, then PUT THEM IN THE other meatball ingredients when making the meatballs. The onions are in the meatballs.
definitely not. As long as you cut the onions, so small. I used electric chopper and minced them ! If I even tried to sauté that? It would have been disgusting rolled into a meatball. That would be like saying you need to sauté onions before rolling it into a meatball for spaghetti and meatballs. Huge not.
The recipe calls for the cooked onions to be mixed in with the meat when you’re forming the meatballs. Hope that helps.
Tastes delicious! Will definitely make again.
5 stars although I did not follow the recipe exactly. Some people mentioned the lack of flavor so I multiplied the spices by 1.5. Some mentioned the gravy was too runny so I doubled the butter and flour but kept the same amounts. This makes a very thick near country gravy thick sauce so be forewarned. I would probably do 1.5 the amount on the thickener as well next.time. Meatballs are delicious. I also did cook them just a notch below medium for around 11 minutes.
Server with linguine. No complaints from my picky kids. Will definitely make again.
Good recipe ~ I added Worcestershire sauce to the gravy ~ which took it to another level … yummy …
This was delicious! Thank you for sharing!!
Sorry to say your swedish meatballs are tasteless and your sauce is like water.