Sliced Bread Swedish Meatballs
"The gauntlet was thrown when my daughter's future in-law's Swedish Meatballs recipe was declared to be "the best in the world." Here's my valiant attempt to uphold the honor from OUR side of the family. A good electric skillet makes this as easy as can be. (I often DOUBLE the gravy recipe, and add a bit of dill weed, nutmeg, and caraway seeds 8-)"
photo by SharonChen
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 24
- Yields:
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26 meatballs
- Serves:
- 6-8
ingredients
-
Meatballs
- 2 slices white bread, without the crusts, torn into pieces
- 1⁄4 cup whole milk or 1/4 cup half-and-half
- 3⁄4 lb ground beef
- 3⁄4 lb ground pork
- 1 small red onion (grated or very finely chopped)
- 1 egg
- 1⁄8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1⁄8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1⁄4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder, granulated
- 1 tablespoon parsley, dried
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper (freshly ground black)
- 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
-
Gravy
- 2 cups low sodium beef broth
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1⁄4 cup heavy cream
- 1⁄4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder, granulated
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper (freshly ground black)
- 1⁄4 cup fresh parsley
directions
- In a small bowl, soak the bread in the milk until soft. In a large bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients except the butter and oil, and add the soaked bread. Mix thoroughly until smooth, it's best to use your hands for this. Shape into small, golf-ball size meatballs (by dipping your hands in cold water, the meatballs won't stick to your hands.).
- Heat butter and oil in a large electric skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs without crowding, and gently brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Shake the skillet now and then so meatballs stay round and brown evenly. Place them on a heated baking pan in a low oven to keep warm.
- To make gravy, deglaze the skillet with 1 cup of the stock, letting it simmer for 5 minutes while scraping the bottom of the skillet with a spatula. Strain the gravy into a clean saucepan and add the remaining 1 cup of stock. In a small bowl, mix the flour with 1/4 cup of cold water until smooth. Whisk flour mixture into warm gravy, and let simmer, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, until thickened slightly, about 3-5 minutes. Add the cream and season with salt and pepper.
- To serve, arrange the meatballs on a serving platter, pour hot gravy over them, and garnish with parsley. Traditionally served with boiled new potatoes, lingonberry sauce, and lefse. I just put over buttered noodles or cooked rice, and sprinkled with parsley.
Questions & Replies
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Can the meatballs be pre-made and frozen until needed? -
No Pinterest tab to save either.
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I can never find a printable version on this site.
Reviews
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This should be 20 stars! I added a sprinkle of nutmeg and sprinkle of dill to the sauce. First time making Swedish Meatballs and everyone raved over them. Served with homemade noodles, and Brocalli. -
I have several SM recipes, including my Mom's and this is by far the tastiest of them all. Only thing I did was add some dill and nutmeg. It was in some comments, but two of the three recipes I have call for it as well. Also, I know Maddr33s review was a long time ago, but the author said 'my daughter's future in-law's Swedish Meatballs recipe', she wasn't disparaging anyone regarding the recipe. Just to clarify :-). -
I make Swedish meatballs at every party I have only trouble is having to make 100 to 200 of them. -
I didn't make the meatballs-just the sauce. It was just me so I scaled to one serving and used frozen meatballs...but the sauce was good, quick, and easy. I saw some recipes using canned cream of mushroom soup and really wanted to stay away from that. I was pleased with the outcome. Thanks :) -
Truly awesome comfort food. Me and my kids love it, even the one who eats nothing, but chicken nuggets!
see 11 more reviews
Tweaks
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When you explain how to make the gravy, you don't mention any of the spices that go in it. That's probably why that one reviewer said it was so bland - he didn't add the onion powder, the granulated garlic, the parsley, etc, because he only read the directions, and paid no attention to the list of ingredients.;o)
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I like to use Beef Consomme instead of broth! -
I know nothing replaces that wonder flavor of flour...but it's just not an option anymore.
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I doubled the gravy recipe, added the meatballs to the gravy and cooked it for 30 more minutes. Also added 1/2 cup of frozen peas at the end and served it over egg noodles. Then topped it off with chopped green onions, instead of parsley. -
Use the best beef Demi glacé you can find instead of beef broth. Otherwise, reduce the beef broth first to concentrate the flavor.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Pellerin
Eugene
An event planner by profession, and a life-long foodie wanna-be who loves to make people happy by feeding them things that make their eyes light up. I'm an empty-nester who enjoys nothing more than cooking for family and friends. When those are not available, my dogs make EXCELLENT and enthusiastic Guinea pigs for testing new recipes. Not surprisingly, I've found that the German Shorthaired Pointers have much more discriminating palates than do the Goldens, who would eat anything -and I mean ANYTHING- that wasn't nailed down (and some things that were). They are all convinced that I'm a gourmet chef, however they're a pretty easy audience.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "My theory is that all of Scottish cuisine is based on a dare." -- Mike Myers
