The BEST Authentic Swedish Meatballs made with fresh ground beef, ground pork caramelized onions, nutmeg, allspice, and smothered in a rich creamy gravy!
I love anything with gravy and these Swedish Meatballs hit the spot! This authentic recipe combines ground beef, ground pork, caramelized onions, nutmeg, allspice and more! The recipe is surprisingly easy and is really good served over buttered egg noodles, or my personal favorite, Homestyle Mashed Potatoes!
Tips for making tender Swedish Meatballs:
- Use a combination of meats. For this recipe, we’re using ground beef and ground pork. The fattier pork helps keep the meatballs tender.
- Add moisture. We’re using milk in this recipe to add additional moisture.
- Don’t overwork the meat mixture. You want to make sure to combine all of the ingredients until their mixed thoroughly, however, you don’t want to overmix. Less is more when it comes to mixing meat with other ingredients.
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Swedish Meatballs
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- Meatballs:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup plain bread crumbs or 15 saltine crackers crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- Gravy:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 1/4 cups beef broth
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onion and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in butter until onion begins to turn golden, about 6 minutes.
- Transfer onion mixture to a large bowl. Add milk, eggs, bread crumbs, black pepper, nutmeg, and allspice to the breadcrumb mixture; stir to combine.
- Mix beef and pork into the bread crumb mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat; whisk flour into butter and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Slowly whisk beef broth into butter mixture, whisking until lumps are dissolved.
- Increase heat to medium-high, whisk cream into mixture and bring to a simmer. Stir Worcestershire sauce into gravy. Simmer until slightly thickened, 5 to 6 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray.
- Roll 2 to 3 tablespoons meatball mixture into a ball using wet hands; repeat with remaining meatball mixture. Place meatballs on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake at 425 degrees until browned, about 20 minutes.
- Transfer meatballs to the gravy and cook over medium-low heat until warmed through, about 10 minutes.
I’m Jennifer Locklin, author and owner of Jennifer Cooks. I am a trained chef and passionate about good food, cooking for family and friends, and creating recipes that form lasting memories from one generation to the next.
Hi, Jennifer! Thank you for sharing this recipe! Looks delicious!
Could you tell me, please, whether it’s OK to add milk in ground meat? I’ve always believed that milk and meat can’t go together because milk can spoil the taste of meatballs or cutlets and make them tough and dry. So I always avoid it and used to only add water in ground meat. Is it another misconception? Won’t they be tough?
Hi Anna! I have not had trouble adding milk to ground beef. Usually, the reason for tough meatballs is overworking the meat mixture. Sometimes people over stir and knead the meat and that will definitely make it tough. I mix everything together until well incorporated and then I make the meatballs. The milk in the recipe should be fine.