Old Fashioned Swedish Meatballs
These Old Fashioned Swedish Meatballs are a beloved family recipe from a reader. The tender meatballs are coated in a rich sour cream sauce, making this the ultimate comfort food.
Occasionally, readers will send me their treasured family recipes. I love seeing them (often on handwritten recipe cards, of course) and hearing the story behind them.
This recipe for Swedish Meatballs was sent by a reader named Sherrie. Sherrie says, “I love this recipe of my mom’s. I have no idea where she got it, but I remember her making this between the 50s-70s. I usually double the sauce as it’s so good & I want lots of sauce. Good over rice, noodles, mashed potatoes.” (The recipe below reflects Sherrie’s suggestion to double the sauce.)
When I posted the recipe over on Facebook, several readers chimed in to say that their mothers made very similar recipes for Swedish meatballs.
I absolutely loved making this beloved recipe of Sherrie’s, and I hope you will, too.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- The recipe calls for a mix of ground beef and ground pork, but you can use all ground beef if you’d like. I used 85% lean ground beef.
- Use full-fat sour cream for best results. It’s in the meatballs and in the sauce.
- To create soft breadcrumbs, I blitzed one piece of white bread in my food processor, which created roughly one-half cup.
- Allspice is key here! Make sure yours isn’t expired as this is a spice that doesn’t get used frequently (at least in my kitchen).
- Lingonberry jam is a classic accompaniment to swedish meatballs. If you don’t have it or can’t find it, the meatballs are still very delicious without.
How to Make Old Fashioned Swedish Meatballs
- Add all the meatball ingredients to a large bowl, and mix gently with your hands until combined.
- Roll into one-inch meatballs. I got about 45 meatballs.
- Brown the meatballs in two batches, just until browned on both sides.
- Add the broth and cook the meatballs until cooked through and tender. Remove the meatballs.
Making the Sour Cream Sauce
- Shake flour and water in a jar until combined. This is to prevent any lumps in the sauce (I always get lumps when I just add flour straight to the hot liquid!).
- Whisk the flour mixture into the broth and let it cook for 1–2 minutes to thicken.
- Take the skillet off the heat, then stir in the sour cream, onion powder, salt, and allspice.
- Add the meatballs back to the skillet and stir to coat. Serve over egg noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes. A little chopped parsley on top always looks nice.
What to serve with swedish Meatballs
Egg noodles, mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, or rice are all great accompaniments to Swedish meatballs. The thicker Amish-style noodles are good, too.
Lingonberry jam is another classic accompaniment. And a reader named Leena-Christine mentioned that she serves quick pickled cucumbers on the side. I love that idea of contrasting flavors/textures.
To round out the meal, try a side salad or roasted veggies, or even biscuits (I’m partial to these Bisquick cheddar biscuits, or these flaky Southern biscuits).
📖 Recipe
Old Fashioned Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ lb ground pork (or use more ground beef)
- ½ cup soft breadcrumbs
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
- 1¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 cups beef broth (or 1 tablespoon bouillon + 4 cups water)
For the gravy:
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt to taste (might only need a pinch, or none at all)
- Dash of allspice
- 1 cup sour cream
- To serve: lingonberry jam, optional
Would you like to save this?
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Instructions
For the meatballs:
- In a large bowl, place the ground beef, ground pork, breadcrumbs, ½ cup sour cream, egg, finely chopped onion, salt, allspice, and black pepper.1 lb ground beef, ½ lb ground pork, ½ cup soft breadcrumbs, ½ cup sour cream, 1 egg,, 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion, 1¼ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon allspice, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Gently mix until combined, taking care not to over mix, which will make the meatballs tough.
- Shape the meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat.2 tablespoons butter
- Fry half the meatballs until browned, about 2–3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate.
- Melt the remaining butter in the skillet, and fry the remaining meatballs until browned, about 2–3 minutes per side.
- Add the other meatballs back to the skillet, and pour the beef broth over the top. Cover and cook at a simmer for 20 minutes, or until cooked through.4 cups beef broth
For the sour cream gravy:
- While the meatballs are cooking, place the flour and ¼ cup water in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake to combine.¼ cup flour
- Remove the meatballs from the skillet.
- Add the flour/water mixture to the broth in the skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened slightly.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the onion powder, salt, dash of allspice, and sour cream.1 teaspoon onion powder, Salt to taste, Dash of allspice, 1 cup sour cream
- Add the meatballs back to the skillet and stir to coat with the sour cream gravy.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice with a side of lingonberry jam if you like.
Comments
No Comments