Swedish meatballs with gravy

Swedish meatballs became known to me mostly because of the Ikea store honestly. Before their popularity, I had no idea these lovely meatballs existed. These meatballs have hints of nutmeg, cinnamon and sometimes all-spice. This is an ideal weeknight recipe for me because it doesn’t take too long. Swedish meatballs are apparently served with or without a gravy. But I wanted mine all sauced up so I made a gravy to go with it.

If you are making a gravy, Worcestershire sauce is your best friend. If you don’t have Worcestershire sauce, you can substitute it with soy sauce and Dijon mustard. I made the meatballs in two batches. The key is to fry the meatballs until they are browned on all sides. For a tastier gravy, strain any leftover oil that you used to fry the meatballs and add it to the gravy. The reason the oil has to be strained is that sometimes little browned bits from the meatballs may fall off into it, If you add these bits to your gravy it may end up being sour.

Like any gravy, you need butter, flour and cream. The meatballs need half of a small onion so I used the remaining half to kickstart the gravy. However adding onions to the gravy is completely optional. Don’t overcook the gravy because you think it looks watery. The flour thicken up the gravy as it cools, so if it looks thick before it’s cooled, that’s not a good sign. You can serve these meatballs over freshly boiled pasta like I did or over rice or potatoes.

Swedish meatballs with gravy

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Servings: 4 Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cooking Time: 55 Minutes 55 Minutes

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

Meatballs

(Makes about 18-20 mall meatballs)

0.5kg/1 lb ground beef

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder or minced garlic

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 large egg, whisked

1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 small onion, diced

1/4 cup cooking oil (I used canola)  

 

Gravy

Remaining 1/2 onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups vegetable or beef broth

1 cup heavy/whipping cream or half-and-half cream

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (2 teaspoons Dijon mustard + 1 teaspoon soy sauce)

1/2 cup fresh herbs, finely chopped

1 teaspoon table salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder or minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground black pepper  

Instructions

Meatballs

1. Mix the salt, garlic, Italian seasoning, black pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon in a large bowl.
2. Fold in the whisked egg, breadcrumbs, milk and onion in the same bowl. Add the ground beef last and combine.
3. Roll the beef mixture into small balls with your hands and place them on a large plate. These are your meatballs.
4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or saucepan.
5. Place as many meatballs than can fit the pan without them touching. I fried mine in two batches.
6. Fry the meatballs on all sides on medium heat until browned. This takes about 10 minutes.
7. Turn off the heat and take the meatballs out of the pan.

Gravy

1. Strain the oil you used to fry the meatballs into another large saucepan or frying pan. Melt the butter with this oil and fry the remaining 1/2 onion.
2. Whisk in the flour until it is smooth, then add the cream, broth and Worcestershire sauce.
3. Let it thicken up on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the salt, garlic and black pepper. Check if the salt level is to your taste and adjust as necessary.
5. Add the fried meatballs to the pan, add the herbs and continue to let it simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.
6. Serve warm as desired.