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1 Comment Swedish meatballs, made popular by Ikea, have become something of an iconic dish in Sweden. Of course, you can also make this delicious dish at home. And you should because homemade Swedish meatballs are simply the best! And despite the long list of ingredients it is really not complicated.
Swedish meatballs
Swedish meatballs – like many local dishes – have a long history. The story goes that King Charles tasted the meatballs in the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey). He was so impressed that he took the recipe home with him and voila, Swedish meatballs were born.
We may never know if this is how it really happened, but that is irrelevant to the enjoyment I would say.
What goes into Swedish meatballs?
Quite a lot goes into this recipe because it is, of course, made up of three parts. Traditional Swedish meatballs are eaten with cranberry compote or cranberry jam and creamy mashed potatoes. So yes, there’s a lot of butter in the mash, but if you don’t want that, you can make it less heavy.
You will need:
- Heavy cream
- Beef broth
- ground beef – or you can use a mix of ground pork with ground beef
- slices of white bread or bread crumbs
- potatoes
- cranberries – plus sugar to make the cranberry jam
- egg – I used one large egg
- butter – there is quite a lot of butter going into this dish but you can reduce the amount of butter in the potato mash if you want.
- Salt and black pepper
And a few other bits and pieces so make sure to check the recipe card for full details.
In Sweden
Charlotte and I spent a couple of weeks in Sweden and Denmark (where we also visited the famous wooden giants by Thomas Dambo!) this summer and of course we ate Swedish meatballs! You can literally find a restaurant serving Swedish meatballs on almost every street corner. So of course the trick is to find a place where they taste good. I honestly don’t know if we found the best one, because I had never had Swedish meatballs before. The ones from Ikea never really appealed to me.
With or without pickles
As you can see in the picture above left, they also came with some sort of pickle. Pretty tasty, but we left it out in the homemade version. Actually, it is quite good without it, but you can make it with it if you like.
If you are a fan of Swedish cuisine, try the delicious kannelbullar or Flying Jacob!
Swedish meatballs (köttbullar)
Ingredients
Cranberry jam
- 300 grams cranberries
- 100 grams sugar
Meatballs
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 2 slices white bread
- 600 grams minced meat
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 egg
- Salt and pepper
- 50 grams butter
- 1 tsp flour
- 200 ml beef stock
- 250 ml single cream
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1 bunch dill
Mashed potatoes
- 750 grams potatoes
- 100 grams butter
- 100 ml milk
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- Salt and pepper to taste
How to make the Swedish meatballs
- Place the cranberries, sugar and 100ml (0.4 cups) water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook for about 10 minutes until the cranberries are soft and you have a nice jam. Leave to cool. Alternatively, you can use ready-made cranberry jam.
- Finely chop the onion. Fry the onion in a small knob of butter on a very low heat for about ten minutes until glazed. Leave the onion to cool on a plate in the fridge. Finely chop the buttered slices of bread.
- Place the mince in a large bowl with the onion, egg, bread slices and garlic powder. Season to taste with salt and pepper and knead well. Make small balls. Turning the balls is easier with wet hands. So place a bowl of water where you can moisten your hands every few balls. Make sure they are all the same size. I do this by weighing them on a scale, 10 grams (0.3 oz) at a time, but I totally understand if you don't feel like it and want to do it by feel 😉
- Meanwhile, peel and halve the potatoes. Bring the potatoes to the boil in a large pan of water. Cook the potatoes until tender and drain. Leave them to drain in the pan for a while. Heat 100g (3.5 oz) of butter and the milk in a pan. Mash the potatoes together with the butter and milk mixture. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- Fry the meatballs in a knob of butter until golden brown. Add a heaped tablespoon of flour and 25g (0.9 oz)of butter. Fry the flour and butter for a while. Pour in the stock and cream and cook until the sauce thickens. Add the Worcestershire sauce and mustard and stir. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with finely chopped dill.
Notes
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
Ever tasted these at Ikea? This homemade version is infinitely more delicious!