• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
The Gracious Wife logo
  • Recipes
  • Family
    • Love & Marriage
    • Parenting
  • House & Home
    • Kitchen and Cooking Tips
    • Cleaning & Organization
    • Budget
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

Authentic Swedish Meatballs

Jan 10, 2015 · 4 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Yummly
  • Mix
Jump to Recipe

SEO

 These Authentic Swedish Meatballs are a real Swedish family recipes. They're soft and delicious and make a great dinner or appetizer recipes.

Pic

Authentic Swedish Meatballs

A great majority of my side of the family is Swedish, and this is our family recipe.  It's pretty dang authentic.  Every Christmas my grandma would host a Smorgasbord on Christmas, and these would always be on her menu, along with some other authentic Swedish foods and some American ones too.  Since having my own family, I've decided to carry on the tradition, and these meatballs are still on the menu.

They're soft, juicy, and comforting, and waaaay better than the ones you can buy at the store! They make a great and filling dinner or a yummy appetizer recipe too.  I hope your family enjoys these as much as mine does!

why they're awesome

Are Authentic Swedish Meatballs Really Baked?

Well, no. That's the only part of this recipe that doesn't follow my grandma's. I usually triple or quadruple this recipe for holidays, so I started baking them because it's sooo much faster than pan cooking them in batches.

Here are the pan-cooking directions if you want to cook them like my grandma:

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Brown the meatballs, a few at a time, in the butter. They will need near constant rolling to get them to keep their ball shape (which I haven't entirely mastered). I also usually brown only 5-6 at a time so I can watch them and try to get them to keep their shape. Remove meatballs from skillet and place in a large baking dish. Continue browning your meatballs until they're all done. If you feel you need more butter, go ahead and add some.

How to Serve Swedish Meatballs

Traditionally Swedish Meatballs are served with pureed potatoes, lingonberries (which you can find here on Amazon), and pressed cucumber. In America, you can substitute lingonberries for cranberry sauce, as it's way easier to come by, and pressed cucumbers are similar to cucumber salad made with vinegar.

Serve your Swedish meatballs with warm buttered egg noodles or creamy mashed potatoes to soak up all that gravy goodness.

More X Recipes You'll Love

  • Swedish Meatball Mac and Cheese - a fun cheesy take on Swedish meatballs. Would also be a yummy way to use up leftovers.
  • Authentic Swedish Limpa Bread - a unique spiced Swedish bread that we mostly reserve for Christmas.
  • Gingersnaps - another recipe passed down to me by my grandma. These cookies are snappy on the outside and soft in the middle with the perfect spiced flavor.
Authentic Swedish Meatball Recipe - A Swedish family recipe. They're soft and delicious and make a great dinner or appetizer recipe. We make them for our Christmas party every year, and they're always a hit! From TheGraciousWife.com

Authentic Swedish Meatballs

These Authentic Swedish Meatballs are a real Swedish family recipes. They're soft and delicious and make a great dinner or appetizer
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: Swedish
Keyword: Authentic Swedish Meatballs, Baked Swedish Meatballs, Swedish Meatballs
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes
Servings: 24 meatballs
Calories: 144kcal
Author: The Gracious Wife

Ingredients

For the meatballs

  • 1 ยฝ cups bread crumbs
  • ยผ cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • ยฝ cup chopped onion
  • ยพ pounds ground beef
  • ยฝ pound ground veal
  • ยผ pound lean ground pork
  • 1 cup half and half
  • ยผ cup fresh chopped parsley
  • 1 teaspoons instant coffee
  • ยฝ teaspoon salt
  • ยผ teaspoon ground ginger

For the Gravy

  • ยผ cup flour
  • 2 cups half and half
  • ยฝ teaspoon instant coffee
  • ยฝ teaspoon ground ginger
  • Salt to taste
Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, mix together bread crumbs and milk. Set aside and allow to soak for 5 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 400ยฐF.
  • In a skillet, saute onions in 2 tablespoons of butter. Set aside to cool slightly.
  • In a large mixing bowl, add your meats, onion, half-and-half, parsley, bread crumbs, ginger, and instant coffee. Mix with clean hands until everything is incorporated very well.
  • Scoop a rounded tablespoon of the meat mixture, and form into a ball. Place into a mini muffin tin. Continue rolling until you've used all your meat or your tin is full.
  • Place tin on a baking sheet to catch drips that might fall in your oven. Bake in a 400ยฐF oven for 17-20 min, until cooked through.
  • Remove meatballs from tin using a spoon. Place on a plate and set aside. Empty remaining drippings into a large pot.

For the gravy

  • Add butter to make a full ยผ cup of drippings if you don't have enough.
  • Stir flour into the drippings, and allow to warm for about a minute.
  • Slowly add your half-and-half, and stir to combine until the mixture is smooth. Your mixture should be fairly thin at this point, about the consistency of plain half-and-half. If your mixture is to thick, add a little more half-and-half, a quarter cup at a time until it thins.
  • Add the ginger and instant coffee, and continue stirring over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until gravy thickens.
  • Add salt to taste.
  • Add meatballs back to gravy, and stir to coat.
  • Serve alone or over warm butter egg noodles.

Notes

  • You'll need at least ยผ cup (4 tablespoons) drippings from the meatballs. If you don't have enough, make up the difference with butter.
  • You can use a mixer to mix the meat mixture, but your meatballs will be more soft and tender if you use your hands to mix.
  • If meat is sticking to your hands while rolling meatballs, wet them with cold water. Just re-wet whenever the meatballs start sticking again.
  • Storage: Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in a skillet on the stove or in individual servings in the microwave.

Nutrition

Serving: 1meatball | Calories: 144kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 140mg | Potassium: 151mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 192IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?I love seeing your creations. Snap a quick photo and mention @TheGraciousWife or tag #thegraciouswife on Instagram! Leave a STAR rating below!

Authentic Swedish Meatball Recipe - A Swedish family recipe.  They're soft and delicious and make a great dinner or appetizer recipe. We make them for our Christmas party every year, and they're always a hit!  From TheGraciousWife.com

More Appetizers

  • Black matte bowl filled with cranberry relish and topped with fresh cranberries, an orange peel curl, and a mint leaf.
    Cranberry Relish
  • Close up of a stack of Mexican pinwheels topped with freshly chopped cilantro.
    Mexican Pinwheels
  • Side view of a bacon ranch cheese ball coated in crumbled bacon and fresh chopped parsley with a section missing to expose the creamy interior, sitting on a plate surrounded by crackers and cherry tomatoes.
    Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball
  • Breaded Air Fryer zucchini chip being dipped into a small glass bowl of ranch dressing surrounded by more zucchini chips on a small black plate.
    Air Fryer Zucchini Chips
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Yummly
  • Mix

Appetizers, Beef, Christmas, Dinner, Pork, Recipes, Snacks & Appetizers

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah R. says

    January 11, 2015 at 8:09 pm

    Mmmmm...I LOVE me a good Swedish meatball...you definitely got my mouth watering! Thank you so much for linking up at Snickerdoodle Sunday- hope to see you again later this week!

    Sarah (Sadie Seasongoods)

    Reply
  2. Love Keil (MunchkinTime) says

    January 14, 2015 at 11:15 am

    Authentic Swedish Meatballs looks amazing, pinning it!

    Reply
  3. Julia @ Swirls and Spice says

    January 17, 2015 at 10:38 am

    These look wonderful! Is the coffee flavour noticeable? I've never heard of it in gravy before.

    Reply
    • Michelle says

      January 17, 2015 at 2:27 pm

      It's a little noticeable, but it's not overpowering. It just gives it a little bitterness and blends really well with the other flavors.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Picture of Michelle Medlin, The Gracious Wife

Hello! I'm Michelle!
I'm a comfort food lover and self-taught cook with five amazing kids and a firefighter husband, surviving mostly on coffee. I love to create easy and delicious family recipes, and share creative family tips I've learned along the way.
Welcome to The Gracious Wife!
MORE ABOUT ME>>

Merry Christmas!

A white chocolate macadamia nut cookie showing the top surrounded by macadamia nuts with two more cookies and a linen napkin behind.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

An overhead view of a glass mug of homemade eggnog topped with a swirl of whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon on a rustic wood background next to a linen napkin.

Homemade Eggnog

A stack of gingerbread pancakes on a small white plate with maple syrup dripping down the stack and whipped cream and sprinkles on top. A Christmas snowman mug and linen napkin are behind.

Gingerbread Pancakes

A loaf of Swedish limpa bread with a slice cut off laying in the front on a striped linen napkin.

Swedish Limpa Bread

A glass mug of green mint white hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and crushed green mint candy pieces on a white marble surface surrounded by more star mint candies.

Mint White Hot Chocolate

A pile of peanut butter buckeyes on a small white plate with a linen napkin in the background.

Peanut Butter Buckeyes

More Christmas Recipes & Ideas

Christmas Cookies

Rolo pretzel turtles drizzled in melted chocolate next to pecans on a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Rolo Pretzel Turtles

A pile of Oreo truffles with the top, white chocolate covered truffle with a bite taken out of it.

Oreo Truffles

A stack of lactation cookies on a pink marble background with a bottle full of milk behind. The top cookie has a bite taken out.

Lactation Cookies

Four gooey caramelitas stacked on top of each other with a bite taken out of the top one.

Caramelitas

A small white plate with 7 gingersnaps on it. The top cookie has a bite taken out.

Gingersnaps

Stack of three pecan snowball cookies with a bite taken out of the top one, surrounded by chopped pecans with more cookies piled on a plate behind.

Pecan Snowball Cookies

Side view close up of peanut butter blossoms stacked on a large white ceramic plate on a white marble backdrop

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Spoon drizzling melted chocolate over a golden coconut macaroon with 2 more macaroons behind.

Coconut Macaroons

Stack of four toffee pretzel cookies surrounded by pretzel twists with the baking sheet full of cookies in the background. The top cookie has a bite taken out.

Toffee Pretzel Cookies

More Cookie Recipes

Reader Favorites on The Gracious Wife

A glass mug of green mint white hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and crushed green mint candy pieces on a white marble surface surrounded by more star mint candies.

Mint White Hot Chocolate

A slice of no bake s'mores cheesecake topped with mini marshmallows and graham cracker crumbs on a small plate.

No Bake S'mores Cheesecake

Slice of crockpot breakfast casserole on a white plate with stainless steel crock pot in the background.

Crockpot Breakfast Casserole

A corner slice of chicken pot pie with golden crust on a small plate with a fork with a bite on it, on a rustic wood background with a striped linen

The BEST Chicken Pot Pie

Close up picture of a Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes with a bite taken out on a marble background.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

What's Trending Now:

  • Biscuits stacked on a black matte plate on a white rustic wood background Southern Buttermilk Biscuits
  • A corner slice of chicken pot pie with golden crust on a small plate with a fork with a bite on it, on a rustic wood background with a striped linen The BEST Chicken Pot Pie
  • Chicken Gnocchi Soup in a white bowl with a rustic wood background and breadsticks in a white and blue striped linen behind it. Copycat Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup
  • Slice of crockpot breakfast casserole on a white plate with stainless steel crock pot in the background. Crockpot Breakfast Casserole
  • Unbaked pie crust fluted in a white dish on a rustic wood background with flour on it Easy Flaky Pie Crust

Footer

  • About The Gracious Wife
  • Contact Us
  • Copyright Notice
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure

You can find me here too!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Disclosure

The Gracious Wife is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. All our thoughts and opinions are our own and we are not paid for or mandated to provide a positive review.

2024ยฉ The Medlin Group
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2023 The Gracious Wife ยท

846 shares
846 shares