These Swedish Meatballs Are Always A Hit At Parties! The Brown Gravy Just Puts Them Over The Top!

We were in the mood for meatballs, but instead of relying on the tried and true Italian ones, we went for something a little different. Swedish meatballs hit the spot: a brown gravy sauce filled with delicious ingredients like nutmeg and cardamom. A surprise ingredient found its way into the meatballs: baking powder. This kept the meatballs delicate and juicy. Try serving these meatballs with a little lingonberry jelly on the side (cranberry or raspberry jam will also work), or why not mix the jelly right into the sauce? No matter how you serve these, they are nothing short of delicious. Keep reading below for this fantastic recipe…

Swedish Meatballs

(makes 6-8 servings)

Ingredients

MEATBALLS

• 1 large yellow onion, grated through a cheese grater
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup milk
• 4 slices bread, crusts removed and cut into pieces
• 2 eggs
• 1lb ground pork
• 1 1/2lbs ground beef
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons black pepper

SAUCE

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 quart beef stock
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
• salt
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions

1. Saute the grated onion in the butter over medium-high heat until the onions have softened and turned translucent (3-4 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the bread pieces with the milk. Set aside for 15-20 minutes, or until the bread soaks up all the milk. Once it has, process the bread in a food processor or blender, then pour it into a large bowl.
3. Add the cooled onions to the bread and milk mixture, then add the rest of the meatball ingredients. Mix well for about 2 minutes, or until all the ingredients are well combined.
4. Form the meat into individual meatballs. you should end up with about 40 to 50 meatballs.
5. Heat 6 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, reduce the heat to medium and add some of the meatballs, being careful to not crowd the pan. Work in batches, browning on all sides. Don’t cook all the way through yet. Once browned, remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside, repeating with remaining meatballs.
6. With the remaining pan butter, whisk in the flour, stirring often to let the flour cook until it’s about the color of coffee to form a roux.
7. Meanwhile, in another pot heat the beef stock until it’s simmering. Slowly add the beef stock to the roux at little at a time, making sure to continually stir. Keep stirring until all the stock is in and the sauce becomes silky. Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved.
8. Add the meatballs to the sauce and turn the heat down to low. Cover the pot and cook on low for 10 minutes. you may need to do this in batches.
9. To finish, remove the meatballs to a serving dish. Add the sour cream, salt, and lemon juice and mix well. Serve the meatballs with the sauce and lingonberry jelly on the side.
10. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted fromEpicurious