Oven Baked Swedish Meatballs

This is an easy recipe for oven baked Swedish meatballs with creamy sauce. This hearty dish is best served with mashed potatoes and it’s perfect for the winter season! This post also includes instructions for stove top meatballs.

Homemade meatballs made from scratch are combined with tasty sauce and served with mashed potatoes! This recipe is pretty quick, so you can enjoy these tender Swedish meatballs in 30 minutes.

Now, this is my version of IKEA Swedish meatballs recipe and it is not an authentic Swedish recipe. We tasted them several times at IKEA and also when visiting Swedish capital Stockholm and really enjoyed them, so I wanted to give them a try.

The meatballs:

Saute minced onion. When ready, transfer it into a bowl and add the rest of ingredients for Swedish meatballs – ground meat, egg, breadcrumbs and seasoning. Mix everything very well (it’s best to do it with your hand).

I like to use a small cookie dough scoop (see the link below) to get similar looking balls. The quickest way is scoop the meat mixture out first onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and then roll each into a ball.

Baking Swedish meatballs in the oven:

You will need to bake them in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until ready. The time may vary slightly depending on your oven and the size of meatballs.

Cooking meatballs on a stove:

This is quicker and only takes about 10 minutes, but you will probably need to do it in 2 batches to avoid over-crowding your skillet/pan. You will also need to heat up some oil first. I use about 1/8 cup per batch.

Swedish Meatball Sauce Recipe:

It’s very easy to make a simple sauce for Swedish meatballs. Here is how I do it: I melt butter in a sauce pan (make sure to do it over low heat to avoid burning it). Then, I stir in flour and keep stirring for about a minute before adding the rest of the ingredients. In this case it is half and half, stock (or water) and soy sauce.

All you have to do then is simmer this until it thickens and add salt and pepper to taste. If you use soy sauce and stock that has a reduced amount of salt, you should end up with a low sodium meatball sauce, which you can season to your liking.

I personally use only a pinch of salt at the very end, but if you like your food on the saltier side, go ahead and add as much as you like.

Tips for making best Swedish meatballs:

• The sauce can be thickened with more flour or thinned with more liquid, so you can adjust the ingredient amounts to your liking. This sauce is enough for about 30 meatballs and 4 generous portions.
• Authentic Swedish meatballs are served with lingonberry jam, but you can substitute it with Cranberry Sauce. It will taste equally delicious!
• For the sauce, water or stock/broth can be used. If you use water, you will probably need more seasoning. If you use classic stock (chicken, vegetable, beef), you make sure to use low-sodium soy sauce and use less than 3 tablespoons.

Other hearty dinner recipes you might like:

• Homemade Meatball Soup
• Instant Pot Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
• Grilled Salmon Foil Packets

This Oven Baked Swedish Meatballs Recipe is an old post that has been updated with new photos and more detailed instructions for better understanding.

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Oven Baked Swedish Meatballs

This is an easy recipe for oven baked Swedish meatballs with creamy sauce. This hearty dish is best served with mashed potatoes and it’s perfect for the winter season!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Servings: 27 Meatballs (4 generous portions)

Calories: 85

Author: Julia

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 1 Small Onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound Ground Meat (450 grams), see note 1
• 1 Egg (medium or large)
• ½ cup Breadcrumbs (50 grams)
• ¾ teaspoon Salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (30 grams), see note
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup Half and Half (250 milliliters)
• ½ cup Water (or chicken stock, vegetable stock …)
• 3 tablespoons Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• A pinch of black pepper
• A pinch of Salt or to taste

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Recommended Products

• Cookie Dough Scoop

Instructions 

• Meatballs: Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit (200° Celsius).
• Meanwhile: Mince the onion. In a skillet/frying pan, heat the oil and add the onion. Saute this for 10 minutes on medium heat.
• In a mixing bowl, combine sautéed onion with ground meat, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Using your hand, mix everything well.
• With the smallest cookie dough scoop, scoop out the mixture and transfer it onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment paper. Roll each into a ball (see note 4).
• Bake them in a preheated oven at 400° Fahrenheit (200° Celsius) for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown (and cooked throughout). See note 5 for stove top version!
• Sauce: Melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour and cook for a minute, stirring. Whisk in half and half, water, soy sauce and simmer on low heat until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper.

Notes

1. Ground meat – you can use any meat you like – beef, pork, turkey or chicken or a combination of these. I like using beef or a combination of beef and pork.
2. Half and Half (US) = Single Cream (UK). It can be substituted with milk.
3. I used unsalted butter to control the amount of sodium in our diet. However, you can use salted butter, if that’s what you have on hand. If you do, just add less salt at the very end.
4. This recipe should yield somewhere between 25-29 meatballs. It’s better not to overfill the scoop with the meat mixture. That way you should get at least 27 balls.
5. Stove top: Heat about 1/8 cup of oil in a skillet/frying pan. Add half of the meatballs and cook until ready. Make sure to turn them around several times throughout the cooking. Take them out, add more oil and repeat with the second batch. They will take about 10 minutes per batch.

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: Swedish

Keyword: Meatballs Recipe

Nutrition Facts

Oven Baked Swedish Meatballs

Serving Size

 

1 ball

Amount per Serving

Calories

85

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

7

g

11

%

Saturated Fat

 

3

g

19

%

Cholesterol

 

24

mg

8

%

Sodium

 

156

mg

7

%

Potassium

 

70

mg

2

%

Carbohydrates

 

3

g

1

%

Fiber

 

1

g

4

%

Sugar

 

1

g

1

%

Protein

 

4

g

8

%

Vitamin A

 

66

IU

1

%

Vitamin C

 

1

mg

1

%

Calcium

 

18

mg

2

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

** As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Did you make this recipe?I’d love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment and rating below or tag me on Instagram @happyfoodstube.

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