Swedish Meatballs in Cream Sauce
Pan-browned beef and pork meatballs finished in a nutmeg-spiced cream gravy, spooned over egg noodles with lingonberry on the side.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Written
Method
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Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until softened, about 5 minutes.
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Mix the soaked breadcrumbs with the beef, pork, egg, grated onion, allspice, nutmeg, salt, and pepper by hand until just combined.
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Roll into 20 meatballs, about 1 inch each.
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Melt 2 tbsp of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high and brown the meatballs on all sides, working in batches, about 8 minutes a batch; transfer to a plate.
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Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the egg noodles until tender, then drain.
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Melt the remaining 1 tbsp butter in the same skillet and whisk in the flour, cooking until golden and fragrant, about 1 minute.
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Whisk in the beef stock a little at a time until smooth, then stir in the cream, soy sauce, and Dijon and bring to a simmer.
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Nestle the meatballs back into the sauce and simmer until cooked through and the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.
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Serve over the egg noodles with lingonberry jam and dill.
Notes
The soy sauce is the trick here — it’s not in a traditional Swedish kitchen, but it does the same job that a long-simmered stock would, pushing the gravy toward savory without muddying the nutmeg and allspice. Don’t skip the grated (not diced) onion in the meatballs; it melts into the mix instead of leaving pockets of raw bite.
No lingonberry on hand, cranberry sauce works as a stand-in — you want that same tart contrast against the rich gravy, not a substitute that tries to be sweet.