These quick and easy Swedish meatballs are life-changing, especially if on a time crunch. Forget about scratch and go for a semi-homemade with this dish. The gravy is to die far and when paired with our buttery mashed potatoes it’s just heavenly.
The Meatballs
There’s a time and place to make things from scratch. Lucky this is not that time. Any prepackaged meatball will work for this dish. Here are some examples of our go-to pre-made meatballs:
- Nature Ranchers: This company is amazing, they use natural ingredients and grass-fed livestock. Also they have two choices of meatballs turkey and Angus beef. Both options are pretty delicious and work for this recipe. You can find their products at Whole Foods.
- IKEA Meatballs If you live near an IKEA store, definitely go pickup their frozen meatballs. This company obviously makes the traditional Swedish meatballs which is a mixture of ground beef and pork. In addition to the beef/pork meatballs, IKEA also has chicken, salmon, as well as vegetable meatballs.
- Bremer Meatballs These meatballs are just as amazing as the IKEA and Nature Ranchers meatballs. This company can be found at your local Aldi grocery store. Bremer meatballs are just packed ground beef and deliciousness.
Simply cook the frozen meatballs as instructed on the packaging. Once fully heated, add the meatballs into the delicious gravy discussed below.
Swedish Meatballs Gravy
The dish is just not complete without the gravy. This recipe is so simple and the gravy is as well. To make the gravy you’ll need a few ingredients like all purpose flour, beef stock, unsalted butter, heavy cream or sour cream, salt/pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Once heated, add in 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Allow the butter to fully melt, then start adding in the 5 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. During this process continuously whisk the butter and flour. What you are creating is a a basic white roux. The roux is used a thickening agent to prevent the gravy from becoming too liquid-y. Allow the roux to cook for 2-5 minutes, or until its foamy and bubbly.
After that, stir in 2 cups of beef stock and cook for 3 minutes. Then add in the heavy cream and/or sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, and season the sauce generously with fresh ground black pepper and kosher salt. Lastly, add in the cooked meatballs along with 1 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley. Lower the heat of the pan and allow the ingredients to mingle for 10 minutes. Right before serving sprinkle in your favorite chopped herb, we added scallions on top. Because why not? This dish could be served with egg noodles or mashed potatoes with the famous cranberry relish. The options of sides are limitless.
Looking for more dinner ideas?
We have more simple dishes available on our website. For your convenience check out some of the links before:
- Ultimate comfort dish Mac & Cheese
- Craving pasta? Try Linguine with a Garlic Shrimp Scampi
- Need rice? Check out our Arroz con Pollo
- Looking for a taco without the shell? Check out our cheesy versatile taco casserole
Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
- 35.2 oz. Frozen Meatballs or 2.2 lbs.
- 5 Tbsp Unsalted butter
- 2 cups Beef stock
- 5 Tbsp All-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Heavy cream
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- Kosher salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp Finely chopped parsley optional
Instructions
- Cook frozen meatballs as instructed on the packaging.
- Over medium heat in a large pan melt the unsalted butter. Allow the butter to fully melt, then stir-in the all-purpose flour. During this process continuously whisk the butter and flour. What you are creating is a a basic white roux. Allow the roux to cook for 2-5 minutes, or until its foamy and bubbly.
- Next add in the beef stock and allow the sauce to cook for 3 minutes. Afterwards, add in the heavy cream and Worcestershire sauce. Season the sauce with fresh ground pepper and kosher salt.
- Lastly, add in the cooked meatballs along with 1 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley. Lower the heat of the pan and allow the ingredients to mingle for 10 minutes. Serve hot with your desired side dishes.