How do you make Swedish Meatballs in a Cream Sauce? | Köttbullar | What is the national dish of Sweden?

Thanks to IKEA, Swedish Meatballs is probably the most likely National Dish to spring to mind. The local name for it, Köttbullar, quite literally translates as meatballs – and it really is that simple. How do you make Swedish Meatballs?

The recipe here, köttbullar med gräddsås, meatballs with cream sauce, is wintry, rich and comforting, best served in a bowl and eaten with a spoon, they are that soft.

Often it is served with mashed or boiled potatoes and pickled vegetables – I’ve opted for the latter, to try to keep it light – plus the sweet vegetable vinegar helps to cut through the richness of the sauce.

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Köttbullar med gräddsås | Swedish meatballs with a cream sauce

This is a pretty straight forward recipe for Swedish Meatballs, not quite fast food, but easy enough you don't have to fuss too much.

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Swedish

Prep Time

15 Mins

Cook Time

40 Mins

Servings

Ingredients

Main stuff

• 150 g beef mince
• 150 g pork mince
• 1 whole white onion finely diced

For the sauce

• 150 ml double cream you can substitute this with sour cream
• 2 tbls plain flour have a sieve handy? Grab that.
• 25 g butter salted is best
• Fistful parsley as much or little as you like - chuck half in the sauce and the rest over the finished dish
• 300 ml beef stock get this ready in advance

Spices and stuff

• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp nutmeg grated
• 1 clove garlic crushed, don't bother to peel, just use a garlic crusher

Course Main Dish Cuisine Swedish Prep Time 15 Mins Cook Time 40 Mins Servings Ingredients Main stuff 150 g beef mince 150 g pork mince 1 whole white onion finely diced For the sauce 150 ml double cream you can substitute this with sour cream 2 tbls plain flour have a sieve handy? Grab that. 25 g butter salted is best Fistful parsley as much or little as you like - chuck half in the sauce and the rest over the finished dish 300 ml beef stock get this ready in advance Spices and stuff 1 tsp allspice 1 tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp nutmeg grated 1 clove garlic crushed, don't bother to peel, just use a garlic crusher

Instructions

For the meatballs

1. Put both the beef and pork mince in to a mixing bowl.

   
2. Add the butter, half the egg, pepper, salt, garlic, allspice, nutmeg and onion. Basically, lob it all in.
3. Get in there with your hands, it's the only way, and mix it up good.
4. If you feel it's not wet enough to mould into balls that will stay formed, add a little more egg - just don't make it too wet, otherwise - well, just don't, the sound alone will put you off.
5. Roll the mixture into evenly sized balls, just smaller than a squash ball.
6. Heat a pan, medium high heat and brown them off on all over and then set aside.

For the sauce

1. Get some beef stock on the go, about 300ml.
2. Using the same pan that you browned the meatballs in, add the butter. As it melts, add the flour - sieving it prevents lumps and make it slightly easier. Mix the flour and butter with a whisk to form a roux.

   
3. Once smooth, add the cream with a few twists of pepper.
4. Mix together and add half the parsley.

   

Pull it together

1. There are two ways you can do this. Either, add the meatballs to the sauce in the pan, cover and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes (don't let it catch).
2. Or the way I've done it here, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees (360 farrenhiet).
3. Pour the sauce into an oven dish (big enough to accommodate all the balls with overcrowding) and place the meatballs in with their top surface uncovered.
4. Put in the oven for 15 mins and you get a slightly crunchier top on the meatballs whilst they've poached in the sauce.
5. Take out, throw the rest of the parsley over the top and serve with some pickled vegetable and a few dollops of Dijon - I added a little raw red cabbage on the side.

   
6. Thank you Sweden

   
   Tack