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These traditional Swedish meatballs are easy to make and equally as tasty. Stemming from an old popular authentic Swedish recipe, it differs from other recipes. And that is because it contains dijon mustard, allspice, and beef stock. So it had a unique flavor otherwise not seen in more simple recipes. The traditional way to serve these meatballs is, as always, together with mashed potatoes. But with an excellent addition of pickled cucumber! Easy to make, yummy to eat. And don’t forget to add some lingonberry jam on the side. And also, in my personal opinion, this meal is best served with an ice-cold glass of milk.

If you don’t want to make your own lingonberry jam or don’t know where to get it, you can purchase some here: Lingonberry jam.

Ingredients for meatballs

  • 1 onion
  • 0.5 cup milk
  • 0.5 cup breadcrumbs mix
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp beef stock
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1 lb minced meat
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 2 dashes black pepper
  • 2 dashes allspice, ground

But hold on, mister. What kind of meat should I choose for meatballs? Good question my dear fellow human being. If you want juicy meatballs you should go 50/50 or 70/30 with beef/pork ratio. You could go 100% either way. If you’re going with 100% beef you HAVE to use breadcrumb, milk and/or cooking cream in the mixture to make it juicy. 100% pork, well, that will become incredibly fatty. This recipe is made with 100% beef.

Going 100% pork is more typical of Asian meatballs, calf meat is more typical of the Italian, and using lamb is how they like it in Greece. Feel free to experiment. Game meat is very lean and needs cooking cream, and for the vegetarians, I have the solution right here: Check out this Vegan Swedish meatballs recipe!

Ingredients for mashed potatoes

  • 2 lb potatoes
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 3 tbsp cooking cream
  • 1 dash of salt
  • 1 dash of black pepper

Ingredients for pickled cucumber

  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 cup water
  • 10 tbsp sugar
  • 10 tbsp white vinegar 12%

How-to:

Start with the pickled cucumber. It has to sit for an hour before it’s ready. While the pickled cucumber is on hold, you can start preparing for the main dish. As well as the mashed potatoes.

  • Cut the cucumber into thin slices.
  • Bring the water, white vinegar, and sugar to a boil.
  • Let it cool, then pour it on top of the cucumber.
  • Let it rest for one hour.

Continue with the mashed potatoes.

  • Peel and dice the potatoes into even pieces. This will decrease the amount of time needed to be boiled.
  • Boil potatoes until soft all the way through. 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes.
  • Mash the potatoes. This is most efficiently done with a potato press.
  • Heat up cooking cream with milk. Add to the mashed potatoes.

During the boiling of the potatoes, it’s a good idea to start with the meatballs.

  • Peel and mince onion. Fry in 2 tbsp of butter until soft.
  • Mix breadcrumbs, milk, beef stock, mustard, and egg. Let swell for 5 min.
  • Add the minced meat and onion together with all the spices.
  • Evenly mix it all together.
  • Roll into medium-large meatballs. Fry in remaining butter and oil for 5-6 min.

There you go! Serve it with a side dish of lingonberry jam and you will have a complete traditional Swedish meal! Smaklig måltid.

Cream sauce (optional)

Bring 1 and a quarter cup of cooking cream, 2 tbsp of beef stock, and 1 tsp of soy sauce to a boil. While boiling, add and stir 1 tbsp of corn starch.

Boil while stirring for 5 minutes. If the sauce is too thin, add some corn starch. Too thick, add some cream. Finnish it by seasoning with salt and pepper.

Tips for making good meatballs

  • Don’t handle the meat excessively. Neither when mixing the meat nor when rolling the meat into meatballs. This squeezes out fat resulting in dryer meatballs.
  • Roll meatballs with oily/buttery hands. It makes it easier.
traditional swedish meatballs

Traditional Swedish Meatballs

This is the traditional, classic version of the Swedish national dish - meatballs. Enjoy this tasty Swedish cuisine. It is served with pickled cucumber.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 1 hr
Cook Time 10 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine scandinavian, Swedish
Servings 4

Equipment

Ingredients
  

Meatballs

  • 1 onion
  • 0.5 cup milk
  • 0.5 cup breadcrumbs mix
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp Beef stock
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1 lb minced meat
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 2 dashes black pepper
  • 2 dashes allspice, ground

Mashed potatoes

  • 2 lb potatoes
  • 1 cup milk
  • 3 tbsp cooking cream
  • 1 dash salt
  • 1 dash black pepper

Pickled cucumber

  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 cup water
  • 10 tbsp sugar
  • 10 tbsp white vinegar 12%

Instructions
 

Traditional meatballs

  • Peel and mince onion. Fry in 2 tbsp of butter until soft.
  • Mix breadcrumbs, milk, beef , mustard, and egg. Let swell for 5 min.
  • Add the minced meat and onion together with all the spices.
  • Evenly mix it all together.
  • Roll into medium-large meatballs. Fry in remaining butter and oil for 5-6 min.

Mashed potatoes

  • Peel and dice the potatoes
  • Boil until soft for 10-15 minutes
  • Mash the potatoes with the potato press
  • Heat up the milk and cooking cream. Add to the mashed potatoes.
  • Flavor with salt & pepper. Stir until fluffy.

Pickled cucumber

  • Cut the cucumber into thin slices.
  • Bring the water, white vinegar, and sugar to a boil.
  • Let it cool, then pour it on top of the cucumber.
  • Let it rest for one hour.

Notes

It’s always easier to roll the meatballs if your hands are oily. Put some butter or olive oil on your hands when rolling them.
Keyword classic, meatballs, swedish, traditional
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