You don’t have to make a special trip to Ikea to enjoy Swedish meatballs. With this easy recipe, you can have delicious Swedish meatballs in no time, with just a few easy steps and ingredients.

These creamy meatballs make dinnertime a snap! Kids love them and they are easy to make ahead or freeze. Enjoy this delicious meal with some sweet potato fries for a filling dinner.

Side view of a white bowl filled with pan-fried meatballs, made from scratch

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Skip the long lines at IKEA and the boring freezer dinner at the grocery store and make homemade Swedish meatballs that everyone loves! This simple recipe is so easy that it’s the perfect weeknight dinner.

How To Make Homemade Swedish Meatballs

Keep reading and I’ll share some time-saving tips, ingredient substitutes, and a few kitchen hacks that will help you make tasty, zesty, amazing Swedish meatballs in your kitchen.

What You Need

Here’s what you’ll need from the store. The exact amounts are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Kitchen Tools:

Ingredients:

Step By Step Pictures

Are you a visual learner? Here are some photos of each step, so you can see how I made the Swedish meatballs. All of these steps are in the recipe card too.

I’ll also be sharing some of my best tips for you!

A bowl of ground beef mixed with other ingredients to start prepping Swedish meatballs

1. Make The Meatballs

The first step is to make the meatballs. Making them homemade lets you control how they taste. You can also make them gluten-free if you need to.

The dry onion soup mix acts like the flour, so you don’t have to use any to thicken the meatballs. It also has all of your spices in it too.

To Make Gluten-Free Meatballs:

Instead of using breadcrumbs, crush up pork rinds and use them! You should also read the onion soup packet to make sure it is gluten-free too.

Pack The Meatballs Tight

When you don’t roll your meatballs into tight enough spheres, they will break apart during the frying step. Be sure you’re packing them nice and tight so that they keep a good form.

Use Frozen Meatballs

If you want to save time and don’t have any dietary restrictions, grab a bag of frozen meatballs from the store and bake them. The creamy sauce on top is what will make them taste like Swedish Meatballs.

Use Different Meat

This recipe will taste just as delicious if you make it with some ground pork or ground turkey.

Swedish meatballs cooking in a cast-iron skillet

2. Fry The Meatballs

Use a nonstick skillet and fry the meatballs until they are completely cooked. Remember to cook the meatballs until they reach an internal temperature of 165F.

If you don’t want to deal with a lot of grease, make sure and get the leanest beef you can.

Mixing sauce for homemade Swedish meatballs

3. Make The Sauce

When the meatballs are done, place them on a plate and create a tent with aluminum foil to keep them warm. Get a mixing bowl and mix the ingredients for the sauce.

Taste the sauce and adjust it as you like. Some people like to add a pinch of allspice or nutmeg to their sauce.

Another thing that some people add to Swedish meatballs is beef broth. Add a few tablespoons if you think the flavor isn’t rich enough.

Use A Whisk

It’s very important to make the sauce mixture nice and smooth, so use a whisk to combine everything together. It should be as creamy as gravy.

How To Thicken The Sauce

The cream of mushroom soup makes it plenty thick. Even so, using heavy cream instead of milk will really help the sauce thicken.

A small white bowl filled with homemade Swedish meatballs

4. Serve Over Egg Noodles

Honestly, you can use any type of pasta that you want. I used spiral pasta, but wide egg noodles are traditionally served with Swedish Meatballs.

Prevent Egg Noodles From Sticking

After you boil the noodles, toss them in some melted butter and garlic. When you melt butter and add it to the noodles, they don’t stick together (and they taste amazing too!).

Serve Over Rice

If you need this to be a gluten-free dinner, add the meatballs and Swedish meatball sauce on top of your favorite kind of rice.

Tasty Sides For Swedish Meatballs

While we love serving these with egg noodles, we also recommend the following side dishes for your Easy Swedish Meatballs:

Mashed potatoes
Your favorite pasta
Roasted vegetables
Roasted broccoli

What is the difference between Swedish style and Italian meatballs?

The biggest difference between these types of meatballs is the sauce they are served with. Italian meatballs are served with a marinara sauce. Swedish meatballs are served with a tangy, creamy, white sauce. Both types of meatballs are made with panko breadcrumbs and you can either use a frying pan or baking sheet to cook them.

Why don’t my meatballs fit in the pan?

If you made the meatballs too big or you used too much meat, you might run into an issue where they are crowded in the pan. If this happens, cook the meatballs in batches. It’s important to give them room to cook.

Homemade Swedish meatballs topped with sauce and in a small white bowl with a fork next to it

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