Swedish Meatballs
Surprisingly delicious, rich, and creamy. A staple in our family from now on.
Servings: 5
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 pound of ground meat You can use turkey, chicken, or a combination of pork and beef
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 cup of gluten-free bread crumbs more if needed
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1/2 tsp of pepper
- 1 tbsp of everything bagel spice
- 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
- 1 tbs of oil or more for frying your meatballs
Sauce:
- 3 tbsp of unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp of gluten free flour
- 1 cup of stock (chicken or beef)
- 1/2 cup of half and half or heavy cream
- 2 tsp of Gluten-Free soy sauce
- 1 tbs of Dijon mustard or your favorite yellow mustard
- salt to taste and pepper to taste
Instructions
Meatballs
- Add all ingredients for meatballs into a ball and mix well.
- Please don’t make them too big. These meatballs are pan-fried and finished off in the oven. The last thing you want to do is undercook them. They should be about the size of a rounded tablespoon. I usually make them about an inch or so.
- When you form the balls, make sure that they are tight. That way, they don’t fall apart in the pan. The breadcrumbs and eggs also help hold the mixture together. If the meatballs are too sticky, add more breadcrumbs.
- Heat 1-2 tbs of oil in a large skillet
- Heat your skillet. Add a little bit of oil and brown your meatballs on all sides—no need to be all the way cook. Just seared around as you will finish them in the oven.
- Place browned meatballs in the tray and put them on 350F into an oven to finish cooking for about 10-15 min.
Sauce
- Use the same pan from the meatballs with all the drippings. I use lean meat; that way, not much fat is cooked off the meatballs. If you do have excess fat, clean your skillet and start fresh on your sauce.
- Add 3 Tbsp of fresh butter to the pan. Heat the butter in the pan on medium heat until it melts and starts to bubble up.Slowly whisk in 2 Tbsp of Gluten-Free flour. Stir until smooth. Continue to stir, allowing the flour mixture to cook, several minutes. Do not burn your roux.
- Add stock to the roux to make a sauce. When the roux has cooked to a lovely shade of light brown, slowly add the stock to the roux, stirring as you add the stock.The stock will sputter at first, and the roux may seize up, but keep adding the stock slowly and keep stirring. Eventually, the sauce will loosen and become silky.
- Next, add Gluten-Free soy sauce and Dijon mustard. Let bubble for about 5 minutes. Just make sure the heat is low; that way, the cream will stay smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add tbsp or two of water if needed.
- Turn the heat on low heat and stir in the half & half. Taste for seasonings and add more salt and pepper to taste (I use about 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.)
- Time to take your meatballs from an oven. Return the meatballs to the pan with the sauce and cook on low heat to warm the meatballs for a few minutes before serving. Make sure to coat meatballs all over with delicious sauce.
- Swedish meatballs are the type of recipe that can be served all by themselves! The perfect appetizer.I love to add some simple steamed veggies and go traditional by serving with a dollop of lingonberry jam over mashed potatoes (just like at Ikea!)
Notes
Cooking tips:
A few ideas to keep in mind for a dinner that’ll tickle the taste buds.- More breadcrumbs: If you are using ground turkey or chicken, you might need more breadcrumbs. Just a bit at a time if you are making meatballs and they are too sticky.
- Meat: You can use a combination of beef and pork for this recipe. Using pork add extra fat, which will give a moist, tender meatball. You can also use ground turkey, chicken, or a combination of meats.
- Overmixing: Be Careful not to overmix the meat mixture, or it can become tough.
- Cream: You can substitute half & half for heavy cream. It is very IMPORTANT not to cook cream on high heat. It will separate.