Swedish Meat Balls

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As soon as I saw “Scandinavian Cuisine” for the Blogging Marathon #86, the first thing my head said is “Swedish Meat Balls”. Anybody who has access to an IKEA nearby will agree with me. The girls and I go for dinner there at least once a month. It’s not that the food matches our taste buds, but we really love the feel of the place. We sit on the high chairs, while I eat and sip my coffee looking into the merchandise, the girls will be busy chit-chatting and eating from each other’s plate. Most of the time, the menu is fixed, Rasha has the meat balls with rice and Azza has the kid’s meal nuggets. I keep moving around with whichever option is available, but if I am undecided, then I also go for the meat balls since it is cheap and filling too. I always have a cup of coffee (or maybe two, since it’s free refilling! 😉 ) and the delicious almond cake to finish off the meal.

So choosing to make this wasn’t a tough choice. As usual, I scrolled through the options that Google threw up at me and I mixed and matched what worked for me.

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Majority recipes did use allspice and nutmeg for seasoning, which I avoided since I didn’t have stock of it. So feel free to add 1/4 tsp each into your meat balls if you have both available with you. Also, the meatballs are usually fried but I took the healthier way and baked them. 🙂 Since the balls are small, they get done in flat 15 minutes. As I was making the sauce, I could see that the meatballs kept decreasing in number from the pan I had drained it into. 😀 Yes, it was the meatball thief, Ms. Rasha! 😀 I asked her whether they were as good as the Ikea ones and all she had to say with a stuffed mouth was, “Ummum ummum”, whatever it meant! Hehe…

My sauce didn’t turn out to have a dark shade but the flavor was really good. I scrapped out the drippings on the foil after baking the meat balls and added them into the sauce. I feel I should have sauteed the flour a little bit more till it turned a nice golden brown. I wasn’t patient enough. 🙁 Otherwise, the folks thought that the gravy was really good too. Usually the meatballs and gravy is served with mashed potatoes, but we like it more with rice, so I cooked up some rice in the pressure cooker and served it that way. If you are into salads, do pair it up with a green salad and you are good to go! Off to the recipe… 🙂

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5 from 1 vote

Swedish Meat Balls

Course Main Course

Cuisine Scandinavian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 450 gm beef mince washed and drained
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp minced parsley
• 1 small onion minced
• 2 tbsp cream
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2-3 tbsp bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• FOR SAUCE:
• 25 gm butter
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp cream
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• To prepare the meatballs, put all ingredients except the butter into a bowl and mix well. Add 2 tbsp bread crumbs first and add more only if it doesn't hold shape.
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a pan with foil.
• Make small balls off the mixture and line on the sheet. I got around 16 meatballs. Drizzle the melted butter over it. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes till browned and done.
• Take out and keep in a separate bowl.
• For making the sauce, heat butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and saute for a couple of minutes till it changes color.
• Add the water, cream, the fat drippings in the foil (scrape them off and add), salt and pepper and whisk well into a smooth sauce. You may add a bouillion cube for additional flavor. Allow the sauce to bubble and switch off.
• Serve hot with mashed potatoes, or with rice, like we like it!

Notes

Most of the recipes use allspice and nutmeg into the meatballs. If you have both available with you, you may add 1/4 tsp of each. But we thought with the minimal spices added, it was still delicious.
My sauce was more white than brown since I hadn't fried the flour much and also didn't add any bouillon cube.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page to see what the other Blogging Marathoners are doing this BM#86

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