Swedish Meatballs (köttbullar)

Name: Swedish Meatballs (köttbullar)
Total time: 2700 s
Yield: Makes ~43 meatballs
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 slices bread; 1/4 cup milk (plus up to 2 Tablespoons more); 3/4 cup finely diced sweet onion; 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter; 2 large eggs; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice; 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom; 1 lb ground pork; 1 lb ground beef (80% lean ground chuck is a good choice); 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter; 1/4 cup flour; 2 and 1/2 cups beef broth; 1/4 cup heavy cream; 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Chris Gan @ChrissyAlpha

On a recent trip to IKEA, my young daughter and I had lunch in their restaurant. My daughter practically inhaled her plate of meatballs, and this compelled me to try making my own (even though I was very tempted to just buy a bag of frozen meatballs from IKEA). Having never made them before, I went with a recipe by Alton Brown, but after reading lots of comments, I made a fair number of changes.

Chris Gan @ChrissyAlpha

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Ingredients

~45 minutes

Makes ~43 meatballs

For the Meatballs
2 slicesbread
1/4 cupmilk (plus up to 2 Tablespoons more)
3/4 cupfinely diced sweet onion
1 Tablespoonunsalted butter
2large eggs
1/4 teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoonsalt
1/2 teaspoonground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoonground allspice
1/4 teaspoonground cardamom
1 lbground pork
1 lbground beef (80% lean ground chuck is a good choice)
For the Gravy:
4 Tablespoonsunsalted butter
1/4 cupflour
2and 1/2 cups beef broth
1/4 cupheavy cream
1/8 teaspoonnutmeg

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Steps

~45 minutes

1

Tear the bread into very small pieces and place into a bowl. Pour 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) milk over the bread and allow it to be absorbed.
After a few minutes, check the consistency. If it seems dry, add one or two Tablespoons more milk. You want it to be well moistened, but not soggy.
2

Dice the onion to obtain 3/4 cup. It’s okay if you have a little more. Sauté the onion in 1 Tablespoon butter until golden (about 10 minutes). Let onions cool.
3

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, allspice, and cardamom before whisking again.
4

To this bowl, add the meats, onion, and soaked bread. Use your hands to mix until combined. Do not overmix or else you’ll end up with tough meatballs.
5

Make 1 oz meatballs and place onto parchment paper-lined cooking sheets.
If you don’t have a scale, make each ball about 1.5 inches in diameter.
Bake the meatballs for about 25 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking.
6

Meanwhile, make the gravy. Melt 4 Tablespoons butter in a large pan over low heat.
7

Add the flour and whisk well. Continue to whisk constantly over low heat until the flour turns a nice caramel color.
8

Slowly add the beef broth while whisking. The broth with sizzle and the flour mixture will seize and clump, but keep adding broth and mixing. The gravy will eventually become nice and smooth! Continue heating and stirring until the gravy thickens slightly. A spoon pulled through the shallow gravy will briefly leave a trail.
9

Add heavy cream and nutmeg and mix well, then remove from heat.
10

Check doneness of meatballs, then transfer them to the pan of gravy. I dabbed the bottom of each meatball on paper towels to remove excess grease before transferring them. I wanted to avoid adding excess grease to the gravy.
11

Return pan to the heat and stir to drench meatballs in gravy. Bring to a simmer while stirring, then cover the pan and let simmer for at least 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.
12

Serve meatballs with mashed potatoes (or buttered noodles, or rice) and lingonberry jam (rårörda lingon).
Or, you can be a non-conformist like me and serve them alongside sweet potatoes and asparagus. 🙃. Sprinkle with a little parsley if you want.