Swedish meatballs (Köttbullar)

Name: Swedish meatballs
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings, about 30 meatballs
Ingredients: 300 g minced beef; 300 g minced pork; 50 g fine dried breadcrumbs, or 2 slices white bread crusts off; 150 ml whole milk; 1 small onion, very finely grated or minced; 1 tbsp butter, for frying the onion; 1 egg; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp ground allspice; ½ tsp white pepper; 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil, for frying; 40 g butter; 40 g plain flour; 400 ml beef stock; 200 ml double cream; 1 tsp Swedish soy or dark soy, for colour; 1 tsp Dijon or Swedish mustard; 1 tbsp lingonberry jam, stirred into the sauce; salt and white pepper; 800 g floury potatoes, boiled and mashed with 50 g butter and 100 ml warm milk; 4 tbsp lingonsylt, lingonberry preserve; pressgurka, cucumber pickled in vinegar, sugar and parsley

Makes 4 servings

Units

Ingredients

Meatballs

300 gminced beef
300 gminced pork
50 gfine dried breadcrumbs, or 2 slices white bread crusts off
150 mlwhole milk
1small onion, very finely grated or minced
1 tbspbutter, for frying the onion
1egg
1 tspsalt
1 tspground allspice
½ tspwhite pepper
2 tbspbutter and 1 tbsp oil, for frying

Gräddsås, cream gravy

40 gbutter
40 gplain flour
400 mlbeef stock
200 mldouble cream
1 tspSwedish soy or dark soy, for colour
1 tspDijon or Swedish mustard
1 tbsplingonberry jam, stirred into the sauce
salt and white pepper

To serve

800 gfloury potatoes, boiled and mashed with 50 g butter and 100 ml warm milk
4 tbsplingonsylt, lingonberry preserve
pressgurka, cucumber pickled in vinegar, sugar and parsley

Directions

Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk for 10 minutes until they swell into a soft paste; this panade is what keeps the meatballs tender.
Sweat the grated onion in the butter over low heat until soft and translucent but not coloured, 6 minutes, then cool it. Raw onion makes the mixture wet and the balls crumble.
Mix the two minces with the panade, cooled onion, egg, salt, allspice and white pepper and work it with a wooden spoon for a full 3 minutes, until it becomes sticky and slightly pale.
Fry a teaspoon of the mixture and taste it for seasoning; it should taste distinctly of allspice and white pepper.
With wet hands, roll the mixture into balls the size of a walnut, about 25 g each, and set them on a tray. Chill 20 minutes so they hold their shape.
Fry in butter and oil in a heavy pan over medium heat, shaking the pan every minute so they roll and brown evenly, 8 to 10 minutes, until deep brown all over and firm to the touch. Work in batches; a crowded pan steams them grey.
Lift out the meatballs and keep them warm. Do not wash the pan.
Make a roux in the same pan with the butter and flour, cook it 2 minutes until it smells biscuity, then whisk in the stock a little at a time, scraping up every brown scrap from the base.
Add the cream, soy, mustard and lingonberry jam and simmer 5 minutes until the sauce coats a spoon. Season with salt and white pepper, then return the meatballs and warm them through for 5 minutes.
Serve with mashed potato, a spoonful of cold lingonberry preserve on the side and pressgurka, and never stir the jam into the gravy on the plate.

Technique

The mix of beef and pork is standard in Sweden; all-beef balls come out dry and tight. Some cooks add 100 g of minced veal for a still finer texture.
Allspice, kryddpeppar, is the defining spice. Nutmeg belongs to the Danish and German versions and will make the dish taste of somewhere else.
The gravy is built in the meatball pan for a reason. Those browned bits are the only source of roast flavour in an otherwise pale sauce.

Substitutions

No lingonberries: cranberry sauce loosened with a little water is the usual stand-in, though it is sweeter and less sharp.
For a cheaper everyday version, Swedes often use all pork mince and a little more cream in the sauce.

Variations

Köttbullar med gräddsås, the everyday hot version described here.
Cold meatballs on the julbord, served plain with pickled beetroot.
Kalops-style meatballs simmered directly in stock, common in Skåne.

History

Long assumed within Sweden to be a purely native dish, though Sweden’s own official foreign affairs communications acknowledged in 2018 that the recipe was likely brought back to Sweden by King Charles XII in the early 1700s, after he spent several years in exile in the Ottoman Empire, where similar spiced meatball dishes were established. Swedish cooks adapted the borrowed technique with local ingredients, most notably serving the meatballs with lingonberry jam and a cream-based gravy rather than the spicing typical of the Ottoman versions that likely inspired them. Their global recognition owes an enormous amount to IKEA, whose in-store restaurants, dating back to the 1980s, introduced the dish to a scale of international audience far beyond what traditional Swedish restaurants alone could have achieved.

Frequently asked questions

What is Swedish meatballs?

Swedish meatballs is a main from Sweden: meatballs in cream gravy with lingonberries and mash. Long assumed within Sweden to be a purely native dish, though Sweden’s own official foreign affairs communications acknowledged in 2018 that the recipe was likely brought back to Sweden by King Charles XII in the early 1700s, after he spent several years in exile in the Ottoman Empire, where similar spiced meatball dishes were established. Swedish cooks adapted the borrowed technique with local ingredients, most notably serving the meatballs with lingonberry jam and a cream-based gravy rather than the spicing typical of the Ottoman versions that likely inspired them. Their global recognition owes an enormous amount to IKEA, whose in-store restaurants, dating back to the 1980s, introduced the dish to a scale of international audience far beyond what traditional Swedish restaurants alone could have achieved.

How long does Swedish meatballs take to make?

Swedish meatballs takes 30 min of preparation and 35 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings, about 30 meatballs. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Swedish meatballs?

Yes, within limits. No lingonberries: cranberry sauce loosened with a little water is the usual stand-in, though it is sweeter and less sharp. For a cheaper everyday version, Swedes often use all pork mince and a little more cream in the sauce.