Our recipe today is one of my favorite meatballs ever – our Mini Swedish Meatballs over Mashed Potatoes. I love how soft and flavorful Swedish meatballs are. The secret to the recipe is in the milk soaked bread that makes the meatballs extra soft and the addition of all spice and nutmeg that gives them their unique and addicting flavor. The simple, savory gravy the meatballs are smothered in, and the extra creamy mashed potatoes, are a very welcomed bonus.
How to make Swedish Meatballs
- Preheat oven to 375˚F.
- Place the cubed bread and milk into a large mixing bowl, stir together and allow the mixture to sit. This mixture is what provides the soft texture to the meatballs.
- As the bread soaks up the milk, melt 2 tablespoons butter into a sauté pan, over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes or until onion begins to get translucent. I like to saute the onion and garlic before adding them to the meatball mixture so the flavor and texture melts into the meatballs.
- Remove from heat and add to the bread and milk mixture. Let mixture cool, about 5 minutes.
- Add the beef, pork, egg, salt, pepper, allspice, and nutmeg to the mixing bowl and thoroughly mix together.
- Form 2 teaspoon sized meatballs and place them onto a baking sheet, ½ inch apart, then bake meatballs for 10 to 12 minutes or until they have just cooked through.
We love this two teaspoon scoop for our Swedish Meatballs, it makes it so easy to create evenly sized meatballs.
How to make mashed potatoes
- Place potatoes into a large pot and fill with enough water to cover the potatoes. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until potatoes are fork tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove potatoes from heat and drain. Add butter and cream to the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.
- Using a potato masher (or hand mixer) mash potatoes until you get your desired consistency. Adjust seasonings. Cover and set aside.
How to make gravy
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk in flour. Continue to whisk for about 1 minute to remove the raw flour taste.
- Slowly whisk the beef broth into the mixture, making sure to whisk out any lumps. Season with salt and pepper. Allow the gravy to simmer and thicken enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cream, if using.
FAQs
Contrary to popular belief, Swedish meatballs are actually from Turkey and was brought to Sweden by King Charles XII, after he spent 5 years in Turkey.
They’re different because they’re made with a combination of both beef and pork. They’re also generally made with the addition of milk soaked bread or breadcrumbs which gives them their soft texture. They also contain allspice and nutmeg, giving them their unique and delicious flavor.
Yes! To freeze the meatballs, make and bake meatballs as directed in the recipe. Cool meatballs. Once cooled, place them in the freezer (on the baking sheet) until fully frozen. Then place them into a freezer-proof resealable bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat, place them in a baking dish with 1/2 cup water. Cover tightly with foil and bake in a 350˚F oven until heated through, about 15 minutes.
Yes! To freeze mashed potatoes, cool completely and pour into a freezer-proof resealable bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat, thaw mashed potatoes in the refrigerator. Once thawed, pour potatoes into a saucepan and heat over medium-low heat. Add a couple tablespoons of cream and butter and stir frequently until heated through. Re-season with salt and pepper as needed.
Yes! To freeze, cool gravy completely and pour into a freezer-proof resealable bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat, break frozen gravy up and pour into a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until melted. Once melted, simmer gravy until heated through and thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, frequently stirring. Adjust seasonings as needed.
This recipe for Mini Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and gravy is so delicious and makes a great dinner. Although there are a few different components, it can still be made in under an hour, making it a great dinner for any night of the week. If you love this recipe you may also love our vegan version which is also so good!
Looking for other delicious and decadent dinner recipes? Check out our recipes for White Wine Braised Short Ribs, our Schnitzel over Buttered Spatzle and our One Pot Fettuccine Alfredo!
Mini Swedish Meatballs
INGREDIENTS
Swedish meatballs
- 1 slice white bread, finely diced
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup finely diced onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ pound lean ground beef
- ½ pound lean ground pork
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
gravy
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups warm beef broth
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
garnish
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
meatballs
- Preheat oven to 375˚F.
- Place the crumbled bread and milk into a large mixing bowl, stir together and allow the mixture to sit.
- As the bread soaks up the milk, melt 2 tablespoons butter into a sauté pan, over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes or until onion begins to get translucent.
- Remove from heat and add to the bread and milk mixture. Let mixture cool, about 5 minutes.
- Add the beef, pork, egg, salt, pepper, allspice, and nutmeg to the mixing bowl and thoroughly mix together.
- Form 2 teaspoon sized meatballs and place them onto a baking sheet, ½ inch apart, then bake meatballs for 10 to 12 minutes or until they have just cooked through.
gravy
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk in flour. Continue to whisk for about 1 minute to remove the raw flour taste.
- Slowly whisk the beef broth into the mixture, making sure to whisk out any lumps. Season with salt and pepper. Allow the gravy to simmer and thicken enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cream, if using.
assembly and serving
- Add meatballs to gravy and toss together. Scoop and spread mashed potatoes (if using) onto a large platter and top with gravy covered mini meatballs. Ladle extra gravy over the top and finish with fresh parsley.
NOTES
- To freeze the meatballs: Make and bake meatballs as directed in the recipe. Cool meatballs. Once cooled, place them in the freezer (on the baking sheet) until fully frozen. Then place them into a freezer-proof resealable bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
- To reheat meatballs: Place them in a baking dish with 1/2 cup water. Cover tightly with foil and bake in a 350˚F oven until heated through, about 15 minutes.
- To freeze gravy: Cool gravy completely and pour into a freezer-proof resealable bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
- To reheat gravy: Break frozen gravy up and pour into a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until melted. Once melted, simmer gravy until heated through and thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, frequently stirring. Adjust seasonings as needed.
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Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have potatoes but we put it over fries and it was amazing!
Whoa, what an awesome idea!
Great! Cooked the meatballs in the air fryer. 15 min @ 380 flip halfway through.
I don’t eat pork, what do you suggest to use a substitute?
You can substitute the pork with ground turkey (my preference when making the swap is to use ground turkey that is all dark meat or a mix of dark and light)
Made these last night. Husband said, “This is really good”.
This is one of the best recipes I’ve ever made, so much so I’ve already made it twice in 3 months. Since then I returned to IKEA and have to say this is so much more delicious. I use a ricer for the potatoes to be extra silky, but this is truly an excellent addition to anyone’s recipe book!
So happy you enjoyed this recipe! We love this one so much!
Fantastic recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Wow! Thank you for the recipe! I can’t wait to try it!
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These meatballs were absolutely delicious. The only change I made was adding a tablespoon of soy sauce to the gravy.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Is there a way you can sub the beef broth with chicken broth? :)
Totally! The flavor will just be a little bit different
I made this recipe tonight..I went by the recipe except I didn’t have allspice…they were the best meatballs I have ever made..I’ve been cooking for 49 years..they were so tender…my husband said they melted in his mouth.. :) thank you for your recipe…we moved I haven’t unpacked everything yet so I couldn’t find my allspice…
So happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed this! I love this recipe as well! Thanks for the feedback!
If you domt have parchment paper can you us a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet instead to bake the meatballs?
Absolutely!
Just made this, with just ground pork, because that’s what we have. Everything – the potatoes, gravy, and meatballs are delicious :-)
This was delicious! Popped them under the broiler for a few minutes at the end of cooking and it was a hit with my family. Thank you!
This looks amazing! What can I use as a substitute for heavy cream?
You can actually leave it out all together, for both the gravy + potatoes. I would just add more butter to the potatoes, about 2-3 tablespoons! If you really wanted you could also stir a little sour cream into both!
I made this for dinner, and even my picky eaters liked it! I swear I’m not the “make tons of substitutions” type, but with this quarantine, I had to use what was available! Made the meatballs with all ground pork, and instead of 1/4 tsp. allspice and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, I used 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.) As for the gravy, I used a pack of brown gravy mix and added black pepper and sour cream. I thinned it out with just a little water, and it was delish! I just wish I had made more gravy! Thanks for the recipe!
Yay! Love that you were able to get creative and make this recipe with stuff you had on hand. Glad you all enjoyed it! :)
Absolutely delicious, and easy to make! I have a lot of allergies so modified the recipe some – 2-slices or Gluten Free Bread pulsed in the good processor, left out the onion and garlic, added green onion and an extra egg to the meat mixture at the same time as the meat. I made my own gravy – but mmmmmmm – the flavor on the meatballs reminded me of my Mom’s recipe when I was a kid. Thank you!!!
Dinner is done! Tender meatballs but baking time was about 20 min…Delicious.A win for a lazy Saturday. Thank you
Would you recommend using Panko breadcrumbs in this recipe?
Panko would definitely work! You may just need to play around with amounts
This was delicious. I made it for dinner tonight and my family loved it. I found the gravy to be a bit bland (maybe because of my low sodium broth), so I added in a cube of crushed beef bouillon and the flavours all came together. Thank you for this recipe!
Can I use condensed milk instead of heavy cream?
Hi! Do you mean evaporated milk? Condensed milk is generally very sweet + syrup-like and wouldn’t sub in well. Evaporated milk would work though!
love this, saw this recipe on the top of the site and it started my mouth watering, so thank you
I have made several times. Excellent.
Made it tonight. My sauce was heavier than I would have liked otherwise got rave reviews.
Glad people enjoyed it!
I can’t wait to make this! Do you think the meatballs will freeze okay? Single gal here will never eat all of them!! (Or maybe I would…)
Lol, yes they freeze well! :)
I’m drooling. I can’t wait to make this.
What if I don’t have a slice of white bread?
Can I substitute with bread crumbs, if so, how much?
Thanks!!
Yes! You can add about 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs instead! :)
I made this last night! My husband and I LOVED it (: Different taste from the spices, easy to make. (: I added cabbage on the side. mmmm (:
Yay!! Glad to hear that!