Swedish Meatballs

Tested by the Lezzet team
Swedish Meatballs
24 June 2024

Swedish meatballs, also known as IKEA meatballs, are cooked in small, round meatballs and flavored with a sauce prepared with meat broth. Swedish meatballs, or köttbullar, as they are called in Sweden, are the most well-known and traditional dish of Swedish cuisine. So, how to make Swedish meatballs, colloquially known as Ikea meatballs? For those who are curious, we are making Swedish meatballs this week at Lezzet Kitchen School. The recipe comes from Alihan Yüksel, one of the students of the Okan University Gastronomy Department.

Prep Time : 15 mins
Cook time : 35 mins
Servings : 4 People
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Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients

  • 500 grams of ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 large clove of garlic
  • 2 tbsp. of breadcrumbs
  • 1 tbsp. flour
  • 4 tbsp. milk
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • 1 tsp. black pepper
  • Salt

For the sauce:

  • 1 tbsp. butter
  • 1 tbsp. flour
  • 300 ml of broth
  • 1 tbsp. corn starch
  • 2 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp. liquid cream
  • Black Pepper
Swedish Meatballs

Instructions

  1. For making Swedish meatballs, put 500 g of ground beef in a deep bowl. Grate 1 medium onion and 1 large clove of garlic on the minced meat with the small-hole side of a grater. Then crack one egg into the bowl.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon of flour, 4 tablespoons of milk, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and salt to your preference.
  3. Knead the meatball mixture well with your hands. Then leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  4. Then take walnut-sized pieces from the rested meatball mixture and roll them with your hands.
  5. Fry the meatballs in hot oil from back to front. Place the fried meatballs on a serving plate.
  6. For the sauce, put 1 tablespoon of butter into a small, deep sauce pot and heat it well. Add 1 tablespoon of flour to the butter and roast until the flour starts to smell. Pour 300 ml of broth little by little over the roasted flour and mix. Dilute 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water.
  7. Pour the starch over the sauce and mix it quickly with a whisk. Finally, put 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2-3 tablespoons of liquid cream, and a little black pepper on the sauce. Stir the sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes.
  8. If you do not have soy sauce, you can adjust the amount of salt according to your taste. Put the fried Swedish meatballs on a serving plate. Pour the sauce you prepared over the meatballs.
Serving Suggestions

You can sprinkle a pinch of parsley on it and serve it right away.

Expert Tips
  • There are also some tricks for the Swedish meatball recipe. For example, you can add parsley to the meatball mixture to increase the flavor of the meatballs.
  • By adding flour to the mixture, you can also add a crispier bite to the meatballs.
  • You can also get a different flavor by adding vinegar to the olive oil you will fry the meatballs in.
  • You can also use the sauce you have prepared for meatballs for other meat dishes.
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