Best Swedish Meatballs From 1960s Recipes

SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, soak bread crumbs in warm milk while you prepare the onions.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Stir in onions and a pinch of salt and cook until pale golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer half the onions to a large bowl and set aside.
• Prepare sauce: Add brandy to skillet with onions and ignite with a long match or igniter (or if you're using a gas stove, just swirl pan, brandy should catch fire). Let flame die down, then add the remaining butter, letting it melt. Sprinkle in flour. Sauté until flour browns, about 3 minutes. Whisk in broth, cream and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer, whisking, until reduced to a sauce, about 5 minutes. Add mustard, if you like, and season with more salt, if needed.
• To large bowl with onion, add remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons salt, soaked bread crumbs, beef, pork, eggs, garlic, pepper, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Roll into 1-inch balls (about 2 tablespoons each), placing them on one or two rimmed baking sheets as you go.
• Heat broiler. Drizzle meatballs with oil. Broil meatballs, switching pans' positions if using more than one so they both get close to the broiler, until well browned all over, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with gravy, garnished with herbs.

SWEDISH MEATBALLS WITH CREAMY DILL SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a baking rack on top. Spray the baking rack with cooking spray.
• Combine bread crumbs and milk in a large bowl. Allow bread crumbs to soak up the milk for about 10 minutes. Mix in ground beef, ground pork, onion, parsley, celery, egg, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper until combined; mixture will be fairly wet. Shape into 36 meatballs with a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop. Place meatballs on the prepared baking rack.
• Bake in the preheated oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball reads 160 degrees F (71 degrees C), about 18 minutes.
• While the meatballs are baking, melt butter for sauce in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in beef broth and Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Cook, stirring often, until slightly thickened, about 12 minutes.
• Remove meatballs from the oven and add to the sauce mixture. Simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in sour cream, dill, and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

SWEDISH MEATBALLS (SVENSKA KOTTBULLAR)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place the bread crumbs into a small bowl, and mix in the cream. Allow to stand until crumbs absorb the cream, about 10 minutes. While the bread is soaking, melt 1 teaspoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion until it turns light brown, about 10 minutes. Place onion into a mixing bowl; mix with the ground beef, ground pork, egg, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger. Lightly mix in the bread crumbs and cream.
• Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Pinch off about 1 1/2 tablespoon of the meat mixture per meatball, and form into balls. Place the meatballs into the skillet, and cook just until the outsides are brown, about 5 minutes, turning the meatballs often. Insides of the meatballs will still be pink. Place browned meatballs into a baking dish, pour in chicken broth, and cover with foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the meatballs are tender, about 40 minutes. Remove meatballs to a serving dish.
• To make brown gravy, pour pan drippings into a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the flour into the pan drippings until smooth, and gradually whisk in enough beef broth to total about 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Bring the gravy to a simmer, whisking constantly until thick, about 5 minutes. Just before serving, whisk in the sour cream. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve the gravy with the meatballs.

SAUCY SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Mix ground chuck, crackers, eggs, and onion. Make into meatballs.
• Place in pan.
• Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
• While meatballs are cooking during this 30 minutes is a good time to mix up your sauce by mixing the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar.
• Remove from oven and drain excess grease.
• Return to pan.
• Pour sauce over meatballs, and stir to coat all the meatballs.
• Bake another 30 minutes at 350°F until meatballs are cooked through.