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Photograph of Oven-Baked Swedish Meatballs in Cream Sauce

Oven-Baked Swedish Meatballs in Cream Sauce

Soft, tender, melt in the mouth beef and pork meatballs, served in a creamy and velvety sauce over buttery, fluffy mashed potatoes; Swedish meatballs are the ultimate comfort food.

Course Dinner, Lunch, Supper
Cuisine Swedish
Keyword Comfort Food, cream sauce, meatballs
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

  • 30g bunch finely chopped parsley
  • 50g brown bread
  • 250g minced beef
  • 250g minced pork or turkey
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard or Swedish or German mustard
  • 1 egg
  • 100ml double/heavy cream
  • 100ml milk
  • ¼ teaspoon fine salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground salt and black pepper
  • 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped in a food processor
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

For the Cream Sauce:

  • 30g unsalted butter
  • 30g plain/all-purpose flour
  • 500ml good quality beef stock
  • 150ml double/heavy cream
  • freshly ground salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

  2. Preheat oven to fan oven 180°C /200°C/400°F/Gas 6

  3. First make the meatballs – finely chop the parsley. I do this in a food processor. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

  4. Next blitz the bread in the food processor, until you have breadcrumbs. Add to the parsley.

  5. Now add the beef, pork, mustard, egg, cream, milk and seasoning and mix thoroughly. I do this with my hands. Set aside, for a minimum of 10 minutes, to allow time for the bread to soak up some liquid.

  6. Next, peel and roughly chop the onion and blitz in the food processor until finely chopped.

  7. Heat the oil over a moderate heat and add the onion. Cook for 5 minutes or until softened and lightly caramelised.

  8. Add to the meatball mixture and mix thoroughly.

  9. Use an ice cream scoop to make your meatballs and place directly into a cast iron pan, which you can use in the oven and on the hob. Do not overcrowd the pan – use a separate baking dish, if necessary.

  10. Bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 10 minutes.

  11. Make the sauce – after the meatballs have been cooking for 10 minutes, take out of the oven, remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside.

  12. They should have left lots of sticky bits in the bottom of the pans – these are really full of flavour so make sure you scrape any sticky bits from the extra pan into the cast iron pan to flavour the sauce.

  13. Melt the butter in the cast iron pan over a moderate heat and add the flour. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, with a wooden spoon for 2 – 3 minutes.

  14. Add the stock all at once and whisk thoroughly with a balloon whisk to ensure there are no lumps. Cook for a further 5 minutes on a low heat, stirring regularly, until you can no longer taste the flour.

  15. Add the cream, stir to mix. Taste and adjust seasoning, as necessary.

  16. Bring the sauce to a simmer and add the meatballs back to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes to heat the meatballs through and to allow the flavours to infuse.

  17. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve over creamy, buttery, mashed potatoes and some green vegetables on the side.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

  • kitchen scales and measuring spoons
  • food processor
  • chopping board and knife
  • mixing bowl
  • cast iron pan or oven safe frying pan
  • lightly oiled baking tray, if necessary

Make ahead:

If you are preparing your meal ahead of time, you can make the Swedish meatballs to the end of point 15 above. Set aside at this point, and when cool, cover and store in the refrigerator. To finish, continue from point 16, but you may need to cook the meatballs in the sauce for up to 10 minutes, to ensure everything is piping hot.