My take on a Swedish meatball. Or IKEA meatball! FYI this is an adaptation on a classic so not entirely traditional, but I hope you love it as much as we did.
Notes
The mixture for the meatballs is quite wet. This will give us melt in the mouth meatballs later on, but they can be a little hard to handle. Make sure your hands are wet whilst shaping the balls!
Traditionally Swedish meatballs are served with Lingonberry jam, but you can serve with cranberry as an alternative.
I’ve added some umami flavours to the gravy to deepen the flavour.
You can watch me make these on my instagram highlights.
If you need any further help, or have any questions, you can message me on my Instagram @bonniedoesfood.
Ingredients:
Meatballs:
500g minced beef, 20% fat
6 plain pork sausages, skins removed
100g white bread, torn into chunks and crusts removed
120ml whole milk
1 large onion
25g butter
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp of each:
Garlic powder
Allspice
White pepper
Black pepper
Olive oil for frying
Gravy:
3 tbsp flour
45g butter
485ml chicken stock
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon
Salt and pepper to taste
Mash:
1 bulb garlic
1.25kg potatoes
1.5 tbsp horseradish
50g butter
200ml milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp white pepper
Directions:
FOR THE MASH:
Preheat the oven to 180c fan / 200c standard.
Wrap the bulb of garlic in tinfoil and transfer to the oven. Bake for 1hr.
FOR THE MEATBALLS:
In a medium bowl, add the torn up white bread and the milk. Mix until coated and leave for 10 minutes to absorb.
Grate the onion using a box grater, or very finely chop using a food processor. It should be more of a paste than a fine dice.
In a small saucepan, fry the onion off with the butter over a medium low heat. Cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a large bowl, add the beef, sausages, onion, bread and milk, eggs, salt and spices.
Using your hands or a spoon stir or squeeze the meat mixture until evenly combined.
Grab a bowl of water and use wet hands to form the meatballs. I went with golf ball sized, but you can do mini meatballs too. Make sure you keep wetting your hands as this is quite sticky.
Grab a large saucepan and put it over a medium heat with a little olive oil.
Batch fry the meatballs to avoid overcrowding, try not to poke them about too much as they will stick to the pan unless they have a proper crust on them. You don’t need to worry about cooking them through, you just need to get a golden crush on both sides.
Fry the remaining meatballs in batches and set aside.
In a small bowl, pour away the old fat from cooking the meatballs. But don’t bother cleaning the pan as we want all the crispy bits on the bottom!
FOR THE GRAVY:
To the same pan, add the butter and cook over a medium low heat until melted. This will happen quickly as the pan will be very hot, make sure you have your flour and milk ready!
Add the flour to the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape any bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook the flour for about 2 minutes.
Switch to a whisk, and gradually add the chicken stock. Whisking constantly to avoid lumps.
Add the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard to the gravy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Gently leave to bubble away whilst you prepare the potatoes.
FOR THE MASH:
At this stage the garlic is probably ready. Leave in the foil to cool down whilst we prep the potatoes.
Put on a large pot of salted boiling water.
Peel your potatoes and cut into chunks.
Carefully transfer the potatoes to the boiling water and cook until soft and fork tender.
In a small bowl, squeeze the garlic out of its skins. This is quite a sticky job! Use a spoon to mash into a paste and add the horseradish. Stir to combine and set aside.
FOR THE MEATBALLS:
Carefully transfer the meatballs to the gravy. They are fragile so be gentle when coating them in the sauce. Whack the lid on and leave to gently bubble and cook whilst the potatoes are boiling.
FOR THE MASH:
When the potatoes are cooked through, drain in a colander and leave to steam dry for about 5 minutes.
Transfer the potatoes back into the pan and add the butter. Mash as smooth as you like.
Add the milk, garlic and horseradish paste and continue to mash or stir until combined. Add a little extra splash of milk if you like a softer mash! Or some cream if you have any in the fridge.
Season with the salt and pepper, again this is to taste.
TO SERVE:
Add a big dollop of mash to your plate and create a little well.
Spoon some meatballs on the side and fill the well with gravy.
Serve with green beans, or any greens of your liking. Traditionally this is served with lingonberry jam but if you have left over cranberry from Christmas this works great too!
Enjoy!