recipe reviews for:

Swedish Meatballs

“I'm a 'Svenska flicka' (Swedish girl) from northwest Iowa, where many Swedes settled at the turn of the century. This recipe was given to me by a Swedish friend. It's obviously a 20th century version of a 19th century favorite, since back then they didn't have bouillon cubes or evaporated milk! I think you'll agree that these modern-day 'Kottbullar' are very tasty.”

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Reviewed: Aug. 4, 2008

This was really good. I didn't have the allspice so just omited it. I will bake the meatballs next time. Its a texture thing...I like a firmer meatball...not a "steamed" type.

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binkyj826

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Waltham, Massachusetts, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 28, 2008

This recipe was very good and actually pretty easy to make. I doubled the recipe and put it all in a crockpot to bring to a potluck. If you are making small meatballs be sure to mince the onions finely, as chopped onion pieces can seem pretty large in a small meatball. I substitured regular milk and canned beef broth for the evaporated milk and beef boullion plus water called for and it came out just fine. I used less milk than called for in the meatballs, as adding the full amount called for seemed like it would be too much, I would have had meat mush and been unable to roll them out. I think this depends on the beef you are using, mine seemed fairly moist to begin with. Also there seemed to be too much lemon juice for my taste, I had to add extra pepper and salt to the sauce to compensate, though once sitting in the crock pot for a while all the flavors mellowed nicely. Next time I will use only 1/2 the lemon juice. I will definitely make these again though!

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JELAINEB

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Reviewed: Jul. 27, 2008

Very good recipe. Since I served the meatballs with garlic cheddar red skinned mashed potatoes, yummy!!! I doubled the sauce ammount. BUTTER, not oil is the way to go when frying if your looking for a good flavor and not worried about calories. Next time I think I'll add some sour cream just to give it a little different taste.

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Mamabird

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Cleveland, Ohio, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 25, 2008

These were very good but VERY rich. Maybe I'll try subbing some of the evaporated milk for some 2% for part of it - but these were a hit with everyone! Just can't make these every week...

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kelsey

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Anchorage, Alaska, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 23, 2008

This was great a recipe. My wife made the meatballs on Friday by Saturday they were gone. Made meatloaf on Sunday using the sause and it didn't last two days. Thanks for the recipe. We had to increase the sause because it would go fast before the meatballs.

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raplh aldape

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Reviewed: Jul. 21, 2008

This recipe mistakingly lists 1 and 1/3 cups evap. milk, and then again, 1 cup evap. milk. It's 1 and 1/3 total. Hope this helps someone out. As I had too much milk ready.

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SamInFL

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Wayne, New Jersey, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 20, 2008

wonderful recipe for an old favorite comfort food.

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Lady Linda

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Charlotte, Michigan, USA

Living In: Jackson, Michigan, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 1, 2008

My whole family loved it, even my picky 2 year old twins. I had a hard time getting meatballs to stay together, but still tasted great!

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jbalsmom

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Saint Cloud, Minnesota, USA

Living In: St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA

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Reviewed: Jun. 11, 2008

My family loved these! I added an egg to the mixture based on reviews that some people had problems with the meatballs falling apart. (super lean meat usually needs a little help sticking together, fattier meat will not need the egg) Lots of flavor - loved the poppy seeds on the noodles! Even my 3 year old twins liked them, and they usually don't like anything with a sauce or anything new!

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SHYTEETEE

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Wilkeson, Washington, USA

Living In: Bremerton, Washington, USA

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Reviewed: Jun. 4, 2008

This recipe makes Ikea's Swedish Meatballs taste like dog food! This recipe is absolutely amazing. The only thing I added was some garlic, but otherwise I wouldn't change a thing. Absolutely delicious and will definitely make again!

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Dawn in CT

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Southbury, Connecticut, USA

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Reviewed: May 23, 2008

This one was liked by my whole family, but I found it wasn't that flavorful...maybe I just wasn't in the mood for Swedish Meatballs.

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TARIYORK

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Reviewed: May 22, 2008

My husband told me to rate this a 10+. He loved this so much he wants it regularly. I was not expecting this to taste this good! It brought back so many memories of the old frozen Swedish Meatball meals I used to eat all the time but these were so so much better! Made a double batch, added an egg to the meat mixture and also about 4 cloves of garlic. Followed the rest of the directions but tripled the amount of gravy because my husband has to have tons of sauce when there is a sauce involved. It was great over noodles the way I had it but my hubby had his over mashed up boiled potatoes with butter on them and he said he only wants it with the potatoes. Very very good!!

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COOKIN4FIVE05

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Portland, Oregon, USA

Living In: Vancouver, Washington, USA

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Reviewed: May 20, 2008

My husband made this recipe for me after hearing me complain that I wanted some Swedish meat balls from Ikea. These were better! I love the fact that the recipe does not use a cream soup. This recipe is the real deal!

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NYJEN

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: New Rochelle, New York, USA

Living In: Saugerties, New York, USA

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Reviewed: May 20, 2008

A good old-fashioned, budget-friendly, filling meal. I used a pound & a half of lean ground meat. (I would use less milk with the meat if only using a pound). Drained off quite a bit of grease before the flour, deglazing steps. The gravy seemed a bit bland so I threw in garlic powder & pepper. Mine was a bit runny but very flavorful - boys loved it! Update - didn't even remember making this! Made it again, used 1 lb very lean ground meat, only 1/3 c Panko bc, 1/3 c evap milk. Used olive oil to fry meatballs (get your pan pretty hot to prevent mb from falling apart & turn gently with your fingers). Used minced onion instead of real. 1 bouillion cube (hubby has to watch his salt) lots of garlic. Takes a while to get it thick, but everyone really liked it.

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Scotdog

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: May 18, 2008

Phenomenal! One of the first meals my mom taught me to make was Swedish meatballs... I was delighted to find a recipe that doesn't utilize packaged seasonings or canned soup! I made a few minor adjustments: used a scant cup SEASONED breadcrumbs and also added 1 egg and minced garlic to the meat mixture. I put the meat mixture in the freezer for 10 min prior to rolling into meatballs. Although other users mentioned using olive oil - the "key" to authentic Swedish meatballs is to brown them in butter!!! I used homemade beef stock instead of the bullion which gave the sauce an awesome flavor boost (but I'm sure bullion works just as well). I did forget to add the lemon juice - but the sauce was perfect as is without it. Served with traditional egg noodles the first night - served the leftovers with mashed potatoes the next day (it was AWESOME with mashed potatoes). Mmmmmmm!

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Serena

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: San Diego, California, USA

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Reviewed: May 14, 2008

Thank you for this recipe, it was just what i was looking for. it is so simple and easy to put together. better than IKEA's swedish meatballs. only suggesting i have is to only add 1 buillion cube or use beef broth or stock to cut the salt content, which I did the second time i made this dish. both times i put the meatballs on a bed of egg noodles. i will definately make this twice a month.

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geminimistress

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Living In: Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

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Reviewed: May 6, 2008

my whole family really enjoyed this.

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B.Wilkinson

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: May 1, 2008

Okay, this recipe is amazing! What I love is that these simple ingredients are usually in your pantry and freezer. I took some liberties with this recipe and it still turned out 5 stars. I only had 1 – 12 oz can of evaporated milk. I used 4 oz in the meatballs and used the remaining 8 oz in the sauce. I didn’t have breadcrumbs, so I threw a hotdog bun in the food processor and got about 2/3 C crumbs and used all of them. I also added 1 egg to the meat mixture. Using my KA stand mixer for combining the meatball ingredients makes for short work. I refrigerated the prepared meatballs prior to cooking because it helps to firm them up, but just frying them with a cover on your skillet which allows them to steam firms them up also. For the sauce, I used 4 tsp of granulated beef bouillon with 2 C water and the 1 C evaporated milk. I seasoned the sauce and thickened with 3/4 C water & 3 Tb flour. Finally, I added a pinch of ground allspice and a pinch of nutmeg to finish the sauce. Wow! Thanks so much Emily! This one is a keeper!

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CLS

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Apr. 14, 2008

These were absolutely incredible!!!!! The meatballs were so tender. I was skeptical that the evaporated milk in the sauce would make it super rich, but that wasn't the case at all. I will surely make this again!

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