Aunt Bee's Swedish Meatballs Recipe

Overhead shot of hands eating Swedish meatballs in a rustic white dish

5 from 2 votes

Aunt Bee's Swedish Meatballs Recipe

A family-favorite recipe for generations, Aunt Bee's Swedish meatballs are homemade comfort food. This is an easy dinner recipe that you will hold onto forever!

Course Dinner

Cuisine European

Keyword Easy Swedish Meatballs, Swedish Meatballs, Swedish Meatballs Recipe

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 10

Servings - 10 people

Calories 271kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

2 lbs. ground beef
2 large onions
3 eggs, slightly beaten
6 slices cubed white bread (or substitute with 1 ½ cups of Panko bread crumbs)
¼ cup half-and-half
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt, or more to taste
½ teaspoon pepper
butter and vegetable oil for frying

For the Sauce:

¼ cup pan drippings
¼ cup flour, plus additional as needed
2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons half-and-half
Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional, for serving: chopped fresh parsley; cooked egg noodles; potatoes

Instructions

Place the meat in a large bowl. Grate the onions into the meat.
Stir together bread or bread crumbs with ¼ cup of half-and-half, just until moistened.
Add eggs, soaked bread crumbs, sugar, salt, and pepper to the beef mixture. Use your hands or a fork to gently combine, being careful not to over-mix the meat.
Use a medium (1 ½ tablespoon) scoop to shape the meat into balls. Each meatball will be about the size of a golf ball. Place the meatballs on a baking sheet so that they will be ready to fry.
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 teaspoon of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When the butter melts, sauté meatballs in batches, turning while they cook so that all sides are evenly browned and the meat is cooked through (about 8-10 minutes per batch). Be careful not to overcrowd the pan.
Repeat until all meatballs are cooked. Remove meatballs to a baking sheet lined with paper towels, and cover loosely with foil to keep warm while you prepare the sauce.

For the Sauce:

After frying the meatballs, you should have about ¼ cup of drippings in the pan. If you have less, add butter to the skillet to equal ¼ cup of fat total.
Add flour to the pan drippings. Cook and stir over medium heat for 1 minute.
Gradually stream in the beef broth and half-and-half. Whisk over medium heat until the sauce bubbles and thickens. Whisk consistently so that it doesn’t burn or get lumpy.
Spoon the sauce over the meatballs and serve with noodles, potatoes, or a loaf of crusty bread! Garnish with fresh herbs, if desired.

Notes

Combine the meatball mixture with your hands -- not with a wooden spoon. The more gentle you can be, the more light and tender your meatballs will stay. Don't overmix, or you'll end up with tough, dense, and dry meatballs.
If you have some extra time, chill the meatball mixture for at least 1 hour before shaping. I don't always do this (it's not necessary), but it does make the shaping easier if the mixture is more firm.
A cookie dough scoop helps form even meatballs that cook in about the same amount of time. Scoop, roll gently in your hands, and then fry!
Coat your hands with a little bit of olive oil periodically as you're shaping the meatballs. The oil prevents the meat from sticking to your hands, and also helps the outside of the meatballs brown.

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