Swedish Meatballs I
This is one of my husband's favorites. I created it using several other Swedish meatball recipes that didn't quite make the grade.
This is one of my husband's favorites. I created it using several other Swedish meatball recipes that didn't quite make the grade.
I don't usually leave feedback, but this one deserves it. I doubled this recipe, used frozen meatballs, added crushed garlic, sour cream, nutmeg and canned mushrooms. I baked the meatballs breifly and then threw everything in the crockpot and it was the BEST swedish meatball recipe I have every fixed. Adding some of the juice from the mushrooms made this sauce a very nice consistency. Will make this again
Read MoreI followed this recipe to a T. It tasted like something was missing from it. My husband absolutely loves swedish meatballs and was not happy with this recipe. I have to say though, the meatballs were ok, the sauce just needed something else.
Read MoreI don't usually leave feedback, but this one deserves it. I doubled this recipe, used frozen meatballs, added crushed garlic, sour cream, nutmeg and canned mushrooms. I baked the meatballs breifly and then threw everything in the crockpot and it was the BEST swedish meatball recipe I have every fixed. Adding some of the juice from the mushrooms made this sauce a very nice consistency. Will make this again
Great dinner but made modifications according to our preferences and other's suggestions. I used low sodium-low fat soups; scratched cream of wheat and used 1/2 c. Italian bread crums; added 1/4 tsp. nutmeg to meatballs; 1 T Worcestershire to sauce and 1/2 can evap. milk. Served with mashed potatoes. There wasn't a ton of sauce though. Other than that we loved it. My husband stuffed himself and said these meatballs compete with this Mother's! I'll definitely make this again.
People who say this recipe was too sweet are definitely using the wrong kind of milk. Must be using condensed rather than evaporated. It's not sweet. I used Marla's Swedish Meatball recipe for the meatballs and this recipe for the sauce. Very good combination! I used the cream of mushroom with roasted garlic and it was really good. I will definitely make this again. Baking in the sauce gives the meatballs a lot of flavor.
Very Tasty! I did make a few changes though. I used Italian bread crumbs instead of cream of wheat, and added salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg to the meatball mixture. I also added 1/2 cup sour cream and about 1/8 tsp nutmeg to the sauce. Even using reduced fat soup it was very rich and creamy. Definitely a keepr!
I made my own meatballs (1 LB ground beef, ½ onion, a few shakes of worchestershire sauce, seasoning salt, pepper, a little nutmeg, ½ cup or so of crushed Ritz crackers, and some milk) and fried them up on the stove. I then drained them on paper towels, placed them in an 8x8" dish, and prepared the sauce in the same frying pan (after draining the grease). I sauteed a small can of mushrooms in a little butter then combined with the cans of soup and two small cans (5 oz each) of evaporated milk. Next time, I'm going to use two cans of mushroom soup as the chicken soup added a not-so-great sweetness to it. And I'll probably only use 5 oz of evaporated milk and add a half-cup or so of sour cream. We served it over egg noodles, and it was good... But I think it'll be much better with the changes I want to use. Thanks, Jessica, for a great starting point. :)
I followed Beanhead's idea below. It was SO yummy and tasty! My husband was so impressed, he wants to have that specific recipe at least 3 times a month!! My children ate it up. Main thing is to make sure you are using EVAPORATED and not CONDENSED milk. Was VERY yummy! Thanks Beanhead!
I used the pre-made meatballs - which reduced all the time. It was a great quick meal. I will definately make again!
This is great comfort food. I added about 1 tsp of tastefully simple seasoned salt and some breadcrumbs to the meatballs, and a dash of nutmeg, pepper, 4 oz sour cream, and sauteed mushrooms to the sauce. After baking the meatballs as directed, I put them in the crockpot with the sauce for 5 hours on low. Heavenly! Thanks for the recipe.
I too used frozen meataballas from Costco (yum) put 2 cans of golden mushroom (much better than cream of mush) 2 cans of cream of chicken, 1 can evaporated milk, sour cream, worteschire sauce, a dash of red wine (I drank the rest) some garlic salt and lots of pepper. All in the crockpot and then put in frozen meatballs. Stirred the pot and sat back and let it cook. Spooned over egg noodles and it is the best comfort food ever! Have a nice salad and pretend it is healthy Darcie
I really liked this. It was so much better than the frozen TV dinners my daughter eats all the time. I used some meat balls I had previously made and frozen rather thant he ones in the recipe. I mixed together the sauce and put them in frozen. An hour later dinner was done. It was great. All the recipe needed was a little salt and pepper and some sliced mushrooms to be perfect.
Part of the fun of this site is reading other reviewers comments and tweaks - we can all pretty much look at a recipe and know if we'd like to add something to fit our personal tastes...tho sometimes we're not exactly sure what to add or how much...there's where the other reviewers come in - and all I can say is "Thank you everyone out there !" I too made only the sauce from this recipe...with a few tweaks from other reviewers - added one small finely diced onion with two large finely grated cloves of garlic sauteed in butter..added to two cans of Cream of Mushroom soup...kept the amount of one can evaporated milk...about 8 to 10 oz sour cream...one tablespoon Worcestershire sauce...a few good shakes of black pepper...a pinch of salt - And let me tell you...this sauce is the bomb !...turned out something similar to what my Mom made for us as kids...tho she called it Russian Meatballs - therefore...I am rating this recipe 5 stars as an excellent base.
I followed this recipe to a T. It tasted like something was missing from it. My husband absolutely loves swedish meatballs and was not happy with this recipe. I have to say though, the meatballs were ok, the sauce just needed something else.
This was good but made some tasty tweaks. 1. I had frozen meatballs so I went ahead and used those. 2. I sauteed 2 cloves garlic and one small onion in a pan. 3. Then I added butter and fresh mushrooms. 4. Stir these into the soups in the casserole pan. (The casserole pan does not need to be greased) 5. Add the baked meatballs and cook as directed. 6. When it came out of the oven I added a few dollops of sour cream and stirred it in. 7. I then added the fresh parsley and a couple squeezes of lemon was KEY!!! Yum! YUM!
To be fair, I just don't "do" processed foods, so the condensed soups were a major stretch for me, but I needed something kind of quick. There just doesn't seem to be a good Swedish meatball recipe available on this site yet.
Delicious! I found the sause a bit stiff even using the evaporated milk as suggested- I mixed a small amount (apx.1/4 cup each)of milk and sour cream together and added to the heated sause. I also added a splash of White Wine, WOW what a spin!!! This is a new family treasure, Thanks
What would we do without condensed soups?! The sauce in this was so good and no one would know how easy it is. I made this entire dish pretty true to recipe with few minor modifications. I thought it turned out great but I may experiment more with the meatballs for more of a flavor pop next time. Served this with mashed potatoes and it made a great comfort meal for a cold winter day.
This was a good recipe. I rated it 4 starts rather than 5 because it was good, but wasn't exceptional. Everyone in the family thought it was good. I followed it exactly except replaced the beef with ground turkey. I served it over mashed potatoes left over from Thanksgiving. It was so simple...I used my crock pot...put meatballs in it for a couple hours, and put the sauce over it for the last 2 1/2 hours. I love simple crock pot recipes!
I used the sauce from this recipe (but made the meatballs described in Swedish Meatballs II). The sauce was too bland for my tastes. It tasted like every other recipe that contained cream of mushroom soup, so I amped it up a bit. I sauteed some garlic & onions & added it to the sauce. I didn't have any sour cream, so I added a bit of buttermilk that needed to be used up. I also added ground black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, onion salt, & allspice. I don't know what REAL Swedish meatballs taste like, so I'm sure my changes don't do the authentic version any justice, but I did what I could with it. I also added some grated parmesan (I know! Definitely NOT Swedish! Sorry!). . .but it really is not bad with these additions. Thanks for the start-off point though! I really appreciate it!
I made these pretty much to the recipe. I forgot the onion (how did I forget the onion??) and added salt/pepper and garlic powder to the meatballs. I loved the texture that the cream of wheat gave them, not as heavy as a bread crumb meatball. The sauce was good - I added salt/pepper to that also. A solid 4 1/2 stars (5 stars only for things I'm dying to make again) for an easy dinner.
I had to use frozen Turkey balls and just cream of chicken soup. Turned out good. I did however add extra milk to thin it out as well as I tbsp of minced garlic just because..We will make this again
Good, I made a few changes. I only used 1 Can of cream of mush soup (no cream of chix soup), then I added 1 beef boulion cube & about 2 cups of milk. This is how my mother makes it.
In reading reviews and suggestions, I used frozen Swedish Meatballs. I used the crock pot and added Cream of Mushroom with Garlic, Cream of Chicken, fresh sauteed mushrooms, 1/2 cup sourcream, 5 oz of ev. milk. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! My husband said it was the best Swedish Meatballs sauce EVER.
I'm rating the sauce only since I used premade meatballs...It was very bland. Didn't taste at all like swedish meatballs to me. Definately won't make it again.
I was hsocked at how good, something so simple and easy was!! Will make this gain and agin!
I was so excited about this recipe and sadly it was a let down. The meatballs lacked flavor and the sauce was quite bland. My husband only ate a few bites...always a bad sign.
This sauce is amazing, however I followed the lead and used Marla's meatballs instead. Between the two is a perfect recipe for Swedish Meatballs.
We loved this. I actually used bought meatballs and then added 1/2 cup of greek yogurt just because I didn't have sour cream. I also added some garlic, fresh chopped onion and mushrooms.
This was delicious - I will be making this again. I used 2 cans of cream of chicken/mushroom soup because I didn't have just cream of chicken or just cream of mushroom. I made my meatballs large and we sprinkled parmesan cheese over it. It tasted a lot like alfredo - very good and very easy.
I cook for my Mom a lot because she's really busy. I used frozen meatballs & added fresh mushroom to the sauce mix. Served it over brown rice. My Mom absolutely loved it!! And I found it very easy to prepare & make.
I never heard of making swedidh meatballs without Nutmeg. That is the ingredient that gives them their unique flavor.
I made this by the exact recipe and did not care for it. I felt that the meatballs had no flavor.
I have not tried this recipe, but it sounds really good and easy. I prefer to brown my meatballs on a cookie sheet in the oven, especially in large quantities. It is even quicker, easier, and healthier than pan frying.
Excellent recipe. I followed all instructions and added 1/2 cup of sour cream becuause we love it. I cooked in crock pot to save time and it was great!
I wanted to try out a new sauce recipe and because this one was highly rated this was the one I chose. I was not a fan of this. I normally just use sour cream and a brown gravy or a can of cream of mushroom soup, so I've never used evaporated milk before. It made the sauce strangely sweet. I had to add some garlic salt and pepper to curve it more towards what I was expecting. I don't plan to use this recipe again. The sauce *looked* right, but it didn't *taste* right...to me.
My family loved this - I used frozen meatballs to save time, my 4-year old scarfed this down! Very good, super simple!
EXCELLENT flavor! Hardest part is making and browing the meatballs. I used ½ grd pork & ½ grd beef...and substituted can of cr/celery for the can of cr/chicken; and Italian bread crumbs for the cr/wheat cereal. DELICIOUS! I also tried it using grd turkey, and that was great too. The people who complained this was 'too sweet'..I'd be willing to bet $$$, they used CONDENSED milk instead of EVAPORATED milk by accident. A keeper!
I love this recipe! It's quick and easy and it even better the 2nd day!
Great recipe. Thanks Jessica. I made these for a party, cooked them in the crockpot, then used it to keep them warm. Received many compliments.
My review is on the sauce only, I cheated and used frozen meatballs. The sauce was pretty good, not wonderful, I felt like it was missing something. I likely won't make this again.
So easy, I used frozen meatballs and the sauce is outstanding for being so incredibly easy! Will definately make again!
Meatballs with no taste...gravy not so great..I will look for another recipe
Sauce lacked the flavor of the Swedish Meatballs I have had in restaurants and growing up. I made this once as suggested and a second time with a lot of modifications.
This is a great meal to make and fast if you use pre-made meatballs. The sauce is delicious. I will make again!
I was trying to figure out how this was going to turn out without nutmeg or even sour cream and sadly it just tasted like meatballs with cream of chicken and mushroom. Had to do a lot of doctoring...add salt and pepper, nutmeg, worsterchire sauce and sour cream, and a tad bit of sugar and it turned to taste a lot closer to swedish meatballs.
Used pre-made meatballs, which made this recipe very easy, but the sauce was a little bland, not sure what I could do next time, but I will make it again, thanks for sharing!
Note: This recipe has been updated to correct the amount of evaporated milk called for. The correct amount is 1 (12 ounce) can, not 6 (5 ounce) cans.
This tasted fairly good with another reviewer's additions of sour cream, garlic and horseradish. This was actually my first time having swedish meatballs. I am still not a fan of beef with a white sauce, but it certainly doesn't mean the recipe is not good.
awesome! i doubled the recipe baked them as directed then popped them into the crock pot for a few hours and brought them to a pot luck they were gone so quick and a huge hit!
This was very good. I used three cans of cream of chicken soup as we like thicker sauce. I also added nutmug, paprika and pepper to meatballs and sauce to add some kick. I recommend adding butter and caraway seeds to the egg noodles as the caraway does a good job complimenting the meatballs.
Delicious! Well, the sauce is delicious I cheated and bought the meatballs. Popped the soups and meatballs in the crockpot. I browned some mushrooms with shallots and a couple cloves of garlic then added those to the crockpot too. After it all cooked together I thought it was a little too thick so I added maybe a cup of chicken stock. Just before serving I stirred in a little more than a cup of sour cream. My entire family loves it, even the kids!! Thanks for sharing!
this is by far the BEST recipe ive tried from here. i normally do not write reviews but i had to share my thoughts. this was perfect,even the kids enjoyed this meal :-). i did add a bit of garlic powder, nutmeg, oregano, seasoned salt, onion powder and pabrika to the beef.
I sort of cheated and used already prepared meatballs for I did like the sauce especially the nutmeg! Was worth making and is part of my recipe box.
I usually avoid recipes with condensed soups - and was weary that this used TWO cans. But the salt levels were fine. What I was surprised at what there was no depth of flavor. Definitely something missing.
My daughter and son-in-law love it! Serve it with some garlic toast bread. Hmmmmm! Good
I've been making this recipe since 2004 and my family enjoys it. I have made it both as written and also with slight tweaks. It is tasty both ways. For those times I don't have cream of wheat in the house, I have used crushed ritz cracker crumbs and they give a good taste in the recipe. For the past few years I have come to prefer the ritz cracker crumbs in this recipe instead of cream of wheat. In the past I've also substituted cream of celery soup for the cream of mushroom with excellent results. This recipe is excellent served with mashed potatoes or with egg noodles. Thank you Jessica for sharing this.
mmmm this was really really good. i am rating 5 stars for the way i altered it, not the original. i took other reviewers comments and added 1 cup of sour cream and some nutmeg. i also left out the cream of wheat (i didnt even see it there until the second time i went to cook it lol). this dinner is very very good and i recommend it highly
I bought pre-made meatballs and used the sauce from this. It is great, easy and tastes so good!! Thanks for the recipe. I wanted a white sauce, worked out great.
Traditional Swedish meatballs are made with hamburger and ground pork. Just because they are small in size doesn't make them Swedish.
Everyone really enjoyed this recipe so I had to give it 5 stars. On my end, not only did I enjoy the flavor of it, it is a supereasy recipe to make. A bonus for me is I successfully substituted ground turkey for the beef and onion powder for the minced onion and this worked great for my son who has Crohn's disease. I will note that this is one of thoses dishes that tasted even better the second day. Thanks!
Never had Swedish Meatballs before but was pleasantly surprised!! This recipe is very good but not sure how it rates with other swedish meatball recipes. Will be adding to my recipe box to use again!
Mmmmm. This was easy and delicious!! Next time I might try to add some brown gravy into the sauce. Bread crumbs were a great substitution for the cream of wheat.
I was looking for a meatball recipe and came across this one along with Swedish Meatballs II. After having read all the reviews, I did what alot of other reviewers did and combined the two. I used the sauce from I and made the meatballs from II. I also used 1/2 package of onion soup mix. garlic powder and sour cream in the sauce. I used regular bread crumbs in the meatballs. Served over mashed potatos and all was good. I will be making these again. So comforting and easy. Thanks!
I usually don't like to open a can of soup for sauce, but this was GREAT!: Marla's meatballs, baked like Jessica suggested. Jessica's sauce, with Jimmy78's seasonings (minced garlic, black pepper, sour cream, sauteed mushrooms, easy on the horseradish to taste!). Paper towel drain and baked in sauce per Jessica. FABULOUS! It takes a while to make but is well worth the time! A+++
This recipe is fine - as far as it goes - but authentic Swedish Meatballs include nutmeg.
I have been looking for a good Swedish Meatball recipe for a long time. This one is a simple, easy version, with a nice sauce. If you do like more flavor to your sauce, you might want to add some wine and/or garlic. The evaporated milk (make sure you don't use sweetened condensed milk) helps to minimize the canned taste of the soups. I think next time I would use even more parsley, or I have even thought about trying dill, which many other Swedish Meatball recipes call for. I prepared my meatballs (actually used my own meatball recipe) the day before and then put them and the sauce in the crockpot the following day. I cooked them on low for 5 hours. They were a big hit and I didn't have one left. Thanks Jessica for a great recipe.
What a great recipe. Swedish Meatballs are one of my all time favorite childhood foods and this was the first time I have ever made it for my children. I added a few additional spices to the meatballs (Jamaican Allspice, Nutmeg, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder & Paprika) and used crushed Ritz crackers. My 5 year old told me that I I was ever in a cooking contest that I would win for sure if I made this!
I'm sure I did something wrong but it wasn't as creamy as I would have liked. It seemed that the soups didn't completely integrate and it was too thick. I'd love to try it again sometime but would have to fix something so it's a little creamier.
It was okay - a little bland. The sauce is good, but this needs something more in the sauce - maybe some basil, garlic salt and pepper. The meatballs also took a little longer to cook through than the recipe said, but this could have been due to me making the meatballs too large.
good but i feel like it was missing something in the sauce could use a little improvising..but was still good and easy!
really good, i added some basil paprika and dill. Turned out really well
I made this for my family a couple of nights ago and they loved it. I was looking for something to do with the frozen meatballs that I had in my freezer and this was the perfect recipe to accompany them. The only thing that I did different was I added some beef bullion to the soup mixture to make it have more of a "beefy" taste to it. Thanks for sharing.
wonderful!! I didn't have cream of wheat on hand so I used dried bread crumbs instead. Still turned out super. The last 15 minutes of cooking I added the cooked egg noodles to the dish of meatballs and sauce and baked it off. Delish!!
I was a little nervous when I was mixing the soups, told hubby what was in it and he gave me the "eww" look but who would of thought that cream of chicken and cream of mushroom would make swedish meatballs. My husband said that he would rate this 4 stars, as he was reaching for more...:o)~ thanks for sharing
EXCELLENT!!!this recipes was good!!!! It came out all well, looked just like the picture too! Thank You
I follow this recipe to the letter, but unfortunately, I really didn't care for it. I understand that everyone's tastes are different, but I found that this particular recipe was pretty bland. I thought about adding some seasoning to the meatballs, but I since this was my first time trying it out, I followed it exactly thinking the soup would help with the flavor. That didn't really happen. My boyfriend and I only took a couple of bites and decided it wasn't for us.
This is a good easy weeknight dinner! To make it a little easier even, I used store-bought turkey meatballs. Since my husband HATES anything mushroom, I used two cans of low-sodium Cream of Chicken soup. It's very easy and this recipe came in handy when my father-in-law popped in unexpectedly for dinner. These meatballs, with a side of egg noodles, is a delicious quick meal.
These weren't quite Swedish meatballs but they were good. I added a few extra spices- like garlic salt and fresh ground pepper. Good comfort food and easy especially using prepackaged meatballs. Thanks for sharing.
I also used the pre-made meatballs...also added a bit of beef broth for more flavor.
I followed the suggestions of others and used some pre-made meatballs I had in the freezer, added some sour cream and Worcestershire and a can of mushrooms and these were delicious!
GOOD AND EASY RECIPE! I had to add some seasonings though. The recipe didn't call for any garlic, salt or pepper or anything. After I added my touch it tasted pretty good.
Having never made Swedish Meatballs before, I found this recipe easy and tasty. Per the other reviewers suggestions, I added salt and pepper and substituted the bread crumbs for the cream of wheat. I served it over egg noodles...yum! My husband liked it, and devoured the leftovers for lunch the next day!
I used frozen meatballs and used other reviewers suggestions and made changes to the sauce. I used a can of cream of mushroom with roasted garlic and a can of cream of chicken with mushrooms and sautéed a small package of sliced fresh mushrooms with margarine and minced garlic. I was afraid it would be too "mushroomy" but my husband suggested next time I add even more mushrooms. My husband is a pretty picky eater and he loved this and I definitely will be making this again! Quick easy and very good!
I added Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to the meatballs for more flavor. This made them so tasty, my 2 year old was taking them off the counter. Also, I found the sauce very rich. I would either use low/no fat evaporated milk, or combine skim milk with half of the evaporated milk. Otherwise, it tasted good and my family liked it.
So yummy! Am eating the leftovers for lunch right now! I thought it made just enough sauce, and I even had extra meatballs. Thanks for the great recipe!
This was very easy to prepare and I got rave reviews from the entire family! The only change I made was to put the onion in a blender, sounds funny but my boyfriend doesn't like the texture of onions. It made for a nice, smooth meatball. We'll be making this again!
The good news is the kids loved it. However, the meal was extremely bland. My wife and I had to add lots of salt and pepper to make the meal palatable to our tastes. Definitely agree that the recipe calls for too much evaporated milk. I cut down the amount of milk from 6 cans down to 3 and it was STILL too much!!!! Next time my kids ask for swedish meatballs, I'll go to my freezer and pull out a box - they taste better and are much easier to prepare!
My kids LOVE the Swedish meatballs at IKEA, just didn't want to make the drive out there. Was afraid of making the meatballs but bought frozen SWEDISH meatballs at our Ralph's grocery store (owned by Krogers). Was worried about the evaporated milk, but this recipe was SOOO Super easy! I served it with cheesy banquet potatoes. Will put this in my "MOST FAV RECIPES" category! Thank you!
My family loved them. I mix these with egg noodles and I freeze them in little containers for my toddlers. I pull them out when I'm in a pinch.
I used frozen meatballs and Jimmy's suggestions in his review and this is now a family favorite!
Easy & fast for those nights when you don't know what you are going to fix. I usually only use 2 cans of cream of mushroom. Also didn't have cream of wheat so I used crushed cornflakes.
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