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Ikea's Iconic Swedish Meatballs
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5 from 2 votes

Ikea's Iconic Swedish Meatballs

Ikea's Swedish Meatballs are legendary. Up until a few days ago, the recipe was a carefully guarded secret. However, like several other organizations responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ikea released the recipe for its iconic meatballs so that fans could enjoy them at home. I tried my hand at making the Swedish Meatballs, scaled to US measurements. Here's what I learned!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Resting/Cooling Time2 hours
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Swedish
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 453kcal

Ingredients

Ikea Meatballs

  • 1 pound (16 ounces) ground beef (See Tip 1)
  • ½ pound (8 ounces) ground pork (See Tip 2)
  • 1 cup chopped onion (1 medium onion)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ¾ cup (3.2 ounces) dried breadcrumbs
  • 1 large egg
  • 5 Tablespoons (2.5 ounces) milk
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt (See Tip 3)
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Cream Sauce

  • 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (4 ounces) vegetable broth (See Tip 4)
  • ½ cup (4 ounces) beef broth (See Tip 4)
  • ½ cup (4 ounces) heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce (See Tip 5)
  • Salt and pepper to taste (See Tip 6)

Instructions

Meatballs

  • Add ground beef and ground pork to a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 10 seconds or until combined. Add remaining meatball ingredients. Process for 20 seconds or until combined.
  • Take a small amount of meatball mixture; microwave for 20 seconds or until done. Taste for seasonings. Correct if necessary.
  • Form mixture into golf-ball-sized meatballs. Refrigerate for 2 hours. (See Tip 7)
  • Heat oven to 350°F
  • Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add 9 to 10 meatballs; brown on all sides. Remove from pan; drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining meatballs. Place browned meatballs in an ovenproof dish. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 30 minutes.
  • Yield: 28 meatballs.

Cream Sauce

  • Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of flour; stir for two minutes.
  • Whisk in vegetable broth and beef broth until bubbly and thickened. Whisk in cream, mustard, and soy sauce until smooth and bubbly.
  • Yield: 1 ¾ cups of Cream Sauce.

Video

Notes

  1. I used 90% lean ground beef.
  2. I actually used the food processor to "grind" the pork. To do this, I put 2-inch chunks of Boston butt in the food processor fitted with a steel blade and processed it for 10 seconds. The result - perfectly ground pork!
  3. If you use regular table salt in place of Kosher salt, reduce the amount to 1 ¼ teaspoons.
  4. You can use chicken broth in place of vegetable broth and/or beef broth.
  5. I used low-sodium soy sauce. If you use regular soy sauce, the salt content might be all right. I would suggest that you taste the sauce to see if more salt is needed.
  6. I added ¼ teaspoon of Kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
  7. I used a 1 ¾-inch ice cream scoop to initially form the meatballs. Then I rolled them between my palms to round them off.

Nutrition

Calories: 453kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 151mg | Sodium: 996mg | Potassium: 470mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 573IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 79mg | Iron: 3mg