Swedish Meatballs Köttbullar: Beef Recipe with Lingonberry Sauce

Name: Swedish Meatballs Köttbullar: Beef Recipe with Lingonberry Sauce
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Beef 400 g; Stale white bread loaf 1 slice; Cream 100 ml (any fat content, real dairy cream); Onion 1; Egg 1; Salt, white pepper, nutmeg to taste; White breadcrumbs or dry breadcrumbs a little, if the mince is too runny; Butter 30 g; Vegetable oil 2 tbsp; Lingonberries 100 g; Sugar to taste; Mashed potatoes for serving

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60 mins

The word “meatball” (frikadelle) most likely comes from the Italian “frittatella”, meaning fried. These are small balls of ground meat or fish, about the size of a walnut. Usually the mixture includes onion, fresh herbs and, of course, spices.

Most often, when people say meatballs they mean Swedish meatballs, Köttbullar. It is pronounced roughly “kott-boo-lar”, although the Swedes say something closer to “shett-bull-ar”. It is a traditional Swedish meat dish.

Swedes say meatballs should be cooked with love. There are a great many recipes, usually called “mom’s meatballs”, and for Swedes it is a whole philosophy. People argue about whether to put raw onion into the mince or fry it first, whether to cook the meatballs in sauce or simply fry them, and so on. Traditionally they are made without a sauce and served with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce made by mashing the berries with sugar.

The meat for traditional cooking varies quite a bit too. Beef is preferred, though a mix of beef and pork is not unusual. A very important ingredient is breadcrumbs or dry bread soaked in cream.

Kids especially love meatballs. Probably the famous hero of a Swedish children’s story, Karlsson-on-the-Roof, played no small part in that. Wonderfully tasty, fragrant meatballs fried in butter and served with tart lingonberry sauce are well worth trying. Let’s make Swedish meatballs the classic way, with no inventions and nothing extra. The recipe is simple.

12 ingredientsTo the recipe

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Ingredients

2 servings

For the meatballs
Beef 400 g
Stale white bread loaf 1 slice
Cream 100 ml (any fat content, real dairy cream)
Onion 1
Egg 1
Salt, white pepper, nutmeg to taste
White breadcrumbs or dry breadcrumbs a little, if the mince is too runny
For frying
Butter 30 g
Vegetable oil 2 tbsp
For the sauce and serving
Lingonberries 100 g
Sugar to taste
Mashed potatoes for serving

Step-by-step recipe

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The mince

The beef should be fresh, preferably not frozen, with a little fat on it; the cut sold as “goulash” beef is ideal.
Carefully remove all bones, membranes and tendons from the beef.
Grind the beef through a meat grinder, twice if you like, so the mince is more uniform and tender.
Soak a piece of stale white bread in cream until it is completely soft. Keep 2–3 tbsp of the cream for the mince.
Grind the bread through the meat grinder too and mix it into the mince.
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Fry the onion in butter over medium heat until soft, then let it cool slightly.
Add the egg, salt, white pepper and nutmeg to the mince to taste. Add the fried onion.
Mix the mince well. I recommend adding a little cream, literally 2–3 tbsp. If the mince is too runny, add a little white breadcrumbs or dry breadcrumbs. The mince should be soft but firm.

Shaping and frying

Next comes an important stage: shaping. In Sweden a special tool that looks like two spoons put together is used for this. But you can shape the meatballs by hand.
Keep a wet plate nearby, roll walnut-sized balls with wet hands and place them on the wet plate.
Pour the vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat it.
Add the meatballs. Fry over medium heat for a few minutes, then turn them over with a fork.
Once a crust has formed, you can simply stir the meatballs with a spatula. Fry until done, at least 15 minutes – the mince inside should no longer be pink.

Sauce and serving

Pick over the lingonberries, discarding any damaged ones.
Combine the lingonberries with sugar and blend to a puree.
Put the cooked meatballs on top of mashed potatoes and add the lingonberry sauce. It is better to serve the sauce in a separate small bowl rather than pour it over the dish.
Eat the meatballs while they are hot.

Calories and macros

855 kcal

Serving ≈ 280 g

Protein47 g22% of kcal
Fat67 g72% of kcal
Carbs13 g6% of kcal

100 g308 kcalProtein 16.9 gFat 24.3 gCarbs 4.6 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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