Swedish Meatballs

By kimvess

Recipes & Menus | recipes

Swedish Meatballs
Smörgås Chef, a restaurant in New York City's West Village, serves these meatballs with jammy lingonberries and whipped potatoes.

6-8 servings

Adapted from Smörgås Chef in New York, NY

Photograph by Christopher Testani

September 2011

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 2 1/3 cups low-salt beef stock, divided
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 cup minced onion
• 2 thick slices bacon, minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 3/4 pound ground pork
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sour cream, whisked

Preparation

Step 1

Mix breadcrumbs and 1/3 cup stock in a small bowl. Set aside. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer onion to a large bowl.

Wipe out pan and return to medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to bowl with onion. (Reserve bacon fat.) Add next 8 ingredients to bowl with onion mixture, mixing with your hands to blend. Fold in breadcrumb mixture. Using a 1 Tbsp. measure, roll meat mixture into balls; transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.

Melt 1 Tbsp. butter with reserved bacon fat in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat. Working in 3 batches and adding 1 Tbsp. butter between batches, brown meatballs on all sides, about 6-8 minutes per batch. Transfer meatballs to a plate. Drain all but 2 Tbsp. drippings from pot. Whisk in flour until smooth paste forms. Stir in 2 cups stock; bring to a simmer, whisking often. Return meatballs to pot. Cover; simmer until meatballs are cooked, 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat, whisk in sour cream, and stir to coat meatballs.