The Best Venison Swedish Meatballs Recipe (2024)

These Venison Swedish meatballs are the best you'll ever eat. Gently warmed with allspice and nutmeg and covered in a heavenly creamy sauce, then served with fluffy mashed potatoes.

This Swedish meatball recipe is beginner home cook friendly, well-seasoned, and totally drool worthy! You will want to make this easy meatball recipe again and again.

Swedish meatballs get their distinctly different flavor from allspice and nutmeg and typically served in a creamy white sauce.

My recipe for Swedish meatballs also has a little garlic but gets its richness from the combination of beef broth and heavy whipping cream, and freshness from the fresh spinach. Serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles for a hearty, comforting weeknight dinner.

SWEDISH MEATBALL INGREDIENTS

To make these Swedish meatballs, start withground venisonandground pork. You’ll also needyellow onion,panko breadcrumbs,eggs,fresh spinach, allspice,nutmeg, kosher salt,black pepper,olive oil,beef broth,all-purpose flour,andheavy whipping cream.

For serving, you’ll also needsome fluffy mashed potatoes or egg noodles(or your other choice of starch).

HOW TO MAKE SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Make the Meatballs: In a large bowl, mix the venison, pork, onion, fresh baby spinach, minced garlic, salt, pepper, allspice, nutmeg, panko and eggs until combined. Then roll the mixture into meatballs about 1 inch in size.

CookMeatballs: Place meatballs in a hot skillet with oil, rotating them with a fork until all sides are browned.

Make the Swedish Meatball Sauce:Melt butter in a skillet and whisk in flour until it gets slightly browned. Gradually whisk in beef broth, stirring constantly until slightly thickened.Add salt, pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Whisk a few more times. Then slowly add the heavy whipping cream.

WHAT DO SWEDISH MEATBALLS TASTE LIKE?

Swedish meatballs are tender and juicy, with the flavor of the allspice and nutmeg in the background, and the freshness of the baby spinach coming through. The gravy sauce is creamy and shiny with a rich consistency.

SWEDISH MEATBALL RECIPE TIPS

If you like the sauce a bit thinner, decrease the amount of flour to only 1/4 cup instead of the 1/2 cup I use for this recipe. Likewise, you can increase it for a thicker sauce. Please note, this recipe yields a substantial amount of sauce and might actually look like it's too much when you're nearing the end. But it’s actually the perfect amount if you plan to serve the meatballs over mashed potatoes, noodles, or rice.

I use a combination of lean venison and pork for an added dimension of fattiness, butyou can also make this recipe entirely with venison if you prefer.

SWEDISH MEATBALLS WITH LINGONBERRIES

Swedish meatballs are traditionally served with lingonberries, but at $15 a jar, I opted to leave it out. But by all means, if you want to serve a jar of lingonberries with these meatballs to impress family, friends, and co-workers GO FOR IT!

MAKE AHEAD AND FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS

To Make Ahead:These venison meatballs can be made ahead of time (cook them until they reach internal temperature of at least 145 degrees F) and kept in the fridge for up to 4 days or freezer for up to 6 months until ready to use.

SWEDISH MEATBALLS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

This time of year, I'm always on the lookout for recipes that bring people together, can be served for different kinds of occasions, and most importantly, taste great. Like my Deer Sausage Balls and my Buffalo Pheasant Dip. I'm a big believer that when you’re gathered around delicious food, like these deliciously moist Swedish meatballs, you can create great memories with family, friends, and co-workers – even amidst the busy and chaotic holiday season.

AN EASY WEEKNIGHT DINNER OR POTLUCK APPETIZER

I've turned this classic Swedish meatball recipe with its warm with wintery spices of allspice and nutmeg into an easy dish that can be served tonight for family dinner, as an appetizer for your next potluck party, or even a special occasion like Christmas day! It's one of my absolute favorite dishes to whip up when my wife is trying to figure out what to bring to a potluck at work. If a co-worker is going to try wild game for the first time, these Venison Swedish meatballs are a great choice.

You can also check out all myvenison recipesfor more inspiration when planning your holiday menu.

If you are headed our way for North Dakota deer season, check out theNorth Dakota Game & Fish Department website. And if you want me to come along with you as your camp cook, photographer, or butcher, you can find out more detailshere.

CONNECT WITH ME AND JOIN OUR WILD GAME COOKING COMMUNITY

If you make thisVenison Swedish Meatballs Recipe, I’d love for you to join our community and connect with me so we can all see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them#wildgameandfish

Did you enjoy this Venison Swedish Meatballs Recipe? Be sure to leave a 5-star rating RIGHT HERE!

The Best Venison Swedish Meatballs Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the sauce for Swedish meatballs made from? ›

The sauce for Swedish Meatballs is a creamy gravy that is made with butter, beef broth/stock, thickened with flour and made creamy with cream. But the most important flavour for the a really good creamy gravy is the pan drippings after searing the meatballs.

How do you keep Swedish meatballs from falling apart? ›

Eggs: Eggs help bind the meatballs together so they don't fall apart. They also help keep the meatballs soft and tender. Bread crumbs: Bread crumbs are almost always used in meatball recipes because they absorb the fat and, along with the eggs, serve as a binder.

What makes a Swedish meatball different? ›

While both varieties include ingredients such as grated onion and panade (milk-soaked bread) or bread crumbs, plus the usual salt and pepper, Swedish meatballs traditionally use spices like allspice, nutmeg, white pepper, and sometimes ground ginger as flavoring.

Do you beat eggs before adding to meatballs? ›

Vincenzo's Top Tips To Make Italian Meatballs

You can whisk the egg separately before adding it to the bowl too if you prefer! The are the best utensil in the kitchen is none other than… Your HANDS! It can definitely massage and combine ingredients really well!

Why is my Swedish meatball sauce not thickening? ›

How to Thicken Swedish Meatball Sauce. The all-purpose flour in this recipe should do the trick to thicken your Swedish meatball sauce to the right consistency. But if it doesn't, you can add a cornstarch slurry (1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons of water) to thicken it up.

What is served with Swedish meatballs? ›

Traditional Swedish way: Do not make the cream sauce at all. Serve meatballs over plain or stewed macaroni, plain or mashed potatoes, and lingenberry jam (optional)

What not to do when making meatballs? ›

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Making Meatballs
  1. Not seasoning the meat.
  2. Not adding any moisture to the meat.
  3. Over-mixing the meat.
  4. Not shaping the meatballs correctly.
  5. Not forming evenly-sized meatballs.
May 1, 2019

What can you use instead of breadcrumbs in Swedish meatballs? ›

I have done them with panko, crusty bread, crushed Ritz crackers, and once a few packages of Cheese sandwich crackers because I didn't have anything else that night. All of them add different characteristics to the end product but all came out good and unique. Try both and see how you like it.

Are homestyle meatballs the same as Swedish meatballs? ›

While they are all balls of meat, the ingredients, the meat mix, the spices (perhaps the biggest difference) and the way they are served and the sauces used for service are very different.

What ethnicity is Swedish meatballs? ›

ikea restaurants made them famous all over the world: Köttbullar, or Swedish meatballs. Sweden has now revealed that the recipe for its iconic dish actually came from Turkey. It was brought to the Scandinavian country by King Charles XII, who lived in exile in the Ottoman Empire in the early 18th-century.

Why do you have to refrigerate meatballs before cooking? ›

Chill your meatballs: refrigerating your meatballs an hour before cooking helps them hold their shape throughout the cooking process. They can chill in the fridge for up to 24 hours before cooking, making meatballs a great make-ahead dish, too.

Can you add too much egg to meatballs? ›

You won't need more than an egg or two per every one to two pounds of meat. If you use too many eggs, you'll wind up with soggy, heavy meatballs. Yet with too little egg, the meatball won't hold its shape and will be on the dry side.

What is IKEA meatball gravy made of? ›

Iconic Swedish cream sauce: Melt 40g of butter in a pan. Whisk in 40g of plain flour and stir for 2 mins. Add 300ml of bouillon (or consommé) and continue to stir. Add 150ml double cream, 2 tsp of soy sauce and 1 tsp of (Dijon) mustard.

Does Swedish meatballs contain sour cream? ›

It's All About the Sauce

Flavored with nutmeg and cardamom, these little beef-and-pork meatballs are best served with a Swedish meatball sauce—a rich roux-based and beef stock gravy, spiked with sour cream and a little lingonberry jelly.

Is bolognese sauce the same as meatball sauce? ›

Meatballs are not a sauce, they are balls of meat. A sauce has to be runny, or at least flowing. Done correctly, a bolognese sauce isn't particularly meaty. The meat is meant to be finely ground and incorporated into a standard spaghetti sauce, and the meat so fine it should stick onto the pasta in little specks.

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