Bake these easy Swedish meatballs in the oven. Make the gravy in the same pan. Delicious is easy.
If you love the delicious comfort of Swedish meatballs — a browned meat exterior, soft-seasoned middle, all mixed into a creamy slide of gravy — but hate the process to make them, you want this easier meatball recipe. The meatballs and the gravy are made in the oven and it’s ready in less than an hour.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Making Swedish Meatballs Easier
I don’t love all the steps in making these meatballs the classic way. You have to season the meat, form the meatballs, fry them in batches, and then make the gravy (here’s a version like that). It would be easier to just drive to IKEA.
I’ve eliminated the trouble in my version of Swedish meatballs.
You still have to season the meat and roll all the balls. But you toss them onto a large pan and put it into a hot oven to cook. The gravy ingredients are later added to that pan then the gravy’s made in the oven too. It’s easier than assembling a bookshelf, that’s for sure.
Meatballs are almost universally loved. You can dress them up or down. Find more great meatball varieties on our sister site, TheCookful.
More Comfort Food Recipes
If you want more cozy meals that don’t require tons of effort, try these favorites!
Podcast Episode: Making Swedish Meatballs
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make these meatballs, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
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Oven-Baked Swedish Meatballs Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 40 meatballs 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Swedish
DESCRIPTION
Bake these easy Swedish meatballs in the oven. Make the gravy in the same pan. Delicious is easy.
Ingredients
- Baking spray
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1 lb. lean ground pork
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 and 1/4 tsp. salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp. coarse black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. allspice
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 3 cups low-sodium beef stock
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Spray a large rimmed pan with baking spray. Put 1/4 cup of the flour on a plate.
- In a small bowl combine the breadcrumbs and the milk. Into a large bowl put the ground beef, ground pork, egg, black pepper, 1 teaspoon of the salt, allspice, and nutmeg. Add the breadcrumb and milk mixture. Stir it together but don’t overdo it. Too much mixing makes the meatballs tough.
- Roll the meat mixture into balls with a 1 to 1 and 1/4 inch diameter in size. Each one will weigh under an ounce, if you want to weigh them to get a sense of the size. You’ll end up with about 40 meatballs.
- After rolling each ball, drop it onto the plate of flour and roll it gently so that it gets a light coating of flour. Put the floured balls in a single layer on the oiled pan. Spray each ball with baking spray.
- Bake until they’re very brown on the bottom, 20-25 minutes. Use a meta spatula to scrape from under and flip the meatballs. Cook for 5 minutes more.
- While the meatballs cook, put the remaining 1/4 cup of flour into a jar that has a tight-fitting lid. Add the beef broth, put on the lid and shake it well, tilting it from side to side to dislodge any flour from the bottom and really get it mixed into the broth. Take off the lid and add the whipping cream and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Shake again.
- Drain fat from the meatball pan, if any. Pour broth mixture all at once onto the hot pan of meatballs. Put it back into the oven and cook until bubbling at the edges, about 5 minutes. Stir.
- Cook until thick and hot, 4-5 minutes more. Transfer to a serving bowl.
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This post originally appeared in February 2015 and was revised and republished in May 2024.
Served for Smörgåsbord and everyone said the meatballs were as good as great-grandmother’s recipe!
Laurie, That is so wonderful to hear! I’m delighted to know that you all enjoyed them so much. And thank you for coming back to let me know :)
I didn’t mix the flour in the jar with the broth, I just mixed it in the pot and whisked it til it boiled and thickened and I added the cream. Turned out great!
Thanks for letting us know, Christine! :)
I skipped the jar-shaken method, too… just whisked the sauce ingredients together. This recipe is easy and delicious! I also moved them to a crock pot after baking to keep the meatballs warm and tender before serving. Perfect and tasty! Thank you!
Laurie and Christine, this is good to know. I always worry about flour clumping up if added directly to a hot liquid. That’s why I shake it up with cool liquid until smooth first. But maybe I’ll try skipping that next time too!
Still more than I want to do the night before the church supper, waah waah lol
Kathleen, they can be made ahead and then reheated before the supper. I’d recommend making and baking the meatballs without sauce and freezing them like that (lie them flat in a single layer to freeze so they don’t clump together, then defrost in fridge overnight). When you’re ready, put them into a sauce and heat them!
As a substitute for whipping cream, I used 1/4 c. of yogurt with two teaspoons of cornstarch. It works! No curdling either.
Sharon, Thanks for the tip. That’s amazing. I can’t wait to try it!
You forgot the onion! They would not taste very good without it! Really! Otherwise very close to my recipe!