Kottbullar (Swedish Meatballs)
Kottbullar are quick and easy to make! Ikea style juicy beef and pork meatballs smothered in a rich creamy gravy sauce.
Servings: 4
Calories: 416kcal
Equipment
- 1 Large mixing bowl to combine the meatball mixture
- 1 Kitchen Tongs
- 1 Large fry pan
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 2 Paper towel
Ingredients
- 2 slices white bread crusts removed, cut into 9 small pieces per slice
- ½ cup grated onion skin peeled
- 2 teaspoon milk
- 500 grams/ 16 oz beef and pork mince Note 1
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon all spice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 egg free range
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil
Creamy Swedish Gravy
- 50 grams butter unsalted, Note 2
- 5 tbs plain flour Note 3
- 2 cups/500 ml beef stock (beef broth) Note 4
- 1 tbsp/20ml Worcestershire sauce Note 5
- 1 cup/250 ml heavy cream Note 6
To serve (optional):
- mashed potato
- steamed broccolini
- parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Onion: cut the tip off the onion, then peel the skin and discard. Use a hand held grater to grate it. Then measure ½ cup of the grated onion. Discard the rest.
- Bread: add the sliced bread pieces to a medium bowl. Pour the grated onion over the top, then add the milk. Stir to combine then let sit for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Meatballs: add the beef mince, pork mince, nutmeg, all spice, salt, pepper and egg to the wet bread onion mixture. Use clean hands to combine. Then portion a small amount and roll into a meatball. Place the meatball onto a clean chopping board and then repeat until all of the mixture is rolled into balls. Then place them into the fridge for 15 minutes. Note 7
- Cook meatballs: place a large fry pan on the stove, turn the heat to high and add the avocado oil. Use tongs to transfer the meatballs into the pan. Work in batches if required. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes till the meatballs are golden brown and crispy on the outsides. Once cooked remove and place in a bowl lined with paper towel.
- Gravy: without rinsing or cleaning the pan add the butter and let it melt. Turn the heat to medium, then add the flour. Next pour in the beef stock and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to consistently combine. Then pour in the cream.
- Combine: once the sauce is consistently mixed together (it will thicken over time) add the cooked meatballs back to the pan. Then allow them to heat through.
- Serve: spoon mashed potato into bowls, pop some steamed broccolini on the side and then dollop spoonful's of the Kottbullar and gravy on top. Season with black pepper and finely chopped parsley.
Notes
- Note 1 - Beef and pork mince: you will likely be able to get this from your local grocery store sold as a 500 gram, 16 oz, combination of ground beef and ground pork mince. The alternative if you cannot find it is to purchase the beef and pork mince separately and then combine.
- Note 2 - Butter: unsalted is best. A soft French butter if you can find it. This style tends to be super soft and creamy and is excellent to use in cooking. As well as being reasonably inexpensive.
- Note 3 - Plain flour: this is regular all purpose flour. We don't need to sift it. However, you can take that step if you are worried about getting lumps in the sauce. You can also choose to not sift, but then whisk as a means to remove any lumps.
- Note 4 - Beef broth: also known as beef stock. This gets combined with the other ingredients to help make the creamy saucy gravy.
- Note 5 - Worcestershire sauce: this gives the sauce a little oomph to it. I also like to use it as it contains garlic powder and onion powder as ingredients which saves adding an additional 2 ingredients to the shopping list.
- Note 6 - Cream: this is cooking cream, also known as pouring cream, whipping cream or heavy cream. It has a thick consistency but not as thick as cream that you dollop.
- Note 7 - Refrigerate the meatballs: the meatball mixture becomes slighter wetter than it would be if we were using regular or panko breadcrumbs. For this reason, we take the step of placing them into the fridge. This helps dry them out a tiny bit. We can also use this time to peel and cook our mashed potatoes. As well as preparing the broccolini (if choosing to serve with the meatballs).
Nutrition
Calories: 416kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 146mg | Sodium: 389mg | Potassium: 505mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 382IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 4mg