This recipe for Swedish Meatball Sauce is quick and easy and perfect to make with frozen meatballs for Swedish meatballs without the trip to Ikea!
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We used frozen Swedish meatballs from the grocery store freezer section and our easy homemade Swedish meatball sauce recipe. The sauce is a beautifully rich and creamy one and sure to be a hit. It only has a few simple ingredients. You can make the best Swedish meatballs at home, anytime you want to without a trip to Ikea.
Why We Love This Recipe
- Enjoy Swedish meatballs at home without the trip to Ikea!
- These are quick and easy to make with frozen meatballs.
- The sauce is creamy and the perfect gravy to enjoy with the meatballs and potatoes.
- This recipe only has a few simple ingredients.
We served our Swedish meatballs as part of our Frozen themed dinner and movie night -you can read all about it here. They were the perfect Scandinavian food to go with our theme. Love Scandinavian food? You might also like our Midsummer Swedish inspired picnic.
This dinner was a real hit with everyone. These are very similar to Ikea meatballs, so next time you're craving the Ikea version, you can make this easy recipe at home. Serve them up with oven roasted carrots or zucchini pancakes as perfect side dishes.
Ingredients
See the recipe card below for exact measurements.
- Frozen Meatballs: We used frozen meatballs to make this a really easy recipe. Choose your favorite, Italian meatballs, or Swedish meatballs from the freezer section. The frozen meatballs cook directly from frozen in the oven in a single layer on a baking sheet, making this a quite easy dish. We chose to reheat our frozen meatballs in the oven, and then add them to our finished creamy sauce in the sauce pan. You could make your own homemade Swedish meatballs if you prefer. Make sure your homemade meatballs are fully cooked before adding to them to the Swedish meatball sauce.
- Heavy Cream: The heavy cream (whipping cream) in this recipe adds a richness and creaminess to the sauce. Do take care to prevent your cream from curdling in the sauce, which can happen when the heat is too high and the proteins and fats to separate.
- Dijion Mustard: Adds great depth and flavor to the sauce. We used grainy Dijon, but regular Dijion is a great choice too.
Not A Great Slow Cooker Recipe
You might be wondering about making a slow cooker version of this recipe. Sometimes it's great to know that dinner is cooking itself in the slow cooker, especially on a busy day. These are not a great slow cooker choice, for several reasons. For one, you would essentially be making the thickened sauce on the stove top and going through all the same steps, but just in advance, to create a thick traditional sauce, and then pouring it into the slow cooker.
So that makes the slow cooker version no savings on prep or cooking times. Some slow cooker Swedish meatball recipes don't really thicken the sauce and come out with something far too runny and not the best sauce. The other problem is the high chance of the cream curdling if you add it at the beginning or things not being hot or creamy enough if you add it just at the end before serving. It's best to make the easy Swedish meatball sauce on the stove top, right before serving over your flavorful meatballs.
Instructions
Expert Tip
The sauce itself has a roux base, which thickens the sauce to create the creamy gravy sauce. When you are creating the roux you let the roux base brown. If you don't let it brown enough at this stage the sauce will be too white, but if you let the roux brown too long it can burn and ruin the sauce, so take care to get it to the right shade of golden brown.
- Step 1: Place frozen meatballs on a baking tray and cook in the oven according to the directions on the package.
- Step 2: In a large skillet over medium high heat melt the butter and whisk in the flour to create a roux.
- Step 3: Cook the roux until it becomes brown and smells nutty. Be sure not to undercook the roux or the sauce will be too white, and don't burn it either or the flavor will be ruined.
- Step 4: Add in the beef broth, cream, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer over a low heat, taking care not to boil it after you add the cream.
- Step 5: Add the heated meatballs into the pan, and stir to combine with the sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley. The sauce will continue to thicken slightly as it sits.
Storage
Place any leftover meatballs and sauce in an airtight container. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes make it and serve with homemade or frozen meatballs.
Do not boil your sauce after you've added the cream. The heavy cream can split if the heat is too high and the proteins and fats separate.
If you don't cook the roux long enough, until it's a dark brown color the finished sauce will be too white and pale and lack depth of flavor.
If you try this Swedish Meatball Sauce Recipe or any other recipe on my blog please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting today!
Recipe
Recipe for Swedish Meatball Sauce
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup butter
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon dijion mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Place frozen meatballs on a baking tray and cook in the oven according to the directions on the package.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat melt the butter and whisk in the flour to create a roux. Cook the roux until it becomes brown and smells nutty.
- Add in the beef broth, cream, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer over a low heat, taking care not to boil it after you add the cream.
- Add the heated meatballs into the pan, and stir to combine with the sauce. The sauce will thicken slightly more as it sits. Garnish with chopped parsley and enjoy.
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