Paleo Swedish Meatballs | Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes - Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes (2024)

Paleo Swedish Meatballs

After a couple of thunder and hail storms, it has finally cooled off here. We escaped to Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday, and I found myself wishing for a sweater and a mug of hot coffee. We were lucky enough to get up close and personal with an Elk! There are pictures at the bottom of this post but for now, these cooler temperatures mean that I am finally in the mood to talk about warm food again! As promised, this post is about Paleo Swedish Meatballs.When you Google the origins of Swedish Meatballs, you don't find much in the way of answers. What you do find is a lot of people talking about IKEA, and how they've discovered the furniture store's famous recipe. In truth, I've never stepped foot into an IKEA, and so when I hear this I furrow my brow and wonder how a furniture store ended up so famous for beef and gravy. Anyone with me?Since I haven't been to IKEA, I guess I can't really judge. My own memories of Swedish Meatballs don't make much more sense anyways (they include a lot of Costco and have nothing to do with Sweden). This is why I found myself searching for answers. Why are they Swedish? While I consider myself a perfectly competent search-engine-maneuverer, I can't say I came back with many answers. It does seem that in some parts of Sweden, some meatballs are served in gravy. Unlike French Fries, maybe Swedish Meatballs do have an origin-appropriate name. I never really got to the bottom of the issue, because at that point I just gave in and decided it was time to eat. Maybe that's what French Fries and Swedish Meatballs have in common: they're just too dang delicious for anyone to really care what they're named.Serve them over a pile of mash potatoes or on toothpicks as an appetizer. Swedish or not, there's something about gravy that just hits the spot.

15 minutes

15 minutes

Difficulty

  • Paleo Swedish Meatballs | Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes - Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes (1)Add to myKitchen

by forageddish

View other recipes by forageddish

Serves: 5

Serves: 5

Ingredients

  • 1 lb 1 lb 1 lb Ground BeefPaleo Swedish Meatballs | Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes - Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes (4)
  • 0.25 whole 0.25 whole 0.25 whole Onion, mincedPaleo Swedish Meatballs | Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes - Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes (5)
  • 2 Tbsp 2 Tbsp 2 Tbsp Parsley, Flat Leaf, minced (plus one bunch of leaves for garnish)Paleo Swedish Meatballs | Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes - Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes (6)
  • 1 clove 1 clove 1 clove Garlic, minced
  • 0.5 tsp 0.5 tsp 0.5 tsp Fennel Seed, groundPaleo Swedish Meatballs | Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes - Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes (7)
  • 0.5 tsp 0.5 tsp 0.5 tsp Sea Salt, divided (for the meatballs, plus 1 pinch for the sauce) Paleo Swedish Meatballs | Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes - Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes (8)
  • 0.25 tsp 0.25 tsp 0.25 tsp Black Peppercorns, Ground Fresh, divided (for the meatballs, plus one pinch for the sauce)Paleo Swedish Meatballs | Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes - Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes (9)
  • 0.25 tsp 0.25 tsp 0.25 tsp Mace, (nutmeg) ground
  • 2 cup 2 cup 2 cup Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 cup 2 cup 2 cup Bone Broth (click for recipe)
  • 2 Tbsp 2 Tbsp 2 Tbsp Arrowroot FlourPaleo Swedish Meatballs | Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes - Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes (10)
  • 1 Tbsp 1 Tbsp 1 Tbsp Water, cold
  • 1 cup 1 cup 1 cup Almond Milk, (or other dairy alternative)Paleo Swedish Meatballs | Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes - Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes (11)

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

  1. 1. Place the first five ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl. Grind the spices, and add them to the meat mixture. Thoroughly mix the meat until all of the ingredients are combined.
  2. 2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Form 1-inch balls with the meat mixture, placing them in the hot skillet. (I did this in two batches). Cook the meatballs until they are a deep brown on the bottom, and turn them, cooking the opposite side until brown. Remove cooked meatballs from skillet and set aside.
  3. For gravy: 1. Using the same skillet that had the meatballs (the meatball drippings should still be in the skillet), sautee the mushrooms.
  4. 2. Once the mushroom have a nice sear, turn the heat to medium and pour the broth into the pan. Scrape the pan to get the flavor of the meatballs incorporated into the gravy. The broth should begin to simmer.
  5. 3. In a small bowl, whisk the arrowroot powder into 1 tablespoon cold water. Add the mixture to the skillet. Pour in the almond milk, and add the salt and pepper. Allow the gravy to simmer for at least 5 more minutes, until it begins to thicken. Add the meatballs back in. Cook for 1-2 more minutes, coaking each meatball in gravy.
  6. 4. Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot. Great on their own as an appetizer but a good main dish when served also good over mash sweet potatoes, cauliflower mashers, and/or simple steamed kale.
  7. Yields 25 small meatballs, roughly one skillet.

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About This Recipe

CoconutFree DairyFree EggFree Meat NightshadeFree ShellfishFree SugarFree Whole30

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Paleo Swedish Meatballs | Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes - Primal Palate | Paleo Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between meatballs and Swedish meatballs? ›

Swedish meatballs are slightly smaller than traditional meatballs — think the size of a golf ball — so that they can be easily picked up by a toothpick and popped into your mouth.

Where did the recipe for Swedish meatballs come from? ›

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.

What is unique about Swedish meatballs? ›

If you're wondering what's so special about Swedish Meatballs, or what they taste like, close your eyes and imagine this: incredibly soft meatballs, made extra juicy by using a combination of both pork and beef and soaked bread instead of breadcrumbs, lightly spiced with just a touch of nutmeg and all spice that gives ...

What is the sauce for Swedish meatballs made from? ›

Whisk together stock, cream, flour, soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon rosemary in a large saucepan over low heat until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in thawed meatballs, and continue cooking until meatballs are heated through, about 5 more minutes.

What are traditional Swedish meatballs made of? ›

If you like to do OAMC cooking, these freeze beautifully, in fact, I never make less than 100 meatballs at a time, lightly brown them, then flash freeze to finish later. The traditional recipe calls for a mix of beef, pork, and veal- if you object to veal, they work equally well with an even mix of beef and pork.

What is the difference between Italian and Swedish meatballs? ›

No, they're basically the same things, with a different sauce. Italian meatballs are flavored with garlic and parmesan cheese, Swedish with onion and nutmeg. The first gets tomato sauce, the latter beef gravy. Just choose the one you prefer, they're both tasty.

Why do Swedish meatballs taste so good? ›

The Seasoning

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.

Are Swedish meatballs the same as Italian meatballs? ›

Italian Meatballs vs Swedish Meatballs: Swedish Meatballs are typically smaller in size than Italian meatballs and they are usually made with a 50-50 ratio of ground pork and ground beef.

What is the Swedish meatball scandal? ›

Czech authorities alerted the discount furniture maker that they had found horsemeat in a sample of meatballs, and Ikea subsequently pulled the product from stores in 14 countries.

Why are my Swedish meatballs falling apart? ›

ANSWER: Usually when meatballs fall apart, it's the binder that is the problem. Most meatball recipes call for using bread crumbs and eggs. But too much bread crumbs make them too loose, and not enough bread crumbs won't help them hold together either.

How do you keep Swedish meatballs from falling apart? ›

Roll your meatballs in flour

Roll the finished meatballs in plain flour before frying. This is, hands down, one of the easiest ways I've discovered to prevent meatballs from falling apart when cooking.

Why are some meatballs called Swedish meatballs? ›

However, the modern version of Swedish meatballs that we know and love today is likely the result of influences from other cuisines, such as Turkish and French. The Swedish meatballs that we know today were popularized in the mid-20th century by the Swedish furniture company IKEA.

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.

Do Swedish meatballs taste different? ›

These meatballs tend to be a bit smaller in size and are more savory than their Italian counterpart. They are seasoned with aromatic allspice that balances out the rich flavor of the white, gravy-like sauce they're served in.

Why are they called Swedish meatballs? ›

With Swedish meatballs, the meatballs are usually made beef or pork (or both!) and smothered in a rich and creamy gravy. Sweden made this dish famous, but it was actually adapted from a recipe brought back from Turkey in the early 18th century by King Charles XII of Sweden.

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