Odd food question from an English person...

HI from the UK, I hope you don't mind me posting my little question here as it's not Star Wars related but...

We are looking for an authentic Swedish meatball recipe and wondered if you could help us out please!

We're after something along the lines of Meatballs with Lingonberry sauce but really just need the ingredients for the actual meatballs and although there's lots of so-called authentic recipes on the internet I'm not sure how to tell one from the other and would be grateful of a recipe straight from the source.

Many thanks in advance

 

Well... I guess there are about as many recipes for Swedish meatballs as there are people making them in Sweden...

But here's a recipe from Rutiga Kokboken, one of the most widespread cookbooks in Sweden.

For 4 people

Breadcrumbs 4 tablespoon
Water 2 dl
Salt ½-1 teaspoon
Pepper
Minced meat 400 grams
Egg 1

Mix the breadcrumbs and the water, add salt and a little bit of pepper, and let soak for about 10 minutes.
Add the minced meat and the egg. Stir until the mixture is well mixed, but not for too long or the meatballs might get a bit tough.
Roll balls from the mixture and fry in plenty of butter in a pan until nicely browned.

Traditionally served with a brown sauce.

Brown sauce:
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
4 dl of dark stock mixed with some of the gravy you get when you pour water in the pan after frying the meatballs
salt, pepper, soy sauce
(cream)

Melt the butter in a pan and let it fry until golden brown. Add the flour, stir. Add the liquids, season with salt, pepper and some soy sauce if you wish. Stir stir stir. Let cook for 5 minutes or so, while stirring. You can add some cream towards the end too to get a richer sauce.

Serve with boiled potatoes and lingonberry jam.

Now, you can change this recipe around a bit if you wish to, personally I use rolled oats instead of breadcrumbs (I'm used to it since my mom's allergic to gluten), in which case you also need to add a little bit of starch of some kind, or the meatballs will fall apart. Also, I like to add some onion into the mixture. Just finely chop, or even better, grate, the onion and add together with the meat. About a tablespoon of grated onion is enough for most people, although I add more because I like onion.

Anyway, good luck! (Oh, and I used the measurements we use in Sweden, because I'm very lazy and didn't feel like converting them. I'm sure you can do that yourself, there's several places online where you can check if you're having problems.)

 

Hi Enji

Thanks for that that's brilliant, we like trying foods from different countries but sadly the Americans seem to want to take them, change them and then call them Authentic which is a bit off-putting when you want what you'd get in a particular country if you see what I mean... the English do it too, mostly with Indian foods though.

No problem with the weight conversion it's the basics I was after... thanks again!!

 

My mom also puts mustard and chopped or minced onions in the batter. She often lets them boil or steam after they have been fried, which cooks them evenly throughout while keeping them juicy inside. Sometimes they are cooked in the oven, sometimes in a frying pan and then moved over to a deep cast-iron pan with a lid.
As Enji said, there are many recipes.
Swedish mustard is strong and sweet, without any vinegar.

Myself, I am a vegetarian, and I sometimes eat vegetarian meatballs, especially at Christmas. I buy ready-made balls made from soy-protein. If you want to make veggie meatballs yourself, you could replace the meat with frozen, thawed, minced tofu and an extra egg. Freezing tofu gives it texture. Splash some soy sauce into the batter to get a nicer color. I often use a similiar recipe to make veggie burgers.

Edit: Edited recipe after talking to my mom.