Old-School Swedish Meatballs

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 350º F (175º C).

Step 2

Place the bread and cream in a small bowl, mix, and let stand about 10 minutes until absorbed.

Step 3

Melt the teaspoon of butter in a large, shallow skillet and cook the onion for approximately 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer browned onion to a large mixing bowl and add the meats, brown sugar, salt, spices, and egg, then mix until nearly combined. Add the moistened bread and mix gently until combined.

Step 4

Melt the tablespoon of butter in the skillet over medium heat. Form meatball mixture into 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized balls and cook in batches until the outsides are evenly browned, approximately 5 minutes. The meatballs will still be pink inside. Transfer to a baking dish when browned and add more butter to the skillet as needed to cook all of the batches of meatballs.

Step 5

Pour 1/4 cup of broth into the baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for 40 minutes, until the meatballs are fully cooked and tender.

Step 6

Transfer meatballs to a serving dish and pour gravy over (recipe follows).

Step 7

After making the Swedish meatballs, transfer their drippings to a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook until light gold in color, then slowly pour in broth or stock while whisking constantly.

Step 8

Simmer the gravy until thick, about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Step 9

Just before serving the meatballs, stir in the sour cream.

Step 10

Note: If you are not serving all of the meatballs at once, reserve gravy before adding sour cream. Reheat the meatballs and gravy separately and combine the sour cream with the gravy after heating to prevent the sauce from breaking as it is heated.