Grandma Katie’s Swedish Meatballs

Submitted by Mom2Rose

"Adaption Note: Ground pork wasn’t used as a part of the original recipe and cracker crumbs were used to coat the meatballs instead. Servings Note - 26 servings based on approximately 5 meatballs per person."

 

• Ready In: 3hrs
• Ingredients: 11
• Yields: 11 dozen
• Serves: 26

ingredients

• 5 1⁄2 lbs lean ground chuck
• 2 lbs ground pork
• 2 lbs bacon, fried crisp & finely crumbled (reserve the drippings)
• 2 cups finely diced green peppers
• 2 cups finely diced celery
• 5 large onions, finely diced
• 1 (24 ounce) container plain breadcrumbs
• 6 (14 1/2 ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup
• 4 (14 1/2 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
• 2 (32 ounce) containers beef broth

• Optional

• mushroom, sliced and slightly browned (optional)

directions

1. Mix the meats thoroughly together.
2. Add in all the diced vegetables mixing well.
3. Salt and pepper to your family's tastes.
4. Add bread crumbs until the mixture is very slightly sticky to the hand/fingers.
5. Heat up the leftover bacon drippings over medium heat.
6. Roll the meat mixture into golf ball size meatballs then roll them in plain bread crumbs.
7. Place them in the bacon drippings, browning all sides.
8. When completely browned, place on a paper towel to drain and cool.
9. At this point, you can use a slow cooker or a roasting pan.
10. Fill the pan with the soups and the beef broth, whisking to mix thoroughly and get rid of any clumps.
11. Add mushrooms if desired.
12. Add all the meatballs and heat thoroughly.

Reviews

[Chef on the coast]

One word....COMFORT! We all really enjoyed these over rice the other night for dinner. A real winner! I did cut down the recipe size for a family of 6. Followed the recipe except omitted green peppers as I didn't have any so doubled the celery. One other note - I cook my bacon in the oven on a cookie sheet. So...instead of frying the meatballs in the bacon fat - I drained most of the bacon fat off the cookie sheet and placed the raw meatballs on it. I baked them at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Then I put them in the crockpot. Thanks for sharing! I think this is my new favorite Swedish Meatball recipe! Made for the October 2009 Aussie/NZ recipe swap.