Swedish Cardamom Meatballs
- Ready In:
- 1hr 20mins
- Ingredients:
- 23
- Serves:
-
12
ingredients
- 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
- 1⁄2 cup milk (I use buttermilk)
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 3 eggs
- salt & pepper (to taste)
- 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
- 1 1⁄2 cups yellow onions, finely chopped (divided use)
- 1⁄2 cup butter (divided use)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons gravy mix
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 -4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1⁄4 cup water
-
Optional Lingonberry sauce
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1⁄2 cups chicken broth
- 3⁄4 cup sour cream
- 1⁄4 cup lingonberry preserves or 1/4 cup lingonberry jam
directions
- Soak bread crumbs in milk or buttermilk in large mixing bowl for 5 minutes. Add meat, eggs, salt & pepper, cardamom and 1 cup chopped onion. Mix well and roll into 1-1/2" meatballs. It helps to wet your hands as you roll.
- Saute meatballs in 1/4 cup butter approximately 20 minutes. Remove browned meatballs and set aside.
- In same skillet, saute 1/2 cup chopped onion with 1/4 cup butter, sugar and pepper unti caramelized, about 10 minumtes.
- Add beef broth to onion & sugar mixture, scraping up any browned bits from the pan. Briefly cook over high heat.
- Add cream, gravy maker and all other spices and bring to a simmer.
- Make a slurry of the cornstarch & water and whisk the slurry into the mixture to thicken.
- If you're going to serve the meatballs right away, add them to the sauce and simmer another 20-30 minutes. Otherwise, cool and refrigerate sauce & meatballs, either together or separately. (I do this separately, as I often freeze the meatballs without the sauce.).
- Combine all ingredients for the lingonberry sauce and mix well.
- Serve meatballs in a chafing dish with sauce and lingonberry sauce on the side as a dip.
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Reviews
-
Totally awesome meatballs which are more Swedish than any I've had even in Sweden, with lots of cardamom and other spices regularly used in Scandinavian cooking. I think the secret is that the spices have been used more generously than traditionally, which is great. <br/>Only changes I made is I used only half the butter, light cream and used flour for thickening instead of corn starch. I did not have gravy mix so didn't bother with that. Oh, and I left the lingonberry jam as it is, serving it on the side, as traditionally. Cranberry sauce would do just as well, as cranberries are like lingonberries, just bigger.<br/>The best Swedish meatballs and gravy ever! Must be served with mashed potatoes.
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