If you’ve ever dine in the café at IKEA, then you probably have tried the famous Swedish meatballs. They can safely be considered the hallmark of not only the company, but also the country.

Karlsson had stopped his pacing. He was standing motionless, sniffing like a setter.
“Meatballs!” he said. “Tasty little meatballs I like ver-ry much.”

During my journey in Stockholm I have repeatedly looked into scattered around Gamla Stan cafés hoping to try the original version of this dish, but faced with two problems.

First, food prices in Sweden are higher than in Russia. Moreover, they’re even a half times higher than in Moscow (and the prices in Moscow are really very high, especially in restaurants). For instance, Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes cost around 150-170 kr (1000-1200 rubles at the exchange rate in December 2014) in all cafés at Gamla Stan. Second, under the pressure of foreigners in most tourist areas of the city the national Swedish cuisine gradually displacing with Italian pasta and Australian steaks. As a result, I tried a simplified version of köttbullar in a sandwich.

DSC00165

But now it’s time to do some research and to make the meatballs by ourselves.

Print
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar) With Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 3 hours

Yield: 4

Serving Size: 15 meatballs

Ingredients

    For the meatballs:
  • 300g minced beef
  • 300g pork mince
  • 1 medium onion
  • 80 ml of cream
  • 80g breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 1/8 tsp allspice
  • Salt, ground black pepper to taste
  • Vegetable (butter) butter
  • Wheat flour for breading
    • For Cranberry (berry) sauce:
  • 150g cranberries (cranberries, black currants)
  • Water 20 mL
  • Honey 20 gr
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Sugar, taste
    • For the cream sauce:
  • 200 mL chicken broth (water)
  • 100g cream
  • 100g Cranberry (berry) sauce
  • 1-2 tsp of wheat flour

Instructions

  1. We will start with meatballs. Cut onions, fry it in vegetable oil or butter until transparent.
  2. Mix the breadcrumbs with cream and a little beaten egg.
  3. Connect with beef and ground pork, onion and bread mixture.
  4. Add the ground allspice, salt and black pepper. Mix thoroughly by hand. Cover the stuffing with cling film and leave for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. Form the meatballs (about 40 pc., 20 g. each). Place them on a plate so that they do not touch each other. Leave at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.
  5. Roll the meatballs in flour.
  6. Will fry in vegetable oil on all sides about 3-6 minutes (until the color gain). Dry the meatballs on a paper towel and passed on to the plate.
  7. Meatballs are ready. In principle, they can be frozen, and whenever you want to try the Swedish Köttbullar just thaw them and continue to cook :).
  8. Now prepare berry sauce. For this purpose, mix honey with water, boil them and add berries. Cook until thick (about 8-10 minutes).
  9. From berry sauce it's easy to make a sour cream. Boil chicken broth, add flour and cook until light will thickens, stirring constantly. Add sour cream and berry sauce. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  10. To taste add sugar, pepper and salt. Omit the sauce and meatballs will prepare to simmer for 15-20 minutes.
  11. Serve hot with a side dish of boiled potatoes.
http://foodncities.com/swedish-meatballs-recipe/

You can experiment with both berries and with the amount of salt and pepper when cooking sauce. In addition, the finished cream sauce can be ground in a blender and then boil with meatballs. What combination of flavors do you like more?