Allow me to explain the name of this recipe. I call them my ‘Almost mum’s Swedish meatballs’, because no matter how much I try, they never taste as good as my mum’s. Is the secret ingredient love? Perhaps.
When I visit my parents, I will always ask her to make them. There’s nothing like my mum’s meatballs to make me feel at home.
Of course no matter how hard I try, mine will never be as good as hers. So, rather than keep banging my head against the frying pan, I have taken my mum’s recipe and made it my own.
In my version, I have added garlic and I am working on several further variations of this recipe too. So stay tuned and you might find something that inspires you. For big batch cooking for the freezer, I have opted to cook my Swedish meatballs in the oven rather than in a frying pan. This will allow me to cook more meatballs at the same time in the same batch. Once frozen I take out as many as I need, give them a quick turn in the frying pan to give them a golden brown coating. Cooking the meatballs in the oven, will help them keeping a rounder shape, without having to use too many additives.
Freezable
I freeze the meatballs flat, straight on a cookie sheet, and once frozen I put them in bags or an airtight container. This will stop them from freezing together in one big lump. That way I can defrost, just as many as I need.
You could also freeze the meatballs raw, using the same procedure as above. However, it will take longer to cook them from frozen, rather than giving them a quick stir in a frying pan.
Variation
If you want to try another variation, there is always my Fragrant Moroccan meatballs I use to make my Spicy Moroccan Shakshuka. Or why not try my Mediterranean meatballs, with black olives, sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese.
Almost mum’s Swedish meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 200 ml milk
- 40 g bread crumbs
- 500 g mince meat
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
Instructions
- Take mince meat out of the fridge and let come close to room temperature.
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
- Mix onion, garlic, milk and breadcrumbs in a bowl and let sit for at least 5 minutes.
- Once the mixture has come together in to a sludge add the mince, egg, salt and pepper.
- Stir it all together. I will do it using my hands but feel free to use a spoon, just make sure that everything comes together in a smooth batter.
- Wet your hands with cold water and roll the mince batter into round meatballs. Place on a cooking tray, space apart.
- Oven cook for 10 mins in the middle of the oven 180 degrees C fan (360F).
- If using a frying pan, add some butter in the bottom of the pan and fry the meatballs on all sides until golden in colour.