When I was growing up my step-dad used to make what he called his "Famous Swedish Meatballs". He bragged about how everyone loved his meatballs. He always cooked them in massive batches in a big roaster so that he wouldn't run out. I liked them since they were a nice comfort food. I wondered what made them "Swedish" meatballs and figured it must be the sauce...until one day I watched my step-dad make the meatballs and the sauce was nothing more than some cans of cream of mushroom soup. Ha! Must be Swedish mushroom soup.
Although it seemed his recipe couldn't be any farther from Swedish meatballs, I've found that they can be in either a brown gravy made from the pan drippings from frying the meatballs or a cream sauce. I went with a cream sauce for the familiarity of my step-dad's recipe, but with a slightly more sophisticated twist. With a plate of mashed potatoes this definitely a comfort meal.
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Serves 4
1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup beef broth
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp dried dill (or a couple tbsp of fresh dill)
1/2 -1 tsp Dijon
Salt and pepper
2 green onions, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Roll into 1 1/2 inch size balls and place on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until cooked all the way through. (After they have cooked you can let them cool down and place them in a freezer bag in the freezer for a quick meal later on.)
In a large saute pan on medium heat, add flour and butter and cook for a couple minutes to make a roux. Add the beef broth and cook down for about 5 minutes until it creates a nice brown sauce. Turn down the heat and stir in the sour cream, dill, Dijon and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the sauce is heated through. Taste and adjust the seasonings. When the meatballs are done baking, add them to the sour cream dill sauce.
Serve with mashed potatoes, scooping extra sauce over the potatoes and sprinkle with green onions.
Click here for printable version of Swedish Meatballs in Dill Sour Cream Sauce.
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THE RESULTS?
This was warm and comforting and totally a throwback to my childhood. I love eating this with the sauce smothered all over the mashed potatoes and some nice sweet corn. I made this meal with meatballs my Dad made for us when I first had Isabella. They were precooked and frozen so all I had to do was pop them in the oven to heat them through and make the sauce. A super easy comfort meal.
This is a really inexpensive meal to make. For more inexpensive meal ideas visit $5 Dinners.