Swedish Meatballs with Sour Cream Sauce
There are so many things to adore about this Swedish meatballs with sour cream sauce recipe! We have moist tender meatballs swimming in a modified version of my popular sour cream sauce; and if that doesn’t win you over, these meatballs are served with zoodles!!
There are so many versions of Swedish meatballs out there. Each of my family members make it different. My sister makes a sweet and sour version, but I prefer a savory sauce with my meatballs. That is unless it’s my bourbon meatballs which have a little sweetness to them.
When I came up with this recipe, I actually started thinking about my sour cream enchilada sauce and how I could use it on something other than enchiladas. So I thought of Swedish meatballs. I adore this sauce and make it different ways to suit whatever I’m serving it on.
Just wait until you taste it.
Why do these meatballs stand out from other recipes?
These meatballs stand out because of the herbs and spices in the meatball mixture in combination with my yummy sour cream sauce.
Do I have to spoon these dish over zoodles?
Nope! You can ladle these Swedish meatballs over pasta, egg noodles, rice, toast or even eat them by themselves!! They’re good every which way.
Helpful tips
- You can make these with either ground beef, turkey or chicken. When you use ground beef, always use grass-fed because it has a much better taste
- When you brown the meatballs, don’t flip them too often, but let the the sides of the meatball become a little crispy. The insides will stay moist and delicious
- You don’t have to sprinkle parsley on the dish, but I love the fresh flavor
- You can make the sour cream sauce ahead of time, but just know that it will thicken somewhat once it sits for a bit. When that happens, just add a little chicken broth to loosen it
- This dish freezes well, but I would be surprised if it isn’t gobbled up fast
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How to make these meatballs
Step one
Make zoodles with your spiralizer.
Step two
Gather the beef, egg, herbs and spices.
Step three
In a medium mixing bowl, place grass-fed ground beef, an egg, Worcestershire sauce, all the herbs, spices and salt.
Step four
Use your hands to mix the beef mixture. Roll into medium sized meatballs.
Step five
Heat a sauté pan on medium and add olive oil and once that heats up, place the meatballs in the pan and sauté them for 10 – 12 minutes, turning them every once in a while.
(Browning them gives the outsides of your meatballs a firmer texture and a nice flavor, so don’t rush them. Once they are done, turn the heat off under the pan)
Time to work on the sour cream sauce. If I’m going to use white flour, as I do in this recipe, I always use this brand.
Step six
Gather 3 tablespoons of flour and butter. (1)
Step seven
Heat up a sauce pan on medium low and add 3 tablespoons of butter. Once it melts, add 3 tablespoons of flour and whisk together for at least a minute. It will turn into a paste.
Step eight
Add chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, nutmeg, salt and parsley. Stand there and whisk the mixture until it thickens a little. (2) If you want more detailed photos of how to make the sauce, go here.
Step nine
Turn the heat off under the sauce pan and let it cool for 5 minutes before adding the sour cream (so it doesn’t curdle). Stir it all together.
Step ten
Turn the heat under the meatballs to medium and pour the sour cream sauce on top and heat for 5 minutes before sprinkling dried parsley on top.
Let’s look at this dish from above.
Time to serve them.
I like my meatballs on the side and Christopher likes his on top of the zoodles.
Yum.
Other popular meatball recipes
I hope you enjoyed this Swedish meatballs with sour cream sauce recipe! Please leave me a comment to share how you make your Swedish meatballs.
And as always, may all your dishes be delish!
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Swedish Meatballs with Sour Cream Sauce
Ingredients
Meatballs
For the Sauté
- 1 tablespoon olive oil to sauté meatballs
Sour Cream Sauce
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons white flour
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon parsley (dried)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3/4 cup sour cream 3/4 to 1 cup – depending how thick you want it
Instructions
Make the Meatballs
- Add all the meatball ingredients to a stainless steel bowl. Use your hands to mix together the meat. Roll meat into medium sized meatballs. Mine made 16
- Heat sauté pan on medium and add oil. Once that heats up, place meatballs in pan and sauté for 10 – 12 minutes turning them every once in a while. Once they are done, turn the heat off under the pan
Make the Sour Cream Sauce
- Add butter in a medium sauce pan and heat it on medium low. Once the butter has melted, add flour and whisk until it becomes a paste. Make sure to whisk at least for 1 minute
- Add all the other ingredients for the sour cream sauce EXCEPT for the sour cream. Whisk together until it thickens somewhat – about 10 minutes
- Turn heat off under pan and let the sauce cool for 5 minutes before adding the sour cream. Stir until combined
- If you are putting these on zoodles – you can make them before starting the recipe
- Turn the heat back on under the meatballs and add the sour cream sauce to the pan. Heat for 5 minutes. If you are having zoodles, sauté them in a big pan for 3 minutes
- Plate zoodles
- (Decide if you want your Swedish meatballs on your zoodles or on the side.) Ladle the meatballs with sour cream sauce on your zoodles
- Serve
- Eat
- Enjoy
Notes
- You can make these with either ground beef, turkey or chicken. When you use ground beef, always use grass-fed because it has a much better taste
- When you brown the meatballs, don’t flip them too often, but let the the sides of the meatball become a little crispy. The insides will stay moist and delicious
- You don’t have to sprinkle parsley on the dish, but I love the fresh flavor
- You can make the sour cream sauce ahead of time, but just know that it will thicken somewhat once it sits for a bit. When that happens, just add a little chicken broth to loosen it
- This dish freezes well, but I would be surprised if it isn’t gobbled up fast
Nutrition
From lighting up stages with her BA in theater to food journalist, Elaine Benoit's journey is a testament to passion's transformative power. As the CEO of Dishes Delish, she offers a blend of healthy, comforting recipes and exquisitely crafted cocktails. Beyond the kitchen, Elaine voiced her culinary adventures on her podcast, "Dishing," and co-owns Food Blogger Help, extending her expertise to guide budding food bloggers to success. Whether it's for a heartwarming dish or insights into food blogging, Elaine's diverse experiences make her a beacon in the culinary digital landscape.
Any meal with meatballs is a winner in my book. These look so moist and flavorful, I bet they just melt in your mouth.
Thanks so much Rae! They are really delicious!
That sour cream sauce sounds delicious! A brilliant different way to serve meatballs that isn’t tomato sauce 🙂
Thanks Hannah! I appreciate it! It’s super tasty!
Ohhh that sour cream sauce looks perfect with those meatballs. I haven’t made Swedish meatballs in forever! Can’t wait to try!
Thanks so much Lisa! It’s a delicious recipe!
wow those made my mouth water just looking at them . I love the ingredients these may be addicting!
Thanks Claudia! I appreciate it!
I haven’t had Swedish meatballs in forever. Totally pinning this!
Thanks Emily! I hope you like it when you make it!
I love Swedish Meatballs too! I usually deviate from the traditional recipe a little though, and make mine gluten free. I add extra egg white to the ground meat to make up for the fluffiness the bread usually adds. I like the idea of serving these over zoodles though! A great way to add veggies to the meal!
Thanks, Markus! I like your variation as well! I like going gluten free at least once a week!
How much sour cream do you add? I see it in the recipe but don’t see it listed in the ingredients. Otherwise, the recipe looks delicious!
Thanks so much for catching that. I’ve included it in the recipe card now!
This looks like a really nice bowl of comfort food! I want to share this with my Swedish friend.
Thanks Analida.
I love the combination of hearty meat and tangy dairy- like a yoghurt based curry or this delightful meatball dish. Right down my alley !
Thank you so much Kiki!
This recipe definitely brings back memories. I completely forgot about Smorgasbords! That sauce just sounds amazing too.
Thanks Karen!! I used to love going to those Smorgasbords!
Nice recipe. Specially the sour cream sauce sounds so delicious. and combining meatballs with the cream sauce is surely an amazing idea. This is a lovely dinner recipe for me. will try this weekend.
Thank you so much Aditi!! I appreciate it!
The first time I had Swedish meatballs was in Amsterdam. I was in LOVE. I have tried a few versions but never got it to the same one I tried in Amsterdam. Going to try your recipe soon. It looks perfect. Love the sour cream sauce.
Thanks so much, Veena!! The sour cream sauce is divine!
Sour cream sauce makes me drool…mmmm I can imagine how yummy it must be.Great clicks.
Thanks Prasanna! 🙂
I love Swedish meatballs, but have never tried to make them myself. For some reason I always thought they were hard to do. I’m going to have to give your recipe a try
Thanks Karyl! They are truly easy! I hope you enjoy them!
For some reason when I thought of Swedish Meatballs I thought of dill — I don’t know why. I like your combination of flavors. They sound so perfect with your sour cream sauce. And what a great idea to put it on top of zucchini noodles. Great recipe that I’ve got to try.
Thank you Marisa! I so appreciate it!
I have to make these for John!! For years he has talked about the Swedish meatballs that one of his employees made when we lived in Miami, but we’ve never actually made them. He loves any kind of sour cream based sauce, so I know he’d love these. Pinning them, so I don’t lose the recipe.
Yay, Kim! Thank you! It’s so good. Christopher wants them all the time!
I love that you served these with zoodles! I really only think of serving zoodles with light tomato or garlic sauces, but a creamy sauce sounds perfect. The zoodles will help soak up that delicious sauce without adding unnecessary calories… so I can have seconds on the meatballs!
Woohoo Julie! 🙂 And yes, the zoodles are perfect with these meatballs!
Looks so flavorful and melt in mouth. Saving it for later. Yummy
Thank you Sri! I appreciate it!
I love Swedish meatballs! I think sour cream would make a great sauce, I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Sara!! The sauce is divine!
I love Swedish meatballs and I actually plan on making them within the next week or so. I may try your sauce though. It looks so creamy
Thanks Nicole, I hope you do as it’s delightful!
One of those rare recipes that is SO good you could cry when you’re eating it. I’m teary-eyed just writing this comment.
Lol!
Can these be made in a crock pot? If so, how would I go about making it?
Ooo. Good question. Here’s what I’ll say – first, make the sour cream sauce. Then make the meatballs and place them in a slow cooker. Pour the sour cream sauce over them and set the crockpot on low for 7 hours or if you want to streamline them for 4 hours on high. I do think the slower cook time would be better. It should come out great. I need to test them but I think it would be awesome! Thank you so much for your question!
Hi Elaine, thanks for your reply. Here’s what I did over the weekend: I made the meatballs (64 of them) per your recipe and placed them in my crock pot and set it to low heat. Then about 30 minutes prior to serving I made the sour cream sauce on the stove (again per your recipe). After it had thickened, I poured it in the crock pot of meatballs and turned the heat to Warm. This worked perfectly as it kept the meatballs in the sauce warm for several hours without breaking down the sour cream. I also had 2 other kinds of meatballs: Grape Jelly/BBQ meatballs and the other was Bacon and Bourbon meatballs – 64 each of these as well. The sour cream meatballs vanished in about 10 minutes! I have lots of leftovers of the other 2 meatballs! Want some? These were a huge hit and EVERYBODY asked for the recipe – so I pointed them to your website.
By the way, I had these meatballs a little over a year ago at a wedding I officiated. I begged the caterer for the recipe but he refused to give it up, so I’ve been on the hunt ever since. And on June 26, 2019 – I hit pay dirt by landing on your website! These are, by far, the best meatballs I’ve every had. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Hehe. Yes, Michael, I’d love some meatballs! 🙂 I’m so glad the recipe worked in the crockpot. Thanks so much for letting me know! You made my day with your comment and I so appreciate it!! 🙂
Excellent recipe. The herbs and spices are on point. I’ve made this several times and it’s delicious. I serve mine with a nice salads and organic pasta. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Thanks so much Penny! You made my day and I’m so glad you enjoyed it. It’s one of my favorite recipes to serve guests!
OMG!! I have never left a comment before on recipes I have tried, but this recipe is just so amazingly good! I used 1-1/2 pounds of ground turkey, increased the other ingredients as well, and served over rice. I didn’t use allspice because i didn’t have any, but the sauce was just so amazing. I make small meatballs so just trying to figure out how to compute the nutrition information. This is definitely going into the rotation!
I am so happy that you enjoyed the recipe, Suzanne. We love it here in my house and I have modified the sauce for different recipes. It’s my favorite sauce. Thank you so much for commenting.