I’m sure all of us have been staying home trying to find ways to keep ourselves entertained, be it by catching up on reading, trying out new recipes in the kitchen, or binge-watching Netflix shows. One iconic show that I never got around to watching is Mad Men; I’ve heard a lot about it, but have never managed to find the time to start watching.
Set in the 1960s, the main character, Don Draper, is a creative director at Sterling Cooper in New York, and the series chronicles his efforts to maintain a balance between his exceptional professional life and wavering personal life. His wife, Betty Draper, is of Nordic heritage, and after a bit of research, I stumbled across this recipe that’s inspired by her.
Enter Swedish Meatballs; this recipe was invented to celebrate her Scandinavian roots as well as the show, and it just so happens that Singaporeans can’t seem to get enough of IKEA’s meatballs. Well, once I show you the ropes of how easy it is to re-create this at home, you won’t need or want to join the queue at IKEA’s cafe any more.
So, let’s wash our hands, roll up our sleeves, and get ready to start rolling some Mad Men-inspired Swedish Meatballs!
Ingredients
- 900g of ground beef
- ½ cup of bread crumbs
- ⅓ of cup milk
- 1 large yellow onion, grated or diced
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 2 tbsp of all-purpose flour
- ½ cup of light cream
- 1 cube of beef stock, dissolved in 1L of hot water
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Tools
- Chopping board
- Knife
- Grater
- Mixing bowl
- Metal tray
- Deep pan
- Spatula
Recipe Preparation
Preparation time: 15 minutes; Cooking time: 30 minutes
Makes about 36 meatballs
- Cut yellow onion in half. Use a grater if you’re grating it to small bits, or a knife and chopping board if you’re dicing it.
- In a mixing bowl, throw in bread crumbs and pour in a little bit of milk at a time, just to moisten the crumbs (i.e. not immerse it!).
- Add in ground beef, grated/diced onions, 1 egg, and salt and pepper.
- Mix everything well, and with clean hands, roll a palm-sized meatball.
- Place the meatballs aside on a metal tray. Make sure to not make the meatballs too big as they risk falling apart when pan-fried.
- In a deep pan, add butter and allow it to sizzle before placing meatballs in hot pan. Wait about 4 minutes before flipping them over.
- Cover the pan while waiting for each side to cook as this makes the meatballs juicier. The meatballs need not be browned all over, as long as they are cooked.
- Once all meatballs are cooked, set aside on a separate place.
- With the remaining butter in hot pan, add in all-purpose flour.
- Make sure to keep stirring and while doing so, gradually add in beef stock. Be sure to check that there are no flour clumps before the next step.
- Once everything is well dissolved, add in light cream and lower the flame.
- At this point, add meatballs back into the sauce and allow them to simmer in pan—on low heat—for 10 – 15 minutes, or until you reach a consistency of gravy you’re satisfied with.
- Serve with carb of your choice.
Recipe in Pictures
Step 1: Cut the yellow onion in half. Use a grater if you’re grating it to small bits, or a knife and chopping board if you’re dicing it.
Step 2: In a mixing bowl, throw in bread crumbs and pour in a little bit of milk at a time, just to moisten the crumbs (i.e. not immerse it!). Then add in ground beef, grated/diced onions, 1 egg, and salt and pepper.
Step 3: Mix everything well, and with clean hands, roll a palm-sized meatball. Repeat with the rest of the meat mixture.
Place the meatballs aside on a metal tray. Make sure to not make the meatballs too big as they risk falling apart when pan-fried.
Step 4: In a deep pan, add in butter and allow it to sizzle before placing meatballs in hot pan. Wait about 4 minutes before flipping them over.
My advice is to cover the pan while waiting for each side to cook as this makes the meatballs juicier. The meatballs also need not be browned all over, as long as they are cooked.
Step 5: Once all meatballs are cooked, set aside on a separate place, and with the remaining butter in hot pan, add in all-purpose flour.
Make sure to keep stirring and while doing so, gradually add in beef stock. Be sure to check that there are no flour clumps before the next step.
Step 6: Once everything is well dissolved, add in light cream and lower the flame. At this point, add meatballs back into the sauce and allow them to simmer in pan—on low heat—for 10 – 15 minutes, or until you reach a consistency of gravy you’re satisfied with. Serve with carb of your choice.
I personally wanted my sauce to be thicker, so I allowed my sauce with meatballs to simmer for around 25 minutes. The great thing about this recipe is that you can also swap out the beef for chicken, pork or turkey if you’d prefer, or perhaps you’d want a mix of beef and pork meatballs—it’s totally up to you!
I enjoyed my Swedish Meatballs with couscous that I actually cooked with half sauce and half water, and it was the best decision, ever. My dinner was immensely rich and even though we didn’t add that much seasoning to the recipe, everything was well-balanced.
The Swedish Meatballs were immensely tender and the onions provided a nice sweet crunch, which I absolutely enjoyed. I would re-create this recipe in a heartbeat, and because you’re likely to make this in a bigger batch, this is ideal for meal prep.
Also, you can pair this recipe with pasta, rice, potatoes, bread—whatever carb you fancy, it will go well with the meatballs! After making this recipe, I might no longer want to head to IKEA for meatballs, especially when these taste exceptionally better. Try it out for yourself and perhaps you’ll have your minds changed as well.
Expected Damage: S$15 – S$17 per batch (approximately 36 meatballs)
