No.92 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)

Made famous by Magnus Nilsson

Photo: tuey, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From The Nordic Cookbook, 2015.

Sweden's national dish, which IKEA made the world's most famous meatball. Magnus Nilsson's Nordic Cookbook is the home cook's reference.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in The Nordic Cookbook.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup (25 g) fine dry breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk or cream
• 1 small onion, very finely grated
• 1 tbsp butter, plus 2 tbsp for frying
• 10 oz (300 g) ground beef
• 7 oz (200 g) ground pork
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• Pinch of ground allspice
• For the gravy: 1 tbsp flour, 1 cup (240 ml) beef stock, 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream, 1 tsp soy sauce, a little lingonberry jam
• To serve: boiled potatoes, lingonberry jam, sliced cucumber in sugar and vinegar

Steps

1. Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk 10 minutes. Cook the grated onion in 1 tbsp butter over low heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Let it cool.
2. In a bowl, mix the beef, pork, soaked crumbs, onion, egg, salt, pepper and allspice until smooth and a little sticky. Fry a tiny piece and taste for salt.
3. With wet hands, roll into balls about 1 inch (2.5 cm) across.
4. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry the meatballs in batches, shaking the pan so they roll and brown evenly, 8 to 10 minutes, until cooked through. Keep them warm.
5. For the gravy, stir the flour into the fat left in the pan and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the stock and simmer 2 minutes, then add the cream and soy sauce and simmer until it coats a spoon. Season, adding a teaspoon of lingonberry jam if you like a little sweetness.
6. Return the meatballs to the gravy, or pour it over them. Serve with boiled potatoes, lingonberry jam and the pickled cucumber.

Chef's tips

• Make them small. Swedish meatballs are bite-size.
• Grating the onion keeps the texture smooth.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in The Nordic Cookbook by Magnus Nilsson: get the book, No. 76 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

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