Missing your trips to IKEA's restaurant? This keto Swedish Meatballs recipe is done in IKEA's style, and will absolutely quell the craving! Great for the whole family.
As you may have guessed by now, my current view on the keto diet is that my keto recipes should be tasty enough for the whole family to enjoy.
Keto meatballs are always a great way to achieve this goal. Really, who DOESN’T love meatballs - low-carb meatballs or otherwise?
As a fairly new blog, I’ve only got a small handful of meatball recipes up, but they’re some great ones:
Keto Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Glaze
Low Carb Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Low Carb Chicken Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce
SO, today’s keto meatball recipe is a great one: My own keto version of IKEA’s legendary Swedish meatballs!
What are Swedish Meatballs?
While many North Americans immediately think of IKEA meatballs, traditional Swedish meatballs are a bit different.
The flavorful meatballs start out by soaking bread in milk, ensuring juicy meatballs.
From there, it kind of goes off the rails, in terms of traditional meatball recipes in North America.
A special kind of anchovy brine - not from anchovies as we know it, but a special kind of seasoned sprats fillets that you can really only get through Scandinavian specialty shops - is used as the main flavouring agent in the meatballs.
As for “Swedish Meatball Sauce”?
Generally not a thing over there! Swedish meatballs are generally spiced according to season - with extra spices for the holidays - but are not usually served with the savory gravy that we tend to associate with them!
The first time a Swedish friend shared her traditional recipe with me, I thought she was joking!
Anchovies?? No delicious creamy sauce? What?
Anyway, figured it would be fun to provide some info on the different ways that meatballs are made, across the ocean.
Aside from the bread in the meatballs, the real deal also includes mashed potatoes *in* the meatball... so definitely not great for anyone on a ketogenic diet!
No worries, though!
My keto Swedish meatball recipe does not contain fish, DO have a delicious keto gravy involved, and the tasty meatballs are definitely safe for a low carb diet!
Keto Swedish Meatball Ingredients
Meatballs Ingredients
My recipe differs from many in that I don’t use almond meal/almond flour, coconut flour, or pork rinds as a binder in my meatballs - I use flax meal!
The rest of the ingredients are pretty standard:
* Ground meat: Lean ground beef and ground pork are traditional, but ground turkey or chicken works as well. As pictured, I used 2 lbs of ground chicken, no pork or beef.
* Onion: I use fresh, as is traditional. Skip the onion powder!
* Garlic: Also prefer fresh to garlic powder for this one.
* Egg Yolks
* Flax meal
* Seasonings: Salt, Black pepper, ground allspice, and nutmeg
Creamy Sauce Ingredients
While I used to make the creamy gravy with sour cream, I switched to heavy cream after IKEA released their recipe.
The rest of the ingredients are mostly pantry staples:
* Broth: I use premade beef broth, but you can use homemade beef stock or bone broth if you prefer. Chicken stock is a good option if you’re doing a poultry version.
* Heavy whipping cream
* Soy sauce
* Dijon mustard
* Xanthan gum
* Seasonings: Black pepper, salt, nutmeg, and allspice
How to make Keto IKEA style Swedish Meatballs
Meatballs:
In a large nonstick pan or large skillet over medium heat, saute onions and garlic in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until translucent and tender. Remove from heat, transfer to large bowl, set aside to cool.
Once onion mixture is cool enough to handle, add beef, pork, eggs, flax meal and seasonings to the large mixing bowl.
Using your (clean!) hands, gently mix everything together until it’s all well incorporated into the mix. For tender meatballs, be gentle- you want to just mix, not squeeze and compress the meat mixture much! (For the more dense, firm, and uniform meatballs, blitz in a food processor til combined.)
Form into meatball mixture into small meatballs. I’ll do this by hand, some people prefer to use a small cookie scoop.
Heat remaining oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Once hot, place meatballs in the pan - a few at a time, in a single layer -, turning every so often to ensure even browning.
Transfer browned meatballs to a plate or baking sheet (I’ll line it with parchment paper for easy clean up), as you finish each batch, leaving the drippings in the bottom of the pan.
Once all meatballs are browned and removed from the pan, make the meatball gravy:
Sauce:
In a small bowl, mix the xanthan gym, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. The idea is to separate the grains of xanthan gum, to prevent clumping.
Whisk this seasoning mixture into the beef broth, until well combined. Pour into the now-empty pan along with the soy sauce and mustard, bring to a simmer over medium or medium-high heat.
Add heavy cream, whisk until completely smooth and well combined. Season with more salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
Add meatballs back to the pan, turn temp down to medium-low, and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked all the way through and sauce has thickened.
Serve hot, on a bed of mashed cauliflower. Be sure to spoon extra gravy over the cooked meatballs!
What to Serve with Keto Swedish Meatballs
I like to keep things really simple, to really let the meatballs take center stage. Using vegetables as the base is a great way to keep the net carbs down.
While I prefer to serve this over a basic cauliflower mash - with a bit of keto lingonberry jam - there are other options:
Cauliflower rice is a great choice, as are green beans or zucchini noodles.
More Meatballs - and Meatloaf! - Recipes
Meatballs and meatloaf can be really great comfort food. Here are a few variations I’ve come up with:
Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf
Scotch Egg Meatloaf Recipe
Muffaletta Stuffed Meatloaf
Low Carb Chicken Cordon Bleu Meatloaf
Keto Stromboli Meatloaf
Jalapeno Popper Meatloaf
Low Carb Chicken Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce
Keto Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Glaze
Low Carb Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
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Keto Swedish Meatballs
Equipment
- Cheese Grater
- Large nonstick pan
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil divided
- 1 Small onion grated
- 1 Garlic clove pressed or finely minced
- 1 lb Lean ground beef
- 1 lb Ground pork
- 2 Large egg yolks
- ⅓ cup Flax meal
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
Sauce:
- ¾ teaspoon Xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon Ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- Pinch Nutmeg
- Pinch Allspice
- 2 cups Beef broth
- 1 ½ teaspoon Soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 cup Heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Meatballs:
- In a large nonstick pan, saute onions and garlic in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until translucent and tender. Remove from heat, transfer to large bowl, set aside to cool.
- Once onion mixture is cool enough to handle, add beef, pork, eggs, flax meal and seasonings.
- Using your (clean!) hands, gently mix everything together until it’s all well incorporated into the mix. For tender meatballs, be gentle- you want to just mix, not squeeze and compress it much! (For the more dense, firm, and uniform meatballs, blitz in the blender til combined.)
- Heat remaining oil in a large pan. Once hot, brown meatballs a few at a time, turning every so often to ensure even browning. Transfer browned meatballs to a plate as you finish each batch, leaving pan drippings.
- Once all meatballs are browned and removed from the pan, make the sauce:
Sauce:
- In a small bowl, mix the xanthan gym, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. The idea is to separate the grains of xanthan gum, to prevent clumping.
- Whisk this seasoning mixture into the beef broth, until well combined. Pour into the now-empty pan along with the soy sauce and mustard, bring to a simmer.
- Add heavy cream, whisk until completely smooth and well combined. Season with more salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
- Add meatballs back to the pan, simmer for about 10 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked all the way through and sauce has thickened.
- Serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
I used to make the Swedish meatballs from the old (1967!) Five Roses cookbook for my Dad. They were so good! I'd serve them either with mashed potatoes or buttered noodles, with whole berry cranberry sauce alongside, since our local supermarkets didn't have lingonberry jam. That said, would homemade, sugar-free cranberry sauce be okay with these meatballs. I want these meatballs so badly that I can practically taste them!
Totally depends on your dietary needs and restrictions. Taste wise, it would totally work!