Nothing beats home cooked food. You know exactly the ingredients that go into it and you get the joy of cooking it yourself and sharing it with others. I was won over by the mouthwatering meatballs that were being repined countless of times on Pinterest. All of them point to Chungah’s delicious “better than Ikea’s” Swedish meatballs. I booked marked the recipe and it wasn’t long before I decided to take out my pan and make some of these babies.
My tester batch was tasteless. When a recipe calls for salt ( to taste), it means adjusting the salt to your own discretion. I wasn’t sure how salty I wanted my meatballs to be so I was a little less generous for the test batch. I wasn’t wheeled for a surprise because the meatballs tasted as bland as it could be.
For the next batch, I added a dash more of salt, some paprika for heat ( You know I like a little spice and kick to my food). I was contemplating putting in a little Italian herbs but decided against it. Sometimes herbs may alter the original taste of a recipe. I just wanted to stick as close to the original source and see how this idea of “ better than Ikea” meatballs turned out.
So in went the ground pork, ground beef , egg yolk, onions, salt, pepper, paprika, panko crumbs, mix mix mix and into the frying pan.
What’s awesome about this dish is the sauce that accompanies the dish. Remember the brown gravy that coats your meatballs? I remember asking for a ladle more. That was before they started charging for the sauce!!!! Everybody knows where the good stuff is.
Anyway, the sauce is what binds the whole dish together. The rich, creamy sauce. It actually turned out pretty well. My family loved it and they even thought the meatballs were from Ikea!
Adapted from Damndelicious ( Makes around 60-70 Medium meatballs)
Ingredients for the meatballs
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 onion, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1/2 cup Panko ( Japanese Breadcrumbs)
2 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Ingredients for the gravy
56g unsalted butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour ( I doubled because my mixture was not that thick)
4 cups beef broth
3/4 cup sour cream
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves ( Left this out because I couldn’t get my hands on some)
Steps:
1) Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2) Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and translucent ( 2-3 mins)
3) Combine ground beef, ground pork, Panko, egg yolks, allspice, nutmeg, Paprika and cooked onion in a big bowl; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
4) Mix with hands until well combined
5) Roll the mixture into 1- 1.5inch meatballs. Makes about 60-70 meatballs depending on how big you roll them. I like mine small
6) Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add meatballs, in batches, and cook until all sides are browned, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
7) To make the gravy, melt butter in the skillet. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
8) Whisk in beef broth and stir until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes.
9) Stir in sour cream; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
10) Stir in meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through and thickened, about 8-10 minutes.
Do comment in the post below or tag me on Instagram: @sherbakes if you attempt your very own. Would love to share your joy in cooking adventures
