You are going to love this Crockpot Swedish Meatballs Recipe! Crockpot Swedish meatballs are spiced meatballs in a luscious sour cream sauce, great for an easy weeknight meal!
Crockpot Swedish Meatballs
Swedish Meatballs are a classic homey dish. Making them in the slow cooker just makes them even easier to prepare!
If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been on a slow cooker kick here lately… Exhibit, A (Slow Cooker Chili)… B (BBQ Beef Nachos), and C (BBQ Beef Sliders)!
I just love how easy slow cooker meals are to put together, then I barely have to think about them during the day.
My little trick I have been doing to make them even easier is prepping everything the night before, throwing it all in the pot, covering it, and placing it in the fridge.
The next morning while I’m making my MUCH needed cuppa, I can place the pot in the slow cooker base, set it, and forget it! In love. SO EASY and you have a hearty homemade meal waiting for you later!
That’s exactly what I did for this Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs Recipe. I mixed the meatballs the night before and fried them off to golden brown deliciousness, put them in the slow cooker pot, topped them with beef stock and a few other ingredients, covered it, and placed the whole thing in the fridge.
The next morning, I’m making meatball magic!
Why this recipe works:
- These can easily be prepared ahead of time (see above).
- They are a fix it and forget it meal that you don’t have to worry about keeping an eye on.
- It has the perfect amount of sauce to gravy ratio.
How to make Crockpot Swedish Meatballs:
-
In a large bowl, place all of the meatball ingredients except for the oil. Mix together well, roll into 2 tablespoons sized balls.
-
In a large skillet over medium heat, fry the meatballs in the vegetable oil until golden brown on all sides.
-
Place meatballs in the slow cooker, drain any oil on a paper towel first.
-
Whisk together the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, dijon, salt, and pepper. Pour over the meatballs. Cook on low 4-6 hours or until meatballs are cooked through or until the desired tenderness.
-
Take meatballs out and set aside. Add the sour cream and heavy cream, whisk to combine.
-
In a small bowl mix together the cornstarch and water. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the sauce. Cook on high uncovered for 15 minutes until thickened*. Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary. Place meatballs back in the sauce to keep warm.
What are these meatballs made of?
They are definitely different than an Italian meatball most people are used to. They are still made of ground meat, in this case, ground beef but can also be made out of ground pork or ground veal.
What do Swedish Meatballs taste like?
What makes Swedish Meatballs different is the addition of unexpected spices into the meat mixture. Everyone puts a little something different in theirs but traditional Swedish Meatballs have allspice and nutmeg.
What sauce goes with Swedish Meatballs?
These Crockpot Swedish Meatballs are served with an extremely flavorful creamy sour cream sauce. Not all recipes call for sour cream but instead of a cream-based sauce with beef stock.
I like the addition of sour cream because it gives a little tang to the sauce. Making it very savory with a deep, rich flavor.
Alternatives and Add-In’s:
If you prefer, you can also thicken the sauce on the stove by placing the sauce in a small pot over medium heat. Wait until it simmers and whisk in the cornstarch slurry that way.
You can also saute some onions, peppers, and/or mushrooms and place them in the pot with the meatballs to cook away. So yummy and they would add another depth of flavor!
What to serve with along side these?
They are great on their own but you really want something that can absorb all that luscious sauce! Pictured here I served them over egg noodles but they would also be wonderful with any kind of pasta, over rice, with mashed potatoes, or even riced cauliflower!
These also make the perfect appetizer! I mean who can go wrong with the perfect appetizer?
You all know I love me some appetizers. Instead of bbq meatballs at your next party, make a big batch of this Swedish Meatball Recipe instead!
Roll them into small balls and you are all set. I’m sure your friends and family will love this twist!
This Crockpot Swedish Meatball Recipe is sooooo flavorful, they got rave reviews! Don’t let the spices in them intimidate you or leave them out, they add a layer of flavor you can’t beat!
This post may contain affiliate links.
Tools used for this recipe:
- Large skillet to fry the meatballs.
- Slow cooker to cook the meatballs.
- Measuring cups, I love these!
More yummy slow cooker meatballs recipes from my favorite bloggers:
- Sweet and Spicy Slow Cooker Meatballs
- Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Blueberry Honey Garlic Meatballs
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- These can be served as an appetizer, just roll into smaller meatballs.
- You can cook the sauce in a pan separately if you’d like and your over meatballs in slow cooker.
- Sauté some onions, peppers, and/or mushrooms and place them in the pot with the meatballs.
- These can be served over lots of things such as rice, noodles, you can eat plain or whatever you love, the possibilities are endless.
- This recipe can easily double this recipe to serve more people.
- If you don’t have panko breadcrumbs, regular can be substituted.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these CROCKPOT SWEDISH MEATBALLS let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatball Mix
- 1 pound ground chuck or ground beef of your choice
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- pinch ground nutmeg
- pinch ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 10 cracks fresh black pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying
Sauce
- 2 cup beef stock
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 cracks fresh black pepper
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
Instructions
- In a large bowl, place all of the meatball ingredients except for the oil. Mix together well, roll into 2 tablespoons sized balls. In a large skillet over medium heat, fry the meatballs in the vegetable oil until golden brown on all sides.
- Place meatballs in the slow cooker, drain any oil on a paper towel first. Whisk together the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, dijon, salt, and pepper. Pour over the meatballs. Cook on low 4-6 hours or until meatballs are cooked through or until the desired tenderness.
- Take meatballs out and set aside. Add the sour cream and heavy cream, whisk to combine. In a small bowl mix together the cornstarch and water. Whisk cornstarch slurry into the sauce. Cook on high uncovered for 15 minutes until thickened*. Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary. Place meatballs back in the sauce to keep warm.
Notes
- These can be served as an appetizer, just roll into smaller meatballs.
- You can cook the sauce in a pan separately if you'd like and your over meatballs in slow cooker.
- Sauté some onions, peppers, and/or mushrooms and place them in the pot with the meatballs.
- These can be served over lots of things such as rice, noodles, you can eat plain or whatever you love, the possibilities are endless.
- This recipe can easily double this recipe to serve more people.
- If you don't have panko breadcrumbs, regular can be substituted.
Nutrition
- Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake - June 18, 2021
- Monterey Chicken Sliders - June 17, 2021
- Lemon Berry Sweet Rolls - June 16, 2021
I haven’t had Swedish meatballs in years. These look so good I think I need to get them on the menu stat!
These look amazing! I am always looking for some great meatball recipes to try — my family loves them! This is going on the menu for this week!
Hello! I’m making these today. Can you use finely chopped fresh garlic instead of powdered?
Definitely!! 1-2 cloves would be good 🙂
Can I double everything to make a double order?
Yes!
Could these be frozen in the sauce? Or is that not a good idea since the sauce has sour cream and heavy cream?
Made this today and had nothing but RAVE REVIEWS on how fantastic it tasted!! Served it over mashed potatoes, added some fresh from the garden buttered carrots and a warm spinach salad on the side. And of course I posted pictures to Facebook to share with my family and friends!!
Made a few modifications: added lightly sauteed fresh garlic and onions to half ground pork and half ground beef. Added smoked paprika to the list of dry seasonings. Always fun to add your own little tweaks to an already amazing recipe.
Thanks so much for sharing the original. It was an awesome find and has been moved to my all time favorites list.
I am making this right now. I made the meatballs on Sunday and cooked and froze to save time. I didnt have dijon mustard so I used yellow mustard and a little ground mustard. I hope that will work. Looking forward to this recipe because I always did the meatballs with mushroom soup swedish meatballs. I wanted to try something new