Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 401cal
These Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs are perfect for busy weeknights! Made with homemade meatballs, beef broth, cream and perfectly seasoned, the slow cooker does all the work!
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Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2 slices soft bread (white or brown)
- 3 tablespoons milk (or water)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- ½ onion (grated or finely chopped)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs
- 1 ¼ cups low sodium beef broth
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon thyme
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 pinch nutmeg
Instructions
Baked Meatballs
- Tear bread into small pieces and place in a food processor or blender. Process until the bread is in fine crumbs and combine with milk. Stir and let sit for a few minutes (*If you don't have a food processor, you can soak the bread chunks and then mash into fine crumbs)
- Stir together soaked bread, beef, pork, onion, eggs, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in a large bowl just until combined -- don't overmix.
- Shape meat into 1-1.5" balls and place 1" apart on baking sheet. (I get about 30-35 1.5" meatballs)
- Bake at 425 degrees Ffor 10 minutes, or sear in a hot skillet with a drizzle of oil, just until browned on the outside. This keeps the meatballs from falling apart in the slow cooker, and keeps the sauce from getting too fatty!
- Place in a 3-4 quart slow cooker (*At this point, once cooled, you can freeze up to 3 months for a variety of uses).
Swedish Meatball Sauce
- Stir together broth, heavy cream, corn starch, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, parsley, salt, thyme, pepper and nutmeg. Pour over meatballs in slow cooker.
- Cook on low until cooked through and sauce has thickened -- about 3-4 hours on low or 2 hours on high.
- Serve with sauce over mashed potatoes or egg noodles.
Video
Notes
Ingredients and Substitutions:
- Fresh bread crumbs: you can substitute for 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs if need be. Increase the milk to 1/4 cup.
- Ground beef and pork: you can use lean ground meat for less fatty meatballs, or go higher fat for more flavor (keep in mind this will make your sauce more fatty as well).
- Cream: for a lighter sauce, swap the heavy cream for evaporated milk.
Nutrition
Serving: 142grams | Calories: 401cal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 139mg | Sodium: 658mg | Potassium: 482mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 304IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 2mg