Swedish Meatball Sauce
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This rich and creamy Swedish meatball sauce recipe is one you must add to your repertoire. It comes together in about 10 minutes and will be the perfect accompaniment to Swedish meatballs.
Swedish Meatball Sauce
Traditionally Swedish meatballs are served with lingonberry jam but here in the U.S., we enjoy them swimming in a rich brown gravy.
There are several different variations of the gravy also. Some use cream of mushroom while others use sour cream. Some call for sherry or cooking wine.
We settled on a simpler recipe that you can modify to your liking. That’s a theme we have around here – Make it simple and give you variations to try.
We like this version best because it’s flavorful but uses ingredients that are simple and that are probably already in your kitchen.
So whip up your favorite Swedish meatball recipe and drown them in our sauce!
Learn all about how to make a roux sauce and use it for all my gravy recipes, my Hawaiian brown gravy and country white gravy.
Swedish Meatball Sauce Ingredients:
To make this Swedish meatball sauce recipe, you will need:
- Butter: Use unsalted butter because the beef broth is pretty salty.
- Flour: Combine with the butter to make a roux that will thicken the sauce.
- Beef broth: You can use low sodium if you wish.
- Brown Sugar: Just a couple of teaspoons.
- Heavy cream:Â We like to use all heavy cream instead of sour cream.
- Black pepper: Freshly cracked is best but use what you have.
How to Make Swedish Meatball Sauce:
To make this homemade Swedish meatball sauce, simply…
- Make a roux. Whisk flour into melted butter and cook until it turns light brown.
- Add broth and brown sugar. Slowly whisk in the broth and brown sugar then simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and black pepper. Slowly stir in the cream and pepper then simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Use immediately or let cool and refrigerate for later use.
Swedish Meatball Sauce Variations:
There are quite a few ways you can doctor up this Swedish meatball sauce recipe.
- Add Worcestershire sauce: 2 teaspoons will make the sauce more flavorful
- Add soy sauce: 2 teaspoons will add more flavor
- Add dijon mustard: 1 teaspoon will spice up the sauce nicely
- Add coconut aminos: 2 teaspoons will enhance the sauce the way Worcestershire sauce does
- Add sour cream: Add ½ cup in addition to the heavy cream or use 1 cup of sour cream in place of the heavy cream.
- Add shallots: Sauté a minced shallot before making the roux.
- Add cream of mushroom soup: Whiskin in a can of cream of mushroom in step 3.
How to Store Swedish Meatball Sauce:
Refrigerate – Cool for 1 hour then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Reheat over low heat and add a little cream if the sauce is too thick.
Freeze – Cool for 2 hours then transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat over low heat and add a little cream if the sauce is too thick.
You might also want to try our grape jelly chili sauce for meatballs, onion gravy, chicken marsala sauce, butter chicken sauce,
Swedish Meatball Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cups beef broth
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Melt butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat.
- When the foaming subsides, add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until flour turns light brown, about 30 seconds.
- Slowly whisk in the broth followed by the brown sugar and bring to simmer.
- Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the sauce is reduced to 1 cup, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and pepper then return to a simmer and let cook for 5 minutes.
- Server over freshly cooked meatballs.
Make ahead tip
- Refrigerate – Cool for 1 hour then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Freeze – Cool for 2 hours then transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Reheat over low heat and add a little cream if the sauce is too thick.
Notes
- Add Worcestershire sauce: 2 teaspoons will make the sauce more flavorful
- Add soy sauce: 2 teaspoons will add more flavor
- Add dijon mustard: 1 teaspoon will spice up the sauce nicely
- Add coconut aminos: 2 teaspoons will enhance the sauce the way Worcestershire sauce does
- Add sour cream: Add ½ cup in addition to the heavy cream or use 1 cup of sour cream in place of the heavy cream.
- Add shallots: Sauté a minced shallot before making the roux.
- Add cream of mushroom soup: Whiskin in a can of cream of mushroom in step 3.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is for convenience and as a courtesy only. It is not guaranteed to be accurate because nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator and input the exact ingredients and brands you used in the recipe.
Oh my, this sauce is perfect and so yummy. I added the sour cream, mustard and worcheshire. My husband said it was better than his German aunt used to make. Thank you, it’s a keeper!
I was at a friends house with Swedish Meatballs but no sauce! I found this recipe on line and was extremely happy the way it turned out. I didn’t have all the ingredients, and made a few substitutions. It was delicious, and it’s already in my “keep” file. Thanks.
Easy to follow recipe. Was searching for Swedish Meatball – Sauce Only. Delicious
Hi, this was my first time using your website. I found your Swedish Meatballs Sauce.
I absolutely LOVED it. We are a family who does use a lot of salt, due to my husband
Hypertension issues. I thought this was the right amount of salt. My family loved it.
If you like a lot of salt then this recipe is not for you. You may need to add a bit more to suit your taste but I think its perfect for people who like low-sodium
foods. Great job. I cannot wait to try some more of your sauces.
Thank you for sharing.
Teresa
This sauce is fabulous! Thanks for sharing.
I loved this sauce! It went too quickly for me to enjoy it more fully, but it was the perfect complement to the vegetarian Swedish meatballs (made with plant-based veggie crumbles) I had made. What might have given this sauce its special flavor was my substitution of vegetable stock for beef stock (I’m a vegetarian) and my addition of Dijon mustard and tamari sauce (it was what I had). I hope to make this sauce again someday. Thank you!
5 stars!
This was the perfect topping for my vegetarian Swedish meatballs. (I substituted vegetable stock for beef broth, and it still turned out great.) Thank you!
I doubled your recipe and used it with Swedish meatells an egg noodles…delicious!
What a tasty and simple recipe for any time during the week! Thank you!
I wanted to like it after seeing so many positive reviews, but unfortunately it was really bland. I did add worcestershire, which helped with the blandness, but the resulting flavor was not at all appealing.
2 stars.
Sorry to hear you were not a fan. We understand everyone’s palette is different and we hope this doesn’t discourage you from trying some of our other recipes.