This recipe for Chicken Swedish Meatballs uses lean ground chicken in place of ground beef, and has the most delicious creamy gravy made with cream and chicken broth. It's pretty easy to make in under 30 minutes and is a favorite family dinner!
Jump to:
Why this recipe is the BEST
- It's the perfect balance of healthy and indulgent. These Swedish chicken meatballs are much leaner than traditional ground beef meatballs, but still have rich creaminess in the broth.
- The meatballs are browned in a pan, then the brown bits are scraped into the sauce giving it flavor, then the meatballs are simmered in the sauce to finish cooking, infusing the creamy sauce with their rich flavor. YUM!
- It's actually REALLY easy to make in 1 pan. Easy cleanup!
- 30 minute dinner!
- These are simply the BEST homemade Swedish meatballs, I love them way more than Ikea meatballs!
More creamy chicken recipes to try: Slow Cooker Chicken and Gravy
Ingredients
For the chicken meatballs:
- 1 lb ground chicken breast (or use 99% lean ground turkey or very lean ground pork)
- 1 small yellow onion
- 2 pieces soft bread (white bread or whole wheat is fine, make sure it's super soft sandwich bread, and use the "smaller" bread slices, not the larger rectangular slices)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, divided (you'll use 2 tablespoons for the meat mixture, and 1 tablespoon for garnishing the sauce)
- 1 egg
- ¾ - 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ tablespoon olive oil or other cooking oil
For the creamy sauce:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or use 2-2.5 tablespoons for a thinner sauce)
- 2 cups chicken broth (I often use 2 teaspoons Better than Bouillon Chicken Base + 1 cups water, or 2 bouillon cubes in 2 cups water. Make sure your broth is nicely seasoned and salted, otherwise season it.)
- ½ cup heavy cream (that's heavy whipping cream, or double cream if you're not in the US)
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves, finely minced
More ground chicken recipes: Chicken Burgers with Guacamole
Equipment
- Small food processor (I have this 3-cup one and it's perfect for this recipe)
- Large 12-inch pan
- Tongs
- Large bowl
- Small bowl with water (you'll dip your hands into this while forming the meatballs to prevent the chicken mixture from sticking to your fingers)
- Wooden spoon
- Measuring cups and spoons, cutting board, knife
More chicken meatball recipes to try: Cheesy Chicken Meatballs (these have a delicious marinara sauce)
Instructions
Peel and quarter the onion. Peel the garlic cloves. Cut the onion into quarters and add it to a food processor along with the garlic cloves, sliced bread, and 2 tablespoons parsley leaves. Process until it is a coarse texture, don't turn it into a paste.
In a large bowl, combine the onion mixture, ground chicken, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Use a fork to mix everything together and make sure the seasonings are well dispersed.
Use your hands to scoop small amounts of the chicken mixture and make small meatballs. You can make about 16 meatballs that are just over an inch bit, or aim for smaller ones to make more. Tip: To prevent the chicken mixture from sticking to your hands, dip your hands into a bowl of cool water in between every 1-2 meatballs. Wet hands means the chicken mixture won't stick to your hands!
Preheat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, and gently place the meatballs in the hot pan. To prevent the meatballs from sticking in a ceramic or stainless steel pan, it's important to get the pan very hot and THEN add the olive oil and immediately add the meatballs to prevent the olive oil from smoking.
Cook the meatballs for 2-3 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Use tongs to gently flip the meatballs and re-shape them into little balls by squeezing the sides. Brown at least 3 sides, but no need to cook the meatballs all the way through.
Lower the heat to medium and remove the browned meatballs onto a large plate.
Immediately add the butter to the pan and allow to melt, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits. Add the flour and stir really well. The mixture will still have lumps from the browned bits, but most of the flour lumps should be gone.
Add the chicken broth, heavy cream, and nutmeg and stir or whisk until smooth. Carefully taste the sauce and see if it needs any more salt or seasoning. If the sauce is bland now, then it will be bland in the final dish.
Add the meatballs back into the pan, including any juices that might have ran out. Bring to a gently simmer, and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the meatballs are fully cooked and the sauce has thickened, flipping the meatballs once or twice as needed to prevent them from sticking and to coat them in the sauce.
Remove from heat and sprinkle with diced parsley leaves. Serve warm, spooning extra sauce on top.
More ground chicken recipes for dinner: Chicken Kofta Kabobs
Recipe tips and variations
→ Make sure your broth is flavorful and salted enough. If the creamy sauce is lacking flavor, it likely needs more salt or a more concentrated broth. I love using Better than Bouillon to make sauces because you can just stir in ¼ teaspoon at a time to season any sauce. Other options to add flavor to the sauce: a tiny bit of Dijon mustard, a splash or Worcestershire sauce.
→ Instead of heavy cream, you can stir in a little full-fat sour cream and some extra broth or a splash of water.
→ Don't worry if the meatballs are not coming out perfectly round when you're browning them on a few sides. Once they're coated in delicious sauce, I promise that you will not care what shape they are!
→ If you're quick and experienced with making meatballs, you can preheat the pan while shaping the meatballs.
→ Make sure you have an 11 or 12-inch pan, not anything smaller. No lid necessary!
→ Make-ahead tips: You can pre-cook the meatballs and freeze them for up to a month or store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you're ready for dinner, make the sauce and reheating thawed (or refrigerated) meatballs in the sauce right before serving. The only downside is that you won't be able to get all the browned bits of flavor into the sauce. And remember that you would have to cook the meatballs all the way through before refrigerating or freezing them. To freeze the meatballs, place them on a cookie sheet or baking sheet until frozen so they don't stick together, then transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag.
What to serve with chicken Swedish meatballs
We LOVE the combination of creamy meatball sauce with mashed potatoes (try these make-ahead mashed potatoes that stay warm in the slow cooker!). Another great option is to serve the meatballs with egg noodles, using the extra meatball sauce as sauce for the noodles.
We always use bread to sop up the extra sauce on our plates!
If you want to be more authentic, or want to mimic Ikea meatballs, serve these with a little lingonberry jam. The sweet and savory flavor combine is delicious! If you can't find lingonberry jam, then a sweet cranberry sauce would do the trick.
Veggies that go great with Swedish meatballs are roasted green beans or roasted broccoli. Corn and peas, lima beans, or Brussels sprouts would all work well too!
Enjoy this Swedish meatball recipe!
More ground chicken dinners to try: Chicken Sloppy Joes
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Chicken Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken breast - (or 99% lean ground turkey)
- 1 small yellow onion - peeled and cut into quarters
- 2 pieces soft bread - (white bread or whole wheat, use soft sandwich bread instead of "grainy" bread, and use the smaller bread slices, not the larger rectangular slices)
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves - divided (you'll use 2 tablespoons for the meatball mixture, and 1 tablespoon for garnishing the sauce)
- 1 egg
- ¾ - 1 teaspoon salt - or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper - or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ tablespoon olive oil or other cooking oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour - (or use 2-2.5 tablespoons for a thinner sauce)
- 2 cups chicken broth - (I use 2 teaspoons Better than Bouillon + 2 cups water)
- ½ cup heavy cream - (aka heavy whipping cream, or double cream)
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves - finely minced
Special equipment
- Small food processor (I have the 3-cup one and it's perfect for this recipe)
- Small bowl with water (you'll dip your hands into this while forming the meatballs to prevent the chicken mixture from sticking to your fingers)
- Wooden spoon
Instructions
- Peel and cut the onion into quarters and add it to a food processor along with the peeled garlic cloves, sliced bread, and 2 tablespoons parsley leaves. Process until it is a coarse texture, don't turn it into a paste.
- In a large bowl, combine the onion mixture, ground chicken, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Use a fork to mix everything together and make sure the seasonings are well dispersed.
- Use your hands to scoop small amounts of the chicken mixture and make small meatballs. You can make about 16 meatballs that are just over an inch bit, or 20-24 smaller ones. Tip: To prevent the chicken mixture from sticking to your hands, dip the palms of your hands into a bowl of cool water in between every 1-2 meatballs.
- Preheat a large skillet on medium-high heat until hot. Add the olive oil, and gently place the meatballs in the hot pan. Cook the meatballs for 2-3 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Use tongs to gently flip the meatballs and re-shape them into little balls by squeezing the sides. Brown at least 3 sides, but no need to cook the meatballs all the way through.
- Lower the heat to medium and remove the browned meatballs onto a large plate.
- Immediately add the butter to the pan and allow to melt, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits. Add the flour and stir until almost no lumps remain.
- Add the chicken broth, heavy cream, and nutmeg and stir or whisk until smooth. Carefully taste the sauce and see if it needs any more salt or seasoning. If the sauce is bland, it will be bland with the meatballs!
- Add the meatballs back into the pan, including any juices that might have ran out. Bring to a gently simmer, and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the meatballs are fully cooked (165F on the inside) and the sauce has thickened, flipping the meatballs once or twice as needed to prevent them from sticking and to coat them in the sauce.
- Remove from heat and sprinkle with diced parsley leaves. Serve warm, spooning extra sauce on top.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.