Need a delicious dinner with a fraction of the effort? Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs are just that! Full of flavor and very little active cooking time, this is an easy recipe the whole family will love!
What are Swedish Meatballs?
Whereas Italian style meatballs are mainly there to compliment pasta and tomato sauce, Swedish meatballs celebrate the beefiness of the meatball. Seasoned with a savory spice blend that really bring the meat to life, and cooked in a creamy beef broth really makes the meatball the star of the dish.
Most people serve this over either mashed potatoes or - as in our case here - egg noodles.
Why you'll love this recipe
I've made Swedish Meatballs countless times, and it's always a family favorite. In doing so, I've learned some key tips and tricks that I'll share with you.
In this recipe, you'll learn the key tips and tricks to delivering juicy, flavorful meatballs that keep their shape even when cooking under the pressure of an Instant Pot (affiliate).
Mike's Recipe Rundown
- Taste: A complex spice blend really helps highlight the grassiness of good ground beef. A cream sauce helps to soak up and distribute that sauce over your vessel of choice.
- Texture: Crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside and cooked in a creamy sauce. By dusting our meatballs in flour before they cook, we form a perfect crust that locks the flavor in!
- Difficulty - Medium: There aren't any super complex techniques involved here, but there are some key steps to follow.
- Pros: The meatballs are delicious, and the Instant Pot makes cooking and cleanup a synch. The Instant Pot cooks them under only 4 minutes of pressure, all while really locking in and developing the flavor.
- Cons: This isn't exactly a short list of ingredients, but most of them are things you'll already have in your cupboard or fridge. It's so worth it, too - restaurant quality Swedish Meatballs with minimal effort!
- Would I make it again? Yes! This is a hit in our house; one of our hands down favorite meals! I'm excited to share it with you!
Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs Tips and Tricks
- MEAT SELECTION TIP: Whenever making meatballs, meatloaf, or patties with ground beef, it's always a good move to add some pork in as well. Why? Because pork fat renders at a lower temperature than beef fat. The result? Juicier meat from the flavor released from the pork.
- PREP TIP: This recipe calls for you to form the meatballs into golf ball size bites, place them on a baking sheet and into the fridge for one hour before cooking. This step helps the meat form together in it's new shape, and helps them from falling apart while cooking.
- KEEPING THINGS CLEAN: When mixing your meat and forming your meatballs, I recommend a pack of food service gloves (affiliate) to keep your hands clean.
- COOKING TIP: When you add the broth into the pan, start by just adding one cup. It will quickly sizzle. When it does, use the end of a spatula or spoon to scrape up any brown bits (we call that "fond") from the bottom of the pan. There's a lot of flavor there, we need it in the broth!
- SERVING TIP: This recipe doesn't call for a specific thing to serve these over. Typically, I serve mine over egg noodles. You can definitely serve them over mashed potatoes, as well. If you're doing so, I recommend checking out our recipe that teaches you how to make mashed potatoes like a chef.
Find out why people love our most popular recipes, like Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin, Instant Pot Chicken a la King and Homemade Beef Stroganoff. When it's burning hot in Tallahassee, I love to pop some Arnold Palmer Popsicles in the freezer, or cool off with Pomegranate Margaritas.
What do I need to make Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs?
While prepping, you'll want a large mixing bowl (affiliate) to combine your ingredients in, as well as a large baking sheet (affiliate) to store your meatballs after forming. From there, an Instant Pot (affiliate) is all you'll need to bring this one to perfection.
As for ingredients, you'll want:
For the meatballs:
- 1 slice white bread
- 3 Tbsp milk
- ½ lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 garlic cloves, diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp white pepper
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp allspice
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 whole egg, beaten
For the sauce:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- 2 ½ cups beef stock
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp cold water
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 package wide egg noodles, cooked
How to use an Instant Pot
Before you start this recipe, make sure you are familiar with the instructions and safety manual for your model of Instant Pot (or other pressure cooker). Instant Pot itself offers a nice set of videos on How to use an Instant Pot.
While pressure cookers are awesome tools, they have to be used correctly. Take the time to be familiar with how to use yours before you begin to avoid injury and give you the tastiest results.
How to make Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs [2 minutes]
PREP
Place white bread in a small bowl and cover with milk. Allow 10 minutes to soak. While it soaks, add all the meatball ingredients (ground beef, ground pork, fresh garlic, salt, white pepper, ground cardamom, allspice, ground nutmeg, grated fresh ginger, worcestershire sauce, whole egg and fresh parsley). Add in soaked bread and mix everything well by hand until evenly combined.
Form the meatballs by taking a large pinch of the meat mixture and roll them between your palms until they form a smooth ball. Each meatball should be roughly ¾ inch thick. This way, they are each just large enough to be a bite on their own with some noodles or potatoes.
Place each rolled meatball on a large baking dish. When finished, cover the dish with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour to hold form.
SEAR MEATBALLS
Turn Instant Pot on Saute: More mode. While it is heating, remove meatballs from fridge. Dust with 1 Tbsp of all-purpose flour, gently shaking the pan back and forth to lightly coat the meatballs in flour. This will help to form a nice, crisp crust.
When Instant Pot is preheated and display reads "Hot", add olive oil. Add just enough meatballs to form a single layer at the bottom of the pan. For me, that's about 15 meatballs, so I'll cook mine in two batches.
Allow meatballs to sit undisturbed for about two minutes, then gently turn them to sear all the sides. Continue until meatballs are no longer visibly pink, then remove to a pan. Add second batch of meatballs and repeat process.
MAKE SAUCE & PRESSURE COOK
When second batch is done and removed to the same large baking sheet (affiliate), add in diced onion. After a minute, onions will begin to release acid. Using a large spoon, use the acid to scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
After a minute or two, when the onions soften, season them with salt and pepper. Cook one minute more than add fresh dill. Cook an additional minute. Return seared meatballs to Instant Pot (affiliate) and pour beef stock over.
Close lid on Instant Pot and make sure vent is set to "sealing". Then, set Instant Pot to Manual: High pressure for 4 minutes. When timer goes off, allow 10 minutes for natural release before flipping the valve to "venting" to relieve any remaining pressure.
FINISHING TOUCHES
While meatballs are cooking mix together cornstarch and cold water in a side bowl to create a slurry. We'll use this to thicken the sauce at the end.
When pressure indicator has gone down, carefully open lid to Instant Pot. Open lid and add in cornstarch slurry, half-and-half, fresh chives and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Set Instant Pot to Saute: More. and cook for 3 minutes to allow everything to thicken, stirring constantly. Cancel saute mode and stir in cooked wide egg noodles. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.
If you're looking for something more fulfilling, make a batch of mashed potatoes and spoon your swedish meatballs and gravy overtop (instead of the egg noodles), or just serve it on it's own.
You might also like...
If you like this recipe, you should definitely check out our super easy recipe for Instant Pot Beef Stew or Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowls [above]. If you have two Instant Pots, you may want to go ahead and make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes in the other to serve this over. Either way, this goes great with some homemade Everything Dinner Rolls served alongside.
Print
Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Delicious seasoned meatballs cooked in a pressure cooker in just 4 minutes, then served over egg noodles in a beef gravy sauce. Delicious!
Ingredients
For meatballs:
- 1 slice white bread
- 3 Tbsp milk
- ½ lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 garlic cloves, diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp white pepper
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 whole egg, beaten
For sauce:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp cold water
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- MIX: Place white bread in bowl and cover with milk. Allow 10 minutes to soak. While bread is soaking, combine all meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add in soaked bread when ready and mix everything together by hand until well combined.
- FORM: Take a large pinch of your meatball mixture and roll into between your palms into a tight ball. Meatballs should be about ¾ inch thick. Place on a baking sheet and repeat until all meatballs are formed. Place baking sheet in fridge and chill for one hour to help hold form.
- DUST: Turn Instant Pot on Saute: More. While Instant Pot is heating, remove meatballs from fridge. Sprinkle pan evenly with all-purpose flour. Gently shake the pan back and forth on the counter to dust the meatballs in the flour. Set aside.
- SEAR: When display reads "Hot", add olive oil and allow 30 seconds to heat. Add just enough meatballs to fit in one even layer. Turn every minute or so until meatballs are browned and remove to a pan. Replace with next batch and repeat process until all meatballs are seared and remove to pan.
- DEGLAZE: Add in diced onions. Using a spatula or large spoon, scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Season with salt and pepper once onions begin to soften, then fresh dill and cook one minute more.
- COOK: Return all meatballs to pot and add beef stock. Close lid and set vent to sealing. Set Instant Pot to Manual: High pressure for 4 minutes. Allow 10 minutes for pressure to release, then manually release the remaining pressure. Once pressure indicator has gone down, carefully open lid.
- FINISHING TOUCHES: Mix together cornstarch and cold water and add to pot. Mix in half-and-half, chopped fresh chives and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set Instant Pot to Saute: More and cook for 3 more minutes to help thicken everything. Cancel saute mode.
- OPTIONAL: Add in cooked wide egg noodles and stir into sauce. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Alternatively, instead of serving this over cooked wide egg noodles, you can serve this over mashed potatoes as well. Check out our recipe for mashed potatoes, packed full of chef's tips to take yours to the next level.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Turkish
Keywords: Swedish Meatballs, Meatballs Recipe, Instant Pot Meatballs