How to Make Decadent Swedish Meatballs that Put IKEA’s to Shame

Chef Danny at The Arthur J in Manhattan Beach, Calif., shows Playboy senior editor Jeremy Repanich how to make decadent Swedish meatballs. It all begins with the right combination of ground beef, pork and veal mixed with the spices that give the balls their very distinct flavor: freshly grated nutmeg, allspice, and finely ground black pepper. Chef Danny uses the pan with all the leftover fat and juices to make the gravy, which requires anchovies, butter, Mycella blue cheese, toasted flour and veal stock. He rounds out the plate with yukon gold mashed potatoes and a cranberry kumquat compote.

Executive Producer: Brian Berkowitz
Producer: Jeremy Repanich
Host: Jeremy Repanich

[foodtaliban]

It sounds delish! It's almost as the famous Swedish chef Tore Wretman used to make them. But he used a spice mix called Épice Riche (nutmeg, white pepper, allspice, clove) as seasoning for the minced meat.

[oskarstrom]

Nice recipe! A few thoughts: In Sweden, we usually sweat the onions and let them cool before adding them to the mixture. Also, we wouldn't add allspice or anchovies, except for maybe at christmas, but anchovies in Sweden is a different thing than in the rest of the world. It's a sort of herring in a spicy brine. We call the regular anchovies "sardeller". Further more we would fry them in butter, and of course not add bluecheese to the sauce, nor would we deviate from using lingonsylt/rårörda lingon aka lingonberry jam. That said, I think these look great, and I'm sure they're very tasty.

[BrazillianFOsho]

This host is great he gives off a very relaxing pleasing atmosphere, keep it up guys! almost as good as munchies

[heidivernathorbjornsen]

As a Norwegian take on this- I sautéed my onions first always in butter -let it cool a bit- soften bread with a bit of milk or cream -( you can use fine oatmeal too) I use a little organic Worcestershire sauce instead of anchovies -I use 2 eggs yolk & white. If you freeze leftover gravy from a roast to add later -it adds a nice flavor. I only use beef & veal. Yummy

[barbaragreene]

Ground chop beef, pork and veal. The 3-meats sounds like anything you made will be delicious!

[luddeh]

Spice meatballs with juniper berries and black+white pepper and allspice, lots of serious chefs lightly fry the chopped union before adding to mix, (Also for extra-Swedish meatballs add some moose/venison meat) also make them smaller and fry in butter, Italian meatballs are usually in this size.
The nutmeg goes in the mash potatoe which is NOT 1:1 ratio potato:butter, instead whisk a mix of butter+heavy cream+milk until satesfied, spice with white pepper salt and nutmeg.
We dont tend to use anchovies in the brown sauce, but recipes varies greatly.
And please for the love of god use lingonberries instead of cranberries, raw stirred with ~20% icing sugar drained before serving.

/Swedish chef

[labossicontact]

What I like about this chef... is he doesn't seem like an arrogant one. Looks like he just really enjoys cooking... and thats what made him good :)

[jamisonthomas]

This is a great channel, you guy(s) deserve a lot more subscribers!

[jonnyfredriksson]

My grandmother always use ansjovis broth in the meatball mixture aswell. Try it!

[zohrajeb]

I tried it before and I am making it for the second time today. It is really really good ! I didn't use any pork but I did use whole wheat instead of toasting the flour. It did help with the color. I am definitely adding this to my recipes' list. So yummy 👌🏻👌🏻. Thank you!!

[Aarielle]

When we lived in Europe we learn how to make this but we also added Capers and wine to the sauce so so delicious

[tamasnegyesi]

Real high-end professional recipe and technology! Congratulations!

[willyeng]

To get it to the perfect stage you should fry about halft of the onions before adding it to the meat mixture, the other halft you keep raw. This ads more flavor and really bless the meatballs with a nice depth.

[dreamlover]

It occurred to me the boxes of cookies I bought at IKea yesterday (almond, orange, coffee, caramel, etc.) have this similar, strong distinct spice/s in them. Is it nutmeg/all-spice? Are these commonly used spices in Swedish cuisine/sweets? It was like Christmas in my mouth 😆

[MartinAsplund]

The meatballs are too big, real Swedish meatballs should be small. Moreover, I usually don't have oil on my hands. I dip my hands in water before I roll the meatballs. In addition, they should be fried in butter. I also think that most Swedes only using salt and black pepper.
If you want everything to be really Swedish style you should replace the cranberries with lingonberry jam. You can also replace the mashed potatoes with boiled potatoes if you like, but the mashed potatoes go well too. If you make these changes, it would be a real complete Swedish meal.

[Youtube_Globetrotter]

"Rårörda lingon" -preserved uncooked lingonberries is a must I think
makes them very sour and not so sweet, but adds so much caracter and taste to the dish

[tonyz]

I watched 20 videos searching for the best recipe. THIS IS IT!!!

[herpsenderpsen]

i have never heard of a Norwegian with a fluent American accent and such a close relation to Swedish meatballs.

[kimmarieberg]

Scandinavians do NOT use NUTMEG, ever, in Swedish meatballs. In cookies, cakes, sweets, yes but not in savory food. We use parsley alspice, and black pepper. And don't serve with noodles!!!

[Goldboy]

Either cook those onions first or grate them raw. Traditionally you would grate them, but I like cooking them with the spices as it intensifies their flavour....