Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs

Easy homemade Instant Pot Swedish meatballs recipe! Total comfort food at it’s finest and takes less than 20 minutes to make. You’ve got to try it with pressure cooker frozen meatballs or make them yourself! Keto friendly, delicious, and can be made in your Ninja Foodi or Crockpot express too.

Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs

I don’t know about you but year round I am all about comfort food! I used to throw it in the oven but especially when it is 100 degrees outside I have no interest in that. Thank goodness for my fancy pressure cooker! 😉

Ninja Foodi Swedish Meatballs

On my counter are a few different brands and they all work basically the same. That means if you are looking for a great and easy Ninja Foodi recipe you can follow the same directions using the lid that is not attached and the pressure cook button. A Mealthy and crockpot express work the same way as in the recipe card below

I know…it looks delicious right??!! If you remember eating a version of these with your family members back in the day you can make them quicker now, with the same taste.

Of course you could use Instant Pot frozen meatballs for this dish. I think my easy meatball recipe is so simple and is packed with flavor though, so I prefer to make them myself. If you have a favorite meatloaf recipe just use that and instead of a large hunk divide it up into palm sized balls.

Meat with a bit more fat content work a bit better just so the meatballs don’t fall apart in the pressure cooking process. 80/20 is usually best or you can mix half spicy ground sausage with beef which tastes amazing but that is totally up to you.

Swedish Meatballs without Frozen Meatballs

Yes you can make this with a “bag of meat” but from scratch isn’t that hard and so much better. I like wide egg noodles the very best. They don’t get too soft if you just boil for a bit of time and taste great all different ways. From making butter noodles to folding them in with this meat and sauce it soaks up the goodness.

What is a Swedish meatball?

They are traditionally made with onion, ground beef, ground pork, breadcrumbs, egg yolks, allspice, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. The sauce ingredients typically include butter, flour, beef broth, sour cream, salt and pepper.

It is an “old fashioned” dish I remember my Grandmother making as I grew up and I thought it was just a normal dish. As I got older I realized how lucky I was to have enjoyed her homemade dish and had to figure it out myself once I had kids.

Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs using Frozen Meatballs

If you are going with the faster method you just skip the saute function at the beginning to brown them as that wouldn’t be necessary. As far as the rest goes everything else would work the same way. I suggest trying both and see which you prefer.

If you want a side I would suggest a bit of egg noodles or Instant Pot white rice. We love them just as they are. 😉 I think that it is best to boil them to slightly al dente on the stovetop separately. Then when done pour them in and fold together so the sauce can coat everything.

OR you can make it together in the oven with our Swedish Meatball casserole (shared below). For dinner when we have a quiet house (very rare, but it does happen), or just as a special treat I love pairing this with a glass of Chardonnay too!

Now you could in fact use ground turkey or chicken if you wanted to. I think personally that beef works better with this creamy sauce as to not break apart as much but up to you.

Ingredients

1. Homemade meatballs – or use this is how to cook frozen meatballs other ways
   1. Ground beef or half sausage and half ground beef or turkey
   2. Bread crumbs or if making Keto Swedish meatballs substitute for fried onions
   3. French onion soup mix – yes really
   4. Egg

What is the sauce for Swedish meatballs made from?

1. Butter
2. Heavy cream
3. Beef broth
4. Onion
5. Sour cream
6. Worcestershire sauce
7. Cornstarch – to thicken the sauce
8. Dijon mustard

How to Make Swedish Meatballs in a Pressure Cooker

1. Mix together your ground beef, packet of french onion soup mix, 1 tbsp worchestershire sauce, bread crumbs, and 1 egg. Make into medium size balls.
   • (skip if using frozen meatballs).
2. Spray the inside of your Instant Pot with non stick spray and add a bit of olive oil inside. Set to saute, low.
3. Add your meatballs and diced onions to your pot and cook until the outsides are browned (if using frozen meatballs skip this step). Turn pot OFF.
4. Take them out and add 1/2 your can of beef broth to deglaze your pot.
5. Mix together all your other ingredients in another bowl and use a whisk to make sure all lumps are gone. 
6. Pour your cream mixture into the pot and put meatballs back in. Put your lid on, close your steam valve.
7. Set to high pressure on your Instant Pot for 3 minutes for homemade meatballs. If using defrosted previously frozen meatballs cook for only 3 minutes as well.
8. If using frozen you’ll need 5 minutes (for small frozen, larger may take longer). Once it’s done and beeps do a quick release.
9. Check insides to ensure they’re cooked thru. Remove the meatballs from the pot. 
10. Set Instant Pot to saute low again. Add remaining 2-3 tbsp. of cornstarch and whisk into liquid in pot.
11. Allow to bubble and thicken, add more cornstarch if desired. Add meat back into sauce mixture and serve!

Using frozen is a great alternative to save time and prep time.  I have done this. With that said I will say I prefer my homemade meatballs better but here’s what you do if you want this easier version:

How to Cook Frozen Swedish Meatballs and Noodles

• Pour 1.5 c. water inside your inner liner with a vegetable steamer inside.
• Empty bag of frozen meatballs into basket.
• Close lid and steam valve and set to pressure high for 3 minutes followed by a quick release.
  • Timing will vary but this is pretty good for all brands. Differences will come if yours are quite large but even if they’re not cooked all the way through they will be with the second heating time with the sauce
• You can skip step one since these are precooked and now defrosted.
• Take out, set aside, drain water out of pot and start with whisking your sauce ingredients together.
• In a pot on the stove boil egg noodles to al dente
• When done fold both together to coat

Put diced onions in as is without sauteeing first with the meat, that is fine because they’ll soften in the cooking process. Or make our baked Easy Swedish meatball casserole recipe.

What is the IKEA meatball sauce?

They keep these details under tight wraps, but I must say this could be a copycat IKEA meatball recipe because our Swedish meatballs sauce with sour cream tastes so similar. The key to success is the sauce really, made right in the skillet where you brown the meatballs. As stated earlier, it is a mixture of butter, flour, beef broth, heavy cream, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.

This creamy sauce picks up all the flavorful fond on the bottom of the pan. Try it for yourself and let us know if it’s as close and good as you remember having it there.

What do you serve with Swedish meatballs?

Traditionally these are served with potatoes and lingonberry jam, which I love! We have also served them alongside white or brown rice or noodles. If you like spiced meatballs, add a dash of allspice to the meat mixture.

• Mashed cauliflower is a great choice for a low carb alternative
• What vegetables go with Swedish meatballs? Well you’d probably get a different answer depending on whom you asked. For us if you want a really healthy option you can just make these mixed steamed vegetables in pressure cooker
• Instant Pot mashed potatoes using red potatoes is probably our favorite.