Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs

This is our easy Instant Pot Swedish meatballs recipe made in less than 20 minutes with homemade or pressure cooker frozen meatballs! It’s keto friendly, delicious, and can be made in your Ninja Foodi or Crockpot express too.

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 basic 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.

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.

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.

Swedish Meatballs with 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.

Ingredient Notes

Below is what you would need to make homemade meatballs, or use this is how to cook frozen meatballs just to defrost before adding in with sauce.

To make from fresh I like to use 80/20 ground beef or half spicy sausage and half ground beef or turkey for lower fat. I do suggest at least half with a bit more fat in order to keep them together so they don’t break apart though.

You will want to add some Italian bread crumbs, or if making Keto Swedish meatballs substitute for fried onion strings.

And I like to add a packet of dry French onion soup mix – yes really, it adds a lot of flavor easily with your large egg.

What is the sauce for Swedish meatballs made from?

You will want some salted butter, heavy cream, beef broth or stock, diced onion, some sour cream (can be dairy free), Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard and I add a bit of cornstarch to thicken it too.

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 Instant Pot steamed vegetables
• Instant Pot mashed potatoes using red potatoes is probably our favorite.