This easy Swedish meatball casserole with pasta recipe will bring you back to your childhood. Best way of how to cook frozen meatballs with this Old Fashioned creamy sauce, quick comfort food topped with the crispy onions is delicious.
I decided to combine my two favorites things for dinner last night, we called it easy Swedish meatball casserole. It took no time at all to make. Just one of our quick and easy casseroles.
Swedish Meatball Noodle Bake
Traditionally my grandma made her own meatballs from scratch, and although those were delicious I just don’t have time for that step. Using frozen meatballs, I can whip up this easy comfort food casserole up in just fifteen minutes.
Get your noodles to al dente, fold it all together with our Swedish Meatball Sauce with Sour Cream, throw it in the oven to bubble up with crispy fried onions on top while I was busy doing laundry or playing a game with my kids and dinner is done. 😉
Ingredient Notes
Cooked Perfect frozen Meatballs, bagged is what we used here but you could make your own if you baked them first. You can typically find them in your local grocery store, in the freezer section. Buy a few bags while you’re at it and try our pressure cooker frozen meatballs recipe later.
Egg noodles work the best for these to soak in the sauce, you will want to boil them to al dente first, drain and then you are ready to combine.
Heavy cream is better than milk to get a thick rich sauce, and then you will add some sour cream in there to make it rich (don’t choose low fat)
Butter is needed for the sauce too, dairy free alternative works. I would recommend the plant based alternative from Country Crock.
Dijon mustard is the pop of flavor for that classic flavor for the sauce. It won’t make it spicy but just more of the zing you want vs. just the plain yellow version.
Worcestershire sauce is great for a richness, used in classic Old Fashioned dishes
Beef broth is better than water and provides the moisture you need to cook it to tender.
French’s fried onions or make your own homemade crispy fried onions I like to use on the top for added flavor and texture
Non stick cooking spray is great to spray your 9×13″ pan to bake in the oven. Alternatively you could line with non stick aluminum foil for easier cleanup but a light spray in a glass dish usually does the trick better.
Variations and Substitutions
You could use ground beef to make meatballs and precook before adding into your baking dish. They would need to be baked first so that they don’t break apart when folding them in with other ingredients though. For dairy free you can whisk cornstarch into milk alternative to make it thicker.
Want to make this without the noodles, quick??!! Try our Instant Pot Swedish meatballs next!
Swedish Meatball Casserole Recipe
Equipment
- 1 pot
- 1 9×13 pan
Ingredients
- 1 bag egg noodles, (8 oz)
- 1 bag Frozen Meatballs
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 tbsp. butter
- 2 cup beef broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/3 small onion
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 cup crispy fried onions
- 8 mushrooms, (quartered, optional)
Instructions
- Boil egg noodles until a bit al dente, drain and set aside.
- While you are boiling your noodles; in another pot warm butter until melted, then add broth, olive oil, cream, worcestershire sauce, diced onion, dijon, and salt together.
- Whisk in flour 1 tbsp at a time.
- Whisk in sour cream, allow to start boiling. Add mushrooms if desired.
- Empty bag of Cooked Perfect Frozen Meatballs on to a large plate or bowl so they aren’t overlapping.
- Put meatballs in microwave for 1 minute, turn them over, put in for 1 more minute, turn them over, then microwave for 1 more minute.
- Add meatballs to your sauce mixture and bring to a low boil again.
- Add your slightly al dente egg noodles in with your sauce and meatballs and stir gently. Bring to a low boil again and keep on stovetop for 3-5 minutes.
- Spray 9×13 casserole dish with non stick spray. Dump contents in dish and sprinkle with crispy fried onions on top.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you’re a busy mom like me who loves hearty, feel-good meals you’ve got to try this easy Swedish Meatballs Casserole recipe. You won’t be disappointed. Using these make busy mom’s lives easier one bag at a time. Try our easy beef stew casserole next and let me know which one is your favorite!! 😉
Other meatball recipes you’ll love
Crockpot spaghetti and meatballs is easy enough. Air Fryer Meatballs with sweet and sour sauce is simple Instant Pot meatballs have never been easier to make as an appetizer Frozen Meatballs in Crockpot are an easy way to get them tender
Side Dish Ideas
You can enjoy them by themselves with a side of pasta like butter noodles or alone topped with cheese. Refrigerated biscuit pull apart bread is a great side dish or with Air fryer vegetables. If you want to make something else with the rest of your bag make Meatball soup
Of course sauce is the biggest part of the flavoring component that sets these two apart. Italian meatballs are typically served in a tangy tomato sauce (marinara). Swedish meatballs are cooked in a rich, creamy gravy made with beef or bone broth and sour cream.
How to save leftovers
Leftover casserole saves quite well as long as you keep all that great sauce. Once cooled toss it together again to coat the pasta bake. Transfer it into a container with a lid or a freezer bag. Eliminate as much air as possible so it doesn’t dry out. Store in your refrigerator for up to 3 days max.
How to reheat a leftover casserole
When you reheat put it into a heat safe bowl and toss again. If you have extra sauce pour that on top. Microwave for 45 seconds, stir, and heat again for another 45 sec. to 1 minute until it is as warm as you’d like.
Nutritional daily values are based on the recipe cards calculations. I cannot guarantee how accurate they are.
8 ounces of pasta for 10 servings will give you less than one gram per person of pasta. 22.68 grams to be exact. Egg noodles have a carb factor of approximately .65 grams, which means if 10 people divide this up, they will get 15 grams of carbohydrates for those 22.68 grams of pasta.
I do not calculate the nutrition, the recipe card does and cannot verify it’s accuracy. I just put in the amount of each ingredient.
Made these today and had to hold my husband back from eating the sauce out of the pan. 🙂
Awesome recipe! Easy to follow. I measured out the ingredients before I started cooking so I could just stir them in as directed. I had to add about an extra tablespoon of flour to get it to thicken, but the flavors are amazing. I was not sure about the onion topping because it made me think of “green bean casserole” LOL, but I used them anyhow to keep to the recipe. They are just the right thing to top this. Yummy.
Thank you for sharing.
Oh yay!!