Swedish Meatball Sauce with Sour Cream

Easy Swedish meatball sauce with sour cream you can make on stovetop, in Crockpot or Instant Pot. Use homemade or this is how to cook frozen meatballs with this homemade Swedish meatball sauce.

Swedish Meatball Sauce Recipe

You can use this sauce with any cooking method you choose. If you want quick then follow our Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs recipe with this sauce that would be the way to go. I have made my own and thrown those babies right in out of the bag, both of them turn out good.

A note about making homemade meatballs is that you need to precook them just so that they don’t break apart. Just make sure the outsides are nice and crispy so they stay together well over the next few hours surrounded by sauce.

Easy Sour Cream Sauce for Meatballs

It is by far way easier to just buy a bag of Johnsonville or the store brand of beef or turkey balls. You can use them for all sorts of things well beyond just this dish. We use them to make Crockpot frozen meatballs of all kinds, with sauces like bbq, teriyaki, and this classic version.

With all methods I recommend adding the sour cream at the end. You’ll want to whisk some of the hot sauce in with it warms before adding so it doesn’t break down and get a little clumpy. Then let it warm with the meat to become rich and creamy.

Most of the time I will make a batch of al dente egg noodles to serve with this but you could mash taters or go for fluffy rice with it too. Use lower fat turkey meatballs or beef if you prefer. There are even meatless versions out there that are actually quite delicious.

Swedish Meatball Sauce with Sour Cream and Worcestershire

If you want to cook the egg noodles and meat together you’d need to follow our Swedish meatball casserole recipe. We use this same sauce, cook, and then bake with some of our fried onions on the top. OMG y’all that is good.

• Use stock or beef broth
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup 10.5 oz
• Worcestershire sauce
• Garlic powder
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 c sour cream, don’t use low fat people

Use frozen or use clean hands to form your favorite beef and pork meatloaf mixture with bread crumbs into balls and brown with olive oil in a pan. You’ll need to brown these in a pan on the stovetop before adding sauce so they stay together well. A nice crispy outside with keep them from falling apart.

• In a bowl whisk together all other ingredients (EXCEPT the sour cream) and cook your frozen or cooked homemade meatballs.
• At the end whisk about 1/2 c. of your hot sauce with your sour cream to warm it a bit. Gently fold this into your sauce and meatball mixture, re-cover and let warm.. If you want to thin sauce out add 1/2 c more broth.

What goes best with Swedish meatballs?

Ok so my Grandmother was Swedish so she was all about authentic. She had to have a bit of lingonberry jam spooned on top of the cooked meatballs and sauce.

• Mashed potatoes are great, but our air fryer mashed potato balls are even more fun (and go with the same theme)
• If you want to make this as a Swedish meatballs sauce IKEA copycat version then noodles are a given of course, egg is typical but shells are kinda’ fun too

OR you can just serve as is, we have done that too. You can find a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post, nutritional information only accounts for the sauce itself. Saturated fat, calories etc… will vary with the type of meat you use.

Sauce for Swedish Meatballs

Variations you might be wondering about. Okay so you realize that you are missing something and wondering if you can still make this happen, or you need it to be dairy free. Here are options I have heard others make that you could try;

There is dairy free sour cream out there. I have bought this for my husband who needs lactose free products and he says it is pretty decent. You can make your own dairy free condensed soup yourself if you are really sensitive.

I have been in a place where I ran out of condiments, these are Worcestershire sauce replacements. You can just use soy sauce 1:1 but if you have tasted the two side by side they are not the same. I mean both will still bring a richness to the dish, sodium, and a punch of flavor.

If you make a batch to enjoy for dinner and have leftovers you can save them to enjoy the next day too. I wouldn’t make a double batch of just the Swedish meatball sauce itself as that is best made from scratch fresh. It will likely separate made as is and saved. With the meat inside though you can reheat.

Just make sure you allow your dish to cool to room temperature first off. Then transfer into a sealed container and into your fridge for up to 48 hours. Note that the sauce may separate slightly but will taste the same. Just stir and heat for 1 minute, stir again and may need another 60 seconds or so to warm.

Make fresh mashed potatoes to serve with it or some rice is nice stirred in to make more like a meatball soup of sorts. That is another nice way to enjoy this. You can make a double batch of this sauce with meat inside and enjoy as a soup. Believe me, it is quite rich but OH MY is it wonderful.