Swedish Meatball Soup

Here’s what you need to know about this soup—Stevie said it’s the best soup he’s ever had.  And the man has had a plethora of soups in his day. He’s married to the woman who will make a soup out of ANYTHING.  Also of note? His family is a mixture of German and Scandinavian and his mother is a great cook so he’s had the best swedish meatballs in the free world.  I only say that to say that he’s kinda hard to impress.  He looked at me with love in eyes when I made this soup so I’m telling you, you gotta try it.  This could well be my magnum opus.  This is makeup food right here so if you’re in the need of a quick way to say I’m sorry, this is your culinary fix.  I only beg you not to buy premade meatballs (for the love of IKEA) because then you’re probably gonna tell me that is in fact not my magnum opus and I need to keep trying.  #myworkhereisdone

What You’ll Need:

For the meatballs:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 grated onion
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg (I use fresh grated nutmeg and it’s probably more than 1/2 tsp)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp of ground black pepper
• salt to taste (about a teaspoon for us)
• 3/4 cups of heavy cream (don’t analyze, just do it!)

Combine the above ingredients and form into  1 1/2 inch meatballs.  In a heavy dutch oven (same pot you will cook soup in) add some olive oil and then brown the meatballs on medium/high, turning them once. (Takes just a couple of minutes if the pan is nice and hot).  Remove the meatballs for later and start the soup.  (Do NOT wash the soup pan.  Leave the beef drippings there for flavor!)

For the soup:

• 3 T butter
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 T flour
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 6 cups of chicken stock
• meatballs that have been browned
• 1 cup half and half
• 1-2 cups of milk, depending on how thick you like it
• 3 cups of pasta (I usually use egg noodles)
• salt and pepper to taste

 In the pan with the beef drippings, melt 3 tablespoons of butter and add a couple tablespoons of olive oil.  Cook the onion for a 3-4 minutes until it’s translucent.  Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the stove on low.  Cover the pot and cook until the pasta is tender.  This usually takes about 20-30 minutes.  Don’t let it boil because the noodles will get too sticky.  Just be patient.  They’ll be soft before you know it.  

I serve it with Rhodes rolls which I buy as frozen dough balls and then let them rise in a muffin pan which I’ve sprayed with cooking spray.  (I put 2 dough balls per muffin tin).  It takes 3-4 hours for them to rise and then you bake them at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Swedish Meatball Soup

3.25 from 8 votes

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

For the meatballs:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 grated onion
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg I use fresh grated nutmeg and it's probably more than 1/2 tsp
• 1 egg
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp of ground black pepper
• salt to taste about a teaspoon for us
• 3/4 cups of heavy cream don't analyze, just do it!

For the soup:

• 3 T butter
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 onion diced
• 2 T flour
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 6 cups of chicken stock
• meatballs that have been browned
• 1 cup half and half
• 1-2 cups of milk depending on how thick you like it
• 3 cups of pasta I usually use egg noodles
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

 

For the meatballs:

1. Combine the above ingredients and form into 1 1/2 inch meatballs.
2. In a heavy dutch oven (same pot you will cook soup in) add some olive oil and then brown the meatballs on medium/high, turning them once. (Takes just a couple of minutes if the pan is nice and hot).
3. Remove the meatballs for later and start the soup. (Do NOT wash the soup pan. Leave the beef drippings there for flavor!)

For the Soup:

1. In the pan with the beef drippings, melt 3 tablespoons of butter and add a couple tablespoons of olive oil.
2. Cook the onion for a 3-4 minutes until it's translucent.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the stove on low.
4. Cover the pot and cook until the pasta is tender. This usually takes about 20-30 minutes. Don't let it boil because the noodles will get too sticky. Just be patient. They'll be soft before you know it.