Swedish Meatball Soup

You know those recipes that wrap you up in a cozy blanket of comfort food goodness? This Swedish meatball soup is exactly that kind of recipe.

Last Tuesday night when the temperature dropped to the low 40s here in Nashville, I pulled out this recipe, and honestly? Bradley looked up from his phone and said, "Mom, this smells amazing." Coming from a teenager, that's basically a five-star review. Even Amy got excited when she saw the mini meatballs floating in the creamy broth.

The funny thing about this soup is how it started in my kitchen. A few years back, I was trying to think of ways to make meatballs more weeknight-friendly (because who has time for individual plating on a Tuesday?), and I thought, why not turn the whole Swedish meatball experience into a one-pot meal? The creamy sauce becomes the broth, the meatballs get smaller and easier to eat, and I throw in egg noodles and vegetables to make it a complete dinner. If you're looking for another comforting soup that comes together quickly, you might also like my Tuscan Chicken Recipe which has that same creamy, hearty appeal.

What I really appreciate about this soup is how it takes all those classic Swedish meatball flavors – the warm spices like allspice and nutmeg, the tangy Worcestershire and Dijon, the touch of cream – and transforms them into something you can eat with a spoon. John always jokes that it's like deconstructed Swedish meatballs, but better because there's more broth to soak up with crusty bread.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Swedish Meatball Soup
• Ingredients For Swedish Meatball Soup
• How To Make Swedish Meatball Soup
• Storage And Reheating Swedish Meatball Soup
• Tips For The Best Swedish Meatball Soup
• FAQs About Swedish Meatball Soup
• Recipes You May Like
• Wrap Up
• Swedish Meatball Soup

Why You'll Love This Swedish Meatball Soup

• Quick enough for weeknights – From start to finish, you're looking at about 45 minutes, and most of that is hands-off simmering time
• Kid-approved comfort food – The mini meatballs are fun to eat, and the creamy broth isn't scary for picky eaters (trust me, I've tested this on Amy)
• One-pot simplicity – Less cleanup means more time to relax after dinner
• Packed with protein and vegetables – You get beef, carrots, celery, and onions all in one bowl
• Warm spices that smell incredible – The combination of allspice, nutmeg, and garlic makes your whole house smell like a cozy Swedish kitchen
• Flexible and forgiving – You can use frozen meatballs if you're short on time, or swap ingredients based on what you have

Ingredients For Swedish Meatball Soup

For The Meatballs

• 1 lb ground beef
• ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon allspice
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 large egg

For The Soup

• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 4 cups beef broth
• 2 cups water
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 8 oz egg noodles
• Sour cream, to taste
• Lingonberry jam, to taste (optional but traditional)

How To Make Swedish Meatball Soup

Prepare The Meatballs

1. Heat your oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. This makes cleanup so much easier later.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, panko bread crumbs, dried parsley, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, allspice, nutmeg, pepper, and egg. Here's my trick from cooking school: use your hands to mix, but don't overwork the meat. Mix just until everything comes together. Overmixing makes tough meatballs, and nobody wants that.
3. Form the mixture into mini meatballs about 1 tablespoon each. I usually get around 30 meatballs from this recipe. Amy loves helping with this part – she calls it "making tiny snowballs." Arrange them on your prepared baking sheet in a single layer.
4. Bake for 10 minutes, or until they're golden brown with a nice crust. You're not cooking them all the way through at this point – they'll finish cooking in the soup.

Build The Soup Base

5. While the meatballs are baking, start your soup. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat.
6. Add the diced onion, carrots, and celery. Toss them in the butter and let them cook, stirring occasionally, until they're soft. This usually takes about 5-7 minutes. The vegetables should smell sweet and look a little translucent.
7. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir constantly for about 2 minutes. This cooks off the raw flour taste and creates what's called a roux (fancy cooking school term for thickener). The mixture will look a bit dry and pasty – that's exactly what you want.
8. Pour in half a cup of the beef broth and stir vigorously. The mixture will thicken up quite a bit at first. Keep stirring until it's smooth.
9. Add the remaining broth and water, stirring constantly to work in all that flour mixture. You don't want any lumps floating around.
10. Stir in the heavy cream, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and apple cider vinegar. The Worcestershire and mustard add this tangy depth that makes the soup taste complex and interesting. Give everything a good stir and bring the liquid to a simmer.

Finish The Soup

11. Once the soup is simmering, add the egg noodles. Cook them according to the package directions, but stop about 2 minutes early. They'll finish cooking with the meatballs in the next step.
12. Add the baked meatballs to the pot and cook for another 2-3 minutes. At this point, the noodles should be perfectly tender, the meatballs warmed through, and the broth slightly thickened.
13. Taste the soup and add more salt and pepper if needed. I usually find it doesn't need much extra salt because the broth and Worcestershire sauce are pretty salty on their own.
14. Ladle the soup into bowls and let everyone garnish their own with fresh parsley, a dollop of sour cream, and lingonberry jam if you have it. The lingonberry jam might sound weird, but it's traditional with Swedish meatballs and adds this sweet-tart flavor that's really special.

Storage And Reheating Swedish Meatball Soup

Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Here's something I learned the hard way: the noodles will keep absorbing broth as the soup sits. By day three, you might need to add a splash of extra broth when reheating to loosen things up.

To reheat, warm the soup gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Add a bit of water or broth if it's gotten too thick.

You can freeze this soup, but I recommend doing it without the noodles. The noodles get mushy and weird when frozen and thawed. Freeze the meatballs and broth together in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months, then add fresh noodles when you reheat it.

Tips For The Best Swedish Meatball Soup

Keep the meatballs small. Mini meatballs (about 1 tablespoon each) are way easier to eat with a spoon than big ones. Plus, they cook faster and give you more meatballs per bowl, which makes the soup feel more generous.

Don't skip browning the meatballs. Baking them first creates a crust that adds so much flavor and helps them hold their shape in the soup. The first time I made this, I tried just dropping raw meatballs into the broth, and they fell apart. Not pretty.

Wait to season with salt until the end. Between the beef broth, the seasoned meatballs, and the Worcestershire sauce, there's already plenty of salt in this soup. Taste it at the end and then adjust. I've over-salted this soup before, and it's not fixable.

Try different noodles. While egg noodles are traditional, Bradley actually prefers this with rotini or penne sometimes. Amy likes the curly egg noodles best because they're fun to twirl on her spoon.

Make a double batch of meatballs. The meatball mixture freezes beautifully. Form them all, freeze half on a baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer bag. Next time you make this soup, you'll have pre-made meatballs ready to go.

Add more vegetables if you want. Sometimes I throw in some frozen peas or diced potatoes. This soup is really forgiving and works with whatever vegetables you have on hand.

FAQs About Swedish Meatball Soup

Recipes You May Like

• Tuscan Chicken Recipe – Another creamy, comforting one-pot meal that the whole family requests on repeat
• The Best Meatloaf Recipe – If you love the seasoned ground beef in this soup, you'll want to try my go-to meatloaf
• Mongolian Beef – For those nights when you want something hearty and satisfying with amazing flavors

Wrap Up

This Swedish meatball soup has become one of those recipes I make at least twice a month during cooler weather. It's warm, filling, and just makes everyone happy when they sit down to dinner. The combination of tender mini meatballs, creamy broth, and soft egg noodles is pure comfort in a bowl.

Give this soup a try next time you need a meal that feels like a hug. It's simple enough for a weeknight but special enough that you'll want to make it for company too.

Save this recipe on Pinterest so you can find it again when soup season rolls around!

Happy cooking, and here's to many more delicious meals with your loved ones.

Print