Swedish Meatball Pasta
Everyone’s favorite Swedish meatballs with pasta noodles tossed right into that cream sauce goodness. So heavenly, so good.
Is there anything better than Swedish meatballs?
The answer to that is yes. And that is Swedish meatballs with perfectly cooked elbow macaroni stirred into that heavenly cream sauce gravy.
I know. It’s mind-blowingly-fantastic.
Now if elbow macaroni is not your thing, you can use ANY pasta to your liking – rotini, cavatelli, ditalini, penne – it is ALL GOOD. But I do recommend using a tube-type pasta for the sauce to sneak in.
And if you do have any leftovers (so sorry but I can’t make promises on this!), they taste even better on day 2 and 3!
Swedish Meatball Pasta
Everyone’s favorite Swedish meatballs with pasta noodles tossed right into that cream sauce goodness. So heavenly, so good.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces elbow macaroni
- ¾ pound ground beef
- ¾ pound ground pork
- ⅓ cup Panko
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups beef stock
- ⅓ cup sour cream
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, Panko, egg yolks, green onions, parsley, allspice and nutmeg; season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined. Roll the mixture into 1-to-1-1/4-inch meatballs, forming about 24 meatballs.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add meatballs, in batches, and cook until all sides are browned, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
- Melt butter in the skillet. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in beef stock and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through and thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in pasta and sour cream until heated through, about 2-3 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Any idea if I could use spaghetti squash?
Really loved the flavor of the meatballs. The sauce was a little underwhelming in flavor. I did use better than bullion beef instead of beef broth so maybe that would make a difference next time. I really enjoyed it and will try it again another time.
I don’t eat beef or pork so I made it with ground turkey and chicken stock, it was really good!
It turned out well but was a little watery. I followed the recipe using 3 cups of beef stock though. Next time I would use less stock. I put a little extra sour cream & my husband loved it.
Did you add the beef stock all at once? I slowly add it so I can control how thick the sauce is. Also..save the pasta water! Great thickener.
Excellent
This is such a flavorful meal. It is now a staple in our home. Not a single alteration. LOVE it!
This is divine! I love a true Swedish meatball recipe. I didn’t have pork to do 3/4 of such ground meats, but had venison only. Even with only ground venison and adding coriander this was spot on!
My picky 7, 5 and 2 year olds had seconds! Thank you!
Has anyone tried this with frozen meatballs and just doing the sauce and pasta?
This was damn delicious! I used white onion instead of green onions because I thought I had green onions but didn’t. I didn’t have allspice so I used 1/8 tsp cinnamon and 1/8 tsp cloves and I think it worked out well.
My only negative comment was that it took way longer than the 20 minutes prep and 20 minutes cook time. Putting the meat mixture together was quick but cooking the meatballs took longer than 20 minutes. That said now that I have made this once I will make it again knowing that it does take longer that it said in the recipe. As I was typing my review I might just make it without the macaroni and serve it over egg noodles as the sauce was very good.
This is one of my favourite recipe’s,all my family love it,even the fussy ones.Thank u
just ok
Wow! Everyone loved it. A friend who eats like a bird had seconds. We will make it often. I think I’ll make the meatballs and freeze them so I can make this easily often. Thank you.
Miss, your ingredients for recipes are right on! I made the swedish meatballs and used egg noddles and it all worked and tasted delish. Eating right now…yum you. I’m glad I’ve used your recipes for a awhile and they all rock! You have the talent for being a chef who knows what works and what doesn’t!
Wow! I have made a lot of meatball recipes, but this one is really delicious! Perfect amount of sauce to meatball ratio. This will be a regular menu item from now on.
SO YUMMY! We just finished our last bite and it was already requested that more be made! Thank you!
This dish was absolutely delicious!!! It was very easy to follow the instructions and the ingredients were already in my kitchen. I highly recommend this dish.
RSmalls
This was so easy for someone who never made Swedish meatballs before! I followed the recipe exactly, except I made the meatballs in advance with a sauce, and then a few hours when ready to serve, I combined the pasta, sour cream with the meatballs and baked for five minutes. Came out perfect!
Thanks! Already have homemade frozen meatballs (that I was wondering what I wanted to make with them). You just answered that question. Have a great week.
Made as directed and I wish I would have increased the sauce. It was really tasty and my family liked it. I felt like it took longer than 40 mins, but that’s ok. It was worth it.
Found those recipe on Pinterest, so going to look through your collection and find more to try!
Thanks!
I followed the recipe as written and it was delicious. I may have been a little heavy handed on the spices since I didn’t measure per se~ just kinda eyeballed it! Everyone cleaned their bowls and I will be putting this into a regular rotation for our dinners. Thank you for another great recipe!
Can I use the egg whites instead of yolks as we \ can’t eat yolks
First time using this recipe. I thought the meatballs were very good. The sauce was a bit underwhelming, but maybe the beef broth I used is to blame! I will definitely use this recipe again and will tweak the sauce as I cook. I have been happy with all the recipes of yours that I’ve tried.
This recipe is fantastic! The flavors are amazing right off the stove but seem to be even better the next day. We loved this and will be making it again. Thank you for sharing!
Yummmmmmm. I was hesitant about the elbow noodles, but they were perfect. Next time, I’m adding mushrooms!
This was SO good! I made it exactly as the recipe states and it was amazing! My family is pretty hard to please and they all ate a big helping.
We followed the recipe exactly as written and it was very good. The texture of the meatballs and body of the sauce was great it was very satisfying on a crisp autumn evening. We felt it was missing something, however. The flavor was too nuanced. Next time we will increase the amount of spices (nutmeg and allspice) in the meatballs.
Thank you for another tasty recipe!
We had pre-made meat balls from a local Italian delicatessen, which made this even easier…but other than that, we made it as written. It was excellent on this rainy, stormy, night in Delaware.
Followed the recipe exactly… on the final taste test, my boyfriend and I both thought “It’s missing something.” We added some Worcestershire and that was just the pep it needed! Otherwise super yummy recipe, just needs a little kick to cut the creamy sauce.
Great recipe. Followed as is with no problems. Very delicious. Sauce will get absorbed after the first day but still super good. Meatballs were tender and flavourful. It makes quite a bit…which I still had no problem devouring 🙂 I’ve tried several of your recipes and they’re always great.
This is soooo yum!! It tastes like grown up hamburger helper, which may sound odd, but this is comfort food at its finest!! Highly recommend. I added a good dash of red wine vinegar which was a super yummy add. I live in the UK and sour cream just isn’t quite as acidic here so additional acid and the depth of the red wine was really yummy. Huge win overall, my husband was delighted with this recipe.
I just love how the reviews always state “it was delicious, but I added this or I omitted that when I made it” . Why not try the recipes as they are before changing the ingredients!! If there is something in it you don’t care for, move on to another recipe.
The three most important steps when developing flavor are:
1. Taste,
2. Taste and then,
3. Taste again!
I always start with the recipe, but I taste along the way because all chefs have different taste palates and preferences. I fully trust Chungah to give us INCREDIBLE recipes and as I taste I may choose to make an addition based on my own palate. I even go so far as to cook up a little tiny piece of meatball prior to making all of them to check that my salt and texture levels taste how I want them to! I was suspicious of the allspice and nutmeg in this recipe, but I went with it because I know Chungah doesn’t lead us astray:) And then at the very end I tasted the recipe and decided it needed more acid so I added red wine vinegar. Recipes are creativity at their finest as opposed to law, and other artists can make the art to their liking rather than just discredit the entire recipe!! YUM!!!
Meatballs were tasty but very dense. Suggest adding a 3rd cup of milk.
These meatballs are huge! Not sure you can call anything bigger than a 1/2″ – 3/4″ meatball Swedish?
Really tasty! The whole family really enjoyed it! Thank you for all your amazing recipes! Congratulations on your marriage!
Do you think you could omit the sour cream? Would the consistency not work without it? Thanks!!
I love your recipes but I think you need a little more time on the meatballs.
I too was concerned about the initial cooking time of the meatballs. It seemed a little strange to drain the meatballs on paper towels before they were fully cooked, but I followed the recipe as written and I’m so glad I did!.
After you make the sauce, you return the meatballs to the pan and then simmer the entire dish for 8 additional minutes. That’s just enough time to cook the meatballs through and keep them tender.
If you fully cook the meatballs before making the sauce and then simmer them in the sauce for 8 minutes, you run the risk of tough, overcooked meatballs.
I hope this helps. 😉
I would like to make this for 2 of us and freeze 1/2 of the meatballs for another time. Should I freeze them before or after cooking them?
Huge hit with my whole family. Doubled the pasta (family of 5) and kept it on the side in case my picky eater didn’t want sauce on it. But he did 🙂
Great meal to put into the weekly/monthly rotation.
Also – Congratulations and Best Wishes to you in your marriage. Yay!!!
The ENTIRE FAMILY LOVED IT! And that almost never happens. Thank you for another delicious recipe!
I was so excited when I saw this recipe. My husband is tricky to please and I thought we’d love this. The sauce was very good and I liked the ease of doing it in the skillet, but the meatballs let me down a little. They are missing something that gives them that swedish meatball taste. I looked at other recipes for swedish meatballs and the only difference I found was some of them used more breadcrumbs and some added garlic powder. I’m going to try tweaking it next time until I get it right where we like it.
Maybe cardamom would help, just a pinch.
Dill is usually in any Swedish meatball recipe I have made.
As soon as I saw the picture, I said “I’m making that!!” It was even better than it looked, and you are right–the leftovers are better still. I did keep the elbows out so they wouldn’t get soggy with storage/reheating. Definitely adding this one to the regular meal rotation.
Made this last night and it was AMAZING!!!! A new go to meal for our family!
It’s 109 degrees here in the Nor Cal valley. I don’t know why today was the day to make this, but glad I did. It’s phenomenal!
So good and grateful it’s all stove top work.
Full disclosure: I baked a cake earlier in oven for a tres leches truffle. What can I say? I cook what I feel when I feel it.
I gifted your cookbook to a dear friend as part of a (pretty kick a**) housewarming basket. She loves you already.
Thanks to Damn Delicious once again. Always a winner.
So yummy ❤❤❤❤❤❤. I also try it. Damm delicious ❤
I made this last night and wowza! That was so good! I made the meatballs earlier in the day & then just threw it all together when we were ready for dinner. So so good. Damn delicious!
Hello, could you bake the meatballs instead of pan frying??
Thank you for your help.
Looks delicious. I will be making this soon. Some mushrooms would definitely be added.
I forgot to give a star rating on my previous review and forgot to say that I used ground beef with ground turkey instead of ground pork.
This is what I make every Christmas Eve for dinner for the past 30 years. Sometimes we use rice instead of pasta and I saute mushrooms and add that! You can’t go wrong with this!
Man you had me at meatballs. Looks delicious.