Baked Swedish Meatballs
Baked Swedish Meatballs made with ground beef, sausage, onion, garlic, and spices are a low-carb dinner or appetizer the family will love! Use pork or turkey breakfast sausage for the meatballs, whichever you prefer.
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These Baked Swedish Meatballs are a delicious dinner idea that I’ve been making for years! And if you’re looking for low-carb and Keto Appetizers, these are also such a great choice for that. These meatballs are so great for anyone who’s watching carbs that they seemed perfect to feature for Friday Favorites this time of year!
I love so many things about this recipe for Swedish Meatballs that I spotted years ago on a Swedish food blog: the finely chopped onion, that it doesn’t use breadcrumbs or serve the meatballs with a creamy gravy, and the way the meatballs are baked instead of fried. In fact, if your experience with Swedish Meatballs is limited to Ikea Swedish Meatballs, the seasonings in this recipe might be the only thing that’s familiar.
The biggest change I made in my version of Baked Swedish Meatballs was to make the meatballs with a combination of turkey breakfast sausage and ground beef. You could certainly use pork sausage too if that’s what you prefer! I tested the recipe with my niece Kara, and we both thought these meatballs were completely delicious.
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What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- ground beef
- ground turkey or pork breakfast sausage
- onion
- garlic puree or Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- Vege-Sal (affiliate link) or salt
- white pepper (affiliate link)
- ground ginger (affiliate link)
- ground cardamom (affiliate link)
- ground allspice (affiliate link)
- ground cinnamon (affiliate link)
Are the Baked Swedish Meatballs gluten-free?
Of course not using breadcrumbs to hold the meatballs together makes these Swedish Meatballs gluten-free, FTW! Most sausage will be gluten-free, but check the package to be sure.
Can Baked Swedish Meatballs be made ahead and kept warm?
I haven’t tried making these meatballs ahead and keeping warm in a slow cooker, but I’m pretty sure it would work if you’d like to serve Swedish Meatballs for game-day food! If anyone keeps them warm that way, please come back and let us know in the comments how that turned out.
Do you have to use a rack to bake the Swedish Meatballs?
I’m a fan of baking meatballs or meatloaf on a rack so the fat drips down. See below for two different baking racks that we rigged up from what I had in my cupboard. The meatballs on the wire rack cooked more quickly and browned better on all sides, so use that type if you can. Cooking the meatballs on a rack like this is not 100% necessary, but there will be some liquid that oozes out and baking on a rack lets that drip down away from the meatballs.
How low in carbs are the Baked Swedish Meatballs?
When calculated at 5 meatballs for an appetizer serving, the tasty meatballs have only 2 net carbs and 19 grams of protein. Even if you ate twice that many for a main fish, these meatballs are very low in carbs!
How to Make Baked Swedish Meatballs:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- I used ground beef and ground turkey sausage, but use pork sausage if you prefer. Crumble meat into a bowl and let it come to room temperature.
- Be sure onion is very finely minced so it’s well-distributed through the meat. I used my beloved Cuisinart Food Processor (affiliate link) to chop the onion, which worked well.
- Add the onions and spices to the bowl, and gently mix the meat and seasonings with clean hands.
- I recommend using this type of rack for baking the meatballs if you can.
- Spray the rack with olive oil. Use a tablespoon-sized measuring spoon to scoop out meatballs and form them with your hands. We made about 40 small meatballs, about 10 servings for an appetizer.
- Bake meatballs 20 minutes or slightly longer; until they’re slightly browned and cooked through. (We turned the ones on the rack with smaller holes half way through, but the ones on the wire rack didn’t need to be turned.)
- Serve Baked Swedish Meatballs hot, and enjoy!
Make it a low-carb Meal:
If you wanted to serve them for a low-carb meal, make the Baked Swedish Meatballs a little bigger and serve with one of these low-carb side dishes:
- No Mayo Vinegar Coleslaw
- Pureed Cauliflower with Garlic, Parmesan, and Goat Cheese
- Cheesy Zucchini Stir Fry
- Fried Cauliflower with Bacon and Mushrooms
- Air Fryer Turnip Fries
Want more low-carb meatballs?
Check my round-up of Fantastic Low-Carb Meatballfor more ideas for meatballs for dinner or game-day noshing.
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe for Baked Swedish Meatballs has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Baked Swedish Meatballs
I love these Low-Carb and Keto Baked Swedish Meatballs, and they're a delicious appetizer, or make them a bit bigger and serve as a main course.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 lb ground turkey breakfast sausage (see notes)
- 1 small onion, diced very small
- 1 T garlic puree (also called ground garlic)
- 1/2 tsp. Veg-Sal (see notes)
- 1/4 tsp. white pepper
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Put meat in mixing bowl and allow to come to room temperature while you finely chop onion. I used my beloved Cuisinart Food Processor (affiliate link) to chop the onion, which worked well.
- When the meat is room temperature, mix in onions, garlic, Veg-Sal, pepper, ginger, cardamom, allspice, and cinnamon. Mix with your clean hands just until spices and meats are well combined; don’t over-mix the ingredients.
- Mist pan or grilling rack with olive oil or non-stick spray. (Baking on a wire rack with a baking sheet underneath it will make the meatballs cook more evenly and it also lets any liquid that oozes out drip down away from the meatballs.)
- Use a tablespoon-sized measuring spoon to measure out meat, forming small meatballs by rolling with your hands and placing them on the rack as you go. We made about 40 small meatballs, but they can be a bit larger if you prefer, just adjust the cooking time.
- Bake until meatballs are slightly browned and cooked through, about 20 minutes for small meatballs. Serve hot.
Notes
Use ground pork or pork sausage if you prefer. If you don't have Vege-Sal (affiliate link) use a slightly smaller amount of regular salt.
Nutritional information based on appetizer-size serving of four meatballs.
This recipe was originally from Anne’s Food, and slightly adapted by Kalyn.
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 324Total Fat 26gSaturated Fat 9gUnsaturated Fat 16gCholesterol 81mgSodium 400mgCarbohydrates 2gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 19g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
The Baked Swedish Meatballs will be good for any type of low-carb or Keto diet, although you’d want to use pork sausage if you’re making them for Keto. With low-fat ground beef and low-fat ground turkey sausage or ground turkey, the meatballs are a good dish for all phases of the original South Beach Diet
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Appetizers or Oven Dinners to find more low-carb recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for Baked Swedish Meatballs was first posted in 2007 and I’ve made it many times since then! It was last updated with more information in 2025.
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29 Comments on “Baked Swedish Meatballs”
What do you suggest as a main dish serving size for this dish?
For me, about 6 meatballs is enough. But it would depend on how big you make the meatballs of course.
I'd use Google to find a CopyCat recipe for IKEA meatballs.
Swedish meatballs look quite enticing 🙂 I just saved an image of its recipe will it give a try. Kalyn would you mind sharing some new veggie recipes, ideally for breakfast…
Hi Nichole, will definitely see what I can come up with for that. I assume when you say "veggie" you're talking about vegetarian breakfast ideas that have vegetables. In the meantime you can find lots and lots of vegetarian breakfast options in the photo index for Meatless Recipes. Enjoy!
These were very good. Thanks, Kalyn. I love little meatballs anytime. Especially love having some already cooked in my freezer, which is where half of these are going.
Elizabeth, so glad you enjoyed them! And I love the idea of stockpiling some in the freezer too.
Thanks for linking to one of my turkey meatball recipes. I'm a meatball fanatic, and you can be sure I'll be making these Swedish meatballs!
Thanks Lydia! I am a pretty big meatball fan myself.
Ummm I'm making these asap! I think I can skip my diet just this once.
Rachel, hope you enjoy!
The meatballs are in the oven right now. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thanks Shirley. And I love that there is no bread as well.
I love that these meatballs are naturally gluten free, Kalyn! They look so good! 🙂
Shirley
These sound delicious. Thank you.
The original recipe had both cinnamon and allspice. It said a "pinch" of the seasonings, which I changed to a more specific amount so I'd probably use the amount of cinnamon if I used it.
I can't wait to make these! Since you we're out of cinnamon, did you substitute allspice? I want to use cinnamon when I make them so please let me know how much to use and if I would also use the allspice. Thank you!!
Finally a recipe for Swedish meatballs that does not involve gravy etc. It sounds very good and I can't wait to try to make them! Thank you very much for the recipe!
Can’t wait to try this tomorrow. I had copied Anne’s recipe but was going to have to research her measurements and oven temp as it was C instead of F. lol
My grandmother was famous for her Swedish Meatballs. My mom made them this week and it did not live up to grandmas… This recipe however sounds tasty. Sounds like a great blend of spices!
Christine, I must add you to my del.icio.us network. I’ll try to find you.
Zoe, thanks for letting me know you liked them. The idea of turkey sounds good.
Cate, thanks.
Merisi, you’re welcome, and one more thing for me to thank Ilva for. (She’s the greatest!)
Cardamom, I have to try this recipe asop! I can confirm what ZOE’s been pointing out, meatballs with ground turkey taste very good (I usually spice them with lots of parsley, a little sauted onion, salt and pepper, adding a couple of spoonfulls of milk soaked breadcrumbs to lighten the texture). I put them on parchment paper, no oiling needed.
Thanks for all work you put into your blog to provide us with such great recipes (I found you via Lucullian Delights, for which I shall be forever grateful to Ilva!).
Quite an interesting mix of ingredients in those meatballs, but they sound delicious.
See, the thing I love about this site is that it’s full of recipes that are not only delicious but good for you *and* able to be made by real people with real lives. I had a pound of ground turkey that I was intending to make lasagna out of, but that turned out to be way too ambitious for tonight. I also had a package of turkey sausage I had bought because it was on sale, but I had no plans for it yet. And voila, Kalyn produces the perfect recipe for me to make tonight. These came out great, even with the turkey products and my lack of cardamom (I added back in a little cinnamon). I got 34 meatballs and they took 25 minutes to cook. I ate them with a little bit of reduced fat sour cream.
These look del.icio.us – which is what I’m saving them to!
Lydia, the flavor of this with all those spices was really something special.
Andrea, thanks. I have been working hard on it. Thanks for adding me to your blogroll.
Tanna, these might be a little big to eat with your fingers, and I’m not sure they’re that much of a heart healthy recipe, although not too bad I guess with the lower fat meats. I think I’d cut mine in half when I ate them.
Wow, all those spices really appeals. Wouldn’t these work as a finger food!
First, a confession: It’s been a while since I dropped by your blog. Having said that, WOW you have been doing some fabulous work! Your blog is interesting, very informative, and easy to navigate. Well done! Now I am off to add you to my blog roll, which is seriously out of date.
Baking the meatballs and misting them with the oil looks like it retains the flavor without too much grease–I like that a lot.
The spices make all the difference, don’t they? I never used to cook meat with cinnamon and cardamom when I was younger, but the warm spices combined with meat are just lovely.