Full of flavor with a delicious creamy sauce, herbs, and spices, these keto Swedish meatballs taste just like the original recipe; with no flour, they are gluten-free and have a quick prep time with only 2g net carbs.
These delicious keto Swedish meatballs are a perfect blend of ground beef, herbs, and spices, capturing the flavors of the classic recipe in a creamy low-carb sauce for a mouthwatering main dish. It’s a grain-free, gluten-free main dish ready to cook with only 10 minutes of prep time. This recipe is inspired by IKEA’s famous meatball recipe.
This recipe is part of our keto ground beef recipes menu including our delicious low-carb spaghetti sauce and our tasty keto cottage pie. Try different sauces with the meatballs if you want to mix things up.
Ingredients
All of the ingredients below are available at your local grocery store and are budget-conscious so that you can have a delicious meal.
Ingredients For Making The Meatballs
- 1 pound of Ground Beef
- 1 small Onion, diced
- 2 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
- ¼ cup of Almond Flour
- 1 teaspoon of Salt
- ½ teaspoon of Pepper, ground
- ¼ teaspoon of Allspice
- 1 large Egg
- 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
Ingredients For Making The Sauce
- 1 tablespoon of Salted Butter
- 1 cup of Beef Stock
- ½ cup of Heavy Cream
- 1 teaspoon of Mustard Powder
- ½ teaspoon of Nutmeg, ground
- ¼ teaspoon of Pepper, ground
- ½ teaspoon of Xanthan Gum
- ½ teaspoon of Salt
- 1 tablespoon of Parsley, chopped
How to Make Keto Swedish Meatballs
- Mix. Place all the meatballs ingredients, except the oil, into a mixing bowl. Mix well.
- Form. Roll about two tablespoons of mixture into balls (you can use a cookie scoop to make this step easier). We got 24 meatballs.
- Heat. Place a cast-iron skillet over high heat and add the oil.
- Saute. Saute the meatballs, adding a few at a time to the skillet to avoid overcrowding. Turn the meatballs until browned on all sides and cooked through. Spoon onto a plate and set aside. Keep the skillet on heat, including all the little bits left by the meatballs in the pan.
- Melt and Whisk. Add the butter, then add the beef stock, cream, mustard powder, salt, pepper, and nutmeg once the butter is melted. Whisk together.
- Simmer. Bring to a simmer, then whisk in the xanthan gum. Continue to simmer until thick, about 8-12 minutes.
- Combine. Add the meatballs back into the pan and simmer for about 3 minutes, until the meatballs are hot.
- Garnish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
- Serve. Serve with Buttery Cauliflower Mash, and enjoy!
To make a larger batch of keto Swedish meatballs simply adjust the serving sizes in the recipe card below.
Serving Suggestions
Serve your meatballs with a buttery keto cauliflower mash, or try this healthy low-carb broccoli mash for a bit of color and extra flavor. We also love smothering keto bread in butter for dunking in the sauce and cleaning up our plate.
How To Store
Store Swedish Meatballs in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. The meatballs can be frozen raw or cooked, and with or without the sauce.
Reheating
Reheat refrigerated meatballs in a pot on the stove over medium heat gently so as not to burn; in a medium oven. The meatballs can also be reheated in the microwave. For frozen meatballs, thaw them out before reheating.
Keto Swedish Meatballs With Creamy Low-Carb Sauce
Rate it
Print Pin Share EmailUnit Conversion
Ingredients
Meatballs Ingredients:
- 1 pound Ground Beef
- 1 small Onion diced
- 2 cloves Garlic finely chopped
- ¼ cup Almond Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Pepper ground
- ¼ teaspoon Allspice
- 1 large Egg
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
Cream Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon Salted Butter
- 1 cup Beef Stock
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
- 1 teaspoon Mustard Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper ground
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg ground
- ½ teaspoon Xanthan Gum
- 1 tablespoon Parsley chopped
Instructions
- Place all the meatballs ingredients, except the oil, into a mixing bowl. Mix well.1 pound Ground Beef, 1 small Onion, 2 cloves Garlic, ¼ cup Almond Flour, 1 teaspoon Salt, ½ teaspoon Pepper, ¼ teaspoon Allspice, 1 large Egg, 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- Roll into balls that are about 2 tablespoons worth of mixture (you can use a cookie scoop to make this step easier). We got 24 meatballs.
- Place a cast-iron skillet over high heat and add the oil.
- Saute the meatballs, adding a few at a time to the skillet, to avoid overcrowding. Turn the meatballs until browned on all sides and cooked through. Spoon onto a plate. Keep the skillet on the heat, including all the little bits left by the meatballs in the pan.
- Add the butter, then once melted add the beef stock, cream, mustard powder, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Whisk together.1 tablespoon Salted Butter, 1 cup Beef Stock, ½ cup Heavy Cream, 1 teaspoon Mustard Powder, ½ teaspoon Salt, ¼ teaspoon Pepper, ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- Bring to a simmer then whisk in the xanthan gum. Continue to simmer until thick, about 8-12 minutes.½ teaspoon Xanthan Gum
- Add the meatballs back in and simmer for about 3 minutes, until the meatballs are hot.
- Sprinkle with parsley.1 tablespoon Parsley
- Serve with Buttery Cauliflower Mash and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Serving Suggestions
Serve your meatballs with a buttery keto cauliflower mash, or try this healthy low-carb broccoli mash for a bit of color and extra flavor. We also love smothering keto bread in butter for dunking in the sauce and cleaning up our plate.How To Store
Store Swedish Meatballs in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. The meatballs can be frozen raw or cooked and with or without the sauce.Reheating
Reheat refrigerated meatballs in a pot on the stove over medium heat gently so as not to burn; in a medium oven. The meatballs can also be reheated in the microwave. For frozen meatballs, thaw them out before reheating.Nutrition
Want more yummy Keto meatball recipes? Try our;
I’ve made this dish a few times and it is delicious, my husband and I love it. We triple the sauce, though, for you sauce lovers. I hate xantham gum, so use cream cheese to thicken. Tonight, I added some mozzarella cheese to change it up. I’ve even made it into a meat loaf when I’m too busy or lazy to make the meatballs! Thanks for such an awesome recipe!
Hi Cathy, I’m glad you enjoy the meatballs. I might give your cream cheese idea a go next time. Thank you.
Made these tonight and my daughter loved them. There is a mistake above. Shows adding 2 tblsp of oil into the meat and then another 2 tblsp into the pan. Next time I will just add it to the pan. Used wagyu ground beef and substituted xanthan gunm for psyllium husk since I didnt have any. Absolutely delicious and will be making this on rotation often! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Hey T, Glad you liked the meatballs and thank you for the feedback.
This is a really delicious dish and matched it with some cauliflower rice – feel very full and satisfied! Will make again!
Hello Sandra, thank you for the feedback and I’m glad you liked them. Matt
Very delicious!!! I am diabetic and my husband is on a low carb diet to lose weight. I am always after recipes that are delicious and make you feel like your not eating “health food”. Thank you for posting this. Will make again for sure
Hello Heidi, thank you so much for the feedback. Glad you and hubby enjoyed the meatballs.
I am a Swede so I had high hopes. I doubled the recipe and used half pork. I substituted ground pork rinds for the almond flour due to watching my oxalate intake. Trying to keep this kind of Carnivore. I just had the meatballs with the gravy. My spouse had them with 1/2 a potato and broccoli. Very good!!!
Hello Alexandra. So happy that we passed the taste test from a true Swede. It would be embarrassing if we didn’t. Thank you for your kind words.
One more Swede about to make these for church potluck!!! Will let you know if we have any leftovers!!!
Hope everyone enjoys them Tracy.
I made these using ground venison. Followed the recipe and it was tasty.
Hi Linda, we haven’t tried venison yet, I might give it a go. Thank you for your feedback.
That sounds wonderful.
Used half pound beef and half pound of pork, along with a dash of mace, mom’s secret. Wonderful.
Hey Amy, thank you for the tip, I might try that next time.
So good. Creamy sauce with a hint of nutmeg. I cooked up some mushrooms and put sauce on them separately from the meat. The sauce alone makes this recipe worthwhile. Combined with the meat, it’s over the top.
Hello Kathryn, thank you so glad you enjoyed the meatballs.
these were amazing, I didn’t have beef broth so I put chicken broth with a tsp of marmite, it came out delicious! thank you
hello Rona, I might have to try out that chicken and marmite trick of yours. But of course we are Australian so we’ll have to use vegemite 😉
This was so good! The sauce was amazing. I will definitely be making this again!
Hi Sophia,
Thank you so much for your feedback, so glad you liked it.
Delicious! We loved your recipe. The sauce was perfect.
What percentage ground beef did you use?
Hi Jamie,
We prefer to use the higher-fat beef, so 18-20% 🙂
I just made these for dinner. I used ground chicken instead of beef and chicken broth in place of the beef broth. My family loved it!
Chicken sounds delicious, Tamara! I’ll have to give it a try!
Is it possible to replace the almond flour with coconut flour? And how much coconut flour would I use in place of it?
Hi Tegan,
I haven’t made the recipe with coconut flour but I think 1 tablespoon would be a good place to start. Let me know how they go!
Easy to prepare. Taste is wonderful.
I didn’t have the spices or mustard, but it was yummy without it