I just love a good meatball! You can just flip thru my blog and see multiple meatball recipes. One of my favorite store-bought meatballs comes from IKEA. I decided that I could come up with a healthy Copycat IKEA Meatballs recipe. The gravy is a simple pan sauce and goes great with the right side dishes, but more about that later!
What are the ingredients for these Copycat IKEA Meatballs?
This recipe is for 4 servings of 5 meatballs
I like to use lean ground beef. HERE are some beef numbers to remember. You could use ground turkey or ground chicken or even a combination of any of those meats that will equal 1 – 1 1/2lbs of meat.
Your favorite onion will be the perfect onion to use! One-half cup of minced yellow, white, sweet, or green onions will be perfect. Small meatballs, mean you are going to want to make sure the onions are minced very, very small.
An egg and some bread crumbs are needed for basic meatballs. For me, the spices for these are what make the taste unique to IKEA meatballs.
- garlic powder
- allspice
- nutmeg
- salt
- pepper
The rest of the ingredients are for the gravy. Butter, flour, and broth make a simple gravy. Coconut cream makes this a creamy gravy. If you can have dairy products I suggest you use plain Greek yogurt. The savory flavor of soy sauce/coconut aminos and a little more nutmeg make a flavorful gravy! HERE is some information about coconut aminos.
I prep/make these meatballs more than one way
When I make these, I will do it one of 3 ways. Sometimes I make the whole recipe fresh and just eat them that day.
Another time I might make just the meatballs ahead and simmer them back warm again in the gravy.
Yet another time I will make a double batch, one to eat fresh and one to put in the freezer. The freezer batch is only the meatballs and when I thaw them I cook them and make the gravy fresh.
Add all the ingredients into the bowl before you start mixing it. I mix it with a fork and not my hands because overworking the meat and melting the fat with the heat of your hands makes for a “tough” meatball.
I use my meatball “trick” patting out a “loaf”. Divide it into 4 rows by 5 meatballs/squares per row or 20 meatballs, scooting the rows apart with my knife as I cut them. Then I just lightly roll them into the “balls” or if I am being lazy… we have “meat-squares” instead of meatballs.
Copycat IKEA Meatballs {21 Day Fix}
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken
- ¼ cup whole wheat bread crumbs
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup onion, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper
Gravy
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour or 1 for 1 gluten-free flour
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos or low sodium soy sauce
- ⅔ cup coconut cream or plain greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper
Instructions
Meatballs
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Mix all the meatball ingredients gently. Shape into loaf and slice 20 meatballs or form 20 meatballs.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
Gravy
- As the meatballs cook, melt butter in a skillet. Whisk in the flour to make a paste. Slowly whisk chicken broth and heat to bubbling. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.
- Add cooked meatballs, spooning sauce over the tops. Simmer 10 minutes. Serve over whole-wheat egg noodles, brown rice, or mashed potatoes.
21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix Container Counts: 5 meatball serving = 1R, ½B, 1teaspoon oil
Notes
Here are a few more meatball recipes!
These Giant Meat-za-balls are super filling! Recipe HERE.
Spicy Buffalo Chicken Meatballs are great for a change! Recipe HERE.
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