These Vegan Swedish Meatballs are rich and "meaty", seriously comforting and covered in a creamy gravy!
Swedish Meatballs (otherwise known as Ikea Meatballs) are little meatballs cooked in a rich, creamy gravy and served with mashed potatoes and tart-sweet ligonberry sauce. It's the best kind of comfort food: warming, hearty and satisfying. And what better if it was healthy, too?
These healthier Vegan Swedish Meatballs are made using creamy white beans, meaty mushrooms and earthy walnuts. I like to blend up the white beans first until they're completely smooth, and then add the mushrooms and walnuts at the very end so that they retain some texture.
I love how easy the mixture is to put together, as it doesn't require any flours, or any egg replacements like flax eggs or chia eggs.
Then all you need to do is use your hands to roll the mixture into little meatballs, before baking them in the oven.
I'm so pleased with how these meatballs came out - they're crispy and golden on the outside, and moist, tender and perfectly chewy on the inside. They're hearty and satisfying, and packed full of umami flavour.
But what makes the meatballs extra special, is the creamy gravy! It was inspired by the sauce for my Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff, and it's luxuriously velvety and seriously easy to make.
The base of the gravy is unsweetened almond milk thickened with cornflour, which creates a super creamy, neutral-tasting sauce. If you're not into almond milk, you can substitute it with unsweetened cashew or oat milk.
I also decided to add a little mustard for piquancy, soy sauce (or tamari) for a salty, umami taste, nutritional yeast for a little cheesiness, and black pepper for a little kick.
A sprinkle of chopped parsley adds freshness and extra flavour.
I love to serve these Vegan Swedish Meatballs with my Creamy Vegan Mashed Potatoes, a side of steamed veg, and some cranberry sauce, which tastes very similar to ligonberry sauce but is much easier to make/get hold of!
For more white bean recipes, check out my:
- White Bean Queso
- White Bean "Tuna" Salad Sandwich
- Vegan Fish Pie
- White Bean Scramble
- White Bean Mac and Cheese
- Pumpkin Sage White Bean Hummus
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Helpful tools to make these Vegan Swedish Meatballs:
For the meatballs:
food processor
blender
hand-held stick blender
rectangular baking tray
baking paper
For the gravy:
measuring jug
Vegan Swedish Meatballs (GF)
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 tablespoon oil (olive, vegetable, rapeseed or coconut)
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 400 g (14oz) tin of white beans, drained and rinsed (cannellini, haricot or butter beans)
- 70 g (2.5oz) mushrooms, roughly chopped (I used chestnut/button mushrooms)
- 50 g (½ cup) walnuts
- Salt + pepper, to taste
For the gravy:
- 530 ml (2 ¼ cups) unsweetened almond milk (or sub unsweetened cashew or oat milk)
- 2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch)
- ½ teaspoon (Dijon) mustard
- 2 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce if not gluten-free)
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- Fresh parsley, roughly chopped
To serve:
Instructions
For the meatballs:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Heat up the oil and add the onion and garlic once hot
- Fry for around 10 minutes until softened
- Meanwhile, place the white beans in a food processor or blender (or hand-held stick blender) and whizz until completely smooth
- Now add the cooked onion and garlic, along with the mushrooms, walnuts and salt + pepper
- Blend very briefly so that the mushrooms and walnuts are cut up into smaller pieces, but still retain a little texture
- Lay out some greased baking paper on a large baking tray
- Wet your fingers (to stop the mixture sticking) and use them to mould the meatball mixture into small balls and lay them out on the baking sheet - you should be able to make around 18 meatballs
- Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes, until golden brown
For the gravy:
- Measure out the milk in a measuring jug or container and add all the other ingredients
- Mix very well, ensuring that the cornflour has completely dissolved
- Heat the mixture in a pan on a low heat, stirring regularly to make sure the cornflour doesn’t clump
- Slowly bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat for around 5 minutes until the gravy is thickened - add some extra milk or water to thin out if necessary
- Add the cooked meatballs just before serving, and sprinkle over chopped parsley, if desired
- Serve alongside mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, if desired
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caroline therrien
wait am I supposed to fry the mushrooms or not
Rhian Williams
You don't need to fry them! But you can if you prefer!
Stephanie
So were flat like cookies as well after 15 min but I just pulled the pan from the oven and picked each one up and they shaped perfectly into balls. And I turned them so they'd be brown on all sides. That seemed to do the trick. I'm hoping to freeze half to have for Thanksgiving, as I doubled the meatball portion and I'll just make my gravy again fresh that day. I'm wonderingwhatbeould be the best way to reheat these after being frozen! So delicious and my first ever vegan meal from scratch! Thanks!!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so glad you liked them! The best way to reheat after being frozen would be to thaw them out first then put in the oven again. Hope that helps!!
Donna
Delicious! I doubled recipe and wished I had tripled it. This is my cooking method. I did not saute the onion and garlic in oil. I used cremini mushrooms which I sprinkled with garlic powder and sauted with with a bit of water until they softened and lost most of the moisture. I also chopped my walnuts as it reduced how long I needed in pulsing it in the food processor with the other ingredients. I baked for longer than 30 minutes. Served with mushroom gravy from FatFree Vegan Kitchen. Our two meat eating friends loved them. Thank you Rhian for a great recipe. I will try your gravy next time.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so glad you liked them!!
Ellen Duncan Jones
Loved these vegan meatballs. I would put slightly more mustard in the sauce. Otherwise amazing. Everyone enjoyed the. Served mine with homemade sweet potato waffles and roasted brussel sprouts.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so glad you liked them!
Marissa
Is the nutritional yeast necessary for the texture/integrity of the gravy or purely for flavor? Not something I typically have on hand so I’m wondering if it’s just flavor I can add other spices.
Rhian Williams
It's only for extra flavour, but can be omitted!