Swedish Meatballs – A Gluten Free Meatball Recipe
Do you put prunes in your Swedish Meatballs? I mean, it’s kind of one of those if-you-know-you-know situations. This recipe for Swedish Meatballs, tastes a lot like other recipes for Swedish Meatballs. But also somehow better. The prune purée added to the meatballs lends a subtle sweetness and true depth of flavor that is really darn tasty. We love this gluten free meatball recipe and think you will too!
Jump to RecipeRecipe card updated 1/10/23
Why Prunes?
Prunes are a total nutritional powerhouse, adding phosphorus, magnesium, iron, vitamin K and potassium to the dish. I also recently read that prunes are good for people with osteoporosis (which this “lucky” celiac was diagnosed with when I was only 36). If that’s the case I’ll put prunes in anything I can.
This recipe for Prune Swedish Meatballs is 100% gluten-free, and 100% delicious. It is the perfect comfort food, especially when served over creamy mashed potatoes, rice or gluten-free noodles. I always double the recipe for my crew of 5. If I want enough leftovers for the freezer I quadruple it. Serve it topped with lots of fresh dill and a dollop of leftover prune purée, if you’re feeling it. This easy recipe is one the whole family will love.
When things get weird, (and I think we can all agree that things are really weird right now), it seems like we are universally called back into the kitchen to make comfort food. And due to the COVID-19 lockdown measures in place in many communities across the country, most of us are looking for foods that are:
- batchable & freezable
- have ingredients that are shelf-stable (like California Prunes)
- comforting and delicious
This gluten free meatball recipe is just that! So as we hunker down at home in sometimes less than ideal circumstances, remember to be supportive, be kind, be patient and be well (and well fed). We are all in this long strange trip together. ♥
Love Meatballs? Check out these other gluten free recipes!
Did you make this Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake – gluten free recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and star rating below (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) and post a picture and tag us on Instagram using the hashtags #agirldefloured #deflouredrecipes!
Swedish Meatballs – A Gluten Free Meatball Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 slice white sandwich bread gluten-free
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup finely chopped onion
- ½ pound ground pork
- ½ pound ground beef
- 1 egg yolk
- ¼ cup California Prune purée
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons gluten-free flour blend like Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 or cornstarch
- 2 cups gluten-free beef broth
- ¼ cup sour cream
- Salt and white pepper
- 1½ tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Instructions
- Tear bread into 1-inch pieces. Soak in milk with salt, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, and pepper.
- While bread is soaking, heat 1½ teaspoons oil in a sauté pan; add onion and sauté about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent; cool. In a large bowl, mix pork, beef, egg yolk, bread mixture, onion and prune purée. Chill for 30 minutes to make it easier to form into balls.
- Heat oven to 350°F. Divide meatball mixture into 20 portions. Moisten your fingers with water and gently roll mixture into balls. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake meatballs about 15 minutes or until cooked through.
- While meatballs are cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a sauté pan. Add flour and whisk for about 2 minutes; add broth and sour cream and simmer, whisking constantly, until lightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Return meatballs to pan and bring to a simmer.
- Garnish with fresh dill.
Notes
How to make prune puree:
- 16 ounces pitted California prunes
- 1/2 cup hot water
Directions:
Nutrition
This blog post was sponsored by California Prunes. Thank you for helping support my small business! A Girl Defloured earns revenue in a few different ways; I have occasional sponsored post and I also earn an affiliate commission on the sales of products I link to— there are a few of those links in this post. The only items that I feature are those that I use on a regular basis and that I truly love. I earn a small commission on your purchase, but you don’t pay any more than retail price. This allows me to share my recipes with you!
Meatballs for dinner. Pencilled it into my 21-day food planner. Yep, I am under complete lockdown and these recipes are keeping me sane. Kitchen is my place of refuge. Believe it or not but yesterday, late at night I sat down to make this insane 21-day BF/Lunch/Dinner Planner. LOL. Thank you for sharing this. Stay safe and sending you prayers.
Can’t wait to try these. I just started working from home last week so I have no excuses not to make my own food now. Honestly, I’m not much of a cook, but if there ever was a time to learn it’s now. Wish me luck!
You’ve got this! Even if they are ugly, they are still going to taste delish! 😉
Thanks for sharing your creativity. The only advantage of the quarantine is we have enough time now to try some new recipes.
Where do you put the egg yolk?
You add it to the beef/pork mixture. I just updated the recipe. Thanks for pointing that out!