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This is so good! It is spectacularly easy to make, and the taste is wonderful. I highly suggest some lingonberry sauce on the side. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
vivian
Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs are here and they are so savory, luscious, meatless, and scary-delicious.
Swedish meatballs, as described by Wiki, are just meatballs with a brown gravy. This is not news to me. We live in Minnesota. I grew up eating Swedish meatballs. Bjork love-love-loves them (yes, his name is Bjork) and he hardcore campaigns for a gravy-loaded meatball splurge every time we’re at IKEA. So to that Wiki description, I say: yes.
I also say: define meatballs, exactly. Because I think I might have just made meatballs … with wild rice and mushrooms… without meat. I rolled them and baked them and put them in brown gravy. They are extra-yummy. Does that count? Am I in?
Okay, here’s what we have going on in those little non-traditional veg balls of joy:
- wild rice (YAS)
- mushrooms
- breadcrumbs
- yogurt or mayo to keep em from drying out
- eggs to hold it all together
How To Make Our Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs:
Hello, little tasty bites of goodness. And then you go and put them in a pan of brown gravy-like business? Things are about to heat up.
Here’s your VERY LOW KEY meatball process.
That’s it. Takes maybe 15 minutes, start to finish, especially if you use pre-cooked wild rice, which you should, because ain’t nobody got time to sit around and wait for wild rice to cook when you are hangry for vegetarian Swedish meatballs. I described some pre-cooked wild rice options in the recipe notes and you should take advantage.
For those of you taking the POY Sugar Free January challenge with us, you are in luck: it’s very easy to sub whole wheat breadcrumbs and whole wheat flour so you can get away with zero refined grains here. The gravy in the pictures is made with whole wheat flour – you can see it’s a little less smooth than a traditional gravy, but I’ve always been a fan of interesting food textures, so that is of zero concern for me when I’m dealing with all the flavors of Swedish meatball heaven.
Can I declare 2018 the year of the Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs? WHO EVEN KNEW. ♡
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Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6-ish servings (6 meatballs per person) 1x
Description
Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs are FOR REAL! These little meatballs are made with wild rice and mushrooms and they are served up in a simple and savory brown gravy. Yum!
Ingredients
Vegetarian Meatballs:
- 2 cups cooked wild rice
- 1 heaping cup finely chopped mushrooms
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- olive oil (optional)
For the Gravy:
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder and/or garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Meatballs: Preheat the oven to 425. Mix the meatball ingredients together. Roll into balls (1-2 tablespoons each) and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until firm when you press them.
- Gravy: Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onion powder, garlic powder, and flour. Let it bubble for a few minutes to remove any floury taste. Slowly add broth, whisking after each addition, to make a smooth sauce. Stir in sour cream. Adjust consistency to taste with more broth. Season to taste.
- That’s all! Place your cooked meatballs in the gravy and get them all nice and saucy. Serve with potatoes, salad, or roasted veggies.
Notes
Gluten Free: Gluten free flour and almond flour are both great substitutes for the breadcrumbs. However, almond flour does NOT work for the gravy – gluten free flour should be used for that.
Pre-cooked wild rice will save you a lot of time. I used a can of wild rice (!!) for one of my test batches and was great – tasted awesome and it saved me a lot of time. The canned wild rice I bought contained just cooked wild rice, water, and salt – I drained the water before using it. Whether you cook your own wild rice or use pre-cooked, in terms of flavor I’d STRONGLY recommend 100% wild rice as opposed to a “wild rice blend” which is usually made up of primarily white or brown rice with only a few sad and lonely specks of wild rice.
If you don’t want to bake, these meatballs can also be pan-friend until firm.
If you’re looking to cut back on refined sugars, whole wheat flour works as well.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Swedish
Keywords: vegetarian swedish meatballs, wild rice swedish meatballs, mushroom meatballs
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our coziest comfort food recipes page. Check it out!
These turned out amazing! But as a rule, you just can’t have Swedish meatballs without lingonberries. It’s practically a crime in Sweden…
Eggs are not vegetarian. They’re a protein.
I’ve made this before and somehow had a craving for it! Even better than i remembered. Delicious recipe!
This is the first time I’ve ever left a review on a recipe and I cook from internet recipes a lot- I just had to say that these “meatballs” are FANTASTIC. I added some things that were in our favorite recipe for real meatballs- some parsley, 1/4 cup finely diced onion, 1/4tsp each of nutmeg and allspice. I added those things to this recipe as written and they were great. Better the next day, too! I used the sauce recipe from the other website but as far as I can tell the only difference is adding Worcestershire sauce and a bit of Dijon mustard. SO good!
Here is that other recipe if you want to review: https://therecipecritic.com/the-best-swedish-meatballs/
Did anyone actually make them?
I have never left a review on a recipe before but after eating these leftovers I just had too. These meatballs turned out so good! I’ve always struggled with getting vegetarian meatballs or burgers to hold shape. These meatballs not only firmed up perfectly, they withheld shape and texture after being doused in gravy, refrigerated, reheated and devoured all over again! 12/10, would recommend. Next time I’d add onions to the gravy, which I guess is not traditional Swedish meatballs but it would be a great addition.
These were so good! Right from the start they smelled really nice, as did the gravy. I actually could only get my hands on the rice blend (mostly brown rice) but it turned out lovely regardless. Even my carnivore husband came back for more.
Could the meatballs be made ahead of time? If so would you suggest cooking them then freezing them? Or could they be frozen raw?
I’d probably cook and then freeze!
Made them again. They are still awesome! I bought the wrong rice (black), but it worked just fine.
I work at IKEA and live in Sweden 😉
All these recipes look sooo good. I can’t wait to try them. Thanks for the beautiful and versatile meals.
Just-wild-rice is not to be found here in the wilds of upstate New York. I used the Bob’s Red Mill mix of wild rice and (relatively short grain & “sticky”) paddy rice. I also added some 5-spice to the mix (not altogether wrong for Swedish meatballs). The outcome was about what I expected. Sauced properly with lots of lingonberry preserves (or cranberry sauce — related plant, similar flavor profile), it works.
I absolutely love these meatballs! But family is now down to 2 – can these be frozen?
Yes, we’d just recommend not freezing it with the gravy.
I enjoyed preparing and eating the meatballs. I should have added more bread crumbs to make them a bit stronger. Thank you for this lovely vegetarian idea!
Extremely delicious.
I enjoyed preparing and eating the meatballs. I could have added more bread crumbs to make them a bit stronger. Thank you for this lovely vegetarian idea!
I didn’t have wild rice prepared, but I used a ready-made brown rice & quinoa blend and it was still tasty. Kids didn’t detect the mushrooms (score!) and asked for the meal on the regular! The gravy was delish and worked well with your instant pot mashed potato recipe! Yum!
Great vegetarian version of Swedish meatballs.
Thanks!
I already love this recipe and previously rated ot, but I just wanted to share that I experimented with freezing it, and it works! Make extra sauce and thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat on low, stirring periodically. I just made a double batch with triple sauce to stash away for Christmas Eve dinner.
Not sure what happened with the rating, here. It is definitely 5 stars.
My favorite Swedish meatball recipe! I doubled the gravy because, YUM. also didn’t add any nutmeg (not the voice at fan).
Can rice be cooked in advance and put in fridge until ready to use? Also, can recipe be made then refrigerated or frozen?
Hi, Suzanne! Great questions! You can definitely cook wild rice ahead of time and keep it in the fridge – it should last about 1 week. Alternatively, you could also use canned wild rice, if that’s easier for you. And yes, the meatballs can be refrigerated and/or frozen after cooking them.
I made this earlier tonight and it was an instant hit! So glad I gave this one a shot! The wild rice and mushrooms were more flavorful than anticipated so I was doing a happy dance with basically every bite 😂
I’ve followed your site for years, but have never written. Your recipes are so creative and delectable – and this one was a huge home run! We have gone from Meatless Mondays to nearly all veg/plant based, so this was such a treat. Truly a keeper —
Keep doing great things, and I will continue to visit and share with my friends.! : )
Meal prep and the freezer are my friends…do these FREEZE well ? Thinking I would make, par bake (or not?), freeze individually on the pan, then put into containers for those quick meal nights. Anyone tried this??
Yes these freeze well! You can either freeze before baking, after baking, or par bake.
Made this last night with leftover basmati rice and used greek yogurt instead of sour cream. So good! Fun to make! As a vegetarian, I have never rolled meatless-balls before.
My wife likes veggies food like Vegi Lasagna and this is a coincidence to cook this Swedish Veggie meatballs . I’ll try today..
12/07/21 1025AM
Could these be made and baked ahead of time and then frozen? Also wondering the same about your meat Swedish meatballs. Thank you!
Yes, you can do that!