By Wendy
Growing up, Swedish meatballs were a staple in my house. So every time I eat them, I think of classic, home cooking. I adore Swedish meatballs…really, what’s not to love about moist and juicy meatballs smothered in a creamy, beefy sauce and usually served over yummy egg noodles?
Well, traditional Swedish meatballs sure are tasty, but they are definitely not so diet friendly. My healthier version uses all beef instead of a beef/pork combo, and I used whole wheat breadcrumbs instead of slices of bread soaked in milk.
And finally, for the creamy beef sauce, I used fat free cream cheese instead. I got the idea from a Swedish meatball casserole recipe I saw and thought it was a great substitute for the heavy cream.
I also added mushrooms to the dish to help bulk it up, and because I think the mushrooms work really well in this sauce.
The flavor of the dish was amazing and was adored by the whole family. I served mine over whole wheat fettuccine noodles because I didn’t have any egg noodles, but it didn’t really matter…the Swedish meatballs are the star of the dish.
Serve them over noodles or just eat them straight up. Any way you choose to devour them, they are divine. Enjoy!
LOW CALORIE SWEDISH MEATBALLS RECIPE
Swedish Meatballs are a classic comfort food recipe that is seriously slimmed down in my version. And they have a deliciously creamy beef sauce that truly makes this dish.
3 from 11 votes
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Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 50 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Servings 4 servings
Calories 359 kcal
Ingredients
- 8 oz extra lean ground beef - (90/10)
- 8 oz ground turkey breast
- 1 large onion - (finely chopped)
- 2 large celery stalks - (finely chopped)
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup parsley - (finely chopped)
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- 3 cups fat free beef stock
- 3 oz fat free cream cheese
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground ginger
- ⅛ tsp ground cardamom
- 3 garlic cloves
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-fat cooking spray, and place in oven while preheating.
In a food processor, mince onion, parsley, garlic and celery.
Place it in a large bowl, and add in beef, turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom and salt and pepper to taste. Combine well with hands.
Form mixture in 24 meatballs (about 1” each). Remove baking dish from oven and place meatballs about 1/2 inch apart in the hot baking dish. Press down to flatten the bottom just slightly.
Bake for 15 minutes in oven, then turn over and continue baking for 10 more minutes.
Spray a large nonstick skillet with non-fat cooking spray. Add in beef broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a low simmer and gently add in the meatballs. Cover and let cook for 25 minutes.
Remove meatballs with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add cream cheese into broth, and slowly whisk in until cream cheese and well combined.Then add in the sliced mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes.
Pour sauce over meatballs, garnish with additional parsley and serve.
Notes
Entire recipe makes 4 servings
Serving size is 6 meatballs
Nutrition
Calories: 359 kcal (18%)Carbohydrates: 9.2 g (3%)Protein: 40.1 g (80%)Fat: 17.8 g (27%)Saturated Fat: 8 g (50%)Cholesterol: 149 mg (50%)Sodium: 516 mg (22%)Potassium: 1118 mg (32%)Fiber: 2.4 g (10%)Sugar: 3.2 g (4%)Calcium: 60 mg (6%)Iron: 5 mg (28%)
Main Ingredient: Beef Recipes
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!
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16 Comments
Andria8 years ago
Tried this tonight. What a waste of ingredients :( The sauce was runny, the meatballs had an overwhelming cinnamon-spice taste that we couldn’t get past. All in the garbage. Very sad.
Helen8 years ago
I made this the first time and it was great. The second time I doubled the batch and the sauce was runny. What do you think caused this??
Kyri Sandvik9 years ago
I made this and it was so amazing!! I served it with broccoli and egg noodles. It was so satisfying and a great feeling knowing it was less than 500 calories
Jackie10 years ago
I find “Spray a large nonstick skillet with non-fat cooking spray” unnecessary in step 6 since you’re just adding broth and THEN you add the meatballs. Otherwise, yummy!!!
llg11 years ago
why is there not a printer friendly version??? what a waste of paper
Virginia10 years ago
Do you have the Windows accessory called Snipping Tool? You can “snip” whatever part of the screen you want to save or print. Just COPY the snip and PASTE it into any word processor and print it out from there.
VIrginia
Holly Liskey11 years ago
I made this recipe last night and served it over whole wheat egg noddles. Delicious and every member of my family of 7 loved it! Thank you
Caress Redd11 years ago
Awesome recipe! These are great, thanks
Nancy Gray12 years ago
Made your meatballs last night for dinner. They were awesome. Thanks for all the great recipes.
JS12 years ago
Is there a substitution for cardamom?
Lucy12 years ago
instead of all these weird spices, just use 1/2 tsp allspice.
Dawn5 years ago
How did the all spice work for you on the Swedish Meatballs recipe
Chris6 years ago
This may be good to someone who has never had real Swedish meatballs! But cream cheese, cinnamon, and celery don’t belong in this recipe. Low fat sour cream and allspice, nutmeg, onions,and parsley do. I want to lose weight to ,but not by eating stuff like this uck !
Dawn5 years ago
I was thinking the same thing
Y cream cheese n not sour cream
Irod127712 years ago
Your recipe doesn’t say what to do with the items that you minced in the food processor.
laaloosh12 years ago
Just take a look at Step 3. It says to place “it” in a bowl…”it” refers to the items you just minced in the food processor :).
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