One of my favorite comfort foods is meatballs! I found a great recipe for Swedish meatballs and adapted it to be gluten and dairy free. I challenge you to make them and see if you can tell the difference between these and a traditional dairy and gluten-filled version.

I like to serve these with a super-simple boiled potato for a side-dish. If you use a thin-skinned red or gold potato you don’t need to peel them! But, if you’re not a big fan of gravy, you can make a mashed potato side dish to go with this and serve with some lingonberry jelly or whole cranberries. Either way, you’re going to have a great fall or winter meal.

I substituted the traditional bread crumbs for a slice of Udi’s brand gluten free bread, diced. (A great way to make use of the heel of the loaf). The milk was easily replaced with coconut milk (but if you only have Almond milk it will work great too). Versatile coconut oil works great to replace the butter in this recipe as well.

 Swedish Meatballs Ingredients

2 Tablespoons                   coconut oil

2/3 Cup                                Gluten Free Bread, diced (I like Udi’s brand)

½ Cup                                    Almond or Coconut Milk (sweetened or unsweetened is fine)

1 Pound                               Ground Beef

¼ teaspoon                        Black Pepper

a dash                                   Nutmeg (optional)

½ Cup                                    Onion, minced

2 teaspoons                       Salt

Gravy Ingredients

2 Cups                                   Water

½ teaspoon                         Salt

¼ teaspoon                        Pepper

¼ Cup                                    White Rice Flour

Instructions

Melt 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add diced onions with a dash of salt and sauté for about 5 minutes until golden.

Mix the ground beef, diced bread, almond or coconut milk, salt, pepper and cooked onions into a mixing bowl until well-combined. Shape into small meatballs (about ½ Tablespoon each)

Melt 1 Tablespoon coconut oil in the same large non-stick frying pan, cook the meatballs on all sides until brown (no pink in the middle). Shake the pan occasionally to cook them evenly. (You may need to do two batches so you don’t over-crowd them in the pan and steam them instead of fry them).

To make the gravy: mix the water, salt, white rice flour and pepper in a bowl. Pour the mixture over the meatballs in the frying pan over medium/high heat, stirring constantly. Cook until you reach the desired thickness of gravy (approx. 8 mins). If it’s too thick, add about ½ Cup more water and stir.

Serve and enjoy!

Inspired by allrecipes.com “Swedish Meatballs (From a Swede!) by Linda T.