Swedish Meatballs

Read more on https://susanhi.wordpress.com

Wow-wee-wow-wow!  This recipe really knocked our socks off.  The flavor in the meatballs and the sauce were just divine.  Party in the mouth!!

This is not an original recipe but rather a recipe that is a conglomeration of some of mine and others I found on the web.  Also, I’ll warn you … it’s a semi-homemade recipe.  I know that some folks are completely turned off by using cream of soups and whatnot so if you want to make you own sauce … knock yourself out! For me, I wanted something that I could pull together quickly where my oven would do most of the work.  This recipe delivered there.  The sauce was so good I wanted to drink it with a straw!  =p

The meatballs are actually a variation of one of my many meatloaf recipes.  I actually think that I’ll make this next with ground turkey or chicken to help improve the nutritional value.  I decided to serve this over the Barilla Plus penne since my blood sugar seems to be very tolerant of that particular brand.  This would be great over the traditional egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or whatever pasta you have on hand.  Oh – and a note about the sauce – if my kids weren’t so picky, I would have included sautéed mushrooms and onions as part of the sauce.  How divine would that be?!

There is one thing I did this time around that I have never done before.  I will do this again in the future though because I was so pleased with how it turned out!  Instead of using bread crumbs or oatmeal in my meatballs, I used a Shake’n Bake Parmesan Crusted  envelope.  Who knew they still made this, right?  Who knew how delicious it would be in meatballs?!  I just happened to have it in the pantry but I was out of both Progresso bread crumbs and oatmeal.  Sure, I could have put grits in it but I thought the Shake’n Bake would work better.  Boy – am I ever happy I used it!  I may use this in my meatloaf recipes in the future!  Anywho … without further adieu, here’s how I made our wonderful Swedish Meatballs.

Swedish Meatballs

• 16 oz Penne (or egg noodles, rice, mashed potatoes, or other pasta), cooked to package directions
• Meatballs
• 2 pounds hamburger (I used 4% fat)
• 1 envelope Kraft Shake’N Bake Parmesan Crusted
• 3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp dried minced onion
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 C Kraft grated parmesan cheese
• Sauce
• 1 26-oz can Cream of Chicken
• 1 14-oz can Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic
• 1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 12 oz sour cream
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic from a jar
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp parsley
• 1/2 C Kraft grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425.  Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Combine meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl and get it mixed well.  Shape into meatballs and place in prepared 9×13 pan.  Roast at 425 for 20 minutes.  Prepared the sauce at this point. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the sauce ingredients.  Taste for seasonings and adjust to your liking.  After meatballs have roasted for 20 minutes, remove them from the oven and drain off grease.  Pour the prepared sauce evenly over the meatballs.  Reduce oven temperature to 375.  Put the Swedish meatballs back into the oven.

Bake the Swedish meatballs for 25 to 30 minutes.  (I let this go for 45 minutes, just stirring after 25 to 30 minutes.)  Serve over pasta, noodles, or mashed potatoes.

Pair this with a simple green salad and rolls of some sort and you have yourself a nice meal!

Divine Chicken

This is typically a weekend dish for our family since it cooks in the oven for several hours.  I think practically every home cook in America has a version of this recipe.  I like to bake this for 90 minutes covered and then 90 minutes uncovered. 

We often serve this with rice or mashed potatoes.  I’ve been known to occasionally tuck some large baking potatoes in the oven at the same time as well – when I’m feeling totally lazy, that is.  I try to keep my side dishes quick, easy, and simple.

Divine Chicken

• 1 package chipped beef
• 8 slices of bacon
• 3 lb chicken thighs (boned is fine but I remove the skin)
• Swiss or Provolone slices of cheese
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 C sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 1/2 C white wine
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated or pressed
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
• 1/4 C butter, melted

Preheat oven to 300.  Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Spread chipped beef evenly across the bottom of the 9×13 pan.  Put chicken thighs on top of chipped beef.  Put bacon on top of chicken.  Put a slice of cheese on top of each piece of chicken.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk soup, sour cream, white wine, and garlic.  Pour soup mixture over the chicken.  Cover 9×13 pan with aluminum foil and bake for 90 minutes.

Remove foil from 9×13 pan, turn heat up to 350 and bake for another hour and 15 minutes.  Toss crushed Ritz crackers with melted butter.  Sprinkle on top of casserole and bake for another 15 minutes or until Ritz cracker topping is golden brown.

Sometimes I’ll use partially crushed Garlic Croutons tossed with melted butter positioned on top of each piece of chicken instead of crushed Ritz crackers.