Finnish Meatballs with Brown Sauce and Potato Mash (Lihapullat, ruskea kastike ja perunamuusi)

Finnish Meatballs with Brown Sauce and Potato Mash (Lihapullat, ruskea kastike ja perunamuusi)

Tuija

Servings

10

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

Cuisine

Finnish

Category

Dinner

Finnish meatballs are super easy and super tasty! This is one of the most eaten Finnish dishes. Classic brown sauce on the side and mashed potatoes will make the taste experience authentic.

There are naturally many recipes for Finnish meatballs, but all of them have allspice. This meatballs recipe is from my family archives, and this potato mash recipe was not even written down earlier, it is just "known", how to make it.

I recommend making a big batch of meatballs to save time. You can freeze them and easily heat them in the microwave oven or skillet for the next dish.

You can also use just ground beef, I used 50/50 mixed beef/pork, because pork has more fat and this mixture makes tastier meatballs.

Meatballs in the recipe for 10 servings (to freeze the rest), potato mash and sauce for one meal.

Ingredients

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    • 1 cup cooking cream/sour creme or equivalent

    • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

    • 2 lb ground meat (beef or beef/pork)

    • 2 onions

    • 2 teaspoons salt

    • 1 teaspoon oregano, paprika, black pepper, ground allspice

    • Pinch of white pepper

    • 2 eggs (optional)

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    • 2 lb potatoes

    • Water for boiling remove when potatoes are done (amount of water = just enough to cover the potatoes)

    • Salt (1-2 teaspoons)

    • 2-3 tablespoons butter

    • 1 cup milk

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    • 3 tablespoons butter

    • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

    • 1 1/2 cup water

    • Salt, pepper/ground allspice to taste

    • 1 tablespoon soy sauce (optional)

    Directions

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      1. Mix the cream and breadcrumbs in a bowl

      2. Chop the onions to fine pieces

      3. Add meat and onions to the bowl

      4. Add spices

      5. Mix very well and add the eggs if you wish (not mandatory, I prefer meatballs without eggs)

      6. With watered hands, make about golf ball sized balls of the meatball dough and add them to a baking sheet

      7. Bake in the oven, 425 °F, for 15 minutes, until brown. Or add butter to a skillet and fry the meatballs until they are fully cooked.

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      1. Peel the potatoes, chop to equal sized pieces to cook evenly

      2. Add potatoes to cold, salted water

      3. Boil about 20 min, until the potatoes are cooked

      4. Remove the water

      5. Add milk and butter, let it sit for a while, especially if milk was cold

      6. Mash the potatoes with potato masher, a big fork or any tool (electric mixer can be used with caution, it can easily make the mash glue-like and we don’t want that)

      7. Add salt, mix and taste.

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      1. Use the same skillet as for the meatballs for extra flavor, add the butter and let it melt

      2. Add the flour, mix it and fry it until brown

      3. Add water bit by bit, mix all the time to avoid clumps

      4. Add salt and other seasoning, taste and add more spices if you wish.

      Finnish Meatballs with Brown Sauce and Mashed Potatoes (Lihapullat ja perunamuusi)

      Finnish meatballs and potato mash recipe

      Finnish Meatballs are a classic dish in Finnish cuisine. Most typically the meatballs are enjoyed with brown sauce and mashed potatoes, and on the side some preserved beet and pickles. Sure the Finnish meatballs go well with any other potato option too, like boiled potatoes, oven-baked potatoes or even french fries.

      Finnish meatballs can be baked in the oven, which is the easiest method or fried in a skillet, which is the tastiest method. (check the recipe video for more instructions)

      Lingonberry jam is usually enjoyed with meatballs in Sweden, not in Finland. I ate lingonberry jam with meatballs first time when I went to Ikea 😊 (Thank you Ikea for distributing lingonberry jam worldwide, I can't live without lingonberries!)

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      2 comments

      Of course, there are many recipes for meatballs. I usually make my meatballs as my mother did. We like our meatballs rather hard. I use rolled oats/kauraryynit (soaked in milk or cream) instead of the breadcrumbs. The meat is always ground beef, with about 10% of fat, no pork. Sometimes I add one egg. I fry the minced onions before adding them to the mixture. Otherwise they will have an unpleasant raw taste. I use allspice and black pepper as seasonings in the meatballs. I usually bake them in the oven or in the airfryer. I have some cream in the sauce, and a few drops of Kikkoman soy for taste and colour. In the mashed potatoes I add some parsley. In my childhood in Finland we used to eat the meatballs with pickles and lingonberry jam. Some of us liked to add ketchup.

      Minou

      I use chop beef, oatmeal,egg, onion, water, s&bp, and sometimes allspice. I fry them on a cast iron frying pan. I rinse the frying pan after every 9 meatballs and with this liquid I make the sauce. If the sauce is not brown enough I add some GRAVY MASTER, which is cramelized sugar and some mild spices.

      Susanne Ruschelau

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