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

Name: Finnish Meatballs with Brown Sauce and Potato Mash (Lihapullat, ruskea kastike ja perunamuusi)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 10
Cuisine: Finnish
Ingredients: 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); 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; 3 tablespoons butter; 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 cup water; Salt, pepper/ground allspice to taste; 1 tablespoon soy sauce (optional)

April 16, 2024

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

Tuija

Rated 5.0 stars by 4 users

Cuisine

Finnish

Author:

Tuija

Servings

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

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

Meatballs

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)

Mashed potatoes

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

Brown sauce

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

Finnish Meatballs

Mix the cream and breadcrumbs in a bowl
Chop the onions to fine pieces
Add meat and onions to the bowl
Add spices
Mix very well and add the eggs if you wish (not mandatory, I prefer meatballs without eggs)
With watered hands, make about golf ball sized balls of the meatball dough and add them to a baking sheet
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.

Finnish Potato Mash

Peel the potatoes, chop to equal sized pieces to cook evenly
Add potatoes to cold, salted water
Boil about 20 min, until the potatoes are cooked
Remove the water
Add milk and butter, let it sit for a while, especially if milk was cold
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)
Add salt, mix and taste.

Brown sauce

Use the same skillet as for the meatballs for extra flavor, add the butter and let it melt
Add the flour, mix it and fry it until brown
Add water bit by bit, mix all the time to avoid clumps
Add salt and other seasoning, taste and add more spices if you wish.

Recipe Video

Recipe Note

I tested different options, the flavors are easy to differentiate when the meatballs are eaten cold, straight from the fridge! (do you do it too?) Frying the Finnish meatballs takes time, but it makes the tastiest meatballs.

I usually bake the Finnish meatballs in the oven, because you can bake so many of them so quickly.

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