Meals · Skillet & sheet-pan mains
Lihapullat (Finnish meatballs in cream gravy)
The meatballs every Finnish child grows up on: soft, allspice-scented balls of beef and pork, browned in butter and simmered in a pale brown cream gravy, with mashed potatoes, lingonberries and a salted cucumber on the side. Leaner mince and a gravy that is part milk keep it just as comforting.
- Time
- 60 min (25 prep + 35 cook)
- Servings
- 4
- Per serving
- 634 kcal
- Protein
- 36 g
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, fine dry crumbs (korppujauho)
- scant 1/2 cup semi-skimmed milk, 1.5% fat, fortified
- 1 small onion, very finely chopped
- 10 1/2 oz raw ground beef, 10% fat, lean minced beef, about 10 % fat
- 7 oz raw ground pork, 8% fat, lean minced pork, about 8 % fat
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp butter, for frying
Mashed potatoes
- 1 3/4 lb potato, floury, peeled, in chunks
Cream gravy
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour (bleached), plain flour
- 1 2/3 cups beef broth
- scant 1/2 cup semi-skimmed milk, 1.5% fat, fortified
- 3 1/2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tsp soy sauce
Mashed potatoes
- 1/2 cup semi-skimmed milk, 1.5% fat, fortified, hot
- 2 tsp butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
To serve
- 1/4 cup lingonberry jam, reduced sugar, lingonberry jam or crushed lingonberries
- 2 small salt-pickled cucumber, drained, salted (brined) cucumbers, sliced
Steps
- Stir the breadcrumbs into the milk and leave them to swell for 10 minutes. Meanwhile soften the onion with a splash of water in a covered frying pan for 3–4 minutes, until it is soft and the water has gone.
- Add the beef, pork, egg, salt, allspice, white pepper and the onion to the crumbs and mix until evenly combined and slightly sticky. Fry a teaspoon of the mix to check the salt. With wet hands, roll about 30 balls.
- Melt the frying butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat and brown the meatballs in two batches, shaking the pan so they stay round, 5–6 minutes a batch. Lift them onto a plate and keep the pan.
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for 18–20 minutes until completely soft while you make the gravy.
- Melt the gravy butter in the same frying pan over medium heat, stir in the flour and cook for 2–3 minutes until it smells nutty and turns light brown. Whisk in the broth a little at a time, scraping up the browned bits.
- Whisk in the milk, cream and soy sauce. Return the meatballs, cover and simmer gently for 10–12 minutes until the gravy coats a spoon and the meatballs reach 160°F. Taste for salt and pepper.
- Drain the potatoes well and mash them with the hot milk, butter and salt until smooth.
- Serve the meatballs and gravy with the mash, lingonberries and salted cucumber. Keeps 4 days in the fridge; reheat gently with a splash of water. The meatballs in gravy freeze for 3 months.
Good to know
Can I use ordinary mince?
Yes. With ordinary 15 % beef mince the meatballs are a little richer, at about the same score.
Can I bake the meatballs instead?
Yes, that is how many Finnish homes do it. Bake on a lined tray at 440°F for about 15 minutes, until they reach 160°F, then make the gravy in a saucepan and warm them in it. You lose a little colour from the pan and save the washing up.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 113
- Protein
- (23%)
- 6 g
- Fat
- (42%)
- 5 g
- Carbohydrates
- (35%)
- 10 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 347 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2536 kcal goes into the pot and 2476 g of ingredients comes out as about 2240 g of food: 113 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.