Serves: 24 meatballs

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Total time: 1 hour

These Venison Swedish Meatballs are the best you’ll ever eat, and you’ll want to make them again and again!

Gently warmed with allspice and nutmeg and covered in a heavenly creamy sauce, we love serving these with our 8-year-old daughter’s favorite fluffy mashed potatoes. You could also choose to serve them over egg noodles. Either way, this dish using some of that venison in your freezer is sure to be a big hit when you are looking for a comforting weeknight meal the whole family will appreciate. It also gives you an opportunity to retell the deer or elk hunting story and teach everyone sitting around the dinner table where their food comes from!

Meatball ingredients

• 1 pound ground venison

• 8 ounces ground pork

• 1 cup fresh baby spinach, finely chopped

• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

• 2 eggs

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce ingredients

• 1 stick of butter

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 4 cups venison or beef broth

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon)

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix the venison, pork, spinach, onion, panko breadcrumbs, eggs, garlic, salt, pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until well combined.

2. Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, measure out the meat mixture into about 24 1-inch balls.

3. In a large frying pan, heat the other 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 of the meatballs and cook until browned on all sides. This takes about 5 minutes. Set the meatballs aside on a large plate and repeat the process to cook the other 1/2 of the meatballs in the same pan. Set aside.

4. Lower the heat to medium and add the butter to the pan. When the butter begins to bubble, sprinkle in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the broth to the pan a little at a time.

5. Whisk the sauce until the broth is completely incorporated. Add salt, pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Whisk a few more times. Slowly whisk in the heavy whipping cream.

6. Once the sauce begins to simmer, add the meatballs back into the pan.

7. Simmer for about 8 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the meatballs are cooked all the way through (145 – 150 degrees F).

8. Serve warm over mashed potatoes or egg noodles.

To find more wild game recipes by Jeff Benda, visit his website: www.wildgameandfish.com