Tender meatballs in a creamy mushroom sauce are the perfect comfort food. Tender, creamy and full of flavour they are the perfect family meal.
Meatballs are delicious comfort food especially when they’re in a creamy mushroom sauce. They are so tender and delicious in this recipe because we cook them in the sauce. They are perfection!
We use our all-purpose meatball recipe so you can make the meatballs ahead of time and freeze them or you can make them fresh for this recipe. If you’re making them fresh, I recommend doubling the recipe so you have some in your freezer stash for later.
Preparing Meatballs in Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
Button mushrooms: Button mushrooms are immature fungi that come in two colours – white and brown. These mushrooms are one of the most popular mushrooms around the world and as such have many different names. Button white and cremini are the names I’ve come across most often here in Canada.
Stock: Any stock will be great in this recipe. If you want to keep this recipe vegetarian use vegetable stock.
Heavy cream: Cream is one of the main stars of this dish. Ideally, you want to use heavy whipping cream or heavy cream which has between 36% and 40% fat content. I find that this isn’t typically available in the grocery stores near me so I settle for whipping cream which is usually between 30% and 35% fat.
Yellow onion: Onion is a very common vegetable that is used both raw and cooked in food preparation. It has a sharp flavour raw that often sweetens once cooked. There are many varieties of onions, some that are milder than others. We use the common onion or yellow onion in this recipe.
Parsley: Parsley is a dark green herb that is used as a garnish or as a flavouring. The two varieties that are most common are flat-leaf and curly parsley. They are very similar in flavour however their leaves and texture are different. As the names suggest, flat-leaf parsley has flat leaves that are very similar to cilantro, whereas curly parsley has rougher and curly-looking leaves. Both are very rich in vitamins C and K and antioxidants, among other nutrients.
Olive oil: I use olive oil for this recipe because of its mild flavour. Olive oil is the fat extracted from olives. The least processed is extra virgin olive oil, which I use in this recipe.
See our meatball recipe for more information about the remaining ingredients.
How to Make Meatballs in Creamy Mushroom Sauce
Start by making the meatballs. Follow our all-purpose meatball recipe up to the point of baking.
Once you have formed the meat mixture into balls, coat them in flour. Add the flour to a bowl and roll each meatball in the powder
.
TIP: You can make these meatballs in advance, bake and freeze them. Then add them to the sauce to thaw and heat through. Or you can use this opportunity to double the batch and freeze half for later.
Next, add the oil to a pan and once hot add the meatballs. Cook each meatball for 4 minutes per side. I usually fry them on two sides, sometimes three if there is a large surface of uncooked meat left. The goal is to seal in the juices so you want to sear as much of the outside of each meatball as you can. You may need to do two batches. Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside.
While the meatballs cook, you can dice the onion, chop the parsley and wash and slice the mushrooms.
Once all the meatballs are done cooking, remove them all from the pan and set aside. Then add the onions to the pan and sauté for a minute or two.
Next, add the mushrooms and stir everything together. Cook the mushrooms and onions for 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally to make sure they cook relatively evenly. The mushrooms should begin to soften.
Now, add the stock, salt and pepper and place the meatballs back in the pan. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes, or 20 minutes if you are using our all-purpose meatballs from frozen. If you are using store-bought meatballs follow the package instructions for cooking time.
Add the cream and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Finally, make the slurry by combining a tablespoon of flour with two tablespoons of water. Stir the slurry into the sauce stirring vigorously. I like to use a whisk to make sure there are no clumps. Then add the parsley and cook for another 2 minutes.
Substitutions
Meatballs: If you don’t like to make your own you can either buy frozen ones or your grocery store may have freshly made meatballs for sale. You can also make this recipe vegetarian by buying plant-based meatballs or simply lighter by using ground chicken or turkey instead of pork.
Button Mushrooms: You can use any mushroom variety that you like. The flavour of the sauce will change with whatever variety you get so just make sure you like them.
Stock: You can use bouillon powder or cubes, and water instead of stock. Use chicken or vegetable stock for this recipe.
Heavy cream: Half and Half will also work well in this recipe though the sauce may not be as creamy.
Serving Meatballs in Creamy Mushroom Sauce
I love meatballs in mushroom sauce over mashed potatoes. It’s my absolute favourite. Try serving these with our garlic and chive mashed potatoes for an even more delicious flavour.
These meatballs are also great over buckwheat, pearl barley, rice, quinoa or potato pancakes. Even roasted potatoes would be a great choice.
You don’t need to add a side vegetable if you don’t want to but a cold side makes for a very nice contrast. Try serving these meatballs in mushroom sauce with our simple spinach salad, sauerkraut slaw or just a pickle.
Let us know in the comments if you have any questions. And if you like this recipe be sure to leave us a five-star rating below.
Are you looking for dinner sides? Check out our recipes:
Meatballs in Creamy Mushroom Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- Knife and cutting board
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 500 g ground pork
- 60 g onion (approx ½ medium onion)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 egg
- 30 ml milk
- ¼ cup bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp parsley
Slurry:
- 1 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp water
Sauce:
- 227 g button mushrooms
- 2 cups stock
- 60 ml heavy cream
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp yellow onion (approx. 1/8 medium onion)
- 1 ½ tbsp parsley
- 60 ml oil
- ⅓ cup flour (for coating)
Instructions
- Make the meatballs. Follow our all-purpose meatball recipe up to the point of baking.500 g ground pork, 60 g onion, 1 tsp Worcestershire, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, 1 egg, 30 ml milk, ¼ cup bread crumbs, 1 tbsp parsley
- Once you have formed the meat mixture into balls, coat them in flour.1/3 cup flour (for coating)
- Add the oil to a hot pan to heat and once hot add the meatballs. Cook each meatball for 4 minutes per side. You may need to do two batches. Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside.60 ml oil
- In the meantime, dice the onion, and parsley and slice the mushrooms.227 g button mushrooms, 2 tbsp yellow onion, 1 ½ tbsp parsley
- Once you have removed all the meatballs, add the onions to the same pan, sauté for a minute then add the mushrooms and stir. Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally to make sure they cook relatively evenly.2 tbsp yellow onion, 227 g button mushrooms
- Add the stock, salt and pepper and place the meatballs back in the pan. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or 20 minutes if you are using frozen meatballs. If you are using store-bought meatballs follow the package instructions for cooking time.2 cups stock, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper
- Add the cream and simmer for another 5 minutes.60 ml heavy cream
- Make the slurry and stir it into the sauce stirring vigorously and add the parsley. Cook for another 2 minutes and serve hot with your favourite sides.1 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp water
