Adapted for Low Fodmap From My Mother’s Family Recipe

Today I am writing an IBS friendly recipe for low fodmap Swedish meatballs. For those of us who are mindful about low fodmap and IBS safe ingredients, this recipe fits those guidelines, but keeps the lovely flavor and delicacy of this classic dish. Btw, Mom never added cream or sour cream to hers, but I sometimes add a nice dollop of Fage Greek plain yogurt which adds that sour cream tang of classic Swedish meatballs.

Growing up, I remember my mother serving this dish, over lovely puff pastry she called “patty shells,” at her spring luncheon. We looked forward to the next day when the fridge was bursting with leftover shrimp and egg salad tea sandwiches, cookies, cream cake and even the Swedish meatballs that we ate served on leftover patty shells. It was Heaven. Gone are the days of ladies’ luncheons, but this recipe still delivers for lunch or dinner anytime.

How does low fodmap Swedish meatballs differ from my mothers? Here are the substitutions I make to keep the recipe fodmap friendly but still delicious.

First, I don’t make the meatballs with regular white bread because of the wheat issue. (My mom always used Pepperidge Farm white sandwich bread.) Instead, I use sour dough white sandwich bread from a bakery. Bakery made sour dough is made with sour dough starter rather than yeast, and sour dough starter kills the fodmap “Fructan” found in wheat flour. If I can’t get to a bakery, I buy bakery bread from the bakery area of Stop and Shop or La Brea sour dough from the bakery area of Shop Rite. If pressed, I use Udi’s GF white bread, but it is not my favorite. Of course, you can use whatever safe bread you like.

Is There A GF Puff Pastry?

Second, I substitute GF puff pastry (Gee Free Puff Pastry from Whole Foods) for regular puff pastry. I also use rice noodles or GF noodles, as the base for these meatballs to rest on.

Third, the broth I use is not made with onion or garlic. Usually I use my own homemade beef and chicken broth, or I mix Fody Food soup base with water as a substitute.

Here I did not add the peas, but peas are fodmap safe up to 1/4 cup per serving, so feel free to add them not only for their flavor, but for the much needed color they add. In the picture there are a few green veggies, but they are there to add charm to the picture and are not in the actual recipe. lol.

Ingredients:

1 packages Gee Free Puff Pastry (or Pepperidge Farm Patty Shells, if not wheat intolerant)

1 lb. lean ground beef or 93% ground turkey or ground chicken, if you can’t tolerate beef

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 lb fresh mushrooms (.35 oz. of portabella mushrooms are fodmap free)

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 to 3 Tbsp. butter (or substitute vegan butter)

1 garlic clove

3 or 4 slices of stale white bread, crusts removed (GF or sour dough)

Splash of lactose free milk/ alternative milk for soaking bread

1 to 2 eggs

1 Tbsp. finely chopped Italian parsley

1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese(preferably Reggiano)(Parmesan is long aged and low in lactose)

Salt and pepper

6 Tbsp. butter (or vegan butter)

6 Tbsp. flour

Dash of paprika

Dash of freshly grated nutmeg

3 cups of beef or chicken broth (made without garlic or onion or safely made)

1 can of Le Seur baby peas, drained (1/4 cup of peas is low fodmap)

Directions:

Meatball Mixture:

Pour the milk over the bread in a mixing bowl. Squeeze out the milk. Place the meat, eggs, cheese, parsley, salt, pepper in the bowl. Mix well with your hands or a wooden spoon. Roll the meat mixture into meatballs the size of a golfball or your thumbnail, if you want then tiny. Set them on a plate as you make them and set aside covered by a sheet of waxed paper to keep them fresh. You can refrigerate them if you aren’t making the whole dish at this time.

On medium high heat, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil. Fry the meatballs in batches until browned on all sides. As they brown, remove them to a bowl. When finished browning, set the browned meatballs aside.

Sauce for Meatballs:

In a small frying pan melt the 2 or 3 Tbsp. butter with the 1 Tbsp. olive oil until hot. Stir in the sliced up clove of garlic and sauté a few minutes until mixture is permeated with garlic flavor. Remove garlic and discard. Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté a few minutes. Set mushroom mixture aside.

In a 2 quart saucepan melt the 6 Tbsp. butter until frothy. Sprinkle with the 6 Tbsp. of flour and stir with a whisk until all the flour is incorporated. Sprinkle with paprika and salt. Continue to stir a minute or two while the flour browns a bit. Slowly whisk in the broth, constantly whisking to prevent lumps from forming in the sauce. If mixture is too thick thin a bit with broth or water.

Combining meatballs and Sauce:

Stir the meatballs and mushrooms into the sauce and then sprinkle with the dash of freshly grated nutmeg. Gently stir and bring to a boil. Turn down to a low simmer and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Just before serving, add the drained Le Seur peas. Serve over baked patty shells or egg noodles or rice.