Meatballs with Cream Sauce
Looking for a different way to serve meatballs? Meatballs and cream sauce are the answer! Delicious meatballs and a creamy sauce over noodles. Perfect!
This weeknight meal was absolutely delicious!
The recipe comes from a good friend and neighbor who is an excellent cook and she posted this recipe to a neighborhood recipe blog a while back.

I am so glad I tried it – not only was I a fan, but my husband and kids loved it.
I think my four-year old son must have eaten at least six meatballs on his own before I told him he had to have some more peas before requesting another meatball!
It is a great way to change up meatballs and serve with a creamy, light sauce over noodles. By the way, it made fantastic leftovers.
What to Serve With This
- Sliced cucumbers and other fresh veggies with Homemade Ranch Dressing
- Sliced cheese
- Cut up apples with Toffee Apple Dip (for a sweet and semi healthy dessert!)
Meatballs with Cream Sauce
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¾ cup quick oats
- ¼ cup finely chopped onion
- ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef or lean ground turkey
- 3 tablespoons flour
Cream Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 ½ tablespoons flour
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 1 (14-ounce) can can chicken broth, If you want your sauce thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup
- ⅔ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients EXCEPT the beef and flour. Add beef and mix well. Shape into balls. Roll in flour, shaking off excess.
- Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheet and bake, uncovered, at 400 for 10 minutes. Turn meatballs, bake 8-10 minutes longer or until no longer pink.
- Meanwhile, for the sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, thyme, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add broth and milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, until slightly thickened. If using the full can of chicken broth, the sauce doesn’t thicken overly much, but it is delicious that way. If you want it slightly thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup.
- Drain meatballs on paper towels; transfer to a serving dish. Top with sauce and parsley. Serve over rice or egg noodles (I used egg noodles and loved the result!).
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from Lesli D.’s recipe posting
Made this tonight for dinner….DELICIOUS! Every recipe I’ve tried of yours so far has been a success!!! 🙂
Just found your website while looking for a meatball recipe that did not have tomato in it. As I have children with allergies I left the tomato ketchup out of the meatballs and replaced the oats and flour with 2T of ground lineseed and 1/4c almond meal. For the sauce I replaced the flour with buckwheat flour and milk with lactose free milk.
A big thank you here from NZ for a delicious dish.
Loved this recipe…although the meatballs stuck to my pan. I did use venison, so maybe it was too lean? Grease it next time?
That may help, Mandy – since venison can be quite lean.
Made this for dinner tonight and kids loved it! Just curious as to what the purpose of rolling the meatballs in flour is? Thanks for keeping up on your blog it’s the ONLY one I ever go to!
It helps the meatballs be slightly sturdier – kind of gives them a little outside crispy coating.
I only have old fashioned oats on hand, do you think those would work in place of instant? I was going to triple the batch for my freezer, these look great!
I’d blend them up a bit so the meatballs stick together better.
This was soooo good! At one point I was standing at the counter eating the leftovers cold. My daughter and husband and I were all in agreement that this needed to be made on a regular basis. My daughter is 2.5 and I too had to limit the number of meatballs! And super easy to make. I made with ground beef and served over egg noodles.
I just made your sauce, it was delicious! I did have to make some tweaks since I didn’t have some things on hand, I used Basil instead of Thyme ( I thought there were some in the pantry but no luck. I also used heavy whipping cream instead of milk since thats all I had as well! It turned out amazing! I will have to try your original recipe as well!
Thank you for sharing!
These were so good! Husband kept saying how delicious they were and I agree!
Wow this looks wonderful! I bet the cream sauce would be good with a pinch of cayenne pepper, a dash of worcestershire sauce, and a little sour cream too.
Thx Mel!! Will do ;). Always appreciate your opinion and recipies!
Leigh Anne – I don’t think this sauce would freeze very well (I can see it turning kind of grainy upon reheating based on the milk). You are right, the meatballs will freeze fine but I’d wait and make the sauce until you take it to your friend.
Made this for my family tonite and all loved it!! Yummy! Made a double batch to take some to a new momma down the road. Any thoughts on freezing? I know the meatballs would be fine, but what about the sauce? Freeze with the meatballs or separate? Or wld it just better to wait and make the sauce when I take the meal? She doesn’t want me to bring it for a week or so cuz she has mom staying right now 🙂
Discovered your recipes a few months ago and have loved every one so far, including this one. Thanks!
Thanks for this recipe. It was delicious!
Wow, I just came accross your blog while looking for a taco recipe and I’ve been browsing it the last hour or so and have already shared it with a friend! 🙂
All your recipes look delicious and I love the fact that you try to make everything from scratch and seem to be very healthy – I really hope to try some of your recipes very soon!
This looks great. I can’t wait to try it. Could someone tell me how big I should make the meatballs?
Cathy – I make my meatballs about 1-2 inches in diameter.
We just tried this for dinner last night and everyone licked their plates clean (some of us multiple times) Thank you for this recipe. We will definitely be making it again and again.
Jessica, if it were me, I’d sub 1 tablespoon dried parsley for the 1/4 cup fresh and then 1 teaspoon dried for the 2 tablespoons fresh called for in the sauce.
Just wondering if you’d ever be reduced to substituting dried parsely for the fresh. And if so, do you know the conversions from the one fourth cup in the meatballs and the 2 T in the sauce? Thanks so much!
Hahaha!! It was Sunday and we were having leftovers for dinner (after we went trick or treating), so I thought a nice lunch was in order. 🙂
Made this for a quick lunch today and it was good. Served it over mashed potatoes…a real comfort food. Thanks!
Tannis – glad you liked this one! Your lunches definitely sound better than my peanut butter and jelly!
This sounds delicious–I’m giving it a try. Also, I normally would never call you out on a typo–but this one was too funny and I thought some people might get worried that you are feeding not only kids, but “husbands” (plural) as well:)
kristen – I can’t believe no one has ever pointed that out to me before! It gave me a good laugh…and the typo has been corrected. Trust me, one husband is plenty for this girl!
My husbands birthday was yesterday and he loves swedish meatballs. I usually buy the pre-packaged stuff to make them. I came across this recipe and thought it sounds kinda similar but better. LOVED it! Huge hit with my family…I also made your cheddar bisquits to go with. Will definitely be saving this one. Thanks Mel for sharing!
Dawn – great birthday meal! I’m so glad that these meatballs proved to be better than the prepackaged ones you’ve used. Thanks for letting me know!
Hi Mirien – I love this recipe, too, so I’m glad your family loved it as well! I bet it would be delish over mashed potatoes.
Thanks for the recipe–my family loved it! I served it over mashed potatoes and I made double the sauce so there would be plenty of gravy. It smelled so good while baking!
Anonymous – I would substitute 1/2 cup saltine crackers crushed for the oats – they will probably absorb a little more moisture than the oats. Let me know if you try it that way!
This looks like a great recipe! Thanks for posting! 🙂
This looks like such a warm and comforting meal! >>Meatballs are also great with a handful of grated parmesan cheese tossed into the meat mixture before baking.
My family would love this one! Yum!
Jaesi – I’m glad you tried and liked the chicken and wild rice soup. It is a pleaser, that is for sure. Thanks for letting me know!
Hi! I just wanted to drop in and let you know that I love your blog! Thanks for the great recipes!
That looks delicious.
One word: YUMMMY!! I’ve lived in Sweden, I’ve had Swedish meatballs with white sauce and this recipe was just as good as those! Thanks for another awesome dinner idea!!
We were just at IKEA last weekend and picked up some meatballs and cream sauce – but now I want these instead!
I have never commented before, but love all of your delicious recipes.>My three boys loved this meatball one, no left overs they ate it all up.>Thank you so much for keeping up such a great blog, it really helps me get out of my recipe boredum.
Yum-E! This sounds good and hearty! Great for a fall feast!
love meatballs…>and>RAVES over your creamy chicken and wild rice soup! >It was soooo delicious. I feel like a bowl right now and its 730 am!
i’ve never had (or thought to have) meatballs in anything other than a tomato sauce. silly me. this would be wonderful–certainly worth eating your peas for! 🙂
Jschmalle – wow, thanks for letting me know you liked this and for your nice comment. I’m glad your family thinks it is a keeper!>>Melissa – don’t worry about not commenting. I lurk around blogs all over the place, too! I’ve never had the meatballs at IKEA but have heard they are great…hope these meet up to the standard!
Evelyn – now that is the utmost compliment…thank you! I’ll have to tell my friend who gave me the recipe about your rave review. Thanks for checking and letting me know!
heddomarie – wow, your comment was so nice! Thanks for letting me know you liked these meatballs. I make them a lot for my family and they are definitely a favorite for us, too!
I made it last night and my family and I say “It’s a keeper!” Thanks for all the wonderful recipes and cooking tips!
OH yum..this is a nice change from red sauce!!
Andy and Jessica – thanks for your comment! My boys eat this one up like crazy, too. I appreciate you letting me know you like the blog – it makes it worth it!
I made these last night and oh my goodness.. they are BETTER than IKEA. This is probably my new favorite dish. I have been craving it ever since. Thanks for posting it!
Krista – I’m glad you liked this! Thanks for commenting and letting me know – and I’m glad Kai liked it, too! 🙂
Hi I’ve never left a comment but I steal recipies all the time. This looks like tonights menu. My kids love the meatballs at IKEA and this seems a little like that. I’m sure it will be fab. Keep up the good work.
This dish is so delicious! I made it for my family tonight and they loved it, even my 11 month old! I loved it with a thicker sauce (just added a little cornstarch to thicken it up). And I used the tube noodles and it was wonderful!
This looks fantastic. I can’t wait to give it a try!
I just discovered your blog and love it. My son can’t have oats. What and how much would I substitute for the quick oats in this recipe?