Main Dishes · 60 minutes

Pannbiff with Caramelized Onions (Swedish meatball burgers)

Name: Pannbiff with Caramelized Onions (Swedish meatball burgers)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 5-6 servings
Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef; 1 pound ground pork; 1 small yellow onion, diced; 1/3 cup breadcrumbs (or 2 slices of bread, toasted and crushed); 3 tablespoons water; 3 tablespoons milk; 2 teaspoons salt; 1 egg; 1/4 cup crushed ice; 5-7 tbsp butter (for sautéing onions, browning patties and the mashed potatoes); Black pepper, to taste; 3 yellow onions, sliced; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 2/3 cups beef broth; 1 tablespoon soy sauce, optional; 4 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced; About 1/2 cup of milk, to taste; Salt and pepper, to taste

By Frida Sofia60 min totalServes 5-6 servings

PrintInstagram Pin It

↓ Jump to Recipe

Pannbiff was dinner in my house growing up, and it still a dinner I absolutely love. It’s basically a smashed Swedish meatball served with creamy mashed potatoes, everything you want on a cold night. These days I make more of an adult version, with a big pan of sweet caramelized onions cooked down in broth and poured over the top. A dinner that definitely will make your house smell amazing. I’ve made this more times than I can count, and it’s about time I wrote it down.

Why You'll Love This

•Kid friendly
•Comfort food
•Freezer friendly, you can easily freeze these patties

Ingredients

Ground Beef and Ground Pork

This is what the original recipe calls for and it was makes these patties flavorful and juicy. You can swap for all beef but just know you’ll get a different flavor profile.

Crushed Ice

Sounds strange but I like to add this as ice keeps the patties tender. As the patties cook, the ice melts slowly and turns into steam and moisture that gets worked into the meat, which helps keep it from drying out or turning dense, especially with leaner ground beef. It’s a classic trick in Swedish meatball and pannbiff recipes for that reason.

Yellow onions

Do double duty here, sautéed and folded into the meat for flavor, then sliced and caramelized low and slow for the gravy.

Beef broth

The broth turns the onions into a gravy instead of just caramelized onions, let it reduce until it coats the onions and clings to the potatoes. You can also use beef bouillon instead of broth here, just dissolve it in the same amount of water and use that in place of the broth.

Storage and Freezing

Leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to 4 days. Store the patties and onion gravy together in an airtight container so the burgers stay moist, then reheat on the stove or in the microwave until warmed through.
The patties freeze great, cooked or raw. Lay them flat on a baking sheet to freeze individually, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before cooking or reheating.