Swedish meatballs, called köttbullar in Sweden, are a delicious, meaty treat. With only 290 calories, the Smart Ones Pasta with Swedish Meatballs promises a diet-friendly version of this traditional Swedish dish (if you want to be nitpicky, this dish would probably be called köttbullar med gräddsås, or meatballs with cream sauce). This is also a Weight Watchers product, and it’s valued at 8 SmartPoints. That means that yes, this is a fairly lean dish.
But how does it taste? We grabbed our forks and dove in so we could report back with our findings.
The sauce is not what we were expecting at all. While the package calls it a “savory, creamy sauce,” we found it to have a bit of sweetness to it. It’s just a sort of undercurrent, and the “savory, creamy” description still stands, but it’s still sweeter than we would have expected. It has a very subtle, almost-cinnamon taste to it.
The meatballs taste quite good. They’re juicy with a lean feel to them, even though they’re made of pork instead of beef. In fact, the pork blends quite well with the sauce’s sweet undertones. The meat is ground a bit thinner than a traditional beef meatball as well, so the leanness might be a texture trick. Unfortunately, the consistency is a bit rubbery, which can be kind of a turnoff. Our dish had only four meatballs in it too, so if you’re looking for a meat-heavy dish, you won’t find it here.
The majority of this dish, of course, is the pasta. It’s a crinkled ribbon pasta, not quite crinkly enough to qualify as a mafalda or spiraly enough to qualify as a spiral. It’s also thinner than we expected. We do think this meal could be slightly improved with a thicker noodle or a more crinkly one — or both. But this is a pretty minor complaint; it’s certainly no dealbreaker.
While the calorie count is appealing, we do have to point out the sodium level, which is 740 mg. While this isn’t enormous compared to some other frozen meals we’ve tried, it’s also pretty high compared to a lot of non-frozen foods out there. Be careful to watch your sodium levels if you plan on making frozen food a regular habit.
You don’t have to speak Swedish to enjoy Smart Ones’ Pasta with Swedish Meatballs. It’s as creamy and savory as the box proclaims, with a bonus bit of sweetness to it. While more meatballs would have been welcome, what’s in this dish should kill a köttbullar craving.
If you want to learn more about the nutrition or ingredients in this frozen pasta dish, check out our package scans below.
