Swedish egg gravy is the impeccable counterpart to Swedish rye bread, a marriage that begets the perfect simple breakfast.
Because of the simplicity of the ingredients in Swedish egg gravy, I encourage you to use the best quality ingredients you can. If you’re the sort of person (like I am) who saves leftover bacon grease, you can use that instead of cooking the bacon fresh. BUT! I’ve made it both ways and can confirm that it is more delicious when made with bacon. I also encourage you to use whole milk (preferrably grass-fed!) although 2% will do in a pinch.
At least in my family, over the years the sole purpose of this gravy has been to be served over Swedish Rye Bread for breakfast. I like mine with bacon and an egg on top, but my mom prefers hers with just the gravy and bread. When I asked her what else she at it with, the answer was: nothing. I found this idea humorous but I did realize at that moment that indeed I had never eaten this gravy with anything else.
So I went a little rogue with it. I can confirm that this gravy is delicious with Swedish Meatballs (LINK) as a change-up from the gravy recipe provided there. It’s great on egg noodles (perhaps with those Swedish meatballs!) as well. It’s also delicious on many kinds of potatoes – it’s just mediocre on Russet potatoes; there’s not enough flavor. But I do recommend it with well-spiced sweet potatoes, purple potatoes or Yukon golds.
The origins of this recipe are a little murky, and I’m hoping that some day somebody will stumble on this blog and be able to shed a little light on the topic. It definitely came from my mom’s family, and thus probably the Småland province in the south. However, we asked a Swedish friend from Hallands Län on the west coast, and he said he was unfamiliar with the tradition of rye bread and egg gravy. There are a few results around the internet related to Swedish egg gravy – the translation appears to be “aggamat” although many of the recipes I have found are quite different. Most of those appear to be made with ground beef. I’m hoping that some day someone will be able to tell me a little more about the origin story of this recipe.
This recipe makes 5 cups of gravy, but is fairly simple to scale up or down. As a general rule of thumb, aim for about 1.5 eggs and 1.5 – 2 cups (12 – 16 fl oz) milk per person and scale from there. As written, this recipe serves 8 – 10 with 6 eggs and 5 total cups (40 fl oz) milk.
Looking for other Swedish recipes? Check out my Swedish corn pudding, Swedish pancakes and Ostkaka (LINK) recipes!
Swedish Egg Gravy
Ingredients
- 5 cups whole milk, divided (1 cup + 2 cups + 2 cups) (245 g + 490 g + 490 g)
- 1/2 cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
- 6 eggs
- 3 tbsp (40 g) bacon grease (from about 4 slices)
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Mix 1 cup milk and all-purpose flour in a small bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 cups of milk and eggs until frothy.
- Cook bacon if using, reserving the leftover grease. Otherwise, melt bacon grease in the bottom of a large pot or pan.
- Add 2 cups of milk, heating until warm and barely simmering.
- Add egg / milk mixture and heat through.
- Add flour / milk mixture and heat until thickened, whisking often to prevent lumps. Serve warm over Swedish rye bread.
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