Then you need to make proper Swedish meatballs. IKEA's stuff doesn't compare.
this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2025
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Do you have an authentic recipe? It's always hard on the web to find out which "true 100% reals straight from grandma" recipes are the right ones.
Niklas Ekstedt's recipe is authentic, Swedish, and tasty AF. If you can't find venison, beef will do.
EDIT: I imagine this is one of those things where there are 1,000's of different "proper" recipes. I shared this one as the guy who wrote it is Swedish, so I thought there must be some authenticity there, and I've made it, so can testify that it's good. Not saying it's the best or the most authentic, so slightly confused by the commenters saying it's somehow wrong?
I've never done mine with juniper berries though. I think you can skip that.
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They havenβt been as nice since they took the horse out.
They got the vegan option too. If you don't want to think about the poor horse that gave his life for you, go eat vegan stuff. Often times vegan options are just a bridge. There are other ways to eating healthy nutritious foods.
The vegan alternative tastes terrible.
And the meatballs are a blend of beef and pork in most countries. In Muslim places it's beef with chicken, in Sweden you sometimes get moose variants for special occasions.
Horse is not typically used for meatballs since the meat is too lean, you need fat as a binding agent and to prevent it from drying out.
The horse joke was a reference to the massive recall a decade ago, when they found horse meat in their balls and sausages.
Also, as a non vegan, I find the veg balls to be as good as their meat Β―β \β _β (β γβ )β _β /β Β― As long as one doesn't expect it to taste anything like meat..
I disagree - I thought the vegan ones were fine! Cheapest meal out I'd had in a long time. They also had a lots of beds in their restaurant, so I could relax and let my food go down on-site.
The nearest IKEA to me is about ~~5,000~~ 2500 miles away. This picture makes me feel all of them.
Edit: I failed to search the actual mileage between my home and the nearest IKEA before posting.
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So good! But I always think they might have just a little bit of horse in them. π
Super Meatballs! 07
I need to make a trek to the giant blue box. Lingonberry Master Race!
Don't @ me cranberry peasants.
Me too. Quick story time. It was the day before COVID lockdown. My now wife and I had just moved in together the day before and were at IKEA buying furniture for our new apartment. Being at IKEA, knowing the new fridge and freezer at home were empty, and having poor impulse control, I threw three bags of frozen meetballs with sauce and fixings into the cart near checkout.
The following day lockdown was announced with all restaurants to be closed, and stores to enforce limited occupancy with lines down the block waiting to get in. We feasted the first two weeks.
It was all I could do not to buy a couple bags of the meatballs and gravy at the checkout. Something about the flavor, don't know what it is but I was stuffed after 16 meatballs and STILL wanted to eat more.
Twice now on my ikea trips the restaurant has been so jampacked that I could not fit even if I shot myself in there with a cannon. βοΈ΅β
It was pretty packed today - went there around lunchtime, but the line moved fairly quickly and we were at the checkout in maybe 15-20 mins. There are some premade items already on plates right at the start of the line and I'd imagine if you just wanted one or two of those you could skip past the people in front of you waiting to be served meatballs or whatnot and checkout faster.
Find yourself a minimalistic-yet-sturdy bench from some nearby display space and use it as a battering ram to force your way to the food.
EDIT: Apparently they sell bags of frozen official meatballs that you can do yourself:
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/meat-25217/
EDIT2: Apparently despite the fact that they deliver the furniture, they won't deliver the frozen meatballs. You have to go to the store for them. I guess just make one large trip.
The meatballs were actually located right before the main checkouts. 2 lb bags of regular or chicken for $15 each. Very tempting but I had already gone last month, bought items frivolously, and did the same thing again today. By the time I got to the end I knew I had to just shut it down, pay and get out of there. Got 3x chocolate bars for $5 though. Couldn't help it.
They probably deliver many orders on one trip and it would require a truck with a refrigerated box to be up to food safety standards.
Their vegetarian hot dogs are worth a try. I only got one because it was cheaper than a standard hot dog, but was surprised how much I loved the taste.
Next time I go I promised myself I would try some of the plant meatballs instead.
The plant balls are amazing. Can't say how they compare as I've never had the meat ones, but they're tasty and savoury and delicious.
They are fucking ugly though which makes the first bite difficult. Good after that.
Their veggie dogs (not meat like, just veggies) were surprisingly good! I assumed the regular hot dog would be similarly good but it was hands down the worst hot dog I have had in my life.
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Ohh it's been long time i went there and had their meatball. I just went there to buy their currypuff.
I didn't see that on the menu! Which country?
Malaysia! They have local food menu like fried flat noodle and nasi lemak and curry noodle, i assume every country have local food as their special as well
I need to go back to IKEA. But I need to make my own too.
I liked them better when they still contained horse meat.
I would 100% eat those. Even more likely to if they officially advertised them as being made from horse.
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Do they have lunch there?
They do. The one near me has a whole menu that changes regularly, aside from a few permanent options. Some of the items can be very good.
It's a whole cafeteria setup with trays and a line with workers dishing out different things. Then you pay at the end of the line.
IKEA breakfasts slap.
Didn't know they had breakfast!