These IKEA-style vegan Swedish meatballs are both nutritious and delicious, slathered in a creamy mustard sauce. Serve with oven chips or rice.
Those clever people at my favourite Swedish flat-packed furniture chain are so good at knowing just what you will fancy after a few stressful hours measuring up wardrobes and working out how much you can actually fit in (or balance on) your car.
Last year they got huge kudos for launching vegan meatballs onto their menu, and jolly nice they are too.
Since first trying them I’ve been trying to make my own at home, and this chickpea-based version is definitely my favourite: moist, packed with vegetables and slathered in a mustardy sauce. Perfect served with some oven chips or rice.
Choclette says
I don’t envy you the Ikea flat packs, but I am eyeing up your ‘meatballs’. I made some tofu ones a very long time ago and they were so much faff I swore I’d never do it again. But you’re inspiring me to give them anther go. Great idea to freeze a batch too.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh excited about these! Great recipe Kate. Shared 🙂
[email protected]howtocookgoodfood says
I do love a vegan meatball and I am doing a cookery demo featuring vegan alternatives to meatballs so I shall defintely talk about these ones Kate!
Garbancitoblog says
Oh my god i have to try this!
Charlie @ The Kitchen Shed says
Wow! These look so impressive. I shall have to try these. Have never made a successful meat free burger or meatballs before.
Anca says
They look delicious. I like the “meatballs” from that furniture chain too, I bought frozen ones from them, but I would love to make them at home too.
thevegspace says
Thanks Anca – yes they are really good, almost makes all the queuing and general stress of shopping for furniture worthwhile!!
Seasoned Events says
I strongly believe the best meatballs comes from IKEA, period. BUT, these do look yummy – after all, how many days a week you can have meat for dinner..
vivian says
These were very good. I served them on mashed potatoes with lingonberry sauce and green beans on the side and the flavours were superb. I did have a few issues, however, with the recipe First, it took much longer for the prep than indicated, and I am a pretty fast and experienced cook. Second, a whole can of chickpeas barely fit into my mini chopper, and certainly didn’t become a puree. I had to scoop them out and process them in batches. Perhaps because they weren’t pureed as much as they should have been, the balls were very fragile and some fell apart when cooking. Nevertheless, they tasted so good that I would definitely try them again and make a big batch with the big food processor and freeze them.
thevegspace says
Many thanks for the feedback Vivian, that’s really useful to know. My mini-chopper is probably not that ‘mini’ after all, so I’ll have a look at re-wording the instructions – as you say, a food processor would make everything much quicker. Glad you liked the recipe though! Kate
Rebecca says
Does dairy free cream mean sour cream?
thevegspace says
Hi Rebecca, no sour cream isn’t vegan – I use either soya cream or oat cream, both widely available in supermarkets. Enjoy! Kate x
tammy says
Made this for dinner tonight and was a hit with everyone. will defiantly make again x
thevegspace says
Fantastic! Great to hear x
Jill says
Hi! These look great and thankyou so much for the recipe. I would call these vegetable balls though, as vegan meatballs should have some meat substitute in them, like mince or sausage. Infact, the translation of grönsaksbullar is veggie balls in this case.
Chef Dejour says
Allspice, Caraway seeds and Nutmeg are the three spices in classic Swedish Meatballs. This “Vegan Ball” recipe may be from Sweden, but its flavor is NOTHING like traditional Swedish Meatballs and is in no way a vegan variation of the classic Swedish Meatball recipe. Naming this recipe something like, “My Grandmother’s Balls” would better describe the recipe OR add those spices and a coagulant, such as; ground Chia Seeds, to keep the balls from falling apart. Chopping ingredients smaller will also help.
That said, nice photo, nice flavor, had better Vegan Balls.
Dace says
The gram flour works wonders for this recipe. Well done. The mix did not firm up as well as I would have preferred, so I may add a replacer next time. Otherwise, the flavor was wonderful. And result so colorful and beautiful! No sauce was necessary since the veggie balls were delicious on their own. I may also try baking them next time to reduce the oil content and time at the stove. Thanks for this recipe!
DAK says
You did it! You got it right with the gram (garbanzo bean) flour!! Most all the other recipes for veggie burger and veggie balls muddle/diminish the veggie flavors with the binders they choose (bread, or oats, or oat flour, or rice, or rice flour, etc). But the gram/garbanzo flour as the binder sustains the veggie flavor.
I was lazy with some of the steps but the balls turned out beautifully. I skipped the sauce since they were delicious on their own. The extras kept well in the fridge. We could add them to our lunches during the week. I will try freezing some on the next round I make.
Thanks again. Well done!
Mimi says
Hello,
I just wanted to comment and say that this sauce is great. I bought some pre-made veggie balls and needed a good substantial veggie sauce to go with them, and your recipe was easy, fast and cupbord-friendly! Thank you.
Aby says
Hi, planning on making these tonight but can I ask at which stage should I freeze? Before or after frying?
Thanks so much , love your recipes!
Danielle Wolter says
These sound just incredible! I’m not vegan, but trying to start eating more meat free dishes and this is just perfect. Ultra comforting!
Jovita says
I made these meatballs yesterday and they were a total hit in my family. Everybody loved them. Thank you for such a great recipe!
Angela says
YUM! What an incredible recipe! So much flavor, you don’t even miss the meat. And this saves me a trip to Ikea!!
Mirlene says
My family cannot get enough of these meatballs. They come out the same way each time.
Beth says
These look so delicious and tasty! My husband is going to love this recipe! So excited to give these a try! Yummy!
Matilda Lewis says
Hi, could I make this sauce without the dairy free cream or would it not work?? I only have oat milk, thanks 🙂
Kate Ford says
Yes absolutely – oat milk is fine, it may not be quite as thick so perhaps add a little less, but it will still be delicious.