IKEA Swedish Meatballs

More comfort food on the horizon - meatballs. And they are Ikea meatballs, which is everyone's favorite. IKEA is another company that is giving out their "best kept secret" recipe in the midst of the pandemic similar to the Doubletree Signature Cookie Recipe. Aren't we lucky? Here's what IKEA had to say about releasing their recipe: "We know that some people might be missing our meatballs, which is why we've released an at-home alternative which, using easily accessible ingredients, will help those looking for some inspiration in the kitchen. Staying at home can be hard, but we want to help make everyone's lives that little bit easier and more enjoyable. Bon appétit or, smaklig måltid, as we say in Sweden!"

I whipped up a batch on Sunday when Lauren came over for her weekly jog at Alki beach with Bruce and we all approved the recipe. I've only been to IKEA once since there was no IKEA in Idaho where we lived for seventeen years. During a visit to Seattle in 2012, we went shopping there with Lauren and that's when I had their meatballs that you can read about here.

In true IKEA fashion, they also released their flat pack inspired instructions for the meatballs.

When you go to IKEA and order their meatballs, they serve them with mashed potatoes and their lingonberry sauce as you can see from the photo I took of my meal of 2012.

What about the lingonberry sauce, you ask? They haven’t revealed that recipe but you can make cranberry sauce to go along with them, if you want which would be similar to their delicious jam. We actually served ours with noodles instead of mashed potatoes which is equally compatible with the meatballs in my opinion and the recipe makes ample sauce to drizzle generously over whichever accompaniment you choose. Smaklig måltid!

Makes about 50 meatballs or serves 4

1 pound (500 grams) ground beef

1/2 pound (250 grams) ground pork

1 onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed or minced

1/2 cup (100 grams) bread crumbs

1 egg

5 Tbsp. of whole milk

generous amounts of salt and pepper

Cream Sauce

dash of olive oil

3 Tbsp. (40 grams) butter

3 Tbsp. (40 grams) plain flour

2/3 cup (150 ml) vegetable stock

2/3 cup (150 ml) beef stock

2/3 cup (150 ml) thick double cream or heavy whipping cream

2 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1. Combine ground beef and ground pork in a bowl and break it up with your fingers to get rid of lumps (or I used a wooden spoon to evenly combine meats)

2. Add chopped onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg and mix together.

3. Add milk and season with salt and pepper.

4. Roll mixture into small meatballs. Place on a clean plate, cover and refrigerate for two hours.

5. Heat oil in a trying pan on medium heat. Add meatballs and brown on all sides.

6. Heat oven to 350 degree F. Add browned meatballs to an ovenproof dish, cover and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Make cream sauce:

1. Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in a pan.

2. Whisk in 3 Tbsp. flour and stir for two minutes.

3. Add 2/3 cup of vegetable stock and 2/3 cup beef stock, stirring continuously.

4. Add 2/3 cup of heavy cream, 2 tsp. of soy sauce and 1 tsp Dijon mustard.

5. Simmer until sauce thickens.

6. Drizzle over meatballs and enjoy.

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