Ikea Swedish Meatballs Recipe
on Oct 01, 2019, Updated May 18, 2025
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Is there anyone who hasn’t made a beeline for the meatballs after a hike around Ikea? Why not skip the tiring shopping trip and try this tasty 30-minute homemade copycat Ikea Swedish meatballs recipe instead?
What would you say if I told you I have a recipe for Ikea Swedish meatballs that are better than the ones from Ikea?
Why you’ll love them
- You can make them in just 30 minutes. So they make a perfect crowd pleasing and comforting midweek meal.
- You know exactly what’s going into them. No unidentifiable filler or preservative. I’m not suggesting that’s what’s in Ikea’s meatballs, but you know… homemade has to be better!
- The combination of beef and pork mince, the spoonfuls of allspice and the dill give them a complexity of flavour that you’ll love.
- There are secret ingredients in the gravy that send it from good to amazing.
- Speaking of the sauce, follow this recipe and you’ll get a generous amount. Better a bit too much than not enough. No gravy stingy-ness here!
How to make these Ikea Swedish meatballs
The hardest part of this Ikea Swedish meatballs recipe is shaping the meatballs. And the word ‘hardest’ is relative i.e. not very hard at all.
All you do to make them is:
Step 1: Throw all the meatball ingredients together in a bowl and mix well.
Step 2: Shape into meatballs the size of a walnut.
Step 3: Pan fry until cooked through, then remove from the pan and keep warm in the oven.
Step 4: Make the sauce in the same pan.
How to make the gravy
Of course, the magic of this recipe lies mostly in the gravy!
There are just 6 ingredients in it:
- Flour. All purpose is fine.
- Good quality beef broth.
- Lingonberry or cranberry sauce.
- Cream. For the creamiest, I like to use heavy or thickened cream, but another type of cream will work too.
- Mustard (I like Dijon)
- Worcestershire sauce. This makes all the difference, adding delicious umami flavor.
All you do is melt a little butter in the pan, stir in the flour, then gradually add the beef broth, stirring all the time. Let it bubble for a minute or two until thickened, then stir in the rest of the sauce ingredients.
So easy!
Helen’s Top Tips
- Why not cook just half of the meatball mixture and freeze the rest for another time? I often do this! If you do this, remember to halve the amount of sauce!
- If you decide to cook all of the meatballs though, you’ll probably have to fry them in two batches. Just pop the first batch in the oven to keep warm while you cook the second.
- If you can’t find lingonberry sauce/jam, redcurrant or cranberry sauce/jam are good substitutes.
- To make the gravy super smooth (not essential but nice), you can pulse your sauce in a mini blender before pouring it back into the pan and adding the meatballs to it.
How to serve them
- I like to serve Ikea style Swedish meatballs in the Winter with a big scoop of mashed cauliflower and potatoes or simpler truffle mashed potatoes.
- We also need veggies, of course. Add peas, quick sautéed frozen green beans, pan-roasted frozen broccoli, sautéed frozen spinach, or pan-roasted butternut squash.
- They’re also great served over your favourite pasta. Or with some simple oven roasted potatoes such as these classy cubed potatoes.
- Alternatively, serve them with fresh bread such as this easy homemade focaccia bread and a simple salad such as this Greek lettuce salad. This makes the meal a bit lighter so you can serve it any time of year.
- If you have an air fryer, go with air fryer garlic bread.
- At Ikea of course they are always served with a spoonful of red berry sauce (lingonberry sauce) on the side. Either pick a jar up from the Ikea food shop next time you go flat pack furniture shopping, or use cranberry sauce instead.
Can you freeze them?
Yes! You can freeze them uncooked by freezing them first on baking trays then transferring to big freezer bags. When you want to eat them just defrost and cook as you normally would. Make the sauce fresh.
You can even cook them from frozen if you like. Just add a few extra minutes to the cooking time.
Alternatively, sometimes I just freeze the meatball mixture in a container. I defrost the mixture and shape them into meatballs on the day I want to cook them.
I don’t recommend freezing the cooked meatballs in the sauce as the cream tends to separate when defrosting.
More 30-minute meals
- Creamy lemon chicken orzo soup
- Easy baked gnocchi with sausage, peppers and tomatoes
- Eggplant with ground beef and pasta (an easier take on moussaka!)
- The simplest stovetop chicken and rice or one pan marry me chicken pasta
- Creamy Tuscan salmon (so tasty!)
Love meatballs? Try these air fryer Greek chicken meatballs or this one pan Greek burgers and potatoes as well!
Ikea Swedish Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 10.5 ounces beef mince
- 7 ounces pork mince
- breadcrumbs, 2 slices white bread with crusts cut off, processed into crumbs
- 1 small onion, grated
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 handful fresh mixed parsley and dill, plus a little extra for garnish
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 egg
For the sauce
- 2 1/2 cups beef broth, (stock) good quality
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons lingonberry or cranberry sauce
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, optional
- a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, optional
- 4 tablespoons cream
To serve
- lingonberry or cranberry sauce
- mashed potatoes or nice crusty bread and fresh salad leaves
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients for the meatballs together well with your hands in a large bowl.10.5 ounces beef mince, 7 ounces pork mince, breadcrumbs, 1 small onion, 1 teaspoon allspice, 1 handful fresh mixed parsley and dill, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1 egg
- With wet hands, shape into walnut-sized meatballs, then put onto a baking tray or plate.
- Switch on the oven at about 100C/210F. Then heat up a tablespoon or so of oil in a big skillet/frying pan and pan-fry the meatballs for about ten minutes, turning regularly, until golden brown and cooked through (you may have to do this in two batches – see note below). Then transfer the meatballs into a dish and pop in the oven to keep hot.
- To make the sauce, add a tablespoon of butter to the oil left in the pan you cooked the meatballs in. Then add the flour to the pan and stir into the oil/butter, then gradually add the beef broth, stirring all the time. Let it bubble for a minute or two until thickened (*see note below).4 tablespoons flour, 2 1/2 cups beef broth
- Stir in the berry sauce and mustard and Worcestershire sauce (if using), then take off the heat and stir in the cream. Add the meatballs back into the pan and jiggle around in the sauce until well coated.2 tablespoons lingonberry or cranberry sauce, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, 4 tablespoons cream
- Serve the meatballs and sauce over mashed potatoes or with crusty bread and salad. Garnish with herbs and serve a bit of lingonberry/cranberry sauce on the side.lingonberry or cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes or nice crusty bread and fresh salad leaves
I have never tried Ikea’s meatballs, but I’ve heard from many people how great they are…but I totally believe yours would be 100x better, Helen! These look delicious, and I love how easy they are to make!
What a compliment … thank you! 🙂
I agree with you – certain store meatballs may be good but yours rock my boat big time.
Thank you, Bintu!
I think this beauty of a dish has to be a Spring meal too because I’m not waiting 6 months to try this. Those photos took my breath away. I love Swedish meatballs!
Ooh, don’t tell me! I’ve been listening to Aussie radio and am very jealous of your just-beginning spring. And it’s such a lovely spring you have, too! Really happy you like this dish though, and thank you so much for the compliment on the photos!
This is such a crowd pleasing meal! We love Swedish meatballs and I have no doubt that yours are MUCh better than the stores! 😀
Thank you, Lorraine! Crowd pleaser, or couple-pleaser (we ate the whole lot all to ourselves!) 🙂
Devant de telles photos, je ne peux que saliver ! Elles ont l’air délicieuses !
Merci beaucoup, Lou! Tu dois les gouter un jour! 🙂
Swedish meatballs are my favorite type of meatball, and believe it or not I have NEVER had them from Ikea. Don’t ask me why, something about the thought of them just doesn’t appeal to me. I mean, they specialize in furniture, not food. One day I will have to try them, and I will probably eat my words. LOL. Until then, I will stick to trying out your version of Swedish meatballs because they look FABULOUS! Pinned! Cheers to a beautiful day!
Glad you like the look of these, Cheyanne! To be honest, the Ikea meatballs are tasty, but quite greasy too. These seem a lot lighter, although the cream makes them taste really rich and luxurious. 🙂
Haha, the only way I can get my husband to go to Ikea with me is with the promise of meatballs. I am not sure what I am going to do to get him there now he doesn’t eat meat.
Ooh nooo! Can you make him a veggie version? 😉
Oh dear Helen, these look amazing and I love love going to “that” furniture store all the time hehe! My husband’s friend loves getting these there so I will sending this recipe his way! Thanks girl 🙂
Hi Ami! Oh, that would be wonderful if you gave the recipe to your meatball-loving friend! 🙂
Helen – your meatballs are way way better looking than a “certain Swedish furniture store”s are! I love the parsley in them! Your photos are simply stunning!
Thank you so much for the lovely compliments, Shashi! (blush blush!)
These certainly look better than those from that furniture store!
Thank you, Chrissy! Glad you think so! 🙂
I think your meatballs look a lot better than the ones at the “Swedish Furniture Store” 🙂 ! Love the sauce! I use dill in a lot of recipes! Pinning!
Thanks, Mira! The dill isn’t traditionally Swedish, but I love it and think it goes really well in the meatballs 🙂
You’re calling to my Swedish side, Helen! ‘That Swedish furniture store’ does have some great meatballs – but I think homemade is always better. Your meatballs look and sound fantastic – thumbs up on the pork and beef combo! And that sauce – totally drooling!
Thank you, Kathleen! Really happy to have appealed to your Swedish side with these! 🙂
Being a swede living in Sweden I have to say that I have never heard of a meatball recipe with dill. Allspice is almost always only used in meatballs for christmas. But I will give your recipe a go – you never know 🙂
Well, I would love to hear your feedback then, Patricia, if you do give these a go! I added the dill because I got used to eating it when I lived in Greece and love the flavour. The allspice because it gives a bit of ‘oomph’ to the flavour of the meat. Guess it was a bit cheeky to call these ‘Swedish’ meatballs really, but at least the sauces are authentic! 😉
If you can believe it, I’ve never actually tried the Swedish meatballs from THAT furniture store. I’m usually too preoccupied with eating a cinnamon bun and an ice cream cone. However, I definitely want to try your meatball recipe because they look and sound amazing!
Mmm … well I’ve never tried the cinnamon buns and ice creams from there! Must give those a try! Glad you like the sound of the meatball recipe, Amanda. Do give them a try!
Well firstly, these look so much better than ‘that store’, even though I haven’t tried theirs and your sauce sounds mouth watering, love the sweetness.
Thank you, Janette! The allspice and cranberry sauce really does give these a ‘just enough’ hint of sweetness. Hope you try them some time!
The lighting in your photos is just perfect…and the meatballs look perfect, too! I would love to eat this whole skillet, Helen, especially since it’s dinner time here. They look amazing, and I can’t wait to try them!
Thanks so much for the compliments, Marcie! Mr. Scrummy and I actually did eat this whole skillet. What piggies we are!
Elles ont l’air succulents comme celles qui fait ma mère. J’en suis sûre que les tiennes sont meilleures que chez I..A !
Merci beaucoup, Eva! Je suis sur qu’elles sont pas meilleures que celles de ta mere! 😉
Hi Helen, my husband is a big fan of sauce on things, will pin this for when it’s gets a bit cooler. Sounds delicious! I have not had the ahem……furniture store ones but I know by looking at your they are much better. Take care!
Thank you, Cheri! Really happy you like the sound of these enough to want to give them a try. But yes, wait until the weather cools down … definitely a bit of a winter recipe!
I’ve never tried Swedish meatballs! They sound so delicious – definitely will have to give your recipe a go! Love the idea of serving them with mash and cranberry sauce. Perfect autumn/winter comfort food! 😀
Thank you, Jess! You really must try these. And then have one of your wonderful cupcakes for dessert! 😉
I think that your Swedish meatballs kick butt on ‘that furniture store’s’ version. These look totally mouthwatering!!
Thank you so much! I must admit this recipe is a keeper!