Ah, Swedish meatballs with cream gravy. We had them for dinner at home with mashed potato and steamed cabbage. We did buy a jar of lingonberry jam to eat with the meatballs but I don’t like it that much. There are certain berry flavours I’m not so partial to, including lingonberry and raspberry. I told Jac if I needed any jammy sweetness I’d have a little strawberry or cranberry jam instead. Jac on the other hand, loves berry flavours, especially berry jams and berry sauces with meat.
She cooked the meatballs in a tray in the oven. Like frozen peas, these tasty meatballs really are one of the triumphs of frozen food products. They are always so juicy and full of flavour. I’m not being paid to sing the praises of IKEA’s frozen meatballs – I just really love them! :D
If you like Swedish meatballs with cream gravy…
You can do what we did – eat Swedish meatballs at the IKEA restaurant, shop for furniture then stop by the Swedish food market on the way out and buy frozen Swedish meatballs, cream gravy mix and a jar of lingonberry jam (and don’t forget to grab a $1 hot dog for a snack on the way out :D*). IKEA recommends one packet of meatballs to two packets of cream gravy mix.
Or you can make your own meatballs and cream gravy, like my sister Juji does – see Juji’s Swedish meatballs recipe, which was adapted from the IKEA Friends meatballs with cream sauce recipe.
I often think if I could cook like Jac or Juji, I would be unstoppable! But I shall just be content with my unstoppable appetite. :D
*Actually, Juji, Jay, Jac and I have discussed the holy grail of IKEA eating: arrive and eat breakfast (I’d want the AU$3.50 fry-up – bacon, eggs, hash brown, baked beans, sausage and tomato), shop for furniture, eat Swedish meatballs for lunch, finish shopping (pay for chosen items etc) but before leaving the store, stop at the bistro on the way out and grab a $1 hot dog for a snack on the way home. Juji and Jay tell me the $1 crumbed chicken tenders are delicious too. The trick is getting there early enough to have breakfast and then working up enough of an appetite while shopping so you can eat lunch a few hours later.
I guess this is how gluttons strategise. ;D
More Swedish meatballs!
- IKEA Perth store food information
- Boxing Day eating at IKEA (2010)
- When Juji cooked Swedish meatballs for dinner – Welcome home meatballs (2006!)
PS: Perth people may have noticed the IKEA ads in the West Australian for the $1.95 fry-up (unbelievable value, considering the usual price is already a cheap $3.50!) – according to the IKEA website this offer ends on 11 June.
I'm TFP, a food blogger from Perth, Western Australia.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Yup, if I wasn’t having breakfast at Ba Ba Black this morning (I wonder if I’ll manage to resist Ba Ba Benedict…) you’d hear from me about posting this so early. Oh wait, you have heard already… :P
It’s a good thing I don’t have a Jac or Juji equivalent at home, I’d never stop eating. I dunno how you stay so small, given said unstoppable appetite!
IKEA’s cream sauce is seriously the best thing ever! i could eat it with anything savoury (sweet might be pushing it slightly…), given the chance. :D
i’m sort of with you on the jam front. i dislike ligonberry, but i also don’t like cranberry, either. really, the only two flavours i like are strawberry and raspberry, and that’s for purely sweey things. the thought of jam and meat grosses me out a little bit, to be honest. it’s the same with apple sauce, too. i bit into an innocent chicken sandwich that my friend had made for me the other day, thinking that it was plain chicken mayonnaise, but no. it was chicken and apple sauce?! the best way i can describe it is like tasting as i’d imagine baby food to. not good. and trying to hide my disgust in a civilised and un-rude way was a bit of a challenge.
oh, damn it, i’m now craving cream sauce and chips (the meatballs i can take or leave, really). xD
oh, on a completely unrelated note (but i haven’t seen an appropriate junk food post for a while), i went to my local italian shopping centre’s food court a couple of weeks ago while waiting to catch the bus to the airport, and was very surprised to find that mcdonald’s was open at 10am. i double-checked the menu and saw they didn’t have a breakfast menu (bad move, by now i was ravenous and craving something junkie!) and craved and got a regular meal. it reminded me of you because the chips were so fresh and crunchy – not like the soggy excuses they usually serve. it sadly would never be possible in england because of the breakfast menu, and by lunch time they’ve already started cooking the chips (and then serving them up into the containers and leaving them under a heat lamp. why? okay, it might knock ten seconds off serving time, but still…!), but it was a rare treat. :)
I LOVE Ikea meatballs. Honestly. They are so well seasoned and flavourful, but the gravy and jam makes it all so much better! I HAVE to get meatballs whenever I shop at Ikea. :D
Wei-Wei
How cheap are those meals! INSANE!!!!
Love Ikea!!! I think I like the food more than all the other stuff hahaha.
Its even great they have baby food there you can buy?
Love the cream sauce and now i am craving meatballs and gravy hmmmmmmmmmm.. also I soooo wish Ikea was open on Sundays!!!
Love the blog, TFP! I am so bad about taking a second to comment, but I love IKEA food, too :) (Seems like a naughty thing for a chef to admit, but there ya go!) The IKEA here in Houston, TX frequently has coupons or specials for free meals. I am going to get a new chair for my office this weekend, and can’t wait for my (free) meatball dinner.
I LOVE IKEA MEATBALLS! (that is all)
Those meatballs do look good. I will get to Ikea, especially once we’ve moved and need to buy some furniture!
I’m thinking though that you really need to do a lot of shopping to get there for breakfast and then shop until lunchtime! I’m guessing that could turn into a very expensive day!
Just got back from Ikea and had the meatballs and chips ( YUM ! )
I also noticed that until the end of this week anything you spend in the cafe gets deducted of the bill if you buy anything non cafe related.
I just spent $40 for Janine and I at the cafe and got it back at the checkout and because we spent over $1000 on kitchen stuff we got a $100 voucher.
Oh and I dont’ work for Ikea , just very happy with them at the moment ( and very full !)
Hmmm…. $100 of meatballs at the next visit ??
Oh and congrats TFP for all your media attention at the moment ( Jac must be proud ! )
I’m in between jobs now (actually starting a new one this coming Monday) and took a much-needed month-long break. Last Friday I went for a jog at a nature trail near IKEA and managed to finish my run and get to IKEA for breakfast on time! French toast, sausage (one of those tasty hotdog frankfurters) and baked beans. YUM.
I have not heard of the crumb chicken tenders but I really must go to IKEA soon. My husband loves the meatballs and the lingonberry but only with the meatballs. Have you tried the frozen mash? Not a fan myself but the seems to think the whole package of mash, meatball and jam is great!
I’m definitely salivating a bit. ;-) No IKEA around here. :*-( Would love to try those meatballs and gravy. As for a fruity jam with that? No thanks. Cranberry (or other) with poultry … but not beef. I would love to polish off such a plate with a piece of buttered bread (or two). And NO veggies. ;-p
I love IKEA! We got six sets of shelves delivered on Mon. I’ll let you know if we’re still married when we put them together! We get the breakfast at IKEA; because, it’s good and you can’t beat the price. Last time we went, I got six hotdogs to go for three dollars. Snacks for us and of course one for little Duke(without the bun).Now I keep meatballs in the freezer and a few packets of sauce for when I want a quick, delicious meal. Also some rosti and scalloped potatoes. I sort of go crazy when I’m there! I buy cheese and cookies and chocolate and herring for my husband. that’s why we don’t go very often. Love IKEA!
When I lived closer to IKEA, my boyfriend and I would eat there all the time–just to eat, rarely to shop! I used to think it was weird that they had such a good restaurant in a furniture store, but now I realize that it’s brilliant marketing.
I love making my own Swedish meatballs and one time I actually made them with mashed potatoes and the lingonberry jam. Delish!
I’m jealous that you can get a full fry-up. Americans need to embrace the beauty that is the bacon, eggs, hash brown, baked beans, sausage and tomato meal.
The Home Cook: “Americans need to embrace the beauty that is the bacon, eggs, hash brown, baked beans, sausage and tomato meal.”
I’d love to! :-) Going to make such a breakfast soon for husband and me.
TFP, I had to come back and see that rich gravy and meatballs cascading over that gorgeous mound of mashed potatoes…aaaah…(now I’m going to attack this bag of pretzels!)
Please do a review on the crumbed chicken!
After reading your latest post,I went to Ikea yesterday and had 2 meals there!!
$1.95 breakfast,followed by meatballs and finished with a 3 pack of Diam bars :)
I was not only stuffed full but got my food bill off my shopping,life was sweet yesterday!!
Charlene,
Well, I don’t think I’m that small any more. Definitely not at my best right now. Let’s just say I have my “winter coat” on currently. :) I suppose it helps that I’m short – shortness gives the illusion of smallness.
jessi,
I like apples and I like cooked apples (apple pie, apple strudel) and raw apples in salads but mashed up apples and apple sauce – I’m with you – yuck, no thanks! Wow, fresh crispy fries are so rare at McDonald’s these days – you were lucky! I wish MacDonald’s would do what Hungry Jack’s does – serve regular menu items all day as well as breakfast items at breakfast time. I love that I can get a Whopper Meal and Onion Rings for breakfast while Jac gets a breakfast wrap with a hash brown.
Wei-Wei,
Yep. I feel like the shopping expedition has been a failure if I leave IKEA without having eaten my beloved meatballs. Well, OK maybe “failure” is a little strong – I definitely feel like I didn’t complete the mission, anyway. :P
Lisa,
Yep, I love how cheap the IKEA restaurant meals are. I remember before I ate there I was kind of skeptical – how good could the food be if the prices were so cheap? I guess it shows how much restaurant meals are marked up so people can make a living/profit.
Ranee,
I didn’t realise they have baby food too. :) Agreed – one of the reasons we don’t go to IKEA as much as I’d like is we simply don’t have time during weekdays because of work, and then we run out of time on Saturdays. It was great during the festive season when IKEA had extended opening hours including Sundays…sigh.
Thanks, brandy.
New furniture + cheap (or free) yummy food = happy shoppers!
Rebecca,
Well said!
Craig,
Yes – you would need to do a decent amount of shopping to kill enough time to work up an appetite for lunch. Well – it wouldn’t necessarily be expensive – we can spend hours and hours looking at stuff and not actually buying. :)
Thanks, minimike. Jac has been enjoying telling her mates about the interviews, but also confirming to people who saw the STM but weren’t 100% sure it was me that yep, TFP is her partner. :) What a great idea (the cafe spend deducted from the non-cafe bill). Just when I thought eating at IKEA was fantastic value, they make it even better! LOL, how many meatballs would $100 buy?
Dea,
Hope the new job goes well. Mmm, your IKEA breaky sounds yummy. As you know, I love French toast, and I love franks and beans.
Faye,
I haven’t tried the chicken myself – I’m always too keen to have my $1 hot dog and have eyes for nothing else. No, haven’t tried the frozen mash. While we don’t mind cooking short-cuts, mashed potato is one thing we tend to make from scratch. :)
Cindy,
They sell garlic bread at the IKEA restaurant too – it’s FANTASTIC mopping up the cream gravy with that garlic bread. Hahaha, I don’t need vegetables with it either but when we cook this at home Jac always tries to sneak in some kind of greens. Luckily I quite like green beans, peas and cabbage. I usually eat all the vegetables first – so that I can savour the best bits slowly and purely.
kathy,
Of course, a snack for Duke! :D Yes, we like to stock up on meatballs and gravy and other food while we’re there. Jac likes to get chocolate and a jar of creamy dill sauce (for eating with salmon etc). We’re not too bad when it comes to assembling furniture without arguing – we recently put together a large whiteboard on wheels for my study and managed to stay pretty good-tempered throughout. But you know when we argue? When we’re clothes shopping! We both get cranky and short-tempered and I sulk! :P
Megan,
I must admit I like the IKEA food more than the IKEA furniture! I’m not sure I would be so keen to go to IKEA if there was no food.
The Home Cook,
Oh yes, I remember your Swedish meatballs – they looked great. Yes – I agree, Americans should! :P
Cindy,
Excellent, you must tell me how your fry-up turned out!
Heheheh I love pretzels too. Plain salted are my favourite, no need for other flavours.
matt,
We have no immediate plans to go to IKEA, but next time we do, I will try the chicken just for you. :)
Pinkie pie,
LOL awesome! Sounds like the perfect shopping/eating expedition.
i love swedish meatballs! shud hv it with liggon berries!