Have you tried the vegan veggie balls in Ikea? They are so delicious and flavorful. If you don’t have an Ikea nearby, try our Copycat Ikea Veggie Balls recipe, where we added 8 different vegetables the same as in the original with a tasty mix of spices and herbs to get the flavors just right.
Are you into veggie meatballs? Have you seen our Eggplant Meatballs recipe? They are super delicious with marinara sauce on top of spaghetti. More to come like Mushroom so stay tuned! If not balls, then burgers. Check out our Epic Fajitas Portobello Mushroom Burger or our Smoky Vegan Beet Burger with Minty Pea Puree.
⇒ Get our FREE 7-DAY VEGAN MEAL PLAN now! or check out all vegan meal plan recipes here! ⇐
Ingredients of the original Ikea vegetable balls
To say that these balls are veggie-packed is an understatement. Ikea describes them as:
Clearly visible chunks of chickpeas, green peas, carrots, bell peppers, corn and kale in a beautiful array of colors.
According to the packaging, the ingredients are
- Chickpeas, green peas, carrots, red bell peppers, corn, kale, pea protein, onions, rapeseed oil, seasoning (salt, dried cane syrup, yeast extract, dried onion, spices [rubbed sage, black pepper, bay leaves], dried carrot, dried parsley, natural extracts of black pepper, turmeric, and pea starch.
It is a perfect example of how vegan food can be flavorful, rich, and delicious. Bonus: nobody misses the meat here. In the old times, I always chose the iconic Ikea meatballs, but now I feel that these veggie meatballs are way tastier in comparison.
What does our copycat version contain?
We tried to make it as close to the original as possible and added as many ingredients as possible. However, we opted to make them oil-free, so no rapeseed or other oil of any kind. Not to mention, we have no idea where to buy pea protein or pea starch, but we can do that without them just fine 🙂 So what kind of veggies did we include?
- Onion
- Garlic
- Chickpeas
- Bell peppers
- Sweet corn
- Green peas
- Carrots
- Spinach or kale
The heart of all dishes is the spices and the herbs aka the flavor. We tested several combinations for seasoning to make these vegetable balls taste similar. In the end, we found that this mix works the best:
- dried ground sage, dried ground parsley, turmeric, nutritional yeast, cane sugar, black pepper, and salt
How to make Ikea Veggie Balls at home?
Preparing the veggies
Peel the onion and cut them in quarters. Peel the garlic cloves. Wash, peel carrots and cut them into 2-3 parts. Wash and cut bell pepper into 2-3 parts. Add all chopped vegetables to a food processor (photo #1) and pulse until they are finely chopped (photo #2). No need to puree them entirely. You can see the reference in the picture below.
Pre-cook the chopped vegetables
Take a frying pan and heat it to medium. Add a bit of olive oil (or water/veggie broth if you follow a WFPB diet) and spread the chopped veggies evenly (photo #1). Cook them for 10 minutes until they are tender and soft but not mushy. Now add frozen, but thawed or fresh spinach, the dried sage and the dried parsley (photo #2). Mix and cook for 1-2 minutes (photo #3).
Making the veggie ball dough
Depending on the size of your food processor, you should work in batches. Add the canned chickpeas (without the water) and the pre-cooked veggies (chilled, not too hot) (photo #1). Pulse until they are combined. The chickpeas should be cut up to small chunks (close to puree, but with “clearly visible chunks of chickpeas” as Ikea would say) (photo #2).
As a final step, take a large bowl and add the veggie ball dough mix from the food processor, the cooked green peas, the canned sweet corn, and all the remaining seasoning (turmeric, cane sugar, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper) (photo #3). Mix well with a spatula or spoon until combined. Depending on the moisture you have from the veggies, you need to add oat flour. Start with ½ cup and add more to get the consistency shown in the below picture (photo #4). The mixture should be soft if you press it, but firm enough that you can make balls easily.
Let’s bake!
To make IKEA-sized small veggie balls, I used the Tablespoon measure spoon. I scooped up a ball like ice cream and then finished forming it with my hands. Look how lovely, vibrant yellow and perfectly rounded are they while standing in well-behaved order on the parchment paper (see below picture).
A quick tip: balls or patties – You can make burger-shaped veggie patties instead of balls.
Take your frying pan, add a bit of oil and fry them on medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side. If it is a truly non-stick like, then you wouldn’t need to add any oil and the vegetable balls will still get a crispy brownish crust. However, we prefer to keep it oil-free or at least minimal oil. Therefore, we recommend baking them in the oven on a parchment paper or baking sheet.
What to serve with Ikea Veggie Balls?
When your vegetarian meatballs are ready, you can serve them in many different ways. In the Ikea Food Court, they also offer it in different variations. Not like the iconic Ikea Swedish Meatballs, which always goes together with Lingonberry Sauce and Mashed Potato.
- Our favorite way to enjoy them is with potatoes: either French Fries, or Vegan Mashed Potatoes, or Roasted Potatoes.
- You can also choose other side dishes like Fried Rice, or any combination of veggies like Roasted Asparagus, Sauteed Carrots, Sauteed Mushroom…
- Drop them into our Homemade Marinara Sauce and make spaghetti with “vegan meatballs”. You can even pop it in the oven top it with lots of grated cheese to turn it into a pasta bake or casserole.
- Put them on a stick or skewer, add a dip, and serve them as appetizers. They go great with any tomato-based sauces like a Chunky Salsa Sauce or sweet dips like Spicy Sweet Chili Sauce or Barbecue.
Let us know in the comments what is your favorite combination!
FAQs and Substitutions
What can I use instead of oat flour?
If you don’t need to eat gluten-free, then you can use all-purpose wheat flour. If gluten-free, you can use chickpea flour or buckwheat flour for sure. Rice flour may give you a grainer finish.
How do you store them?
You can keep it in the fridge for 4-5 days tops without any problem. We recommend storing the meatballs by themselves and not dipped in any sauce.
Can you freeze them?
Yes, you can. We recommend freezing after frying/baking, not as an uncooked mixture as they can moisten up when thawed. If you are ready to enjoy them, pop them back in the oven or warm them up in a frying pan to get the crispy crust back.
This Copycat IKEA Veggie Balls recipe is vegan (so egg-free and dairy-free), vegetarian, nut-free, soy-free, and WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based). However, it is only gluten-free if you buy certified gluten-free oats and oat flour. Oats are naturally gluten-free, although they are usually cross-contaminated with other grains. If you are interested to read more about oats, you can always visit Coeliac.org.uk or NCA’s Stance on Gluten-free Oats.
⇒ Get our FREE 7-DAY VEGAN MEAL PLAN now! or check out all vegan meal plan recipes here! ⇐
More veggie-packed recipes
You can browse through our Vegan Lunch and Dinner Meals or our 15-min Quick & Easy Vegan Meals collection or check out
- Hidden Vegetable Pasta Sauce (with 7 different veggies and legumes)
- Veggie-loaded Stew with Jackfruit
- Best Damn Vegan Bean Chili with Millet
- Veggie-packed Minestrone Soup
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Copycat Ikea Veggie Balls
Ingredients
- 1 can Chickpeas (canned) 400 g / 14 oz
- 1 cup Frozen spinach
- 3 Carrots (medium)
- ½ Bell Pepper
- ½ cup Sweet corn (canned)
- 1 cup Green peas (fresh, frozen or canned)
- 1 Onion (medium)
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1 cup Oat flour start with ½ cup and adjust depending on the moisture content of the mix
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
Seasoning
- 1 tsp Cane sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- ½ tsp Ground black pepper
- ½ tsp Dried sage
- ½ tsp Dried parsley
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
Instructions
Preparing the veggies
- Peel the onion and cut them in quarters. Peel the garlic cloves. Wash, peel carrots and cut them into 2-3 parts. Wash and cut bell pepper into 2-3 parts.
- Add all chopped vegetables to a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped. No need to puree them entirely.
- If you use fresh green peas, cook them in salted water or veggie broth until soft. If you use frozen ones, thaw them before using them.
Pre-cook the chopped vegetables
- Take a frying pan and heat it to medium. Add a bit of olive oil (or water/veggie broth if you follow a WFPB diet) and spread the chopped veggies evenly.
- Cook them for 10 minutes until they are tender and soft but not mushy.
- Now add frozen, but thawed or fresh spinach, the dried sage and the dried parsley. Mix and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Making the veggie ball dough
- Add the canned chickpeas (without the water) and the pre-cooked veggies (chilled, not too hot). Pulse until they are combined. The chickpeas should be cut up to small chunks (not puree).
- Take a large bowl and add the veggie ball dough mix from the food processor, the cooked green peas, the canned sweet corn, and all the remaining seasoning (turmeric, cane sugar, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper). Mix well with a spatula or spoon until combined.
- Depending on the moisture you have from the veggies, you need to add oat flour. Start with ½ cup and add more if needed. The mixture should be soft if you press it, but firm enough that you can make balls easily.
- To make IKEA-sized small veggie balls, I used the Tablespoon measure spoon. I scooped up a ball like ice cream and then finished forming it with my hands.
Frying
- Take your frying pan, add a bit of oil and fry them on medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side. If it is a truly non-stick like, then you wouldn’t need to add any oil and the vegetable balls will still get a crispy crust.
Baking
- Pre-heat oven to 390 Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celcius). Place the balls on a parchment paper or baking sheet. Bake them for 20 minutes until they have a crispy crust.
Prajakta
These veggie balls were outstanding! They were quite close in terms of taste to the ones in IKEA. I didn’t have chickpeas at home, so used canned black beans in a pinch. Also, I didn’t have oat flour, so I used chickpea flour as suggested. I skipped nutritional yeast as well. Still tasted delicious!
My Pure Plants
We are so happy you tried our recipe and loved it. Thanks for letting us know.
Raquel Gorny
Hello, I don’t have a food processed, think I can use my vitamix?
My Pure Plants
If you just pulse it a couple of times and not puree it, then absolutely.
Mike
If I have rolled oats can I somehow use this instead of oat flour?
My Pure Plants
If you pulse it with food processor to make a course oat flour, then yes. Otherwise, rolled oats may change the texture to more crumbly and the balls may not hold together. You can use other flours instead of oat flour to make sure that you can form the ball from the batter.
Erin
I’m not a vegetarian, but I love yummy food regardless of its title. IKEA’s veggie balls are my favorite menu item. I get them every time I go. I look forward to making these. Especially since reviewers swear they taste just the same, maybe even better.
kathy godwin
i did everything as the recipe said but found it difficult to roll into balls after adding corn and peas, so blitz’d it again in my food processor and found it much easier ….delicious
Molly
I can’t consume Corn, what can I substitute it with?
I’m so excited about this recipe!
My Pure Plants
Hi Molly, you can skip corn and add the same amount in green peas.
Lindsay Sutherland
Never has a copycat recipe come out EXACTLY like the original but these do in texture and taste!!! Exactly like the ikea ones, and maybe even better! Will be making these in bulk and freezing them for easy lunches and meals.
My Pure Plants
We are so happy that you loved the recipes. We tweaked it so many times to make it the closest and tastiest possible.
Jessica
These were wonderful! Used regular flour and baked them. Next time will add more red pepper and decrease pea amount. Big hit with the family.
My Pure Plants
We are so happy to hear you and your family like it. Thanks for trying our recipe.
Cynthia Fox
I dont have nutritional yeast, can I omit this?
My Pure Plants
Yes, you can.
Jen
I can’t believe I’ve never had these before! We just moved and our new IKEA is so far away so making them at home will be so much easier for me, thanks!
Whitney
I’ve never had them but they look absolutely delicious and I would totally dip them in marinara!
Annie @ Annie's Noms
These look fantastic! I love the food from IKEA, but I just don’t feel safe going there just yet, plus I’ve seen the queues at our local IKEA, round the whole car park twice! Until then, I’m going to have to recreate IKEA classics at home and these are just perfect to add to our dinner rota!
Jacqueline Meldrum
No I’ve never tried them, I am always keen to start shopping! I will look out for them now. No forget that, I will use your recipe and make them instead. They look lush! Sharing these!
kim
This recipe was fabulous! The taste was so good and it was really easy. A new go-to dinner idea, I will make often!