Copycat IKEA Veggie Balls

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 vegan meatball recipes to come like Mushroom Meatballs 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

My Pure Plants

Rich, delicious, and flavorful vegetable balls that will taste like Ikea vegan meatballs. 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. 

4.72 from 21 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Baking 20 mins

Total Time 50 mins

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Servings 50 veggie balls

Calories 19

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 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

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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.

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Notes

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. 

Tried this recipe? Can we see it?Please share a picture with us by uploading an image to Pinterest below ours.

Nutrition

Serving: 1ballCalories: 19kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 55mgPotassium: 51mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1041IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 8mgIron: 1mg