How to Make Vegan IKEA-Style Meatballs

Inspired by the success of its vegan hot dogs and bland serving, IKEA has announced plans to release a plant-based version of its classic pork and beef meatballs next year. But it’s still a long way from the official launch in summer 2020, and if you can’t wait that long, I’ll support you. You don’t need fancy ingredients or hours of time to make cool Swedish meatballs at home.

Before I could develop a vegan wannabe worth eating, I needed to remember what the iconic IKEA dish tasted like. I haven’t had their meatballs in ages – I love fifty-cent hot dogs and lingonberry sweets – so last weekend I went to lunch at IKEA. Surprisingly, the meatballs turned out to be much softer than I remembered – they mostly tasted like pork with a hint of onions. The texture was firm and firm, much closer to shell-less sausages than tender, fluffy Italian-American meatballs. As for the gravy, it was like a standard meat broth, thickened in a roux. My favorite part was the vegetables – crispy, well salted and quite oily – but meat is the unmistakable star of the dish.

This makes it difficult to create a vegan version. You can’t just substitute meat for vegetables and expect even remotely similar results. Making up for the difference usually requires special ingredients that are expensive, difficult to obtain, or both. Getting close to the springy texture of these meatballs requires getting rid of powdered vegetable protein (usually vital wheat gluten) and possibly something gelatinous like agar. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or both of them strongly influence IKEA’s grand plan for vegan meatballs.

For several reasons, I went the other way. I hate cooking seitan from scratch because it must be cooked twice: first steam it to keep the dough steaming and stay moist, then fry or fry it until it becomes crispy. Avoid steaming and you will get a dry, durable brick; skip frying and you will chew on a damp sponge. I would never ask anyone to steam dozens of tiny meatballs and then fry them in several batches. Also, what would the average person do with an almost full package of vital wheat gluten? Make more meatballs steamed and then fried? Never. I needed a delicious vegetable-based mixture that I could roll into balls, toss on a baking sheet, and bake.

To do this, I turned to my reliable friends in vegetables: eggplant and champignons. Both of them absorb oil like nobody else’s business, which is exactly what you need in this case. When made into a paste with lots of onions, garlic, olive oil, soy sauce, and sugar, they create a super-flavorful base that vegan meatballs really need. Cashews add richness and a light nutty flavor, while vegan mayonnaise keeps the mixture moist. a full mass of garlic powder and a little vegetable broth top off the seasoning. The panko added at the very end holds the whole mess together. The rolled balls go straight to the oven – no cold or waiting.

They are less firm than the originals, but otherwise the texture is perfect and the taste is far ahead of the under-seasoned ground pork. Eggplants and mushrooms are sucked in to the last piece of seasoning; this tiny sip of MSG from the broth keeps you coming back for more. Best of all, they hold their shape perfectly even in sauce.

Let’s talk about the gravy, which, along with lingonberry jam, mainly contains meatballs from IKEA. Most Swedish meatball recipes use sour cream sauce, but I didn’t find any dairy in the IKEA version. However, I figured a little extra wealth wouldn’t hurt, especially when it comes to boxed vegetable broth. So I added a scoop of the cooked vegetable mixture and some homemade cashew cream, then chopped everything together with a blender. The resulting sauce turns out to be rich, creamy and very aromatic – exactly what you want to pour over mashed potatoes, small savory vegan meatballs and, of course, lingonberry jam. Why wait for the IKEA version if it’s so good?

Vegan Swedish meatballs

I’m always on flexible ingredient lists, but cashews are the nut for this recipe. They easily turn into puree in just an hour of soaking and add volume without yelling, “Hey! Look at all those cashews! »Even if you ditch the homemade cashew cream (vegan or regular sour cream in the store is great), keep the cashew nuts. I prefer unsalted (at least once), but salted cashews are fine too if you don’t use too much salt elsewhere.

This will make about 50 small (one inch diameter) balls and 2-3 cups of gravy for at least six servings. Freeze the remaining balls on a baking sheet until firm, then transfer to a freezer bag for long-term storage. They heat up well in the microwave or oven.

For gravy:

• 1/2 cup roasted cashews, preferably unsalted
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup vegan sour cream or more (optional)
• Lemon juice to taste
• Salt and pepper for flavor

For balls:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 450 grams of white champignons, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium eggplant (1-1 1/2 lb whole), peeled and diced into half-inch cubes
• 4 large garlic cloves, sliced
• 1/4 cup water
• Salt and pepper for flavor
• 3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
• Granulated sugar 1 tablespoon
• 1 cup roasted cashews, preferably unsalted
• 3 tablespoons of garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
• Dry vegetable broth, Trader Joe’s Mushroom & Company umami seasoning and / or monosodium glutamate to taste
• Little 2 cups panko bread crumbs

Serve:

• Your favorite purees ( this is perfection, and easy vegan-roscopy)
• Lingonberry jam (canned cranberry sauce works as a last resort)

First, make a cashew gravy cream by soaking half a cup of cashews in two or three glasses of hot water. Set aside. (Skip this step if you are using sour cream.)

For the gravy, heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about five minutes, until tender and dark brown around the edges. Season lightly with salt and pepper, add the garlic and cook for another minute or until the garlic begins to brown. Add flour, reduce heat to medium-low and stir constantly for two to three minutes. If the pan looks dry, add a little more oil.

Stir in vegetable stock, bring sauce to a simmer over high heat, and reduce heat to low. Place the lid on the pot and let it simmer while you make the balls.

Heat two more tablespoons of olive oil in the largest skillet over medium to high heat. Add the onion and saute until it is almost black at the edges, then add the mushrooms and stir for a few minutes – you just need to release them a little. Add the eggplant cubes, chopped garlic and water. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables shrink and stick to the bottom of the pan. Add soy sauce and sugar, taste and adjust the seasoning. Stir half a cup of vegetable mixture into the gravy and transfer the rest to the bowl of a food processor. Cool slightly.

If a lot of brown lumps are stuck to the bottom of your skillet, return it to the fire and remove the glaze with water, scraping to dissolve the mixture. You don’t need a ton of water; start with a few tablespoons and add more as needed. When everything is well dissolved, scrape off the contents of the pan and the gravy and stir.

To make the balls, process the vegetables with a cup of dry cashews (not the ones you are soaking), garlic powder, and mayonnaise until smooth. Season to taste with chopped vegetable broth, MSG or mushroom seasoning. Finally, add the panko to a food processor and beat several times until the mixture is smooth. You should have a very unattractive gray-brown paste.

Pour the mixture into a bowl and add whatever she needs: another scoop of mayonnaise if it looks dry, a few more scoops of panko if it looks messy, and more seasoning to taste. Don’t worry if it turns out to be weaker than you expected; even the softest test batches retained their shape in the oven.

Now for the dirty part. Preheat oven to 350ºF, line a baking sheet with parchment and wet your hands. Roll the mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter, transferring to the skillet as you go. Rinse off the sticky residue from your hands periodically to keep things moving. Bake the rolled balls on the top rack of the oven until lightly browned, 20-30 minutes.

In the meantime, finish the gravy. Drain and rinse soaked cashews, if used, and mix with a few tablespoons of water until smooth. Place 1/4 cup cashew cream (or cooked sour cream) in the gravy and stir until smooth. I used a blender for both steps, but a regular blender will work as well. Season the sauce to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

For the true pleasure of an IKEA cafeteria, serve your pretty little balls with gravy, mashed potatoes and a generous spoonful of lingonberry jam or cranberry sauce. It’s as delicious as the real thing, except for animal products, not to mention the hassle of actually running IKEA .