So, I would completely understand someone who would call IKEA’s famous meatballs as bland and without texture, and wonder from where its fame came from. However, I am not that person. I find something deeply comforting about industrial food. I don’t know. In university, I found that the tuna noodle casserole and macaroni and cheese that was prepared to feed hundreds of students at a time in the college cafeterias tasted much better than trying to make it at home.
While I’d heard about IKEA meatballs, I think it was a Filipina friend Malu who first told me that this should be your priority for IKEA shopping. And while I have enjoyed the various other things you can buy, after you escape the main section, the meatballs are my favourite (though I like Daim bars, that Daim bar cake, and the condiments for the meatballs: the mix for making gravy and the lingonberries).
So, now whenever I drag my husband to IKEA to stock up on tealights, napkins or whatever-else lately is sporting a Swedish name, we have a meal here. Neither of us could stray from the meatball platter, with its dollop of mashed potatoes, the afore-mentioned gravy and lingonberries. The only thing is that when I make them at home, I bake them in the oven for longer, and it is a more tempting colour, with a bit of crispness. In fact, the illustration on the package shows the same browning, so it would seem the cafeteria was rushing these or having an off-day. They could have used a bit more oven time. But I still loved them.
We washed them down with large cups of coffee.
By the way, after many years, they’ve changed the packaging on the meatballs. So, some things don’t stay the same.