In my opinion, the veggie balls are hands down the best item on the Ikea menu. They're loaded with vegetables and seasonings and are not at all mushy. I made these 100% from scratch and I have to say that they are even better than the real thing.
The first thing you might notice is that my veggie balls are much greener in color. This is because I use way more vegetables than Ikea does. I probably used 4 times the amount of actual veggies in relation to the chickpeas. As a result, mine end up little more green, but I think they taste sooo much better!
One drawback of adding so many vegetables is that the veggie balls end up a little more fall apart/fluffy. If this is a problem for you, you can always add some cornstarch or reduce the amount of veggies to firm them up. But I think they are great as is.
What are the ingredients?
My recipe is based on the exact same ingredients as their frozen veggie balls. Here is a picture of the packaging I took the last time I went to Ikea:
If you're not familiar with how ingredient lists work, the ingredients are ordered by most used to least used. So in the above picture, chickpeas are the most used ingredient, followed by carrots, peas, etc. I determined the ratios of all the ingredients based on this.
Preparing the vegetables
In terms of the vegetables, you want to chop them extremely fine. This will allow them to soften faster and release more moisture when they're cooked. I used a food processor because it was much easier and more consistent.
Once they're chopped, you want to cook them in two stages. I cooked the carrots, peppers, onions, and garlic first then I added the kale after. The important thing is to cook them long enough so that their moisture is evaporated. This will prevent them from being mushy.
You know the vegetables are ready when they are no longer steaming as vigorously. Also if you push the vegetables to the side, there shouldn't be any liquid pooling to the empty space.
Why blend the chickpeas, peas, and corn
It is extremely important to blend the chickpeas, peas, and corn until they are mostly smooth. The reason is because they contain a lot of starches which will help to bind the other ingredients together. In the past, I have tried leaving the peas and corn whole, but I had to add extra cornstarch to make the veggie balls sticky enough to form balls.
Shaping into balls
I was worried they wouldn't hold their shape during baking but they turned out really good.
I initially sprayed them with oil which is why there is burnt specks on the parchment paper, but I found it's actually unnecessary. I did a batch with no oil and they tasted the same to me.
Ikea Veggie Balls
Ingredients
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- 2 medium onions
- 5 cloves garlic
- ½ bunch kale
- ¼ cup oil
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas (drained and rinsed; see notes for dried)
- 1 cup peas
- ½ cup corn
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground sage
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 small bay leaves (turned into a powder in a spice grinder)
Instructions
- To a food processor, add the carrots, bell pepper, onions, and garlic. Pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Now add the kale to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped as well.
- In a large pot, add ¼ cup of oil, and turn the heat to high. Add the carrot mixture and cook for 3-5 minutes until most of the moisture has evaporated.
- Add the kale and cook for another 2 minutes until wilted and most of the moisture has evaporated. Remove from the heat.
- Add the chickpeas, peas, and corn to a food processor. Pulse until very smooth. Add to the pot of cooked veggies.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and mix thoroughly.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and place the rack in the upper-middle position.
- Shape the mixture into balls and bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 20-25 minutes. I noticed the bottoms get darker faster than the top so check the bottoms around the 20 minute mark.
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