IKEA · Swedish Restaurant · item history
Plant balls
IKEA’s meatball-shaped plant option, introduced on different dates across markets and served in several restaurant formats.

At a glance
- Product
- Plant balls, distinct from earlier veggie balls
- U.S. launch
- September 28, 2020 (IKEA announcement)
- U.S. formats
- 8-, 12-, 16-piece entrées; kids meal listed
- U.S. listed price
- $8.99 for 8-piece entrée (checked Sep 30, 2026)
- Nutrition example
- 591 kcal for a Saudi FY21 restaurant plate; no U.S. plate figure verified
The short story
IKEA introduced the plant ball to echo the taste and texture of its meatball using pea protein, oats, potatoes, onion and apple. The U.S. announcement set restaurant availability for September 28, 2020; IKEA Canada announced a separate March 1, 2021 introduction. [I1] [I3]
It is a restaurant item with 8-, 12- and 16-piece U.S. entrée listings, plus a kids meal. It is also sold as frozen HUVUDROLL plant balls in the Swedish Food Market, but a bag price or package label is not automatically a restaurant-plate fact. [I2] [I6]
A new member of the ball family
IKEA described the plant ball as a meatball-like option made from yellow pea protein, oats, potatoes, onion and apple. The aim was a familiar flavor and bite, rather than the visibly vegetable-forward identity of its earlier veggie ball. IKEA Canada’s chronology places the earlier veggie ball in 2015. [I1] [I3] [I7]
The plant-ball recipe contains no animal ingredients. The classic restaurant plate described at launch included cream sauce and mashed potatoes with dairy, so the plated meal was not vegan as served. Ingredients and accompaniments should be checked for a particular location and date. [I1]
A staggered rollout
IKEA announced the product in July 2020. Its U.S. release specified September 28 as the U.S. in-store start and described an August 2020 European launch. The announcement paired the restaurant plate with a frozen-bag option in the Swedish Food Market. These are different serving contexts for the same product family. [I1]
Canada’s March 2021 announcement gives a later market start—March 1—and a restaurant dish with mashed potatoes, broccoli, lingonberries and cream sauce. That Canadian description should not be silently copied onto the U.S. plate. [I3]
The U.S. web menu checked September 30, 2026 lists plant-ball entrées at three counts and a separate kids meal, and says restaurant offerings may vary by location. A dated U.S. restaurant photograph confirms one real serving in May 2023 without making that photographed plate the national standard. [I2] [I5]
Nutrition needs a plate and a place
An official IKEA Saudi Arabia FY21 restaurant menu prints 591 calories for a plant-balls plate with mashed potatoes, green peas, cream sauce and lingonberry jam. The menu does not provide a ball count or macronutrients for that plate. This is useful evidence for that Saudi restaurant dish, not a U.S. 8-piece or 12-piece entrée figure. [I4]
We have not found a verified U.S. restaurant plate calorie and macro panel. A frozen HUVUDROLL bag belongs to the Swedish Food Market and cannot fill that gap because the restaurant meal adds sides and sauce. A generic “calories per plant ball” claim would also lose the serving context. [I6] [I2]
Documented serving
Plant-ball restaurant plate with mashed potatoes, green peas, cream sauce and lingonberry jam · IKEA Saudi Arabia FY21 menu
The official menu provides calories only. Ball count and protein/fat/carbohydrate are not printed; no U.S. restaurant plate values have been verified.
Prices by market and format
At the July 2020 U.S. announcement, IKEA described an adult restaurant plate for $5.99, a kids plate for $2.99 and a side for $1.25. Those were announced launch prices, not today’s listed prices. [I1]
The U.S. web listing checked September 30, 2026 instead shows an 8-piece entrée for $8.99, 12-piece for $10.49, 16-piece for $11.99 and kids meal for $4.49. It does not state when these amounts took effect and warns that offerings vary by location. Canada’s 2021 $6.99 frozen bag and same-price restaurant dish are Canadian-dollar observations in a different market. [I2] [I3]
| Date or period | Geography | Format | Reported price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2020 announcement | United States | Adult restaurant plate | $5.99 USD [I1] |
| Sep 30, 2026 check | U.S. web menu | 8-piece entrée | $8.99 USD [I2] |
| Sep 30, 2026 check | U.S. web menu | 12-piece entrée | $10.49 USD [I2] |
| Sep 30, 2026 check | U.S. web menu | 16-piece entrée | $11.99 USD [I2] |
| Mar 2021 announcement | Canada | Restaurant dish | $6.99 CAD [I3] |
Restaurant, freezer and geography
The restaurant entrée is the focus of this page. The HUVUDROLL frozen bag can be cooked at home, but its retail weight, price and package nutrition are not serving facts for a prepared restaurant meal. The earlier veggie ball is a separate item, even when both appear under IKEA’s broader plant-based food story. [I6] [I7]
The U.S., Canada and Saudi documents refer to their own markets and service styles. They establish a product family and a staggered rollout, not a single worldwide recipe, portion or price. The U.S. menu’s own local-variation note is the right way to read any national web listing before a visit. [I1] [I2] [I3] [I4]
Plant ball ≠ earlier veggie ball
IKEA introduced the veggie ball years earlier and designed the plant ball to feel more like the meatball.
Balls ≠ plated meal
Sauce and sides change the nutrition and dietary context of the restaurant entrée.
One market ≠ every market
U.S., Canadian and Saudi menus carry distinct launch dates, sides and prices.
Evidence timeline
Each stop describes what the cited source establishes; it is not an interpolated period of continuous availability.
Earlier veggie ball appears
IKEA Canada’s retrospective places the veggie ball’s introduction in 2015; plant balls are a later, distinct item. [I3]
Plant ball announced
IKEA introduces the meatball-like plant option and a U.S. restaurant plan. [I1]
U.S. restaurant start
The date given in IKEA’s U.S. announcement. [I1]
Canadian introduction
IKEA Canada announces its own rollout and plate. [I3]
U.S. menu check
IKEA’s web listing shows 8-, 12-, and 16-piece entrées and a kids meal. [I2]
Sources & image rights
References open the original source. Notes identify the relevant date, market and limits of each one.
- I1IKEA announces a new plant ball
IKEA US. July 16, 2020 announcement; edited October 19, 2023. States US launch date, initial US prices, recipe and serving context.
- I2IKEA Swedish Restaurant menu
IKEA US. US web listing checked September 30, 2026. Lists 8-, 12-, 16-piece entrées and kids meal; actual local offerings may vary.
- I3IKEA Canada rolls out the new plant ball
IKEA Canada. March 2, 2021 release says Canadian introduction began March 1 and distinguishes 2015 veggie balls.
- I4IKEA Saudi Arabia restaurant mobile menu FY21
IKEA Saudi Arabia. Official FY21 menu shows 591 calories for a plant-ball plate with mashed potatoes, peas, cream sauce and lingonberry jam. Ball count and macros are not supplied; this is not a US value.
- I5IKEA Plant Balls 1 2023-05-08
Fastily / Wikimedia Commons. Photographed US restaurant meal on May 4, 2023 (Commons date and EXIF; filename says May 8). CC BY-SA 4.0; photo depicts a specific plate, not a standard portion claim.
- I6IKEA HUVUDROLL plant balls, frozen
IKEA US. Swedish Food Market frozen product. Related formulation, but its bag and price are not the restaurant entrée or a source for restaurant calories.
- I7Introducing the new plant ball
IKEA US. IKEA’s product-development account describes the attempt to echo a meatball’s texture and the distinction from earlier veggie balls.