A Swedish Menu
inspired by hitting rock bottom, family, & a trip to IKEA. I'll explain...
As you all know (or maybe you don’t), this past summer was a flop.
However, while a flop primarily related to my personal life (specifically our home and the harsh realities of the real world)—given that I spend most of my days in the kitchen developing and filming recipes for Restaurant Dropout—it would be juvenile to think that these troubles didn’t spill over into my professional life—fewer instructional videos (my favorite to create), a dull sense of creativity (it’s hard to be creative when you’re trying to stay afloat), and just an overall dread for everyday life (sorry this sounds dramatic, I promise there’s a happy ending!!!).
In what I’d reflect on as rock bottom of the summer—our home had been taken over by r*dents and m*ggots (which I’d like to make clear we have cleaned both personally and professionally), we had been sleeping on an air mattress for 3 months, and so on—there was a moment where Tate (my husband) and I sorted through the tangible things we did have and felt like ourselves again.
As very non-materialistic people, there was a moment when this overall sensation rushed through us both. These tangible things weren’t merely things; they were things that brought back memories—a curated, hand-selected collection that made us feel like ourselves. A reminder that both memories and the love, joy, pain, and sadness derived from those memories are what make life so fruitful.
Now here’s where the happy ending comes in…
While I was actively trying to be creative with my menus, Tate was persistent in offering helpful suggestions. For the past couple of years, since his grandma passed away, he’s remained persistent in trying to recreate his grandma’s Swedish meatball recipe (if you couldn’t tell by my new last name, his family is predominantly Swedish).
While I did recently obtain the recipe (with permission to use), I will never be able to make them quite like her; however, I now realize that this recipe goes beyond the actual taste. Just like the tangible items we sorted through at rock bottom, recipes, too, bring back memories—like the love and joy Tate felt when he’d escape to his grandparents’ house and savor his grandma’s prepared-with-love Swedish meatballs.
Here’s the thing, though, I never quite mustered up the courage to make these meatballs….
Since that moment that felt like rock bottom this summer, we’ve slowly moved back into our home. And when we were starting to figure out what we needed to make our kitchen and home feel like a safe space again (i.e., make it feel like home), IKEA reached out to help us restock our kitchen.
During my trip to IKEA, I decided to visit the food court. If you know anything about IKEA, they’re very well known for two things:
Their incredible selection of furniture and household essentials
Their Swedish meatballs
Of course, I couldn’t leave IKEA without trying their meatballs. And news flash: they are delicious. As is the rest of the menu.
With Tate’s persistence, my trip to IKEA, and the realization I had upon hitting rock bottom this past summer, the serendipity of it all inspired this menu—and gave me the courage I needed to finally make Gramma’s Swedish Meatballs.
And I hope you enjoy.
This essay is written in partnership with IKEA. While they provided compensation for inclusion, all opinions and product recommendations are my own.
Access to hundreds of individual recipes (sauces, marinades, breads, grains, meats, etc.) and 80+ weekly dinner menus can be found below:
Specialty Ingredients
You’ll find a few ingredients that we haven’t necessarily used in the past, including:
Ciabatta
Heavy Cream
Egg Noodles
Beef Bouillon Cubes
While I recommend all of the above for this week, please feel free to use what you have, in the name of not buying additional ingredients that will sit in your pantry or refrigerator.
I should note that heavy cream will likely make a resurgence this fall and winter, given the nature of soup (& baking) season.
Rollover Ingredients
For those who cooked last week’s menu, the fortified stock and chicken are a way to use up that remaining half chicken sitting in your freezer right now.
Note that both the homemade Fortified Stock and shredded chicken are entirely optional this week. Feel free to use the boxed stuff and/or rotisserie chicken for all stock & chicken-inclusive recipes.
Total Stock Amount
You’ll notice there might be a slight discrepancy between the required stock amount and the fortified stock yield—dilute with the remaining 1/4 cup of water to get the amount you need for the week.
The same goes for the boxed stuff (since they’re not sold in more than 6 cup amounts). Dilute with water to achieve the necessary amount.
IKEA Market Goods
While I am sharing an adapted family Swedish meatball recipe, feel free to skip preparing your own by sourcing your meatballs (among other things) from IKEA. They not only have their classic Swedish meatballs available in their Food Market (found next to checkout), but also the famous Swedish meatball accompaniment, lingonberry jam.
This week also includes cold-smoked salmon, a popular staple in Swedish (& Scandinavian) cuisine—you can find a great selection at IKEA.
See the links below for my recommendations:
Grocery List
Printable Menu
Mini Menu
Gramma’s Swedish Meatballs
Smokey Salmon with Potato Pancakes & Dilly Sauce
Swedish Meatball Soup with Egg Noodles
Cook an extra russet potato and add it to the soup in place of the egg noodles for a more cost-effective, fewer-ingredient week.
“Swedish Stroganoff”
In assembling this week’s menu, I was stuck on calling this dish “Swedish Stroganoff,” as my recipe calls for chicken rather than the authentic Swedish sausage.
That said, this dish looks like chicken paprikash, has mostly the same ingredients as Swedish stroganoff, and tastes ever-so-slightly like vodka pasta—isn’t food fun???
If you’re aiming for a more authentic Swedish dish, I recommend using the real-deal sausage instead of chicken and upping the cream (& minimizing the stock). You can also use an alternative sausage, as long as the flavors of the spices within the sausage aren’t too pronounced.
If you’d also like to add a bit more nuance to the dish, I recommend adding a bell pepper or a leafy green (thinly sliced)—I avoided said ingredients to remain close to the inspired dish (and for the sake of simplicity). I also steered clear of any spice, as spicy foods aren’t necessarily common (or popular) in Sweden.
Butter Lettuce
You might end up with a surplus of butter lettuce. If so, feel free to use it to prepare a side salad for one of the five dishes, as they aren’t necessarily vegetable-heavy.
You can find an assortment of dressings and vinaigrettes here.
Or, dress lightly with olive oil and salt (what I do when I'm sparse on energy).
Prep List
Prep Demo
Disclaimer: There may be some discrepancies between the video demo and the recipes, as changes were made throughout the week in recipe development.
Rollover Prep (Mashed Potatoes, Egg Noodles, etc.)
Something I’ve started practicing more frequently is rollover prep rather than a single, all-encompassing (slightly exhausting) prep day.
This means, rather than making a big batch of mashed potatoes while prepping our ingredients for the week, we’re only prepping the potatoes, then making the mashed potatoes upon cooking dinner—reserve half for the following day, and boom, it’s rollover prep.
Or cook one big batch of egg noodles for the first recipe that calls for it, then reserve the excess for a dish later in the week.
So, sort of like prep, but upon making dinner and still saving yourself time later in the week, when things get busy.
Swedish Meatballs
Something I find fun about meat is that, like bread, the more you work the meat mixture, the bouncier it gets.
If, like me, you like a bouncy meatball, I recommend working your meat mixture for a while, until it’s extremely emulsified. You can make it easier on yourself by processing it in the stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or work it by hand, vigorously kneading it.
If you’re a fan of a softer, crumblier (almost Italian-style) meatball, save the struggle: mix briefly —just until the ingredients are combined —and then shape your meatballs.
Also, I believe that Swedish meatballs should be baked (after cooking both on the stovetop & in the oven). The oven will yield a softer exterior, more suited to being smothered in gravy (in my opinion).
Of course, if you’d like to fry them, be my guest.
Relevant Prep Tips
Protein Substitutions
For the Gramma’s Swedish Meatballs…
🔄 IKEA Plant Balls, Ground Chicken (or IKEA Chicken Meatballs), Ground Pork
For the Smoky Salmon…
🔄 Steelhead Trout, Extra Firm Tofu
For the Swedish Stroganoff…
🔄 Bologna (sliced), Swedish Sausage, Plant-based sausage, Alternative sausage
For the Stockholm Panini…
🔄 Other smoked fish like herring or mackerel, Carrot Lox, Roasted Vegetables, Ranch Chicken Cutlets
For the Swedish Meatball Soup…
🔄 IKEA Plant Balls, Ground Chicken (or IKEA Chicken Meatballs), Ground Pork
Additional Substitutions
Egg Noodles 🔄 Fettuccine, Penne, Pappardelle, Rice
Dill 🔄 Parsley, Mint
Fortified Stock/Chicken Stock 🔄 Vegetable Stock, Beef Stock
Ciabatta 🔄 Sourdough, Focaccia
Lingonberry Jam 🔄 Raspberry Jam, Red Currant Jelly
Crème Fraîche 🔄 Greek Yogurt, Plain Yogurt
Beef Bouillon Cubes 🔄 Granulated Chicken Bouillon (about 3/4 teaspoon)
Elements
Proteins
Swedish Meatballs
Utilized in Gramma’s Swedish Meatballs, and Swedish Meatball Soup.
Sauces & Stocks
Fortified Stock (Optional)
Utilized in Gramma’s Swedish Meatballs, Swedish Stroganoff, and Swedish Meatball Soup.
Dilly Sauce
Utilized in Smoky Salmon, and Stockholm Sandwiches.
Toppings
Pickled Purple Cabbage
Utilized in Gramma’s Swedish Meatballs, Smoky Salmon, and Swedish Meatball Soup.
Dishes
Gramma’s Swedish Meatballs with Mashed Potatoes
Plated on GLADELIG (dark gray)
Smoky Salmon with Potato Pancakes & Dilly Sauce
Plated on STOCKHOLM 2025 (Plate, black, 10”)
Swedish Stroganoff with Egg Noodles
Plated on KRUSTISTEL (Plate, patterned/light beige, 10 “)
Stockholm Sandwiches with Smoked Salmon & Dill
Plated on GLADELIG (Plate, gray, 12x7 ½ “)
Swedish Meatball Soup with Egg Noodles
Plated on OMBONAD (Bowl, dark gray, 6”)
Consolidated Lists
Consolidated Recipes
All Documents (Consolidated Lists & Recipes)
A Restaurant Dropout Curated IKEA Shopping List
For Organization
For Cooking
For Serving
Serveware (Plates & Bowls)
Serveware (Serving Bowls & Placemats)
Thank you all for being here. This community was one of the few consolations of this dreadful summer of 2025—I love you all.
Cheers to finishing (and enjoying) the end of this year. 🥂❤️
And to enjoying some Swedish meatballs, eh?
Xx,
Zoe
My favorite part of Restaurant Dropout is trying recipes that I normally wouldn't gravitate towards - not a big egg noodle person so normally wouldn't make stroganoff, but Zoe's never steered me wrong, and I know it will be delicious - I cannot wait to try Gramma's meatballs!
Calories/Macros:
1. GRAMMA’S SWEDISH MEATBALLS (per serving): 864 calories, 37 g protein, 44 g carbs, 59 g fat
- 85% lean ground beef
2. SMOKY SALMON (per serving): 911 calories, 47 g protein, 48 g carbs, 58 g fat
3. SWEDISH STROGANOFF (per serving): 670 calories, 36 g protein, 48 g carbs, 37 g fat
4. STOCKHOLM SANDWICHES (per serving): 708 calories, 36 g protein, 62 g carbs, 32 g fat
5. SWEDISH MEATBALL SOUP (per serving): 1002 calories, 47 g protein, 77 g carbs, 55 g fat
Zoe, First off, excited about this menu and the comfort food dinners we'll be having this week. Second, I just want to say thank you for including the little blurb about Tate's late grandmother. I lost my grandmother about a year and a half ago and have been struggling with how to reconnect with her now that she is gone. The line "this recipe goes beyond the actual taste" hit me like a ton of bricks, and now I get where she continues to live on with me- in my cooking. Without even trying you helped me fill a void I've had since she left us.