Ikea Australia rolls out vegetarian 'meatballs'

It's a rite of passage for shoppers suffering flat-pack fatigue. Anyone who has spent a day wandering through the wilds of Ikea knows how tempting it is to refuel on a plate of the furniture giant's Swedish meatballs.

Now vegetarians and vegans can indulge in the same pleasure, with Ikea Australia rolling out a new line of vegie balls at its five in-store restaurants in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne from April 27.

Independent outlets in Perth and Adelaide will serve the balls in coming months as well as two new stores in Canberra and Sydney's Marsden Park, when they open later this year.

Known in Swedish as grönsaksbullar (literally "vegetable balls"), the dish is loaded with carrots, chickpeas, green peas, corn, kale and capsicum. Black pepper, onion, sage and bay leaves add flavour. Canola oil, pea starch and pea protein are also on the ingredient list.

A restaurant serving of 10 will initially be served with herbed couscous, broccoli, parmesan and a tomato and spinach sauce ($8.99; $3.69 for a children's half-serve) but the menu will change regularly throughout the year.

Take-home frozen 500-gram bags, which will go on sale in the food market in the weeks after the launch, will be free of gluten, lactose and common allergens.

The meatballs are already on sale in Europe and Britain and ready to launch in Asia and the US this month.

Ikea was affected by food scares two years ago when it pulled its meatballs from sale in Asia due to fears they could contain horsemeat and withdrew its almond and butterscotch cake after samples were found to contain traces of coliform bacteria.