--- description: Ballin' title: IKEA Will Soon Serve Vegetarian Meatballs image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdece02ea612f6d65/69868ba7f983e7831c04d688/164380599.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # IKEA Will Soon Serve Vegetarian Meatballs by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2014 7:31 PM CUT  Meat balls are served in a restaurant of Ikea in Amsterdam on March 23, 2013\. Swedish furniture giant Ikea said last week it had started gradually reintroducing meatballs in its restaurants worldwide after horsemeat was found in the product last month. AFP PHOTO / ANP / MARCEL ANTONISSE netherlands out (Photo credit should read MARCEL ANTONISSE/AFP/Getty Images) Meat balls are served in a restaurant of Ikea in Amsterdam on March 23, 2013\. Swedish furniture giant Ikea said last week it had started gradually reintroducing meatballs in its restaurants worldwide after horsemeat was found in the product last month. AFP PHOTO / ANP / MARCEL ANTONISSE netherlands out (Photo credit should read MARCEL ANTONISSE/AFP/Getty Images)Marcel Antonisse / AFP / Getty Images by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2014 7:31 PM CUT Everyone knows that the best part of a trip to IKEA is taking a break to eat those delicious signature meatballs. That experience has heretofore excluded vegetarians, but soon, the Swedish furniture chain will begin offering a meatless option. IKEA is developing this eco-friendly “green” version of the Swedish dish to cut carbon emission and tackle climate change, the _Guardian_ [reports](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/10772303/Ikea-plans-green-meatballs-to-help-tackle-climate-change.html "undefined"). Each year, IKEA sells an estimated 150 million meatballs, which are made from beef and pork. The concern is that the farming process leads to high carbon dioxide emissions — so creating ‘veg balls’ would reduce IKEA’s carbon footprint. The company hasn’t announced an official date, but we should expect the veg balls — along with a new chicken version — next year. Don’t panic, though. The original meatballs aren’t going anywhere. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/70650/ikea-vegetarian-meatballs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/70650/ikea-vegetarian-meatballs/"},"headline":"IKEA Will Soon Serve Vegetarian Meatballs","datePublished":"2014-04-21T19:31:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:08:58.154Z","description":"IKEA is developing an eco-friendly \"green\" version of their patently delicious Swedish meatball dish, a highlight for many making a trip to the massive furniture store, that will be completely meat-free. They have not set a date for the unveiling yet","url":"https://time.com/70650/ikea-vegetarian-meatballs/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food & Drink","meat","Ikea","sweden","Vegetarian"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdece02ea612f6d65/69868ba7f983e7831c04d688/164380599.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdece02ea612f6d65/69868ba7f983e7831c04d688/164380599.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NETHERLANDS-IKEA","caption":"NETHERLANDS-IKEA","creditText":"Marcel Antonisse / AFP / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/70650/ikea-vegetarian-meatballs/","name":"IKEA Will Soon Serve Vegetarian Meatballs"}}]}] ```