Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (2024)

Published: by Briana · This post may contain affiliate links.

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Craving that sweet and tart sauce that's always served alongside Swedish meatballs at IKEA? This Lingonberry Sauce is similar to cranberry sauce, but made with a Nordic berry! If you can get your hands on lingonberries, you can make this delicious Scandinavian condiment with basic ingredients in about 15 minutes.

Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (1)

Fresh lingonberries can be hard to source, but if you can get your hands on some frozen lingonberries (sold at Scandinavian markets or online) you are in business! Lingonberries are very common Nordic berries that accompany lots of proteins, like duck breast, pork tenderloin, and wild game.

If you've ever been to IKEA and ordered Swedish meatballs, you've certainly had these on your plate! In many Nordic homes, they're served alongside some sort of cucumber salad, like this Norwegian agurksalat.

If you love Nordic recipes, be sure to try our Finnish salmon soup too!

Jump to:
  • ❤️Why you'll love this
  • 🥣Ingredients
  • ✏️Ingredient Notes
  • 📖Instructions
  • ✨Substitutions
  • 🛒Shop this post
  • 🥣Storage
  • 🌟Leave a review!
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Community

❤️Why you'll love this

  • Simple ingredients. Only 3 ingredients are needed to make your own lingonberry sauce at home, and they are all pantry staples, except for the lingonberries in most parts of the United States. 😉
  • Quick & easy. This sauce can be ready in 15 minutes!
  • No special equipment needed. All you really need is a small skillet or saucepan!

🥣Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need. You can find full quantities and nutrition facts in the recipe card.

Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (2)

✏️Ingredient Notes

  • Water. You just need a little water to make this recipe. You can also add more water if you prefer a thinner consistency. For instance, if you're planning to top toast with it, make it a bit thicker. To top Swedish meatballs, it can have a bit more water in it.
  • Lingonberries. If you can find them fresh, amazing! We live in Chicago, so we have to purchase them frozen like many other parts of the world.
  • Sugar. Granulated white sugar works perfectly fine here, and you can use any sweetener you like.

📖Instructions

Add lingonberries to a small saucepan with a little bit of water. Cook over medium-low heat, and stir.

Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (3)
Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (4)

Add in sugar or sweetener and stir to dissolve.

Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (5)

Allow lingonberries to simmer for 10-15 minutes to thicken the sauce until the desired consistency is reached. Taste and adjust sweetener to suit your tastebuds.

After consistency is reached, remove from heat and set aside to cool before digging in.

Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (6)
Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (7)
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Serve with Swedish meatballs, salmon, mashed turnips, and Norwegian cucumber salad and more!

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That's it! Enjoy!

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✨Substitutions

If you want to improvise and still make this sauce, we have you covered!

  • Sugar free version. Feel free to swap the sugar with allulose sweetener (affiliate) or any sugar replacement you like. We prefer allulose because it doesn't crystallize in the fridge. Please note, that allulose sweetener is typically slightly less sweet than sugar, so you will only need 1 cup of sugar to every 1 and ⅓ cups of allulose.
  • No cook version. You can also easily make this without heating it at all. Simply add the sugar with the lingonberries and let it sit at room temperature, stirring every so often until the sugar dissolves. This will take about 2 hours if using frozen lingonberries.
  • Other forms of lingonberries. If you're dying for the lingonberry flavor (and rumored benefits) but you can't seem to find fresh or frozen lingonberries, it might be worth trying these freeze dried lingonberries or these dried lingonberries. We haven't tried it ourselves, but we imagine you could rehydrate them with a little water.
Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (11)

🛒Shop this post

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Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (12)

🥣Storage

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days, then freeze. This sauce can be frozen for up to 1 year.

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📖 Recipe

Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (13)

Lingonberry Sauce Recipe

Briana

Craving that sweet and tart sauce that's always served alongside Swedish meatballs at IKEA? This Lingonberry Sauce is similar to cranberry sauce, but made with a Nordic berry! You can make this delicious Scandinavian condiment with basic ingredients in about 15 minutes.

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 2 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 14 minutes mins

Course Condiment

Cuisine Scandinavian

Servings 12 servings

Calories 62 kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 cups frozen lingonberries 300g
  • ¾ cup white sugar 150g
  • 2 ounces water (or you can add up to 6 ounces for a very thin consistency)

Instructions

  • In a saucepan over medium-low heat, add 2 ounces of water and 2 cups of lingonberries.

  • Add in ¾ cup of sugar and stir to dissolve. Allow lingonberries to simmer for 10-15 minutes to thicken the sauce until the desired consistency is reached. Add sugar and water to suit your personal preferences. After consistency is reached, remove from heat and set aside to cool before digging in.

  • Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days, and freeze for up to 1 year.

Notes

  • Sweeten to taste!
  • Add more or less water to reach your desired consistency. We use a thinner sauce for Swedish meatballs, but often use a thicker sauce for topping toast.

Nutrition

Calories: 62kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 0.2gFat: 0.1gSodium: 1mgPotassium: 20mgFiber: 1gSugar: 15gCalcium: 0.3mgIron: 0.01mg

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Lingonberry Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is lingonberry sauce made of? ›

Making lingonberry sauce is easy: It's just lingonberries and sugar – and time.

Is lingonberry sauce similar to cranberry sauce? ›

This Lingonberry Sauce is similar to cranberry sauce, but made with a Nordic berry! If you can get your hands on lingonberries, you can make this delicious Scandinavian condiment with basic ingredients in about 15 minutes.

What is the difference between lingonberry and cranberry? ›

Lingonberries belong to the same family of berries as cranberries, according to Flavorful Home. Although both lingonberries and cranberries are ruby red in color, with hard skin and delicate interiors, lingonberries have a pink or red flesh, while cranberries have white flesh (via Arctic Flavors).

What do Swedes eat lingonberry with? ›

Just like ketchup and mustard, lingonberry jam is widely used to accompany a variety of dishes, from meatballs and pancakes to porridge and black pudding (blodpudding). But despite its sweetness, it is rarely used on bread.

What is the English equivalent of lingonberry? ›

Vaccinium vitis-idaea, the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit.

What do lingonberries taste like? ›

Lingonberries have a tart, acidic, and slightly sweet flavor. Some people think they taste similar to cranberries but less tart. Lingonberries are also slightly bitter, so people rarely eat them raw. People often cook and sweeten lingonberries to make them more palatable.

What flavor goes with lingonberry? ›

Lingonberries' sweet-tart taste makes them suitable for all types of foods, including:
  • Meatballs.
  • Pancakes.
  • Rice pudding.
  • Fried herring.
  • Vegetable and fruit salad.
  • Oatmeal and quinoa.
Nov 24, 2021

Is lingonberry good for you? ›

Lingonberry has chemicals that might help kill bacteria. It also contains chemicals that can help with inflammation (swelling). Lingonberry has chemicals that might help kill bacteria. It also contains chemicals that can help with inflammation (swelling).

What fruit is also called lingonberry? ›

The berry is known by many other names, including bearberry, redberry, partridgeberry, foxberry, cowberry, and Alaskan lowbush cranberry. Lingonberries have been called a superfruit based on their nutritional value and potential health benefits, such as for weight control and heart health ( 1 ).

What is a nickname for a lingonberry? ›

Lingonberry's wide native distribution across Europe's northern hemisphere has led to a dizzying collection of common names, including cowberry, foxberry, wolf berry, whortleberry, moss cranberry, dry ground cranberry, rock cranberries, mountain cranberry, mountain bilberry, partridgeberry, whimberry, red whortleberry, ...

Can you eat lingonberry raw? ›

Although lingonberries look so delicious in their natural form they are not good to eat raw as they are really tart and bitter, adding sugar transforms them into something that goes incredibly well with game, meat and in desserts.

Are huckleberries and lingonberries the same? ›

Lingonberry plants are grown for its red coloured acidic fruits. Huckleberry is another berry plant from the family Ericaceae and is widely cultivated for its edible fruits. There are different types of huckleberry plants belonging to two separate plant genus, namely Gaylussacia and Vaccinium.

What does Ikea lingonberry taste like? ›

Their bright red color is appealing, but don't let that fool you: Lingonberries taste sour with a bit of sweetness and might not be something you'd enjoy eating raw. These red berries are smaller, juicier, and bear a softer flesh than their distant cousin the cranberry—another fruit that's not commonly eaten raw.

What is the national dish of Sweden? ›

What's the most iconic Swedish dish? Köttbullar or Swedish meatballs are arguably the most iconic, often representing Swedish food culture globally.

What is a traditional Swedish breakfast? ›

Cereal, yogurt, and dried fruits and nuts at Torekov Hotel. Cereal is usually muesli, eaten with filmjölk (a buttermilk-like product) or yogurt, and mixed with dried fruits and nuts. Jam isn't usually eaten with bread, but mixed into a bowl of plain yogurt, along with dried fruits and nuts.

Is mountain cranberry the same as lingonberry? ›

There are TWO types of Mountain cranberry, also called LINGONBERRY. Both are hard to grow but one is a bit easier and that's the one we sell: Vaccinium vitis idea minor. It is native in the northern hemisphere globally, in cool summer areas, like here in Maine and Alaska.

Is A lingonberry a fruit? ›

The fruit is also rich in functional compounds, such as fibers and minerals [1]. Lingonberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) are closely related to cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccus), but they are less known and popular than cranberries.

Is lingonberry a real berry? ›

About: Wild Lingonberries are a tiny, round berry about the size of a pea. They grow wild throughout Europe, mostly in the Nordic countries like Finland and Sweden where they are extremely popular. Flavor: Lingonberries are bursting with a cranberry like flavor and color.

What does lingonberry fruit spread taste like? ›

Sweet, but not too sweet. Much better than most store bought jams that are too sugary.

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