How to be fancy on a budget.

I watch a lot of YouTube to get inspiration from vegan recipes and food hauls. I honestly can’t remember whose video I was watching (and believe me, I’ve checked and re-checked, but I just can’t find it), but this person was talking about buying vegan caviar from IKEA to use in sushi. It was as if time stopped. Vegan… caviar… at IKEA? My favorite store? How had I missed it??? So naturally I stopped by and bought some at the first opportunity.

It’s weird because I’ve since Googled it, and there’s little to no information about it being available in the US. It’s not on their US site or the app. Even the photos I used for this post are from their Australian website (the jar in the pictures is 85 g, but the jars I found at my IKEA are 160 g, or 5.6 oz). In Australia, they also have black seaweed pearls, but I’ve only found red, though that’s not to say that that’s the case for all of the US and elsewhere.

So yes, I did find it. It’s in plain sight, right in the fridge with the herring (to be fair, it’s not like I’m going to be looking there). I also picked up a bag of their cardamom crisprolls to top with the seaweed pearls. I also topped them with Kite Hill cream cheese.

And how was it? SO. GOOD! It has the same texture, the same oceany-fresh taste as caviar. It isn’t nearly as salty, which is great because you can control the saltiness yourself. I personally like to add a teeny tiny sprinkle of sea salt to enhance it. This is really the only way I’ve eaten it so far, but I’m nearly through my third jar, so I think you could call it a win!

The fact that I can now have vegan caviar is amazing, but the price and low sodium content make this an easy:

Have you tried IKEA’s SJÖRAPPORT Red Seaweed Pearls? Have you found the black ones in the US? Let me know in the comments!

~M

Not sponsored. Hit me up, though, IKEA.