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.
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.
We needed to create a sugar-free version to serve with our keto Swedish meatballs for a very authentic Scandinavian meal! If you're not concerned about your sugar intake, you can simply use regular white sugar in this recipe instead. This delicious sauce is traditionally served at any Scandinavian holiday party or brunch in Scandinavia with Swedish pancakes or waffles.
If you need a great alternative to lingonberry sauce, be sure to try our cranberry sauce recipe!
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❤️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. 😉
- Refined sugar free & gluten free: One of our biggest pet peeves with store-bought lingonberry sauce (affiliate link) is that it contains tons of sugar, and additives. We don't love the idea of taking a food that is packed with health benefits, and adding a ton of sugar to it, so we made our own with allulose sweetener. This recipe is easy to customize for what you have on hand however.
- 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.
✏️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.
- Sweetener or sugar - White granular sugar works, but we use allulose sweetener as one of our favorite sugar substitutes. It is zero calories, and tastes amazing. Unlike other sugar free sweeteners, allulose will not crystallize when cold or refrigerated, making it our top choice for sauces and condiments.
*Allulose has been known to cause some GI distress in some people if consumed in large quantities. We recommend starting out by consuming about 1 serving at a time before enjoying more if it's the first time you're trying it.
📖Instructions
Add lingonberries to a small saucepan with a little bit of water. Cook over medium-low heat, and stir.
Add in sweetener and stir to dissolve.
Allow lingonberries to simmer for 10-15 minutes to thicken the sauce until the desired consistency is reached. Add sweetener and water to suit your personal preferences.
After consistency is reached, remove from heat and set aside to cool before digging in.
Serve with Swedish meatballs, mashed turnips, and Norwegian cucumber salad for a delicious meal.
That's it! Enjoy!
✨Substitutions
If you want to improvise and still make this sauce, we have you covered!
- Traditional- Feel free to swap the sugar replacement with regular white sugar. Please note, that the allulose sweetener we used is typically slightly less sweet than sugar, so you will only need 1 cup of sugar to every 1 and ⅓ cups of allulose.
- 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. We're not 100% sure, but it may be worth a try! We've heard this company makes no sugar added lingonberry jam, but we haven't been able to order it as it has been out of stock.
✨More recipes to try
Here are a few of our favorite recipes that are Scandinavian inspired!
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🥣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
Ingredients
- 250 grams frozen lingonberries
- 150 grams allulose
- 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 some water and the lingonberries. Stir to combine.
- Add in sweetener and stir to dissolve. Allow lingonberries to simmer for 10-15 minutes to thicken the sauce until the desired consistency is reached. Add sweetener 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
- To determine an exact measurement for this recipe, take the finished batch of lingonberry sauce, weigh it in grams, and divide it into 12 servings. We are not able to determine the weight in grams for a serving size as water can evaporate, and people add different amounts of lingonberries, sweeteners, etc.
- Sweeten to taste!
- You can swap 1 cup of sugar for the 1 and ⅓ cups of allulose. Allulose is slightly less sweet than sugar. If you use regular sugar, the calories per serving are 60, total sugars are 15g, and total carbs are 15g. The nutrition facts at the bottom of the recipe card reflect our sugar free version.
- 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
These nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy and are only estimates. We cannot guarantee the accuracy.
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