Student blogs

When first moving to Sweden, I worried about how my diet as a vegetarian would impact my daily life. As an American, being a vegetarian or a vegan is a hit or miss depending on where you go within the USA. Although I assumed that major metropolitan areas would be more accommodating, I could not have expected just how inclusive Sweden is towards vegetarianism and veganism! In this blog post, I want to shed more light on this topic for those who are worried about moving to Sweden and potentially facing challenges to their plant-based diet. 

Supermarkets 

There are many major supermarket chains in Sweden, such as Coop, ICA, LIDL, Willys, and Hemköp. Although I have visited all and noticed that they are stocked with a decent variety of vegetarian and vegan products, I will focus on my personal experience shopping at LIDL and Willys, both of which I frequent often. A personal surprise to me was the variety of plant-based alternatives for products that typically contain meat. For example, I have seen vegetarian Bolognese pasta sauce, frozen vegan “meatballs” and vegan schnitzel, just to name a few.  

Furthermore, I have been able to purchase a greater variety of plant-based protein products beyond tofu. I can readily buy tempeh in many supermarkets and other meat-substitutes like Quorn. Regarding dairy products, I have seen a variety of plant-based milk and yogurt that are relatively inexpensive.

It is also helpful to visit supermarkets with products from other regions of the world. I have found that I can buy specific plant-based alternatives for sauces, such as vegan fish sauce. I cook Indian food often and can easily go to supermarkets carrying products for this cuisine. These supermarkets broaden my options for vegetarian cooking. There are certainly fewer restrictions to what you can purchase at supermarkets in Sweden with a vegetarian or vegan diet.  

Eating out

When I eat out at restaurants, I have found many places to be very accommodating to vegetarianism. Alongside popular meat-based dishes, there tend to be at least one or two plant-based alternatives. The popularity of meat-substitutes helps in this regard because it is easy to swap meat and even tofu with other plant-based sources like Oumph! which is popular in Sweden as it was founded in the country. Such plant-based dishes are typically slightly less expensive than the cost of the meat-based dish or about the same price. 

To put into perspective how vegetarian friendly eating out in Sweden can be, I can highlight the popular Swedish burger chain MAX. The first time I visited MAX, I was shocked by the extensiveness of the “Supreme Green” menu which has many plant-based and lacto-ovo-vegetarian burger options. Therefore, vegetarianism and veganism have a place even in Swedish fast food. 

Additionally, there are many restaurants solely focused on vegetarian and vegan food. The vegan restaurant Hermans boasts an all you can eat vegan buffet and my experience there was truly a delight. Even IKEA has plant-based options in their restaurants, like plantbullar, which were both low-cost and very tasty.  

Fika and cafes

You might be wondering if you can participate in fika as a vegan. It is true that many Swedish baked goods contain eggs, milk, and butter, which can limit options. However, I have noticed that many bakeries and cafes have vegan options for popular Swedish pastries like kanelbullar and saffransbullar, as well as more mainstream baked goods like brownies.  

Ordering beverages at cafes with plant-based milks instead of regular milk is quite common too. In my experience, I have not typically been charged extra for purchasing a drink with oat milk and if there is an extra cost, it is usually quite minimal. 

Other dietary restrictions 

Although I have centered this blog post on vegetarianism and veganism, I want to acknowledge that other dietary restrictions can feel like an extra obstacle when considering studying in Sweden. In the future, I would like to cover the experiences of gluten-free diets based on my classmates’ experiences in case some of you reading are wondering how you too can enjoy all that Sweden offers food-wise as a student.