We’re all familiar with the bewildering self-assembly instruction sheets that come with Ikea’s flat pack furniture. Now imagine following a cookery recipe in the same format … Actually it works, incredibly well. It’s addictive, and a great way to turn Ikea’s Swedish food range, into a masterful Swedish dinner.

“The Ikea Recipe Series” was actually developed as a marketing campaign by Leo Burnett in Canada. It is a collection of posters that you can use to cook your dinner–literally. The posters serve as both a recipe sheet and a cooking wrapper for meals that range from wild salmon to traditional cobbler, tomato ravioli and classic Swedish meatballs.

Each recipe resembles a paint by numbers sketch. Rather than list the ingredients as a long string of text, you’ll see circles in which you sprinkle a tablespoon of salt or a half teaspoon of pepper, and outlines of proteins where you can place the salmon. All of this is drawn with food-safe ink on parchment paper, so all you do is map out the ingredients as instructed, roll up the paper and toss the dish into the oven. About 20 minutes later, you’ll have dinner on the table.

The Recipe Series is a total gimmick.  But maybe its a great idea too. The recipes are all created with components from Ikea’s own frozen foods available for purchase at its stores. But it’s actually a pretty great idea, too. In this case, it’s a means to get fearful home cooks using their own kitchens.

1. Select your recipe (all ingredients available from Ikea’s food store):