IKEA cooks up illustrated, interactive recipes that you can roll, bake, and eat

whether you have a love or hate relationship with them, IKEA’s step-by-step instruction manuals for furniture self-assembly have become an icon of the brand. despite the guidebook’s simplistic drawings and minimal scatterings of text, determined makers can build everything from a bunk bed to a bar. with this in mind, advertising agency leo burnett’s toronto office proposed a creative campaign that would introduce an entirely new element to the equation — food. ‘we realized trying new recipes is a little scary for people,’ the agency’s creative directors, anthony chelvanathan and steve persico explained. ‘we set out to make it better, easier and more creative by using creativity to reinvent the recipe.’

recipes are printed on cookable parchment paper

leo burnett conceived a collection of easy-to-make recipes printed on cookable parchment paper. dubbed ‘cook this page’, the sheets include step-by-step instructions and a list of illustrated ingredients marked with food safe-ink, each which match the actual proportions required for the recipe. spontaneous chefs and experienced bakers alike merely have to add food, roll it all up and bake it. the recipes incorporate IKEA food items and draw attention to the company’s line of household kitchen products. in-store events across canada promoted the campaign, where all 12,500 parchment paper recipes available in 18 locations were snatched up within a few hours.

chefs simply need to add the ingredients on top of the paper sheet 

food-safe ink indicates the proportions of each ingredient 

salt, pepper, and powdered onion are added to the sheet before baking 

once cooked, the meal is ready to serve and eat 

each of the sheets include step-by-step instructions and a list of illustrated ingredients

the recipes incorporate IKEA food items

simply add ingredients, roll the parchment paper up, and bake

quirky illustrations indicate the amount of food needed 

roll, bake and eat — voila!