25+ Scandinavian Recipes • Nordic Comfort Food! (2024)

FAQs

What is the staple food of Scandinavia? ›

You'll soon discover that the Scandinavian countries have similar diets, featuring locally-sourced ingredients. Common foods include bread, dairy products, potatoes, porridges, creamy soups, salted or smoked meats and fresh, salted or smoked fish.

Traditional Scandinavian food often revolves around ingredients like fish, potatoes, dairy, and whole grains, with dishes such as gravlax, meatballs, and rye bread being quintessential examples.

New Nordic Food is food produced with care and with a focus on taste and diversity, forgotten varieties and breeds, old processing methods and new ideas in the kitchen.

Lean meats, such as skinless poultry, and eggs are acceptable in moderation, although most Nordic Diet proteins are derived from fish and plant alternatives, such as legumes, nuts, and seeds.

The ND diet is based on traditional foods consumed in the Nordic region (Northern Europe), and includes fruits, vegetables, legumes, low fat dairy, fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, herring) oats, barley, and almonds [36,37].

An open-faced sandwich is a very common Scandinavian breakfast. It can be as simple as a piece of rye bread with butter and a slice of cheese, or you can spruce it up a bit with toppings like cucumber, apples, sliced egg, or bell pepper. Chopped chives or dill are never a bad idea.

Mutton and cabbage stew, or “fårikål” in Norwegian, has repeatedly been named Norway's national dish. It even has its own festive day on the last Thursday in September. Throughout the autumn months, people all around the country arrange lamb stew parties. “The dish is perfect if you want to invite a lot of people.

Gravlax. A delicacy widely available all over Scandinavia, gravlax is salmon that's been cured, but not smoked. The marinade is typically salt, sugar, dill, black pepper, and sometimes berries. Gravlax is typically served as a starter with dill and black pepper.

In the forests and plains grow blueberries, wild strawberries, cloudberries, lingonberries, rowanberries, elderberries and many more. Some are eaten fresh with milk or cream, other turned into homemade marmalade, jam or fruit syrup to be savoured during the cold season.

A traditional lunch can take hours, and aquavit is enjoyed at regular intervals, of course. Popular dishes for a smörgåsbord include bowls of pickled herring served with rye and crispbread, beetroot and apple salad, meatballs, pâtés, and different types of cured and smoked salmon.

What fish do Scandinavians eat? ›

One of the most popular fish, eaten across the region, is herring, which can be pickled, smoked or fried. Cured or smoked salmon, smoked mackerel and cod are also popular choices. In Sweden and Finland crayfish are also particularly prevalent and are celebrated during crayfish parties in late summer and early autumn.

Scandinavian food emphasizes simplicity, freshness, and a connection to the land and sea. Dishes often feature ingredients like fish, potatoes, berries, and dairy products, reflecting the resourcefulness of the people who have thrived in this challenging northern environment for generations.

Internationally, the most renowned Swedish culinary tradition is the smörgåsbord and, at Christmas, the julbord, including well-known Swedish dishes such as gravlax and meatballs. In Sweden, traditionally, Thursday has been "soup day" because the maids had half the day off and soup was easy to prepare in advance.

Scandinavians eat simple, hearty meals. They generally eat three meals a day, plus a coffee break. Breakfast is light and usually includes bread or oatmeal porridge, fruit, eggs, cheese, herring, or potatoes. Fruit soup is a popular breakfast item in the winter and is topped with cream and served with bread and cheese.

The Nordic diet encourages you to eat a lot of whole foods, particularly sourced locally and in season, including: Whole grains, particularly rye, barley and oats. Fruits, especially berries. Vegetables, especially root vegetables like beets, turnips and carrots.

Scandinavians eat simple, hearty meals. They generally eat three meals a day, plus a coffee break. Breakfast is light and usually includes bread or oatmeal porridge, fruit, eggs, cheese, herring, or potatoes. Fruit soup is a popular breakfast item in the winter and is topped with cream and served with bread and cheese.