Easy Scandinavian recipes (2024)

Not spotted your favourite Scandinavian dish? Do you know an awesome Swedish chef or food writer that you’d like to see featured here? Email us or contact us on social media at @olivemagazine to let us know!

Tuck into your Scandinavian food and escape to Sweden virtually with our foodie trip to Skåne.

Easy cinnamon buns

Check out our easiest ever cinnamon buns. Bake and enjoy now or save for a weekend breakfast – just make sure to eat them warm from the oven.

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Easy Scandinavian recipes (1)

Cardamom buns

Our cheat’s take on classic Scandi treat uses bread mixes as a genius shortcut – just add butter and spices for the ultimate swirl bun.

The smörgåsbord

This Swedish-inspired sharing feast makes for an impressive spread. Featuring cheese, fish, potato and egg, it's a great alternative to a buffet if you're feeding a crowd at a gathering.

Swedish meatballs with mash and lingonberry sauce

We all love meatballs and pasta - but have you ever tried them with mash, Swedish-style? Lingonberries are a European relation of the cranberry - you can buy lingonberry sauce from Ikea, or just use cranberry sauce instead.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (4)

Danish potato crunch with preserved lemons

This Danish potato recipe comes from Danish chef and food writer, Trine Hahnemann. Trine says: “We need to celebrate the potato as a worthy staple in the northern hemisphere. The tubers store well in winter and, because of the starch they contain, make a great binder that is useful in a lot of vegetable cooking. Their CO2 footprint is also lower than that of other carbohydrates, such as pasta and rice. Potatoes deserve their place in everyday cooking, not only as a side dish, but as the main event, in all its endless variations.”

Classic gravadlax

This melt-in-your-mouth salmon dish is cured in the traditional Scandinavian way with sea salt, dill and pepper. Serve on toasted rye bread à la Scandi or with one of our salads below.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (6)

Swedish meatball bake with cucumber salad

This Swedish-style meatball bake is perfect for sharing with family and friends. Drizzle with soured cream and serve with a homemade cucumber salad and some crusty bread.

Red cabbage, apple and pomegranate salad

Another Danish recipe from Trine Hahnemann. She says: “This is a classic Hahnemann recipe and I make it whenever I can find pomegranates… In Denmark, we used only to be able to find pomegranates around Christmas time, but now I see them much more frequently. Still, in my kitchen, they remain a real winter treat.”

Danish fig tart with brandy cream

"Figs are sweet and surprising, promising adventures and new frontiers," says recipe author Trine Hahnemann. Try them in this fancy filo tart, served with warming brandy cream.

Scandinavian scallops

Scallops, leeks and reindeer are served on a bed of mussel sauce in this recipe from Joni Ketonen, the Finnish head chef at Eldr restaurant in Belgravia.

Skagen toast

Invented by Swede Tore Wretman in 1958, skagen is now firmly established as a traditional Scandinavian dish. It's really easy and makes a nice, sophisticated change to a prawn co*cktail.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (11)

Finnish lohikeitto (salmon and potato soup)

Flavoured with dill and allspice, this salmon and potato soup is a Finnish classic. Try it all year round for a comforting dinner.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (12)

Jansson's temptation

Scandinavian food has a reputation for simplicity, dishes taste of their core ingredients and made with little fuss. In Sweden, where this dish originates, it would be made with cured sprats rather than anchovies.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (13)

Beetroot and gin-cured salmon gravadlax

Try our zesty and boozy gravadlax, perfect for lunches, canapés or as a show-stopping centrepiece for Midsummer's Eve. Wear gloves when you're grating the beetroot to avoid getting stained hands.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (14)

Swedish mushroom soup

Try an authentic Swedish mushroom soup garnished with cauliflower, fried mushrooms, cress and roasted hazelnuts. Created by the chef and owner of the restaurant, Human.

Venison tartare with blueberries and juniper

This dish is courtesy of executive chef Henrik Ritzén at Nordic restaurant Aquavit, London. Soft and beguiling venison tartare is joined by spicy blueberries. Aquavit uses scraps of batter for crunch, but you can also serve with croutons or toast.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (16)

Cardamom and raspberry Swedish buns

Try these delicious filled buns inspired by classic Scandinavian baking. Made with a brioche-style dough and filled with raspberries, the family will love them.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (17)

Smoked mackerel on rye

This recipe for smoked mackerel on rye with horseradish cream and pickled radish makes for a great lunch or lighter dinner for one. The horseradish gives it a punchy kick.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (18)

Scandi-style salmon with pickled potato salad

A sophisticated meal for two, this quick and easy salmon fillet with sharp and creamy potato salad is exactly what you need to lift you out of that mid-week work slump.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (19)

Apple salad

Sliced fennel, apple and smoked mackerel come together in this fresh Nordic salad. Serve at lunch or as a starter accompanied by good bread.

Salt-baked beetroot with herby yogurt dressing

This hearty, rugged salad is inspired by the Bar Tartine cookbook. Salt baking will intensify the taste of earthy beetroot. This recipe is perfect for a midweek salad or a sharing starter for any summer meal.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (21)

Shrimp Skagen (Skagenröra)

This simple prawn starter is courtesy of executive chef Henrik Ritzén at Nordic restaurant Aquavit, London. If you can’t get fresh horseradish, use 1 tbsp of horseradish sauce instead.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (22)

Vodka-cured herring with dill blinis

Herring is a staple on the Swedish Midsummer table. Blinis with herrings cured in vodka and soured cream make the best canapés. Making the blinis is easy and the cured herrings are quick and easy to do, then leave to marinate until you need them.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (23)

Nordic gravadlax with mustard and dill sauce

Traditionally-cured salmon is a classic smörgåsbord all over the Nordic region and this dish is picked up with a pokey mustard and dill sauce. This starter is courtesy of executive chef Henrik Ritzén at Nordic restaurant Aquavit, London.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (24)

Celeriac, mustard and lovage

This smörgåsbord dish is also from executive chef Henrik Ritzén at Aquavit. Showing off Nordic flavours at their simplest and best, this dish is really easy to prepare. If you can’t find lovage use parsley instead.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (25)

Beetroot, caper and dill salad

A quick and easy salad that takes minutes to prepare. Leave for the flavours to mingle then serve with hard-boiled eggs and fresh dill.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (26)

Scandi prawn salad

A zesty, Scandinavian-inspired prawn salad that would work really well as a festive dinner party starter.

Frozen Daim bar and almond cake

Recreate this adored treat created by Jonas Karlsson of Linnea restaurant in Kew. Frozen Daim bar parfait is topped with caramelised chopped almonds and amaretto sauce.

Easy Scandinavian recipes (28)

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Listen to Swedish chef Niklas Ekstedt chat about Midsummer traditions on our podcast...

Easy Scandinavian recipes (2024)

FAQs

What are the 5 favorite Scandinavian foods? ›

While Scandinavian cuisine comes with plenty of traditional dishes that immediately spring to mind—gravlax, cinnamon buns, waffles, reindeer, and aquavit—there's a sophisticated food movement now in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.

What is a typical Scandinavian lunch? ›

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 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.

What are traditional Scandinavian ingredients? ›

Root Vegetables: Root vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, turnips, and beets are staples in Scandinavian cooking. They are often used in soups, stews, and side dishes. Berries: Scandinavia is known for its abundant berry harvests, including lingonberries, cloudberries, bilberries (like blueberries), and raspberries.

What is a typical Scandinavian breakfast? ›

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.

What is a core food of the Scandinavian diet? ›

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.

What is a Nordic sandwich? ›

The Scandinavian open sandwich (Danish: smørrebrød, Norwegian: smørbrød, Swedish: smörgås or macka) consists of one piece of buttered bread, often whole-grain rye bread (Danish: rugbrød, Swedish: rågbröd, Finnish: ruisleipä), topped with, for instance, cheese, cold steak, ham, turkey, shrimps, smoked salmon, caviar, ...

What is a typical Viking meal? ›

Vikings ate hearty meals with meat, dairy, grains, fruit and vegetables to maintain their energy, since their everyday activities included exploring unknown lands and sailing the open waters.

What is the basic food in Sweden? ›

10 Swedish foods to try
  • Kanelbulle. If Sweden had a national food, it would, without doubt, be the cinnamon bun. ...
  • Filmjölk. ...
  • Oat milk latte. ...
  • Toast Skagen. ...
  • Foraged berries. ...
  • Herring. ...
  • Godis (pick 'n' mix) ...
  • Husmanskost.
Jan 25, 2023

What vegetables do Scandinavians eat? ›

Nordic vegetables are cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, roots and peas. Fish varieties include salmon, sardines, mackerel, herring and dried salty cod. Fruits do not grow abundantly in the region; therefore, berries tend to be the primary source of fruit.

What fruits do Scandinavians eat? ›

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.

What is Sweden's national fruit? ›

List of national fruits
CountryCommon nameScientific name
Sri LankaJackfruitArtocarpus heterophyllus
SwedenAppleMalus domestica
SwitzerlandAppleMalus domestica
TaiwanPineappleAnanas comosus
67 more rows

What is the spice in Scandinavia? ›

Today, cardamom and saffron can be found in almost every kitchen in Sweden. Most commonly in baked goods, Christmas recipes, and drinks. The tradition of fika is where you'll most likely enjoy these delicious pastries.

What do Scandinavians drink? ›

Aquavit is by definition a very Scandinavian drink. It is a spirit spiced with caraway and a variety of different botanicals. The Swedes, Danes and Norwegians have their own character of aquavits. Skåne aquavit is a very traditional Swedish aquavit which has a slightly milder taste than O.P. Anderson.

What do Scandinavian people eat in a day? ›

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.

What 3 things can describe Nordic cuisine? ›

The rich flavours, the freshness, and the simplicity of our dishes, made from the best organic ingredients. Nordic dishes are generally not too complicated and most people love them because the individual flavours and ingredients can be recognised and enjoyed for what they are.

References

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