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34 easy Scandinavian recipes
- Janine Ratcliffe
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Create a Scandinavian-inspired feast at home with some of our favourite recipes, from Swedish meatballs and gravadlax to cinnamon buns and Daim bar cake
Looking for easy Swedish and Finnish recipes? Want the best cinnamon buns? Try our Scandinavian recipes including showstopping gravadlax, skagen toast and beetroot salad. Or serve a large plate of Swedish meatballs for the whole family, followed by fresh-from-the-oven cinnamon or cardamom buns. We also have recipes from executive chef Henrik Ritzén at Nordic restaurant Aquavit in London.
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Tuck into your Scandinavian food and escape to Sweden virtually with our foodie trip to Skåne. Next, try our top Eurovision recipes and Midsummer party ideas.
Easy Scandinavian recipes
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.
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 cocktail.
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 roasted beet and apple salad
Try Sebastian Graus’ updated rosolli, a jewel-bright beetroot salad that’s a festive staple in Finland. His dressed-up version keeps the nostalgic flavour but adds a modern touch, making it the perfect fresh counterpoint to a rich festive spread.
Solskinnsboller
Filled with custard and cinnamon butter and spiced with cardamom, these Scandi buns are a must-make.
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.
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.”
Swedish citrus-cured gravadlax with juniper and pink peppercorns
Brighten your festive table with this Swedish citrus-cured gravadlax, fragrant with orange zest, juniper and pink peppercorns. Effortlessly elegant and perfect for sharing, serve it with rye crackers and a squeeze of lemon.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Swedish-meatball inspired nachos
Classic nachos have taken a Scandi-inspired twist, topped with pork meatballs, lingonberry sauce and fresh dill – perfect for when you're hosting a movie night.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
Scandi prawn salad
A zesty, Scandinavian-inspired prawn salad that would work really well as a festive dinner party starter.
Julkottbullar (Swedish Christmas meatballs)
Ask chef Sebastian Graus what he can’t live without at Christmas and the answer’s simple – meatballs. His version is dressed for the season with warming spices and soft, buttery onions for an extra dose of comfort.
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.
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.
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.
Swedish baked rice pudding
A Swedish Christmas Eve classic that’s easy to make ahead and tastes just as good the next day. Don’t forget the hidden almond – legend says whoever finds it will have good luck for the year.
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Listen to Swedish chef Niklas Ekstedt chat about Midsummer traditions on our podcast...
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Janine RatcliffeFood director
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