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Swedish cuisine () is the traditional food of Sweden. Due to Sweden's large north-to-south expanse, there are regional differences between the cuisine of Norrland and South Sweden.
Historically, in the far north, meats such as reindeer, and other game dishes were eaten, some of which have their roots in the Sami culture, while fresh vegetables have played a larger role in the South. Many traditional dishes employ simple, contrasting flavours, such as the traditional dish of and brown cream sauce with tart, pungent lingonberry jam.
Both before and after this period, some new Germanic peoples dishes were also brought in by immigrants, such as people related to the Hanseatic League, settling in Stockholm, Visby, and Kalmar. Swedish merchant and aristocracy naturally also picked up some food traditions in foreign countries; cabbage rolls ( kåldolmar) being one example. An early version of kåldolmar was first published in 1765 in the fourth edition of Hjelpreda i Hushållningen för Unga Fruentimber by Cajsa Warg.
Dishes akin to Swedish husmanskost and food traditions are found also in other Scandinavian countries; details may vary.
Sweden is part of the vodka belt and historically distilled beverages, such as brännvin and snaps, have been a traditional daily complement to food. Consumption of wine in Sweden has increased during the last fifty years, partly at the expense of beer and stronger alcoholic beverages.
Husmanskost has undergone a renaissance during the last decades as well known (or famous) Swedish , such as Tore Wretman, have presented modernised variants of classical Swedish dishes. In this nouvel husman the amount of fat (which was needed to sustain hard manual labour in the old days) is reduced and some new ingredients are introduced. The cooking methods are tinkered with as well, in order to speed up the cooking process or enhance the nutritional value or flavour of the dishes. Many Swedish restaurateurs mix traditional husmanskost with a modern, gourmet approach.
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. One of the most traditional Swedish soups, ärtsoppa, is still served in many restaurants and households every Thursday,Nationalencyklopedin a tradition since the Middle Ages. Ärtsoppa is a yellow pea soup, commonly served with pancakes as dessert. This is a simple meal, a very thick soup, basically consisting of boiled yellow peas, a little onion, salt and small pieces of pork. It is often served with mustard and followed by a dessert of thin pancakes ( pannkakor). The Swedish Armed Forces also serve their conscripts pea soup and pancakes every Thursday.
Potatoes are eaten year-round as the main source of carbohydrates, and are a staple in many traditional dishes. Not until the last 50 years have pasta or rice become common on the dinner table. There are several different kinds of potatoes; the most appreciated is the "new potato", a potato which ripens in early summer and is enjoyed at the traditional midsummer feast. New potatoes at midsummer are served with pickled herring, , and sour cream, and the first strawberries of the year are traditionally served as dessert.
The most highly regarded Edible mushroom in Sweden is the chanterelle, which is considered a delicacy. The chanterelle is usually served as a side dish together with steaks, or fried with onions and sauce served on an open sandwich. Second to the chanterelle, and considered almost as delicious, is the porcini mushroom, or karljohansvamp, named after Charles XIV John (Karl XIV Johan) who introduced its use as food.
In August, at the traditional feast known as kräftskiva, crayfish party, Swedes eat large amounts of crayfish, boiled and then marinated in a broth with salt, a little bit of sugar, and a large amount of dill umbels ( krondill, lit. crown dill).
Swedes sometimes have sweet toppings on their breads, such as jam (like the French and Americans), or chocolate (like the Danes), although many older Swedes choose not to use these sweet toppings. However, orange marmalade on white bread is common, usually with morning coffee or tea.
Many traditional kinds of Swedish bread, such as sirapslimpa (less fashionable today, but still very popular) are somewhat sweetened in themselves, baked with small amounts of syrup. Like in many other European countries, there are also many non-sweetened breads, often made with sourdough ( surdeg). Swedish breads may be made from whole grain, fine grain, or anything in between, and there are white, brown, and very dark (like in Finland) varieties which are all common. Barkis or bergis is a localised version of challah usually made without eggs and at first only available in Stockholm and Göteborg where Jews first settled but now available elsewhere.
| Ärtsoppa | Pea soup | Yellow pea soup. |
| Blåbärspalt | with blueberries | |
| Blodpalt | Dumplings made out of blood | |
| Blodpudding | Black pudding | The Swedish name literally means 'blood pudding'. Sweetened and spiced, it is eaten with lingonberry jam, and sometimes bacon. |
| Blodkorv | Blood sausage | Other than pig blood, the ingredients include flour, pork, raisins and spices. |
| Bean och Pork | Brown beans and pork | A classical Swedish dish consisting of pork with stewed brown beans. |
| Falukorv | Sausage, big and thick, originating from Falun. The lifts and pumps at the Kopparberg copper mine in Falun were, during the 16th and 17th centuries before the introduction of steam engines, powered by oxen. When these oxen died from strain or old age, the skin was turned into leather ropes used in the mine, and some of the meat was turned into Falukorv sausages. | |
| Fiskbullar | , made from minced white fish meat. | |
| Fläskkorv | Pork sausage | Sausages, pork. |
| Fläskpannkaka | Pork pancake | A thick pancake with diced pork, baked in a form in the oven. |
| Flying Jacob | Flying Jacob | Casserole based on chicken with cream, chili sauce, bananas, peanuts and bacon. Invented in the 1970s. |
| Gravlax | Salmon cured with salt and sugar with herbs. | |
| Grisfötter | Pig's trotters served with Garden beet. | |
| Inkokt lax | Boiled salmon, together with onion and carrots, in a mixture of water, vinegar, salt, sugar and some other spices. Usually eaten cold, commonly together with mayonnaise spiced with dill and lemon. | |
| Pickled herring | Pickled herring. | |
| Isterband | Sausage, from Småland, made of coarsely ground pork, barley and potatoes. It is prepared by first fermenting it and then lightly smoking it. This method of cooking creates a distinct, both acidic and slightly smoky flavour. It is traditionally eaten with dill-stewed potatoes and pickled beetroot. | |
| Janssons frestelse | Jansson's temptation | Potato casserole made of grated potatoes, onion, anchovy and cream; the fish used is usually the Sprattus, a different species spiced with herbs. |
| Julskinka | Cured ham, boiled and breaded with mustard, bread crumbs and egg; translates as Christmas ham. The Swedish equivalent to Christmas turkey. | |
| Kåldolmar | . These are a Swedish variation of the Turkish dolma, and date back to when Charles XII returned to Sweden from the Ottoman Empire. | |
| Kalops | Meat stewed with onion, vegetables and spices. | |
| Köttbullar | Meatballs made from meat and herbs tightly rolled together, frequently served with mashed potatoes and pickles. | |
| Korv Stroganoff | Sliced sausage pieces (usually falukorv) served in a creamy tomato sauce, a cheaper Swedish variation of beef Stroganoff. | |
| Köttsoppa med klimp | Soup, made from beef and , served with klimp, a Swedish dumpling. | |
| Kroppkakor | Dumplings made of pre-boiled potatoes, filled with pork. | |
| Leverpalt | with liver. | |
| Lutefisk | Lye fish made of stockfish. | |
| Palt | Dumplings made of unboiled potatoes, filled with pork. | |
| Paltbröd | A type of tunnbröd baked with blood. Traditionally served leached with white sauce and fried pork. | |
| Pannkakor | A thin pancake fried in an ordinary frying pan. In some parts of Sweden, all thin pancakes are called plättar. | |
| Pitepalt | from Piteå. | |
| Plättar | A plätt is a very small pancake, usually made in a plättlagg, a sort of normal size frying pan with indentations to allow for several, normally seven, smaller (usually around 10 cm in diameter) pancakes to be made at once. See Pannkakor | |
| Pölsa | Similar to hash or Scottish haggis without casing. | |
| Prinskorv | Prince's sausages | Small sausages, hot dog-style. |
| Pyttipanna | Mix of chopped and fried meat, onions, pre-boiled potatoes, often prepared from leftovers. Other ingredients are often added as well, such as sausages, beetroot, fried egg, bacon or even salmon (instead of the meat). | |
| Raggmunk | . Usually eaten with lingonberry jam and sometimes fried slices of pork belly. | |
| Rotmos med fläsk | Mashed roots with pork | Mashed root vegetables, usually rutabaga, carrots and sometimes potatoes, served with long-boiled salted pork loin. |
| Räksmörgås | Shrimp sandwich | Open sandwich with shrimp, egg and mayonnaise. Lettuce, tomato or cucumber are commonly added, usually topped with lemon and dill. |
| Herring salad | Herring salad | A Russian-style chopped cold-salad side dish made with pickled herring, boiled cold potatoes, boiled cold beets, minced raw onion, fresh dill, and sour cream. |
| Smörgåstårta | Sandwich cake | Like a very big multi-layer sandwich. Comes with many different fillings and toppings, often including shrimp, ham, mayonnaise, salad, and preserved fruits. |
| S.O.S. (smör, ost och sill) | Butter, cheese and herring | Appetizer dish made with butter, cheese, and herring. |
| Pork med löksås och Potato | Pork with onion sauce and potatoes. | |
| Stekt strömming | Fried herring | Fileted fresh herring, two filets put flesh to flesh, skin out, with dill, salt and ground white pepper between and breadcrumbs on the outside, and then fried in butter until golden. Eaten with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam. Very different from surströmming. |
| Surströmming | Fermented Baltic herring | Being fermented, surströmming has a strong odour and unique flavour and is considered an acquired taste even among Swedes. Usually eaten with thin, hard bread. |
| Head cheese | Swedish head cheese | Made primarily from finely chopped pork pulled soft from a boiled pig head and mixed with the gelatin from the skull and various spices and pressed to form a loaf that is served chilled so that the gelatin sets. |
| Wallenbergare | Patty of ground veal, cream, and egg yolks, coated in breadcrumbs. | |
| Saffranspannkaka | Rice pudding dessert with saffron originating in Gotland usually served with jam or whipped cream, or dewberry jam. | |
| Kalvdans | A classic dessert made from unpasteurized colostrum milk, the first milk produced by a cow after giving birth. | |
| Klappgröt | Semolina pudding mixed with juice from either red Ribes, Lingonberry, Raspberry, Blackberry, or comparable fruits, then stirred or blended until the texture is fluffier. Eaten cold. | |
| Ostkaka | Swedish cheesecake (very different from American cheesecake). | |
| Pannkaka | are almost never served for breakfast ('American-style') but either as dessert with sweet jam or whipped cream, or as a meal in itself, using fewer sweet toppings. Pancakes for dinner can be thick oven-baked pancakes with pork meat or apples inside. | |
| Smördegspaj | Butter dough based pie. | Various kinds of pies and cookies are typical desserts, mostly served with coffee. Typical pies are apple pie, blueberry pie and rhubarb pie. |
| Smulpaj | Crumb pie | |
| Spettekaka | A sweet dry hollow Swedish cake, shaped like a cylinder, and similar to meringue, found only in a southern province of Sweden, Scania. | |
| Våfflor | Often served with jam and whipped cream or ice cream. Waffles also have their Waffle Day on 25 March. | |
| Äggost | A dish originating from Bohuslän. In the southern parts of the county it is traditionally served as a dessert along with whipped cream, sugar and blackberry jam, but in the northern parts it is usually seen as a main dish or breakfast and often served with pickled herring. | |
| Kanelbulle | Cinnamon roll, optionally made with cardamom dough | |
| Wienerbröd | A Danish pastry; comes in several varieties and shapes; very similar to a Danish pastry in the US. | |
| Chokladboll | Chocolate ball. | A round chocolate-flavoured butter ball with oatmeal, cocoa and sugar, coated in coconut flakes or pearl sugar. |
| Kringla | A small pretzel-shaped (sweet) cookie with pearl sugar on top. | |
| Punschrulle | Punsch-roll | A small cylindrical pastry covered with green marzipan with the ends dipped in chocolate, and inside a mix of crushed , butter, and cacao, flavoured with punsch liqueur. This pastry is often called dammsugare ('vacuum cleaner'), referring to its cylindrical shape, similar to many older vacuum cleaners. Other names are arraksrulle (as arrak (arrack) is an ingredient in punsch) and '150-ohmer' (owing to the brown-green-brown colouring, resembling a 150 ohm resistor). |
| Biskvi | A small round pastry with a base: made from and sugar, filled with butter cream and covered with a thin layer of chocolate. First made in France during the 19th century. | |
| Prinsesstårta | Princess cake | A large cake, made of sponge cake layered with whipped cream, and custard under a green marzipan coating with powdered sugar on the top; often decorated with a pink marzipan rose. |
| Budapestbakelse | Budapest pastry | Basically made from sugar, egg white, , whipped cream, and pieces of fruit like apricot or Mandarin orange, decorated with a little chocolate and powdered sugar. |
| Napoleonbakelse | Napolitain | Made of pastry dough, whipped cream, custard and jam, topped with icing and currant jelly. |
| Napoleon pastry | ||
| Kladdkaka | A chocolatey and sticky flat cake. | |
| Toscakaka | Light sponge topped with caramelized almonds. | |
| Arraksboll | A ball flavoured with arrak, similar in appearance to a chokladboll but very different taste. | |
| Knäck | Christmas toffee. (Hard, usually to be sucked, not chewed. The soft variety is called kola, which is chewy, and may be flavoured. ) |
| Ischoklad | Coconut oil mixed with chocolate. |
| Marmelad | 'Marmalade candy', rectangular fruit and pectin based candy in various colours. |
| Lussekatt | Saffron bun, a Swedish saffron bun eaten on the Saint Lucia celebration (13 December). |
| Pepparkaka | Similar to a (has been eaten since the 14th century and baked at the monastery of Vadstena since 1444); associated with Christmas. |
| Semla | With the new year, the fastlagsbulle (Lenten bun), or semla, is baked. It is a wheat bun with a cream and almond paste filling, traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday. |
Other typical Swedish candy includes:
| Salty liquorice | Liquorice candy flavoured with ammonium chloride. |
| Polkagris | Traditional peppermint stick candy from Gränna, also made in other flavours. |
| Ahlgrens | A marshmallow candy shaped like a car. Marketed as "Sweden's most purchased car" (Swedish: Sveriges mest köpta bil). |
| Sockerbitar | Similar to square, chewy . |
| Geléhallon | An early form of gelatine-based candy. |
| Daim bar | Formerly called Dime in the UK. |
| Mumma | A traditional Christmas beverage.Carl Deleen, Örebro 1836, p. 554. Usually a mix of porter or another dark beer, some light beer (pilsner), port wine (or some other wine), and something sweet ( sockerdricka or julmust); commonly spiced with cardamom. |
| Glögg | Mulled wine |
| Blåbärssoppa | Bilberry soup | Sweet soup or drink made from bilberries, served either hot or cold |
| Enbärsdricka | Juniper berry soft drink | |
| Sockerdricka | Sugar drink | Sweet-sour soft drink (carbonated) |
| Fruktsoda | Traditional lemon-lime soft drink (carbonated) | |
| Champis | Soft drink alternative to sparkling wine (carbonated) | |
| Pommac | ||
| Trocadero | Soft drink with the taste of apple and oranges, with its roots in the north of Sweden | |
| Julmust | Sweet seasonal carbonated soft drink ( jul ‒ a cognate of the English yule ‒ means Christmas in Swedish) | |
| Lingondricka | Lingonberry drink | |
| Nyponsoppa | Rose hip soup | Sweet soup or drink made from , served either hot or cold |
Punsch is a traditional liqueur in Sweden that was immensely popular during the 19th century. It was adopted as the drink of choice by university students, and many traditional songs from that time are about the consumption of punsch or are meant to be sung during the collective festivities that were part of the cultural life in the universities' student associations at the time and still is.
Low-fat products, wholemeal bread and other alternatives are common; grocery stores usually sell milk in four or five different fat levels, from 3% to 0.1%. Mjolkframjandet.se
According to various personal accounts, many Swedish families previously considered it inappropriate to feed children from another family. Visiting children could be asked to leave at dinnertime or to wait in another room, or the host family would call the visitor's parents and ask for permission. However, this norm seems to have faded by the 1990s.
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