No products in the cart.
Using up your leftovers
We love a good leftovers recipe here on Skandibaking! We’ve shared a few recipes for using up leftover mashed potatoes, including our potato bread and potato flatbread recipes. There’s just no better feeling than limiting food waste and making something delicious at the same time! But we have to say – this is the king of recipes that use up leftovers, and it’s an absolute classic in Denmark. We grew up eating it every once in a while (we didn’t usually have too many leftovers in our house), and it’s so delicious that you wouldn’t even think you’re eating leftovers. This is called biksemad – a hash made with meat and potatoes and topped with a fried egg!
What is biksemad?
Biksemad doesn’t have a direct English translation. “Bikse” in Danish means to throw something together quickly or rather haphazardly. And “mad” means food! So really, it’s “haphazardly thrown together food”, and it’s a name that makes perfect sense when you consider that that’s exactly how you make the dish. In English, we just call it meat and potato hash, which isn’t as fun, but does the job.
The Danish version of biksemad originates in the 19th-century sailor’s kitchen, where leftovers were thrown together to create a hearty and filling dish. That’s also where skipperlabskovs originates – a stew made with meat and potatoes, which is also another great winter recipe to try out! But despite originating on ships, biksemad quickly became an everyday dish in Danish kitchens, particularly as a way to use up leftover meat from the big Sunday meal.
Nowadays, it’s a dish that’s particularly popular to make in the period between Christmas and New Year’s. Danes eat pork roast on Christmas Eve, along with many different versions of potatoes, including boiled. So if there’s anything leftover, you can easily throw it into a pan and make biksemad. Or, if you love biksemad as much as we do, you’ll intentionally make extra meat and potatoes so you can have it the next day!
Other Scandinavian variants
It will come as no surprise to you that there’s a similar dish in the other Scandinavian/Nordic countries. In Sweden, it’s called pyttipanna, in Norway it’s pyttipanne, in Finland it’s pyttipannu. This is also an excellent name, as it means “small pieces in a pan” – which is quite literally exactly what it is!
Personally, we’d say this is pretty much the same dish as Danish biksemad, especially because everyone just throws together what they have, so you can’t exactly argue that there are clear differences when everyone probably makes it slightly differently anyway. But one noted difference online appears to be that the Swedish version is cut into smaller pieces.
What you’ll need for this recipe
Unsurprisingly, the main ingredients you’ll need for biksemad are meat and potatoes. What kind of meat do you need? Really, anything will do. Primarily, Danes use pork, as mentioned above, or beef, but you can easily use chicken, sausages, or even ground meat. To fry everything together, make sure you have some oil or butter (whatever you like works just fine).
In terms of the potatoes, we would recommend using leftover boiled potatoes that are still a little bit firm. If they’re overcooked, they’ll turn into mush when you try to fry them. You could also use other root vegetables, like sweet potatoes, turnips, beets, celery, etc. Then, all you need is onion, parsley, salt and pepper. To serve, make sure you have some pickled beets and eggs to fry and add on top.
How to make biksemad
This recipe is super easy! Simply start by cutting your leftovers into chunks – make them whatever size you prefer. We don’t like them too small, but it’s up to you. Then, fry up the onion until it gets translucent, and add the leftovers. You want the heat to be up pretty high because you don’t want to cook the meat and potatoes much more, but you want them to be heated through and get a bit of color on them. Stir through a bit of fresh parsley, salt and pepper to taste, then serve with a fried egg on top and pickled beets on the side. A hearty Danish classic, perfect for an easy lunch or dinner!
Biksemad (Danish Meat and Potato Hash)
A hearty Danish classic made with leftover meat and potatoes, and topped with a beautiful fried egg!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil
- 100 grams onion
- 200 grams cooked pork/beef/chicken
- 300 grams leftover roasted or boiled potatoes or other root vegetable
- Chopped fresh parsley (can use other fresh herbs or greens to use up leftovers!)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 large eggs (optional, for serving)
- Pickled beets (optional, for serving)
Instructions
- Cut meat and root vegetables into small 1/2" or 1.5cm size cubes, if not already cut up. This recipe is incredibly flexible – you can use whatever leftover protein you have, and roasted/boiled potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, etc.
- Chop the onion finely.
- Heat up 1 tbsp of oil on the stove in a pan. Add onion and cook until translucent.
- Add in the leftover meat and root vegetables and turn up the heat to medium high. Stir until everything is heated through, making sure nothing burns and trying not to overcook the meat or potatoes. We like to add a little bit of color to the meat and potatoes. Add in parsley towards the end of cooking. If you need to adjust for seasoning, make sure to add extra salt and pepper, but since you're using leftovers, you may not need to add anything extra.
- In a separate pan, heat up another tbsp of oil. When heated, add in two eggs and fry to your desired doneness – we like over-medium eggs, but you can make them sunny side up too! Make sure to season these with salt and pepper as well.
- Divide the hash between two bowls/plates. Top with a fried egg and pickled beets, and garnish with any leftover chopped parsley. Enjoy!
