Scandi…Cooking?
At first glance, our blog seems like a very baking-focused blog. And that’s fair enough – it is called Skandibaking after all! But the truth is, we love cooking almost as much as we love baking, and we have shared a lot of dinner recipes over the past year and a half. So, today, we wanted to shine a bit of a spotlight on our savory recipes, especially the ones we often make ourselves in our daily lives!
Scandinavian Cuisine
Now, Scandinavian food is world-renowned, but that’s the fancy, fresh, Nordic cuisine that is served in the top restaurants in the world. Homemade, classic Scandi food is a lot more hearty and comforting than it is light and fresh. But that’s okay, because most of us aren’t looking to eat Michelin-star fancy food every day, and it’s a lot easier to cook homey recipes like ours.
In general, a hearty Scandinavian meal is made up of three main components: protein, carbs, and veggies. Traditionally, the protein is a type of meat – pork is very popular in Denmark – while the carb is usually potatoes. However, this is constantly changing – a lot of Scandinavians are vegetarians now, just like in the rest of the world, and people obviously don’t only eat potatoes anymore. We do share a lot of recipes for traditional food, though, so beware – there are a lot of potatoes in our recipes!
Meat Recipes
Our favorite classic dinner recipe is, without a doubt, meatballs. We have two variations, the Danish and the Swedish. The Danish meatballs are called frikadeller, they are super hearty and delicious with a crispy outside and juicy interior. They are made with pork, veal, and beef, but this can obviously be adjusted depending on your preferences. Serve them with mashed or boiled potatoes and a veggie of your choice and they are a super delicious and simple dinner! Recipe can be found here.
Köttbullar are the Swedish version of meatballs. They are smaller than frikadeller and are spiced with allspice and nutmeg, which gives them a very unique flavor. They are so delicious and addicting – it’s so easy to just keep eating them! Serve these in the traditional way – with mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and lingonberry jam. They are amazing – just ask anyone who shops at IKEA! Find the recipe at this link.
Fish Recipes
Any Scandinavian loves a delicious bit of fish for dinner – it’s healthy and super yummy! We have two recipes that we want to highlight here – fiskefrikadeller and fisk med persillesovs. Our fiskefrikadeller are made with cod, and they are actually really easy to make. They turn out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. You can also find an accompanying recipe for remoulade, the perfect dipping sauce! Check out the fiskefrikadeller recipe here!
Fisk med persillesovs is very simple – pan-fried cod served with a delicious parsley sauce. The cod is so flakey and perfectly cooked, and the parsley sauce is fragrant and pairs perfectly with the fish. Serve this with our recipe for hasselbackspotatis (Hasselback potatoes) and you will have created the perfect meal!
Vegetarian/Vegetarian-friendly Recipes
We have two madtærte (quiche) recipes that are so delicious and completely meat-free. The first is made with leeks and potatoes and the second has tomatoes, spinach, and mozzarella cheese. While quiche is not technically a Scandinavian dish, we grew up eating them and they match the hearty criteria for a comforting Scandinavian dinner! Find our potato and leek quiche recipe here and our summer quiche recipe here.
We also have a soup recipe that can be adapted to be vegetarian. The recipe is gule ærter, or split pea soup. Traditionally, it is made with bacon and ham, but this can be omitted or replaced with another vegetable, like mushrooms. Just make sure whatever replaces it gives it a savory or umami flavor! This soup is so comforting, like a big warm hug, and just absolutely delicious! Find the recipe here.
Find Other Recipes
This brings me to the end of this blog post – hope you enjoyed! I was only able to introduce a few of our dinner recipes, but we have many more on the blog. You can click here to view our entire “dinner” category of recipes. As I said, these recipes are very hearty and made with simple ingredients. Our goal is to create recipes that are easy to reproduce and as uncomplicated as possible. Let us know down below in the comments which of these recipes is your favorite, or which you would most like to try!
