Best Scandinavian Christmas recipes (2025)

FAQs

What is Scandinavia's Christmas food? ›

These lunches will usually consist of a smörgåsbord of bread and fish along with generous amounts of beers, spirits and wine followed by singing and toasts. The big Christmas dinner, meanwhile, is traditionally held on the 24th and involves a sumptuous feast of pork, red cabbage, potatoes and gravy.

Christmas presents are under the lighted tree, candles shine brightly and the smorgasbord (or smörgåsbord, as it's written in Swedish) has been prepared with all the classic dishes: Christmas ham, pork sausage, an egg and anchovy mixture (gubbröra), herring salad, pickled herring, home-made liver pâté, wort-flavoured ...

Finland. There's more to Christmas in Finland than just the Jolly Old Elf, though. You can shop at the Old Market Hall in Helsinki and find all sorts of traditional treats, including herring, salmon, reindeer kebabs and bear fat soap. Or, you can even visit Rovaniemi – a charming village known as Santa's hometown.

Christmas food, drinks and snacks

The most popular Christmas Eve dinner is the ribbe (pork ribs or pork belly, bone in), but lutefisk (cod cured in lye), pinnekjøtt (dry-cured ribs of lamb), boiled cod, ham roast and turkey are also common dishes.

Christmas dinner is a serious affair. Traditionally, you will be sat at a table for a good few hours, eating a meal of roast pork and duck plus boiled potatoes, red cabbage and gravy. Risalamande is the big Christmas dessert, a rice pudding topped with cherry sauce where a whole almond will be hiding.

The main dish is usually a large Christmas ham, which is eaten with mustard. The ham is served with beetroot-carrot-potato-salad called rosolli, mushroom salad and casserole (laatikko) made with swede, carrot or potato or all three kind of casseroles, occasionally also a liver casserole.

Julbord is served from early December until just before Christmas at restaurants and until Epiphany in some homes. Mulled wine glögg, gingerbread cookies and saffron buns are served throughout December.

On Christmas Eve (24 December) most Norwegians gather for a traditional meal and the opening of presents, and sometimes Father Christmas will pay them a visit. All in all, the whole country is an ongoing huge festival of lightsthat keeps on shining for weeks after New Year's Eve to preserve that fairy tale spirit.

Santa Claus Village is located in Rovaniemi, Finland, the official hometown of Santa Claus. Santa Claus has made Lapland in Northern Finland his home for centuries, and the Arctic Circle is close to his heart because many Christmas secrets are rooted in this magical place.

What is Nordic Christmas style? ›

A typical Scandinavian holiday color palette is a white base woven with silver sparkle and bold pops of red, but don't be afraid to get creative and allow room for your own personality and design style.

Jul or jol ([jʉːɽ]) is the term used for the Christmas holiday season in Scandinavia and parts of Scotland. Originally, jul was the name of a month in the old Germanic calendar.

In Norway, two traditional dishes are contenders for the most popular Christmas dinners – “ribbe” (pork rib) and “pinnekjøtt” (lamb or mutton rib). Whilst the former has been the overall prime choice for years, the popularity of pinnekjøtt grows for each passing year.

Lutfisk is made of dried cod that has been preserved in lye. This gelatinous fish is a popular dish at many Swedish Christmas tables. Fans would say not to knock it until you've tried it.

First thing first, the Swedish christmas food is called Julbord, that translates to christmas table. It's basically a smorgasbord with a few dishes that is only available during christmas. The julbord is available in many restaurants in Sweden from the end of november until christmas eve.

In Scandinavia it is customary to stay in with close family and friends and celebrate the night with good company. Christmas music, decorating Christmas cookies and good conversation is what Little Christmas Eve is all about.

Risalamande - Danish Rice Pudding

Risalamande has been a beloved Christmas dessert in Denmark for decades. It is known from around year 1900, when the upper class began serving Risalamande with cherry sauce for Christmas instead of rice porridge.

During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Swedes gather to enjoy saffron buns ('lussekatter'), a steaming hot drink similar to mulled wine ('glögg') and gingerbread biscuits ('pepparkakor').