What To Do With Potatoes? [6 Tasty Scandinavian Recipes!]
Potatoes are very tasty and healthy tubers that can do wonders to a meal.
There are several ways to prepare potatoes. We promote the healthier ways for cooking potatoes as it's easy to destroy the nutrients in them.
In this article you'll find 6 delicious and healthier recipes that are quite common in Scandinavia we hope you will try and enjoy!
Foods in general are healthier when you make them yourself. When producing semi-manufactured food the producers have to take account for a lot of factors that you don't normally have to.
For instance, you probably won't be transporting the food for hundreds, or even thousands of miles before you serve it. So you don't need additives that will preserve the color, taste and texture of the food.
This is especially true when it comes to potatoes.
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Healthiest Potatoes Are Made By You
Potatoes should be prepared from scratch. We recommend against buying frozen french fries that you heat in your oven and we certainly don’t recommend you buy fried fries at fast food restaurants.
When frying potatoes you also produce the substance acrylamide in them. Acrylamide is a carcinogenic substance!
You'll find the same carcinogenic substance in frozen fries.
If you want to read more about what makes potatoes healthy and unhealthy I recommend you read our article named Potatoes: What They Are & The Benefits Potatoes Can Provide!.
The most nutritious way to cook potatoes is to boil them. When cooked right potatoes provide you with a lot of health benefits.
Among other things, potatoes are rich in vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium, iron and fiber.
The skin of the potato contains much of these nutrients. So, to maximize the health benefits from your potatoes you shouldn't peel of the skin.
There are ways to cook potatoes that preserves its healthy nutrients and also bring out the flavors them.
With potatoes, aswell as many other healthy foods, you can eat and keep the cake at the same time!
Here's 6 recipes for you to try out!
We've also made our very own non-scientific Care Omnia taste test on some of the recipes.
Our three children aged 4, 9 and 13 and then me, Sara, and my husband Peter, tests and "grades" if it's yummie or not.
TMBoiled Potatoes With A Scandinavian Twist
How to boil potatoes might not be something you need a recipe for but I want to show you how you might spice up an ordinary pot of boiled potatoes.
In Scandinavia, the potato harvest is during the summer. This is when we eat our own domestically grown potatoes instead of imported ones.
We call the potatoes “fresh potatoes” or “new potatoes”. These potatoes are usually a bit smaller than the potatoes we eat the rest of the year.
Recipe for New Potatoes With Fresh Dill leaves
New potatoes boiled with fresh dill leaves for that extra flavor
Category: Vegetables
Cuisine: Scandinavian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients (4 servings)
- 10 potatoes
- Salt, 3 tea spoons per quart (1 l water)
- Fresh Dill Leaves
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes and place them in a pan with cold water. Do not peel them.
- Add a little salt and dill
- Bring the water to boil
- Check the potatoes from time to time with a potato stick or fork
- When you get through without resistance, the potatoes are ready. It usually takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Be careful not to overcook them.
- Pour off the water and remove the dill
- The potatoes are ready!
- Cut some fresh dill over the potato. This makes it delicious and look luxurious when served.
Enjoy your new potatoes with a scandinavian twist!
Potato Gratin (Time saver!)
Potato gratin is a delicious classic! It works both on ordinary weekdays as well as the more festive occasions.
You can easily vary the taste by mixing different kinds of cheese, adding garlic or various herbs, mushrooms or zucchini.
Recipe for My Own Potato Gratin
A cheesy, creamy and tasty gratin that’s oven baked.
Category: Vegetables
Cuisine: Scandinavian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 70 minutes
Ingredients (4 servings)
- about 10-12 potatoes
- 2 yellow unions
- 1 teaspoon if salt
- a pinch of pepper
- 3 cups of heavy cream
- 2 cups of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (any hard cheese works, but we recommend you choose the ones with intense flavors)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 200 ° C or 392 ° F
- Peel and slice the potatoes thinly
- Peel and chop or slice the onion
- Butter a baking dish
- Mix together cream, salt and pepper into a bowl
- Arrange some of the potato slices, in a single layer on the bottom of the prepared baking dish
- Arrange the onions on top of the potato slices
- Sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese over the onions
- Pour 1/3 of the cream mixture over top
- Repeat with the remaining potatoes, onions, cheese and cream, forming 3 layers. Pour any leftover cream over top
- Finally put a thick layer of cheese on top
- Place in the oven and bake, for 60-70 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and golden brown on top
Let the gratin sit for about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Care Omnia Tip!
This dish can be pre-made a day ahead. Put everything together except the thick layer of cheese on top.
Cover the gratin tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.
Before putting it in the oven, let it rest for a while, put on the top layer of cheese and it's ready to be baked!
This is how the potato gratin fared in our very own Care Omnia taste test
The older children didn't care for the potato gratin.
Our 4 year old usually don't like any food that comes in gratin-form, said if you eat a small pieces, it's okay, but more.. noo
The 13 year old edible but not okay
. My husband didn't really say anything, he just nodded and all we heard was a "mmmm".
I myself love this gratin. It's healthy and delicious at the same time.
Oven Baked French Fries, Healthier Fries!
You don’t have to use the fryer to make french fries. You can make delicious and much more healthier fries in your own oven!
Be careful when cutting the potatoes so that you get evenly sized bits. Make sure that the oil covers all sides of the cut potatoes and remember to salt.
These fries will amaze you!
I dare you to try them!
Recipe for My Tasty Oven Baked French Fries
Crispy, delicious and healthy oven baked french fries.
Category: Vegetables
Cuisine: Scandinavian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients (4 servings)
- 10 potatoes
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- Sea salt
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 200 ° C or 392 ° F
- Scrub the potatoes, please leave the skin. It’s both delicious and healthy
- Cut away the long sides of the potato. Make as rectangular a shape as possible (but save the long sides, they are also tasty!)
- Cut the potatoes into 1 cm thick slices, and cut the slices into equal sized French fries
- Put everything in a bowl of cold water, and rinse until the water is clear, to remove the starch
- Wipe the potato pins dry with paper towels
- Pour the water out of the bowl and put the French fries back
- Pour over olive oil and turn around the potatoes carefully. This is an important step, so make sure all sides of the pieces are covered with oil!
- Place the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Make sure the pieces do not lie on top of each other
- Oven bake for half an hour, turn around every 10 minutes
- Watch them from time to time, they are ready when the French fries are golden
Salt generously and Serve directly! Enjoy!
Care Omnia Tip!
You can vary your fries by cutting them to different shapes. Why not try cutting them in potato wedges for instance?
Potato Buns The Scandinavian Way
Potato buns in Scandinavia are actually potato mash that you form to a bun and cook. Not bread or rolls that contain potato flour or some potatoes.
In Scandinavia, we have potato buns with for instance pork. Children usually love potato buns especially with some lingonberry jam on top!
If you like to try out these delicious potato buns, here’s the recipe!
Recipe for My Homemade Potato Buns
Scandinavian potato buns of mashed potatoes you can serve for dinner
Category: Vegetables
Cuisine: Scandinavian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients (5 servings)
- 10 potatoes
- 1 cup of milk
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 2 eggs
- 0,5 cup of breadcrumbs
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Scale and cut the potatoes into smaller pieces and cook them softly
- Squeeze them through a potato press and add hot milk and butter
- Season with salt and pepper. Let it cool!
- Mix the mashed potatoes with eggs and breadcrumbs to a smooth batter
- From the batter to round balls with your hands. Flat to them somewhat
- Cook until they are golden brown
Enjoy these delicious buns!
Don't forget to make or buy some lingonberry jam! It works wonders with the potato buns.
We have a recipe on a tasty lingonberry jam if you want to make your own.
If you want to instead buy the jam, you can find our top recommendations for jams and other products made of lingonberries in our Recommended By Care Omnia: Lingonberries page.
This is how the potato buns fared in our very own Care Omnia taste test
We tested the potato buns together with raw-stirred lingonberry jam.
I have to say that the texture was a bit mealy. Something the 13 year old agreed with me.
The other three really liked it. Our 9 year old even went as far as amazing!
and ate the whole plate after the picture was taken.
Potato Pancakes The Swedish Way
Potato pancake is a Swedish dish that's only grown in popularity over the years. Especially when you serve it with bacon and lingonberry jam!
There are variants of these potato pancakes in other countries aswell; for instance British potato cakes, German’s Kartoffelpuffer, Belarusian’s Draniki, or Korean Gamja-jeon.
Recipe for My Swedish Potato Pancakes
Golden potato pancakes served best with bacon and lingonberry jam
Category: Vegetables
Cuisine: Scandinavian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients (4 servings)
- 1 cup wheat flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 10-12 potatoes (firm)
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Put flour with half of the milk into a bowl and whisk to a smooth batter.
- Whisk the rest of the milk, eggs and salt into the batter
- Scale and grate the potatoes roughly
- Squeeze out the liquid out of the potatoes and put the potatoes in the batter immediately (so it doesn’t darken.)
- Heat a little of the fat in a frying pan, medium heat
- When hot, cook your potato pancakes for 2 min on each side until golden
- A tip is to keep them warm in a low heated oven as you go
Tip for serving: Serve the potato pancake with bacon and lingonberry jam for that special Scandinavian experience! Enjoy!
If you want to make your own lingonberry jam for these pancakes, we have two recipes on traditional lingonberry jam and raw-stirred lingonberry jam that you can find in our article named Is Lingonberry Jam Good For You? What Is It Made Out Of?.
Or if you like to buy some lingonberry jam you can find nice jams in our Recommended By Care Omnia: Lingonberries page.
This is how the Swedish potato pancakes fared in our very own Care Omnia taste test
Potato pancakes are a favorite in our home, especially togheter with bacon and raw-stirred lingonberry jam. So everybody loved these. No surprise there!
The 13 year old Really good, not mealy! I like the tasty chunky potato bits!
The 9 year old and the 4 year old insisted on having raspberry jam instead of lingonberry jam.
So the 9 year olds verdict were Tasty! tastes like pancakes with raspberry jam
.
My husbands thoughts about the pancakes: "Nice and satisfying!"
I agree with that, they're tasty and also filling, more than an ordinary pancake.
Hasselback potatoes or Potato à la Hasselbacken
Hasselback potatoes are a Scandinavian classic!
They are a type of oven baked potatoes. The potatoes are about halfway cut through into thin slices.
Various toppings of herbs and spices can be added on top of the potatoes. Usually you also have cheese on top.
You can leave the potato skin on, for that extra healthy potato and also for a bit more texture.
It’s also okay to peel them, that’s how they did it in the original recipe. We prefer to keep the skin on though.
It’s usually served on more festive occasions!
Hasselback potatoes were created in Sweden in the mid 20th century in a restaurant called Hasselbacken in Stockholm.
Recipe for Hasselback Potatoes
Oven baked potatoes, cut into thin slices, but not the whole way through.
Category: Vegetables
Cuisine: Scandinavian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients (4 servings)
- 6-8 even sized solid potatoes
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons grated cheese
Instructions
- Heat the oven: 225 ° C or 437 ° F
- Peel or wash the potatoes
- Cut the potatoes into thin slices, but not all the way through. The bottom part of the potatoes must be intact. A great tip is to put the potatoes in a larger wooden spoon so it lies firmly and you do not cut it all the way by mistake. Space the slices 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch apart
- Place the potatoes with the sliced side up in a baking dish
- Brush them with half the butter
- Bake in the middle of the oven, about 20-30 minutes
- Take them out and brush with some more butter, make sure some of the fat drips down into the space between the slices
- Sprinkle salt and grated cheese on top of each potato
- Bake the potatoes for another 20-30 minutes until the potatoes are soft in the middle and crispy on the edges
- Serve immediately. These potatoes are best straight from the oven while the edges are at their crispiest
Enjoy this old Swedish delicacy!
This is how the hasselback potatoes fared in our very own Care Omnia taste test
We don't do Hasselback potatoes often. When we do it's for a more festive occation. It's pretty fun to make, but you need to plan for the time required.
You can't rush it as you'll cut right through the potatoes if you aren't careful. Although the big woden spoon works wonders.
The two older chilren thought Okay, but... humm.. not really
The 4 year old was very pleased and imitated his dad's Mmmmm
Conclusion: Potatoes Are Amazing. What do you think?
Potatoes are both delicious and healthy. We've put together these recipes to inspire you to try making potatoes both in a healthy way and with a scandinavian twist.
Some of these recipes you might not have heard about before but we hope we've managed to inspire you to try them out!
To get the best of the health benefits from the potato you should eat it with the skin intact and be sure to only boil or oven bake them.
If you want to know more about the health benefits potatoes can provide I recommend that you read our article titled Potatoes: What They Are & The Benefits Potatoes Can Provide!.
Some of these recipes require you to peel the potato. We recommend as a first choice to leave the skin on, because that's the healthiest way to eat them, but on the other hand, one needs to vary some!
Good luck with your cooking!
