Recipe

Traditional lutefisk recipe

This is the plate as Norwegians serve it: firm oven-baked fish, crisp bacon, hot bacon fat poured over at the table, green pea stew, almond potatoes and mustard.

Reviewed by Nicolai Radmer Nielsen, chef and seafood specialist at Fiskeruta, Norway.

Traditional Norwegian lutefisk served with bacon and pea stew

About this recipe

Serves four. The fish takes 40 minutes; everything else should be finished before it goes into the oven. Lutefisk does not wait — it is served the moment it comes out.

Timing is the whole trick

Cook the potatoes and pea stew first; both reheat happily. Fry the bacon and keep the fat. Then, and only then, put the fish in the oven. You have 35 minutes to set the table.

Serving

Let the fish rest for two minutes. Pour the hot bacon fat over it just before it reaches the table — it should sizzle. Mustard goes on the side, never in the fat.

Nicolai's rule: the bacon fat must be genuinely hot. Lukewarm fat sets on the plate and turns a good dish greasy.

Read next

See the cooking method in detail, or what lutefisk actually is.

Lutefisk.no is a Norwegian reference site on lutefisk, published by the seafood company Fiskeruta and reviewed by chef Nicolai Radmer Nielsen. The rest of the site is in Norwegian.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

  • Bacon and hot bacon fat, green pea stew, almond potatoes and mustard. Flatbread or lefse is common in northern Norway, and syrup or brown cheese appears on the west coast.