Eating Traditional Cuisine in Norway: What to Expect

Food in Norway is deeply rooted in its landscapes, with culinary traditions shaped by the country’s lengthy coastline, vast forests, and varied climate.

Whether you’re feasting on freshly caught king crab, savoring a hearty bowl of fårikål, or indulging in some delicious homemade waffles, traditional Norwegian food offers a blend of simplicity and richness, reflecting the country’s natural bounty.

Boasting the second-longest coastline in the world, it’s no surprise that fish and seafood play a starring role in Norwegian cuisine. And its freshness is something that visitors notice immediately. Unlike in other parts of the world, where fish is frozen and shipped long distances before it reaches the plate, in Norway the catch goes directly from boat to table.

Cod is a particular favorite, known by locals as skrei – a term derived from Old Norse for “the wanderer” that refers to its travelling habits. Skrei grow up in the Barents Sea but every year they swim some 600 miles to the seas around Lofoten, Senja, and Vesterålen, where they were conceived. The long journey means skrei meat is leaner, whiter, and firmer than that of coastal cod, which tend to stay in the same area.

Commonly found along the Norwegian coast in the cold North Atlantic Ocean, the ling is a deepwater fish is often caught as bycatch in the nets of fishermen. Its firm, white flesh bears a resemblance to cod, and can be served fresh, salted, or dried. A particularly popular traditional dish in the Nordics is lutefisk, where the fish is dried, salted, and aged in lye.

Lyngenfjord in the far north of Norway is not known for its balmy temperatures, but that’s exactly what makes the shrimp that spawn here taste so good. Roughly 65 feet beneath the fjord’s surface – and many more beneath the towering mountains that surround it – the temperature rarely exceeds 35°F. The cold, clean, nutrient-rich water means the prawns grow slowly, so they are sweeter and juicier than bigger species.

Local fishing boats deliver their catch directly to the shrimp processing plant on the edge of the fjord. The weather can make Lyngen a tough fjord to fish in, but the flavor of these shrimp makes it well worth the effort.

King crab is another delicacy you’ll want to try, especially if you’re visiting Arctic Norway. Fresh from the cold and black Barents Sea, it is immediately flown down to fine-dining restaurants in Europe, where it sold for prices only comparable with the most exclusive steaks.

But nothing can compare with the experience of tasting king crab just minutes after it has been freshly pulled up from the seabed. And the further north you go, the more affordable it becomes. If you're travelling on a Hurtigruten cruise, you can choose from a number of king crab safari excursions that offer the chance to savor these sweet, succulent crustaceans fresh from the icy Norwegian waters.

Norway’s forests and mountains offer a wealth of fantastic meat and game. Dishes tend to be simple and hearty, accompanied by unassuming sides like boiled potatoes and lefse (a traditional Norwegian bread).

One of the most loved is fårikål, a comforting stew of slow-cooked mutton and cabbage, which has been voted Norway’s national dish in several polls. It’s particularly popular in fall and is celebrated with its own special day on the last Thursday of September.

Norwegian lamb is famous worldwide, and it’s no wonder – our stunning valleys and fjords offer ideal conditions for farming sheep. No Christmas is complete without pinnekjøtt (ribs), a beloved Norwegian dish traditionally served on Christmas Eve. Meaning ‘stick meat’, the ribs are typically steamed over birch branches, giving the meat an earthy, smoky flavour.

Norwegian lamb is famous worldwide, and it’s no wonder – our stunning valleys and fjords offer ideal conditions for farming sheep. No Christmas is complete without pinnekjøtt (ribs), a beloved Norwegian dish traditionally served on Christmas Eve. Meaning ‘stick meat’, the ribs are typically steamed over birch branches, giving the meat an earthy, smoky flavor.

In times past, the fishermen of Lofoten and Vesterålen were known to hang legs of lamb on the masts of their boats. The lamb would dry in the sea air as they worked, a reminder of the tasty reward waiting for them at the end of their trip.

But you won’t see any meat hanging from the mast of a Hurtigruten ship. We source our lamb from Mydland in Tromsø, where it is salted and hung for four to six weeks. Once aged, the lamb is especially delicious served with lefse, sour cream, and lingonberries.

(Image credit: Broadstone/René Bjerregaard – Visit Norway)

Reindeer has a special place at the Norwegian table. Up in the north, you’ll find over 250,000 reindeer roaming the Finnmark plateau, herded by the indigenous Sámi people for generations. They make use of every part of the animal, from the fur for clothing to the meat for food.

Reindeer meat is tender and rich, and we cook it simply – sometimes dried, sometimes roasted, or served in a stew called bidos (the Sámi national dish, pictured above). It’s Norwegian cooking at its best, letting the flavor of the land speak for itself, unadorned and pure.

On lunch menus, you may come across meatballs served on open-faced sandwiches. The Norwegian smørbrød tradition is similar to the Danish smørrebrød, and features buttered rye bread topped with liver pâté, smoked salmon, or veggies.

No trip to Norway is complete without sampling brunost, a unique brown cheese that is an intrinsic and iconic part of our cultural identity and heritage.

(Image credit: Maverix Media - Visit Norway)

While similar cheese had been eaten for centuries, the creation of modern brunost is attributed to farmer’s wife, Anne Hov, in the late 19th century. It became, and remains, so popular that in 1933, she received the King’s Medal for Merit for her contribution to Norway’s cuisine and economy.

Made by adding cream to goat’s or cow’s milk whey and boiling off the liquid, brunost is a sweet, rich cheese with a hint of caramel. It’s eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as a snack on waffles, crispbreads, and open sandwiches, and is used as an ingredient in game meat sauces, and many other recipes besides. It really is quintessential to Norwegian cuisine.

Orchards have been a staple of the Norwegian landscape since the Vikings. You’ll find hundreds of fruit farms across the country, growing everything from apples and pears to strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, and cherries. The combination of long, sunny days, mild temperatures, and a largely unpolluted environment creates the perfect conditions for fruit to mature gradually – making Norwegian produce some of the tastiest in the world.

Hardangerfjord is the epicentre of Norway’s fruit basket, its orchards renowned for being some of the prettiest in the world. In spring, the region’s 600,000 fruit trees blooming spectacularly with pink and white flowers is a sight to behold. Come fall, they become heavy with juicy apples and berries, ripe for picking and producing award-winning cider.

(Image credit: Simon Sjøkvist/Visit Hardangerfjord - Visit Norway)

Long before blueberries were labelled a superfood and added to health-giving smoothies everywhere, us Norwegians were foraging them for juices and jams. Norway’s cool summers with plenty of rain are the perfect climate for the berries, and bushes cover the inland areas. No wonder wild blueberry picking is a distinctly Norwegian summertime tradition.

A more unusual Norwegian fruit is the multe (cloudberry), often considered the ‘gold of the north’. They grow wild in the marshlands of the northern hemisphere and are notoriously hard to forage for and practically impossible to cultivate. Good foraging spots are closely guarded secrets. Ripe cloudberries are amber hued, juicy and look a little like a raspberry. The taste is unique, an unmistakable combination of sweetness and tartness.

Norwegians have loved cloudberries since at least the Vikings, who took them on voyages to help prevent scurvy. Not only are cloudberries delicious and rare, they’re also packed with Vitamin C as well as high levels of zinc, magnesium, and beta carotene. No wonder they’re considered a treasure of the Norwegian coast.

We Norwegians have a very sweet tooth. Nothing beats the taste (and smell!) of freshly baked kanelboller (cinnamon buns), served straight from the oven. Or soft and sweet vafler (heart-shaped waffles), topped with a healthy dollop of sour cream, a spoonful of cloudberry jam, or a smear of brunost.

At Christmastime, it’s traditional to bake seven different types of cookie to bring good luck for the festive period. Among them are krumkake and sandbakkels, delicate, buttery cookies rolled into cones or shaped in beautiful moulds. Sandnøtter (sand nuts) are also popular, a simply, crumbly cookie with a rich hint of vanilla.

Food is an integral part of all celebrations in Norway, from weddings and confirmations to Christmas, Easter, and of course, our national day.

One of the national dishes of Norway, sodd has been the traditional main course at special occasion banquets for centuries. From ancient times right up until the 1970s, local village chefs kept this tradition alive, and whenever there was a party in the village, they would make this soup for the guests.

The name sodd is likely derived from the old Norse word sjoda, meaning ‘to boil’, which is the main step in the soup’s preparation. First, we make a broth using beef or mutton. After seasoning the broth with salt, pepper, and other herbs, we boil meatballs in the stock to serve with boiled potatoes and carrots, plus some skjenning, a type of Norwegian flatbread, on the side.

(Image credit: Maverix Media - Visit Norway)

For many Norwegians, a special occasion isn’t special without a taste of rømmegrøt. We love to feast on this sour cream porridge, especially when we retreat to our cabins in the mountains. It is the ultimate comfort food, whether topped with sugar and cinnamon or served with lefse and cured meat.

The suksessterte ('success tart') certainly has an apt name given how well this dessert goes down at all kinds of festive occasions. Whether for our National Day on 17 May, birthday parties, or wedding receptions, no cake table is complete without it.

Thought to have originated in northern Norway, the tart is comprised of an earthy biscuit base topped with a creamy vanilla custard that has been whipped together with generous dollops of butter. Some like to add almonds to the base and to top the custard with a few streaks of melted chocolate. Thanks to its creamy custard topping, success tart often appears at Easter, which, inspired by spring’s first bloom of daffodils, us Norwegians tend to associate with the color yellow.