🥔 SIDE
Lanttulaatikko (Finnish Swede Casserole)
Mashed swede enriched with cream-soaked breadcrumbs, egg, dark syrup, ginger and nutmeg, baked slowly until the top is patterned brown, the Finnish Christmas casserole served beside the ham.
Finnish · easy · serves 8
prep 20 min · cook 105 min
~163 cal · 2g protein · 10g carbs · 13g fat · 0g fiber · 4g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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AI-generated illustration
Lanttulaatikko, swede casserole, is one of the laatikot, the oven-baked casseroles that fill the Finnish Christmas table alongside the ham, and Finns count it as one of the few Christmas dishes that is truly their own. It sits next to its cousins, the carrot casserole and the slightly sweet potato casserole,.
The swede, a yellow-fleshed root, is boiled until soft and mashed, then enriched with breadcrumbs soaked in cream, an egg, a little butter and dark syrup, and seasoned with salt, ground ginger, nutmeg and white pepper. The mixture is spread in a buttered dish, the top is patterned with a fork or sprinkled with more breadcrumbs, and it is baked in a moderate oven for over an hour until it is set and deep golden brown.
It is sweet, earthy and soft, and it tends to divide visitors, who either love it or find it an acquired taste.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 8
- 1 kg swede (rutabaga), peeled and cut in chunks
- 1 tsp salt, plus some for the cooking water
- 60 g dry breadcrumbs, plus 1 tbsp for the top
- 200 ml single cream
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp dark syrup (tumma siirappi) or golden syrup
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
- a pinch white pepper
- 30 g butter, plus a little for the dish
Instructions
- 1Cook the swede in lightly salted water for about 30 minutes, until very soft. Drain, keeping a little of the cooking water, and mash smooth, adding a splash of the water if it is stiff.
- 2While the swede cooks, soak the breadcrumbs in the cream. Heat the oven to 175°C and butter an ovenproof dish of about 1.5 litres.
- 3Stir the soaked breadcrumbs, egg, syrup, salt, ginger, nutmeg, white pepper and half the butter into the warm mash. Taste: it should be gently sweet and well seasoned.
- 4Spread the mixture in the dish, draw a pattern of lines over the top with a fork, sprinkle with the remaining breadcrumbs and dot with the rest of the butter.
- 5Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes, until set and deep golden brown on top. Serve warm with Christmas ham, or make it ahead and reheat.✎ Chef’s noteLike the other Christmas casseroles, it reheats well and many cooks think it improves after a day.
Finnish Christmas tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
North Karelia. North Karelia is the Finnish remainder of Karelia, the region that gave the country the karjalanpiirakka, a thin rye crust folded around rice or barley porridge and spread with egg butter; it spread nationwide with the Karelians displaced in the Second World War and now carries EU protected-name status. Its wider kitchen leans on rye, lake fish, forest mushrooms and berries, and slow oven-baked stews from the long dark winter.
🗺️
Finland. Finnish food is clean and forest-driven, rye bread, lake fish, game, wild berries, and mushrooms. Karelian pies, creamy salmon soup, and a deep culture of foraging and preserving define the Nordic table.
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Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Finland
Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian Pies)Little rye-crusted boats filled with creamy rice porridge, brushed with butter and topped with egg butter.
Hernekeitto (Finnish Pea Soup)A thick, slow-simmered soup of dried peas and smoked pork seasoned with marjoram, Finland's traditional Thursday soup, served with mustard.
Pannukakku (Finnish Oven Pancake)A single thick, custardy pancake baked in a hot buttered pan until puffed and golden, cut in squares and eaten with jam and berries.
Browse all Finland recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and reheats covered in the oven. Most bakes can be assembled a day ahead and baked when needed.
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Lanttulaatikko (Finnish Swede Casserole)?
Mashed swede enriched with cream-soaked breadcrumbs, egg, dark syrup, ginger and nutmeg, baked slowly until the top is patterned brown, the Finnish Christmas casserole served beside the ham.
Where does Lanttulaatikko (Finnish Swede Casserole) come from?
Lanttulaatikko (Finnish Swede Casserole) is a Finnish dish from North Karelia, Finland.
Can Lanttulaatikko (Finnish Swede Casserole) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Lanttulaatikko (Finnish Swede Casserole) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Lanttulaatikko (Finnish Swede Casserole) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Lanttulaatikko (Finnish Swede Casserole) take to make?
About 125 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 105 minutes cooking), serving 8.
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