Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Lohikeitto
A creamy salmon soup with potato, leek, and dill, the warming everyday bowl of the Finnish table.
Finnish · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 25 min
~746 cal · 39g protein · 32g carbs · 50g fat · 4g fiber · 4g sugars · 23g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Lohikeitto, salmon soup, is one of Finland's most cherished everyday dishes, a creamy, dill-flecked bowl that turns up on home tables and in market halls across the country. In a land of long, cold winters and abundant fish, it is pure nourishment.
Chunks of salmon gently in a broth of potato, leek, and carrot, enriched with cream and finished with a generous handful of fresh dill and a knob of butter. It is deliberately simple, letting the sweetness of the salmon and the fragrance of the dill lead, and is served with dark rye bread.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, egg-, 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 4
1 1/2 lb salmon fillet, cubed
4 potatoes, diced
1 leek, sliced
1 carrot, diced
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp butter
1 big handful fresh dill
4 allspice berries
Instructions
1
Simmer the potato, leek, and carrot in seasoned water with the allspice until nearly tender.
2
Add the cream and bring to a gentle simmer.
3
Add the cubed salmon and poach gently until just cooked, about 5 minutes.
✎ Chef’s note
Add the salmon at the very end and keep the heat low. Boiled hard, it toughens and breaks apart into shreds.
4
Stir in the butter and most of the dill, and serve with the rest scattered over.
Finnish home cooking.
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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. Foraging here is a legal right, not a hobby. Jokamiehenoikeus, everyman's right, lets anyone walk on most land and pick berries and mushrooms regardless of who owns it, which is why lingonberries, bilberries, cloudberries and chanterelles are ordinary household food rather than expensive ingredients.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
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
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Finland meal
MustikkapiirakkaDessert
Karjalanpaisti (Karelian Hot Pot)Dinner
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Lohikeitto?
A creamy salmon soup with potato, leek, and dill, the warming everyday bowl of the Finnish table.
Where does Lohikeitto come from?
Lohikeitto is a Finnish dish from North Karelia, Finland.
Can Lohikeitto be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Lohikeitto recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Lohikeitto 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 count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), 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 Lohikeitto take to make?
About 40 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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