Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Fårikål
Norway's national dish: lamb and cabbage layered with whole peppercorns and simmered until tender.
Norwegian · easy · serves 6
prep 15 min · cook 120 min
~497 cal · 48g protein · 2g carbs · 32g fat · 0g fiber · 0g sugars · 14g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Farikal, literally "mutton in cabbage", is so beloved in Norway that it has its own official national day, celebrated on the last Thursday of every September as the autumn turns cold. For a dish of such simplicity, it inspires real devotion, and many Norwegian families cook it on that day as a matter of ritual.
The recipe could hardly be plainer. Chunks of lamb or mutton on the bone are stacked in a heavy pot in layers with wedges of cabbage, scattered with whole black peppercorns and a little flour to thicken, then barely covered with water and simmered slowly for hours. That is all there is to it.
The long, gentle cooking does the work: the meat falls from the bone, the cabbage turns soft and silky, and the peppercorns perfume the whole pot. Served with boiled potatoes, it is unfussy, warming autumn food, and a taste of Norwegian home cooking at its most honest.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, 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 6
2.5 lb lamb, bone-in, cut in pieces
1 large head green cabbage, in wedges
2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
2 tbsp flour (optional, to thicken)
3 cups water
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Layer the lamb (or mushrooms and beans) and cabbage in a pot, meat at the bottom with the fat side down, scattering peppercorns, flour, and salt between the layers.
✎ Chef’s note
Use roughly equal weights of meat and cabbage, and pick a fatty bone-in cut like shoulder; the bone and fat are where the flavour comes from.
2
Pour in just a few cups of water, nowhere near enough to cover.
✎ Chef’s note
Resist topping the pot up. The cabbage gives out a great deal of liquid as it cooks, and too much water at the start leaves you with a thin broth instead of a concentrated farikalkraft.
3
Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer very gently.
4
Cook about 1.5-2 hours until the lamb is falling apart and the cabbage is silky.
5
Serve in deep bowls with boiled potatoes.
Vestland tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Vestland (Bergen). Vestland is the fjord coast around Bergen, where a fish market has traded for eight hundred years. Cod, salmon, and shellfish dominate, preserved by salting, drying, and smoking through long winters, and turned into creamy fish soup, fishcakes, and the cured salmon Norwegians eat year round.
🗺️
Norway. Norway's cuisine is shaped by cold seas and long winters, salmon, cod, and shrimp alongside preserved fish, brown cheese, and hearty root vegetables. Fresh seafood and a tradition of preserving define the Nordic coast.
🌍
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 Norway
Norwegian Vafler (Heart Waffles)Soft, cardamom-scented waffles cooked in a heart-shaped iron, served warm with brown cheese, jam, or sour cream.
FiskekakerLight pan-fried fish cakes bound with milk and potato starch, a Norwegian everyday staple served with vegetables.
SkolebrødCardamom buns cradling a pool of vanilla custard, iced and edged with coconut, a Norwegian bakery favorite.
Browse all Norway recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Norway meal
RømmegrøtDessert
FiskekakerLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Fårikål?
Norway's national dish: lamb and cabbage layered with whole peppercorns and simmered until tender.
Where does Fårikål come from?
Fårikål is a Norwegian dish from Vestland (Bergen), Norway.
Can Fårikål be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Fårikål 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 Fårikål 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 Fårikål take to make?
About 135 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 120 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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