🥙 LUNCH
Ärtsoppa med Pannkakor (Thursday Pea Soup and Pancakes)
Sweden's Thursday lunch in two courses: a thick yellow pea soup simmered with salt pork, thyme and marjoram and served with mustard, then thin pancakes with jam and whipped cream.
Swedish · medium · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 150 min
~1000 cal · 58g protein · 105g carbs · 39g fat · 22g fiber · 33g sugars · 19g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Ärtsoppa och pannkakor, yellow pea soup followed by pancakes, is the Swedish Thursday lunch, served in homes, school canteens, workplace lunchrooms and the armed forces across the country. The custom is old: peas with pork have medieval roots, and serving a filling meal on Thursday is usually traced to Catholic times, when Friday was a fast day. The Reformation ended the fasting rules, but the Thursday soup stayed.
The soup is made from whole dried yellow peas, soaked overnight and simmered for hours with salted pork, onion and dried thyme and marjoram until the peas collapse into a thick, rustic purée. Each bowl gets a spoonful of Swedish mustard stirred through at the table, and the pork is cut up and served in the soup or on the side.
Pancakes joined the meal in the 18th century: thin, crêpe-like, fried in butter and eaten afterwards with jam and whipped cream. Some still drink a small glass of warm punsch with it, but the soup and pancakes are the part everyone keeps.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally nut-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
- 500 g dried whole yellow peas, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water
- 2 litres water (for the soup)
- 600 g lightly salted pork belly or shoulder (rimmat fläsk), in one piece
- 1 large onion, peeled
- 2 whole cloves, stuck into the onion
- 1 tbsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp dried marjoram
- to taste salt
- 6 tsp Swedish mustard, to serve
- 180 g plain flour (for the pancakes)
- 3 eggs (for the pancakes)
- 600 ml whole milk (for the pancakes)
- 1 tbsp sugar (for the pancakes)
- 3 tbsp butter, for frying the pancakes
- 200 g jam (strawberry or raspberry), to serve
- 200 ml whipping cream, whipped, to serve
Instructions
- 1Drain and rinse the soaked peas, put them in a large pot with the 2 litres of cold water and bring to the boil. Skim off the foam and any pea skins that float up.
- 2Stud the onion with the cloves and add it with the pork, thyme and marjoram. Simmer gently, partly covered, for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring now and then so the soup does not catch, until the peas have broken down and the pork is tender.✎ Chef’s noteStir more often towards the end: as the peas collapse the soup thickens and scorches easily on the bottom.
- 3Lift out the pork and the onion. Cut the pork into cubes and return it to the soup (or serve it on the side). Thin with a little water if the soup is too thick and season with salt.
- 4For the pancakes, whisk the flour, eggs, sugar and a pinch of salt with half the milk to a smooth batter, then whisk in the rest of the milk and rest 15 minutes.
- 5Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat with a little butter, pour in a thin layer of batter and swirl to cover the pan. Cook about 1 minute a side until golden, then stack and keep warm.
- 6Serve the soup first, each bowl with a spoonful of mustard to stir in, then the pancakes folded in quarters with jam and whipped cream.
Swedish Thursday lunch tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Skåne. Sweden's southern Skåne is the country's larder, rich farmland, apples, and a love of hearty food, egg cakes, and long summer feasts. Danish-influenced and fertile, it eats generously.
🗺️
Sweden. Swedish food balances comfort and thrift, meatballs with lingonberry, cured and pickled herring, crispbread, and the ritual of fika (coffee and cake). Preserving, foraging, and a love of the seasons shape 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 Sweden
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HavregrötWarm oat porridge topped with lingonberry or blueberry and a splash of cold milk.
RäksmörgåsA lavish open sandwich piled high with cold peeled shrimp, egg, and dill mayonnaise, a Swedish lunch indulgence.
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Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan, Pot or saucepan, Whisk.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Ärtsoppa med Pannkakor (Thursday Pea Soup and Pancakes)?
Sweden's Thursday lunch in two courses: a thick yellow pea soup simmered with salt pork, thyme and marjoram and served with mustard, then thin pancakes with jam and whipped cream.
Where does Ärtsoppa med Pannkakor (Thursday Pea Soup and Pancakes) come from?
Ärtsoppa med Pannkakor (Thursday Pea Soup and Pancakes) is a Swedish dish from Skåne, Sweden.
Can Ärtsoppa med Pannkakor (Thursday Pea Soup and Pancakes) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ärtsoppa med Pannkakor (Thursday Pea Soup and Pancakes) 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 Ärtsoppa med Pannkakor (Thursday Pea Soup and Pancakes) 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 Ärtsoppa med Pannkakor (Thursday Pea Soup and Pancakes) take to make?
About 180 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 150 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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