Finnish Salmon Soup- Lohikeitto

This soup is a traditional and very common Finnish lunch, appetizer or dinner. It’s sold everywhere and it’s honestly one of the best foods that comes from Finland, in my opinion.

Serve with a piece of rye bread and you are basically going to start speaking Finnish (except JK ’cause it’s way hard!). Even better if you can get your hands on a piece of Saaristolaisleipä (archipelago bread). It’s the best bread ever and I need to learn how to make it.

I joined a Facebook page for Finnish cooking and someone in the group sent this recipe to me when I asked for a traditional salmon soup recipe. I just had to turn it from metric measurements to American measurements.

If you want to, say a prayer of gratitude for the nice cubes of butter so nicely measured out for you. I miss those beauties that make it so you don’t have to get out a kitchen scale every time you need butter. I don’t love the 500-gram blocks of butter, let me tell you. Hashtag first world problems. (update- Now back in America and I miss European butter! It is so much yummier with a higher fat percentage. Though I’m grateful for cubes of butter!)

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we have. It’s definitely a recipe I will continue to make after moving back to America.

My other most favorite Finnish food is this dessert. It’s called Laskiaspulla and they’re sweet cardamum buns filled with almost paste, jam, and whipped cream. I make them once a year at least and they’re Finland’s Fat Tuesday food they eat like King Cake is eaten in Louisiana.

Updated with new pictures on 1/9/25. Originally posted on 10/30/19.

Finnish Salmon Soup- Lohikeitto

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This soup is a traditional and very common Finnish lunch, appetizer, or dinner. In my opinion, it is the best food to come from Finland.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: Feeds about 6-8 1x

Ingredients

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1 lb salmon filet, skinned and cut into apx 1 inch chunks, reserve the skin. (or use 1 pound of a whole salmon so you can use the head and skeleton to make the broth)

3 Tablespoons butter

1 large leek, washed and white and light green parts sliced thinly

5 cups of fish stock (or chicken or vegetable stock work great too)

1 lb potatoes, diced into bite-sized pieces (I never peel mine, but you can if you’d like)

4–5 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4– 1/3 inch slices

1/2 cup fresh, finely chopped dill (or about 1 tablespoon of dried dill)

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon pepper

salt to taste

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Instructions

Melt butter in a 4-quart soup pot and sauté the leeks until soft, about 10 minutes

While the leeks are cooking, put 5 cups of water and the reserved fish skin (and head and skeleton if using) in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes. If you buy a skinless filet or don’t want to bother making a fish broth, skip this step and just add 5 cups of chicken or vegetable stock in it’s place when leeks are done cooking.

Strain the broth into the pot with the leeks and throw away the solids from making the fish stock. Add in the potatoes, carrots, dill, and pepper and cook till vegetables are tender, about another 10 minutes.

Add the salmon chunks to the soup along with the cream and remove from the heat. The salmon cooks in just a few minutes in the hot soup off the heat. If you simmer it on the stove till the salmon is cooked then it will become over-cooked while sitting in the hot soup before it’s served. Add salt and pepper to taste

Notes

Step-by-step pictures and Frequently Asked Questions below recipe card.

This soup makes great leftovers. The flavors will mature and be even more wonderful the next day, though be careful not to overheat the soup or you will over cook the salmon.

Here in Finland you can buy fish stock and fish bouillon to make a stock at every grocery store. In America I have not seen this typically sold in normal grocery stores. I bought fish bouillon on Amazon since being back in America. I’ve also used chicken broth instead occassionally when I’m lazy.

Frequently Asked Questions – Salmon Soup