Stock your kitchen with all the ingredients you’ll need!

Swedish Family Pantry

The Swedish pantry is well-stocked with all the necessities for a family dinner, fika, or unexpected company.  Several different flours - all-purpose, wheat, oat, corn, almond, rye -  and yeast are waiting to become bread or coffeecake or kanelbullar (cinnamon buns), along with numerous boxes of knäckebrod (crispbread).  Sugar is abundant in many formats - granulated, confectioners, and brown, plus caster sugar, vanilla sugar, pearl sugar, sugar cubes, and rock sugar.  Sweden has one of the world’s highest per capita sugar consumption, which helps explain my sweet tooth.

Of course, the pantry shelves hold an impressive supply of homemade preserves, typically the product of the family garden.  Pickled beets and asparagus, cucumber pickles, tomato, rhubarb, strawberry, elderberry, cloudberry, lingonberry, blueberry, and any berry jams and preserves.  Sardines and herring are always on-shelf next to a tube of caviar or marzipan or almond paste or boxes of peas and beans.

The Swedish pantry is a delicious place to visit!

For me, the highlight of the Swedish pantry has to be the spice rack.  Swedish cooking often features a sweet/sour base (sugar and vinegar are a favorite combination), and highly aromatic spices. 

Here are some of the spice necessities if you plan to cook Swedish: 

  • Allspice

    Allspice, in the flavor family of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, is a sweet, peppery spice used in baking and to flavor soups, roasted vegetables, and for my family, our Swedish meatballs.

  • Almond

    Almond extract, paste, flour, slivered, sliced, blanched, the almond flavor comes in many formats for all your baking needs.

  • Anise

    With a sweet licorice flavor, Anise seeds can be found in recipes for bread and cookies, and liqueurs. 

  • Caraway

    A popular seed in bread and cheeses.  I love Bond-ost cheese with caraway.

  • Cardamom

    kardemumma. Cardamom is almost a requirement in bakery goods like coffee cakes and buns.  For the fullest flavor, buy the seeds and crush them as needed.

  • Cinnamon

    Kanel.  Ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks are a must-have.  I always have sticks of this in my rice pudding and ground in just about everything from coffee to scrambled eggs.

  • Cloves

    Whole and ground.  Whole cloves decorate my Easter ham and ground are key to spice cookies.

  • Dill

    An herb, rather than a spice, fresh or dried dill is used in everything, sauces, salads, fish, chicken.  Its fresh flavor tastes like Sweden on a spring day,

  • Ginger

    Good for digestion, ginger tea and ginger cookies are delicious. 

  • Juniper

    Juniper is the basis of gin.  Sweet and spicy, ground juniper berries can replace black pepper in a recipe. 

  • Nutmeg

    A nutty, sweet flavor, nutmeg enhances baked goods as well as soups and eggs.  I use cinnamon and nutmeg in just about everything.

  • Pepper

    Black and white pepper are familiar on any spice rack but Swedes also have pink peppercorns - or rosepeppar - to season meat, fish, soups, even bakery.  Similar to coriander or juniper, rosepeppar is sweeter in flavor.

  • Salt

    Salt is a staple for preserving food, especially when you live in a long-winter climate like Scandinavia.  Recipes often call for coarse salt or Kosher or pink salt which can be ground in a recipe or sprinkled coarse across the finished dish.

  • Vanilla

    Vanilla flavoring is a base in most cakes and cookies.  Swedish recipes often call for vanilla sugar - the combination of confectioner’s sugar and vanilla beans.  Vanilla extract is an easy substitute with a 1-1 ratio.