How to Make Lefse with 2 Different Recipes (Traditional & Instant) (2024)

FAQs

What is the traditional way to eat lefse? ›

Spead softened butter over a lefse (be generous with the butter). Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar and roll lefse to eat. This is the traditional Norwegian way to serve and enjoy lefse.

Lomper (also known as potetkaker) are considered to be a small variety of potato-based lefse. Today, lomper are widely served with savory or sweet fillings. In particular, you'll find pølse i lompe or “a hot dog wrapped in a lompe” all throughout the country.

Lefse should be refrigerated or frozen. Our lefse is made with no preservatives, so it can take a week or so in the fridge. In the refrigerator, it needs to stay in its sealed package or it will dry out. If you don't plan on eating it right away, toss it in the freezer.

ˈlefsə plural lefsen. -sən. or lefses. : a large thin potato pancake served buttered and folded.

The first lefse in Norway didn't contain potatoes, it was made from flour. Women would travel from house to house, village to village to make lefse to last the winter months. The flour lefse would cook up like a cracker and be able to last through the season.

Klenning – The Trøndelag region's version of sweet lefse with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Kling – The name for sweet lefse in Buskerud, Eastern Norway.

Lefse is a Norwegian flatbread that is a lot like a tortilla, but more delicate. After from intense research (Wikipedia), I found out that lefse is traditionally served with lutefisk, whitefish meat (often cod) and lye.

Butter, sugar — enjoy!

Add sugar or cinnamon sugar for a sweet treat. While in my family lefse was always a cinnamon-sugar thing, in Norway lefse is often served with savory fillings, like smoked salmon and cream cheese, diced onion and sour cream, or cured meat and mustard.

These lefse are made with potatoes, which gives them a delicious texture and flavor, and they are a perfect vessel for your favorite toppings!

Spread with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar. This is a traditional way to eat lefse. Spread with mustard and wrap around Polish sausage, brats, or hot dogs.

Did Vikings eat lefse? ›

It brought back good memories of the trip and filled our bellies with comfort. As I said, lefse is traditionally made with potatoes, and Hardanger Lefse is made with flour. I read somewhere that it dates back to the Vikings before potatoes were introduced to Norway.

If you don't use a pastry cloth, the lefse will stick, and you will wonder why you ever tried this ! @#$ project. Corrugated rolling pin, preferably with cloth cover. If you try a regular rolling pin, your lefse will stick, and again you'll wonder why !

Caring for and Preparing Lefse

We recommend refrigeration for no longer than 2 weeks. When defrosting Freddy's, it's best to let it thaw overnight at room temperature.

WHAT IS THE SHELF-LIFE OF THE LEFSE? Our lefse does not contain a lot of preservatives. Once thawed out, it will stay fresh in the refrigerator about 7 days, less if not refrigerated.

Here, lefse is also often called lemse. The Norwegian baking traditions also include a great variety of buns – called boller – and bread, our favourite food.

Lefse Stick (substitute long wooden handle of spoon or even better, an unused wooden paint can stirrer). Grooved Lefse Rolling Pin (regular pin can work).

Lefsa is a traditional Norwegian flatbread made with mashed potatoes, cream, flour, and sugar. Lefsa are usually reserved for holiday meals when they are served warm with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar for a sweet treat. They are also delicious rolled up with a juicy pickled herring.

Although lefse was available year-round in Norway, it is more often a holiday food in the U.S., served especially around Christmas. Grooved lefse rolling pin. Photo courtesy of Elaine Hanson. The ingredients of the lefse I've consumed are simple: russet potatoes, butter, milk or cream, and flour.