Finnish Salmon Soup (Lohikeitto)-A Nourishing Weeknight Meal

This traditional Finnish salmon soup (maybe it’s a stew?) is served regularly in my home for a few reasons. First, purely for the love of salmon! This creamy soup is also nourishing while being fairly light on the stomach and simple to prepare. If you’re a salmon lover like me or just looking to mix up your meal rotation while getting more omega-3’s in your kids’ diets this week, give this Lohikeitto recipe a shot.

My family and I live in Minnesota. We love it here, though it’s hard to remember why as we slog through feet of snow on our walks in March. Unfortunately, though, local salmon isn’t a feature of the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes.

Finnish salmon soup is a perfect solution if your local grocery store salmon availability is similar to mine. A smaller filet seems to go farther mixed into fish soup than on its own! You can certainly still taste the salmon, though, so I do notice a difference with a higher quality filet. Whatever kind of salmon you’re reaching for, this Finnish salmon soup recipe is perfect for busy weeknights-especially cold winter nights!

How to Serve Finnish Salmon Soup

Rye bread is a great accompaniment to this soup, especially a hearty sourdough rye that’s slightly dense (the better for dipping with)! Rye is also perfect if you’re looking to keep your meal more authentically Finnish. You can’t go wrong with basic sourdough or another crusty bread, though.

I’ve also sprinkled homemade sourdough croutons over the top of this soup, and the added crunch was a delight.

Squeezing a lemon wedge over your soup is also a fine idea.

Equipment for making Finnish Salmon Soup

• A large pot/saucepan/Dutch oven
• Potato peeler
• Cutting board
• Knives
• Liquid measuring cups
• Measuring spoons

Ingredients for Finnish Salmon Soup

• Salmon: A fresh salmon filet will give you the best results. A 1 lb salmon filet will suffice!
• Salt (fine sea salt or kosher salt)
• Yellow onion
• Water: 4 cups water, to simmer the fish
• Potatoes
• Milk- or half and half, see notes below!
• Butter: salted or unsalted butter is fine, you may need to watch how much salt you add if using salted
• Chives- and/or plenty of fresh dill, see my notes below!

How to make Finnish Salmon Soup

Remove the salmon skin if needed and cut the fish into pieces, approximately 2 inch squares. Chop the onion, and peel and chop the potatoes.

Add the salmon chunks, salt, and onions to a large saucepan or pot over medium heat and then add the water.

Bring the water just to the boiling point, but don’t allow it to boil! Reduce the heat to a very low simmer and simmer until the fish flakes when poked with a fork. This generally only takes 5-10 minutes for me.

Drain the liquid into a container-this is now your own fish stock and will still be used for the soup. Set aside the salmon and onions, pour the fish broth back into the pot, and add the potatoes.

Simmer the potatoes in the stock until they’re tender. The size of your potato pieces will dictate how long this takes, but it isn’t likely to take more than 15 minutes. Check your potatoes often with a fork to avoid boiling them into mush.

Add the fish and onions back to the pot, then pour in the milk and add chives.

Bring back to a low simmer over low heat and simmer without boiling for 20 minutes. Add butter in small pats to the top and let it melt into the soup.

Add salt to taste. A sprinkle of fresh-cracked black pepper is good too.

Serve with your favorite hearty bread and enjoy!

Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container. This will make great leftovers for the next day (though I can’t officially condone reheating it in your break room microwave).

Alternatives

If you prefer, you could swap out the salmon for a different freshwater fish, like trout or a white fish. Just clean it and remove bones prior to beginning.

This soup is traditionally made with dill. I don’t use a lot of dill in my cooking because my husband just does not have a taste for it-hence this version of lohikeitto made sans this common ingredient. If you do enjoy dill, you can add 1/2 tsp of dried dill at the beginning with the salmon and onions. You can also remove the chives and replace them with a little fresh dill instead.

I have sometimes done 50/50 white and sweet potatoes, and I love the result. You can also experiment with adding your other favorite root vegetables.

I use whole milk. If you want it really creamy you can do half n half, or a mixture of whole milk and heavy cream.

You could use vegetable stock, pre-prepared fish stock, or chicken stock in place of the 4 cups of water if you prefer, but I find that using the water you simmered the fish in as your stock is very flavorful and effective for this soup!

Finnish Salmon Soup (Lohikeitto)

sisuhomemaker

A flavorful and nourishing soup that is sure to please, as well as add some omega-3's to your weeknight meal rotation.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 1 lb salmon filet
• 2 teaspoons salt fine sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 medium onion diced (about 1 cup)
• 4 cups water
• 4-5 potatoes peeled and chopped
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp dried chives
• 2 Tbsp butter

Instructions

 

• If not already done, clean fish and remove skin. Cut into pieces, approximately 2 inch squares.
• Place the fish in a pot, add the onion and salt, and cover with the water.
• Bring just to the boiling point and reduce to a low simmer. Simmer until the fish flakes when poked with a fork. Check often, you don't want it to get mushy.
• Drain the pot and set aside the fish & onions. The water is now the fish stock for the soup; return it to the pot and add the potatoes.
• Simmer the potatoes in the stock until tender. Time will depend on the size of the pieces, up to 15 minutes or so.
• Return the salmon and onion mixture to the soup and add the chives and the milk.
• Simmer at a very low simmer for 20 minutes.
• If you are not going to serve the soup in the pot you prepared it in, transfer it before you add the butter.
• Slice the butter into thin pats and place them on the top of the soup.

Notes

1. I recommend serving with rye bread, sourdough, or another dense, crusty bread. Rye would be the most authentic. According to Beatrice Ojakangas, and seconded by my own travels in Finland, the Finns often serve butter and cheese with the rye to accompany this soup as well.

2. Squeezing a lemon wedge over your soup is a fine idea.

3. Traditionally this is made flavored with dill. Mine is not, because my husband does not prefer it. If you do, add 1/2 tsp dried dill along with the onions and salmon at the beginning, and omit the chives.

4. A mix of sweet and white potatoes goes very well in this soup as well.

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What Should I Make Next?

If you’re interested in another Finnish soup recipe, try Finnish Sausage Soup!

Did you make this recipe? Let me know how it went in the comments! If you share on Instagram, please tag me at @sisuhomemaker. And I always love to hear from you- send questions, comments, concerns, etc to carol@sisuhomemaker.com!