Finnish cuisine is shaped by the country’s extreme geography and climate: long, harsh winters, short growing seasons, abundant forests, thousands of lakes and a Baltic Sea coastline. It is fundamentally a cuisine of survival, preservation and making the most of what the land and water provide.
Traditionally simple, hearty and seasonal, it has evolved in the 21st century with strong New Nordic influences, Michelin-starred restaurants, and a growing interest in local, foraged and sustainable ingredients.
Core principles and influences
Seasonal and local: “What grows together goes together” is taken to an extreme because very little grows for much of the year.
Preservation techniques: Salting, smoking, drying, fermenting, and pickling were (and still are) essential.
Rye over wheat: Because rye tolerates poor, acidic soil and short summers better than wheat.
Dairy is central: Finland has one of the highest per-capita milk consumptions in the world.
Flavors tend to be understated; heavy spicing is historically rare.
Staple ingredients
| Category | Key Items | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Grains | Rye (ruis), barley, oats; wheat only in modern times | Rye bread (ruisleipä) is the national soul food |
| Dairy | Milk, butter, cream, viili, leipäjuusto (“bread cheese”), various cheeses | Finns drink more milk than almost anyone else |
| Fish | Salmon, Baltic herring (silakka), vendace (muikku), perch, pike, whitefish, Arctic char | Smoked, salted, gravlax-style, or in rye crust |
| Meat | Reindeer, elk/moose, bear (rare), pork, beef, lamb | Game meats still common, especially in Lapland |
| Berries | Bilberry (mustikka), lingonberry (puolukka), cloudberry (lakka), crowberry, sea buckthorn | Foraged in huge quantities; lingonberries rarely sweetened |
| Mushrooms | Chantarelles, porcini, funnel chanterelles, milk caps | Massive autumn harvest; dried or pickled |
| Vegetables | Potato, turnip, rutabaga (lanttu), cabbage, carrot, beetroot, pea | Root vegetables dominate winter cooking |
| Foraged greens | Nettles, sorrel, spruce shoots, angelica | Increasingly trendy in fine dining |
Traditional everyday and festive dishes
Rye bread (ruisleipä) – Dense, sour, dark, often with a hole in the middle (reissumiesleipä for travelers).
Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pasty) – Thin rye crust filled with rice porridge or mashed potato, eaten with munavoi (egg butter).
Kalakukko – A loaf of rye bread baked with pork and fish (usually vendace or perch) inside; originally from Savonia.
Poronkäristys – Sautéed reindeer shavings with mashed potatoes and lingonberries (Lapland classic).
Lohikeitto – Creamy salmon soup with potatoes and dill.
Hernekeitto – Dried pea soup with pork, traditionally eaten on Thursdays with pannukakku (oven-baked pancake) for dessert.
Kaalikääryleet – Cabbage rolls stuffed with minced meat and rice, baked in syrupy sauce.
Maksalaatikko – Liver casserole with raisins and syrup, served with lingonberry jam.
Lihapullat – Meatballs in brown gravy, often with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam.
Mustikkapiirakka – Bilberry pie, usually on a buttery rye or shortcrust base.
Korvapuusti – “Slap on the ear” cinnamon rolls, flavored with cardamom.
Laskiaispulla – Shrove Tuesday buns filled with almond paste or jam and whipped cream.
Festive and seasonal foods
Christmas (Joulu): Ham (joulukinkku) with mustard crust, casseroles (lanttulaatikko, porkkanalaatikko, perunalaatikko), gravlax, rosolli (beetroot–pickle–apple salad), rice porridge with hidden almond.
Easter: Mämmi (rye-and-malt porridge sweetened with molasses, eaten with cream and sugar).
Midsummer (Juhannus): New potatoes with dill, grilled sausages, smoked fish, strawberry cake.
Crayfish parties (rapujuhlat) in August: Boiled freshwater crayfish with dill crowns, schnapps, and singing.
Vappu (May 1): Funnel chanterelle-filled pastries, sima (lightly fermented lemonade), tippaleipä (funnel-cake-like fried dough).
Beverages
Milk – Drunk with almost every meal, even by adults.
Coffee – Finns are the world’s heaviest coffee drinkers (~12 kg per person/year).
Beer – Especially sahti (ancient farmhouse ale made with rye and juniper) and modern craft lagers.
Lonkeron (long drink) – Gin + grapefruit soda, the national summer drink.
Vodka and Koskenkorva – Often flavored with berries.
Simo and kotikalja – Low-alcohol home-brewed or commercial sweet malt drinks.
Modern Finnish cuisine
The New Nordic revolution that started in Copenhagen reached Finland with full force. Chefs such as Hans Välimäki, Sasu Laukkonen (Chef & Sommelier), and the team at Olo, Grön, Finnjävel, and Palace have put Finland on the global gastronomic map.
Characteristics of contemporary high-end Finnish cooking:
Hyper-seasonal and local (often 100 km radius rule).
Heavy use of foraged ingredients (spruce shoots, reindeer moss, birch sap, fermented pine cones).
Revival of old preservation techniques (fermentation, smoking, hay-smoking).
Minimalist plating with strong umami and acidity rather than sweetness.
Reinterpretation of grandmother recipes in fine-dining format (e.g., a deconstructed mämmi dessert).
Finland currently has 8 Michelin-starred restaurants (2025), including the three-star Palace in Helsinki.
Regional variations
West coast (Ostrobothnia): Lots of Baltic herring, potato, and butter.
East (Karelia, Savonia): Strong rye tradition, kalakukko, Karelian stews.
Lapland: Reindeer in every form, cloudberries, Arctic fish.
Åland Islands (autonomous Swedish-speaking): Heavy Swedish influence – lots of smoked fish, apple desserts, pannkakor.
Finnish food culture today
School and workplace lunches are subsidized, nutritious, and usually include free milk.
“Everyone is a forager” – Even city dwellers head to forests in autumn.
Growing vegetarian/vegan scene, often based on oats, broad beans, and mushrooms.
Strong craft beer, natural wine, and artisan distillery movements.
Increasing pride in Finnish ingredients; “Suomalainen ruoka on maailman paras” (“Finnish food is the best in the world”) is a common tongue-in-cheek saying.
So, Finnish cuisine has moved from being seen (even by Finns themselves) as somewhat plain and heavy to a celebrated example of extreme terroir-driven cooking that turns limitations into strengths. It remains deeply rooted in rye, dairy, fish, game, and the forest, but today ranges from grandmother’s cabbage rolls to Michelin-starred plates of fermented birch sap and reindeer lichen.