Finnish Fish Soup or 'Lohikeitto' as it's called in Finland is one of the most basic and traditional winter soups in Scandinavia.

This soup might also be referred to as Cream of Salmon Chowder of Cream of Salmon Soup. Salmon is an important product of Finland and is found in many traditional recipes from casseroles and pies to soups and breads. Lohikeitto is a milk or cream based soup with vegetables and salmon and is served with dark rye bread. Let's make some soup.

4 cups water

4 medium potatoes (peeled and diced)

2 medium onions (chopped)

1 teaspoon salt

6 whole pepper kernels

1 bay leaf

2 lbs skinless salmon fillet cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup whipping cream (optional)

minced dill weed (optional)

Cut salmon into 1-inch pieces, peel and dice the potatoes and chop the onions. Set aside.

In a soup pan or dutch oven, bring water to a boil and add the potatoes, onions, salt pepper and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to a slow simmer.

Cover and simmer until potatoes are almost tender. This will be about 10 minutes. The potatoes shouldn’t be fully cooked yet as you still have some cooking time left and you don’t want to over cook the potatoes.

Add the salmon pieces. Cover again and simmer until the fish flakes easily at the touch of a fork. This will be about 5 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and pepper.

Stir 1/2 cup of the soup stock into the whipping cream(optional). Gently stir cream mixture into the soup and heat.

Sprinkle with dill weed and add more salt and pepper to taste if needed.


For a lighter dish, substitute milk for cream.Fresh salmon is always better, but you can substitute a 15 oz can of salmon, deboned and skinned, if salmon is unavailable.Be careful not to overcook potatoes or salmon.

You can also use pickeral fillets or using 15 oz canned salmon, deboned and skinned, could be a substitute if fresh salmon is unavailable to you or cost prohibitive.

Enjoy~