Nordic creamy salmon soup (lohikeitto)
August 8, 2026 · 3 min read
Lohikeitto is the soup Finland reaches for when the evening turns cold and dinner needs to be both fast and restorative. Potatoes and salmon do the heavy lifting; leek and carrot build a sweet base; a splash of cream at the end rounds it without turning it into chowder. The broth stays light, so the fish and dill come through clearly. Start to finish, it's about half an hour in one pot.
The single technique that matters is restraint at the end. Salmon needs only four or five minutes in barely-moving broth, and the cream goes in off the boil so it stays silky rather than splitting. Rush either step and you trade the soup's delicacy for something heavier.
Use good fish broth if you have it, since the liquid is most of the flavor here. Vegetable broth works and keeps the soup lighter; water with an extra pinch of salt is the honest fallback when that's all you've got.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 leek, white and pale-green parts, halved and sliced
- 1 carrot, diced small
- 3 cups new potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks (about 450 g)
- 4 cups fish or vegetable broth
- 1 lb salmon fillet, skin removed, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Small bunch fresh dill, chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
Steps
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the leek and carrot and cook 4–5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the leek is soft and translucent but not browned.
- Add the potatoes and pour in the broth. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 12–15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender to the tip of a knife. Season with the salt and white pepper.
- Lower the heat so the broth is barely moving. Add the salmon pieces and poach them 4–5 minutes, until just cooked through and opaque. Don't stir hard — you want the fish to stay in pieces.
- Pour in the cream and add most of the dill, keeping a little back to finish. Warm through without boiling, taste for salt, and serve with the reserved dill on top and rye bread alongside.
How it comes together
Makes 4 servings — read left to right; each column combines what's behind it.
PrepRemove the salmon skin and cut the fillet into 1-inch pieces; peel the potatoes and cut into 3/4-inch chunks.
| 1 tbsp · 14 g butter | Soften leek and carrot in butter | ||
| 1 leekwhite and pale-green parts, sliced | |||
| 1 carrotdiced small | |||
| 3 cups · 450 g new potatoespeeled, 3/4-inch chunks | Simmer potatoes in broth | ||
| 4 cups · 960 g fish or vegetable broth | |||
| ½ tsp saltplus more to taste | |||
| ¼ tsp ground white pepper | |||
| 1 lb · 455 g salmon filletskin removed, 1-inch pieces | Poach salmon, then add cream and dill | ||
| ½ cup · 120 g heavy cream | |||
| 3 tbsp fresh dillchopped |
Scaling adjusts quantities only — cooking times and pan sizes may need judgment. Grams are rounded for the kitchen.
Notes and swaps
Any firm cold-water fish stands in for salmon — trout is the closest match, and a piece of white fish like cod works if you cut it slightly larger so it doesn't fall apart. Some cooks add a handful of raw salmon plus a little smoked salmon stirred in at the end, which deepens the flavor without extra work.
Waxy new potatoes hold their shape better than starchy baking potatoes, which tend to break down and cloud the broth. If yours are very small, leave them whole or halved. For a slightly thicker soup, mash a few of the cooked potato chunks against the side of the pot before the salmon goes in.
Dill is not optional in a real lohikeitto; it's the flavor that makes the soup Finnish rather than generic. Add most of it warm and scatter the rest raw at the table. A squeeze of lemon or a few allspice berries in the simmer are traditional touches worth trying.
Log a bowl of this in Nordic Diet Companion and it reads the shape of the meal for you — oily fish, root vegetables, the light hand with cream — and shows how a soup like this fits the week's pattern without you tallying a single gram.
FAQ
What is lohikeitto? Lohikeitto is a traditional Finnish salmon soup made with potatoes, leek or onion, carrot, dill, and a small amount of cream in a light broth. It's an everyday dish across Finland, more of a gentle chowder than a rich bisque.
Can I make it without cream? Yes. The cream softens the broth but isn't structural. Leave it out for a lighter, clearer soup, or stir in a spoonful of crème fraîche or a splash of whole milk for a middle ground.
How do I keep the salmon from overcooking? Poach it in broth that's barely simmering, not boiling, and pull the pot off the heat once the pieces turn opaque, around four to five minutes. The fish keeps cooking a little in the hot soup, so err on the side of slightly under.
Does it keep as leftovers? It's best the day it's made, since the salmon firms up on reheating. If you're saving some, reheat it low and slow just to warm through, and expect the fish to be a touch firmer the next day.
What do I serve with it? Rye bread and butter is the classic partner, sometimes with a crisp cucumber salad on the side. For more ideas, browse Nordic meal ideas, and if you're new to the format, here's how to read a recipe at a glance.