Pickled beets and sweet apples come together in this traditional Swedish beet root salad. Despite its bright pink color, this is a savory salad with a simple sour cream and mayo binder.
This salad is another of the traditional Swedish foods that I included for John’s Swedish-style Christmas dinner. Whenever we attend a Swedish Heritage Society activities, this salad is served, often along with Swedish Meatballs and Swedish Red Cabbage and Apples. (At my house we L.O.V.E. Swedish Almond Cake.) There are a large number of Swedes or people with Swedish heritage in Salt Lake City and the Swedish Heritage Society is thriving.
Each year the Swedish Heritage Society holds celebrations at various times of the year–Midsommar, Crayfish Festival (Kräftskiva), and my favorite, Lucia. Lucia is held in the month of December, on or near December 13th. I have come to cherish many of the activities associated with the Lucia celebrations, especially the story of Tomte–the Swedish Elf who lives under the floorboards of the house or barn. He watches over the family throughout the year and brings gifts at Christmastime. I also love the singing of traditional Swedish songs (my favorite being about little green frogs–Små grodorna), the beautiful Lucia processional, and of course, the food.
This is Christie Bergeson as “Lucia” in 2007. Christie is a friend of my daughter, Katie; the two of them used to be on the same swim team. My husband knew Christie’s mom, Annette, when he lived in Sweden.
The first time I saw this salad, I thought that it was going to be sweet. It looks like it would taste sweet, doesn’t it? SURPRISE! It’s mostly tangy, with a hint of sweetness from the apples. It took my brain a few moments to register that I was not eating something sweet and to decide whether or not I liked what I was eating.
The more of this salad I ate, the more I decided that I liked it. It can be made with pickled or unpickled beets – you choose. I have had it both ways and do not prefer one over the other. The recipe that I am using here uses pickled beets and was sent to me by Anna at Scandinavian Cottage (update 11/9/2019 – link is no longer viable). She saved me a lot of stress because I wanted to make sure that I had an “authentic” recipe. Thanks, Anna!
Swedish Beetroot Salad {Rodbetsallad}
Ingredients
- 1 (600 grams) jar pickled beets, diced (see Notes)
- 2 red apples, diced (do not peel) - use a nice, sweet variety of apple such as Gala or Honey Crisp
- 1 red onion, white is also fine, small dice
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the beets, apples, and onion. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream or creme fraiche, Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper.
- Add the wet ingredients to the beet mixture and stir to combine evenly. Cover and put in refrigerator to chill, 1 hour or more, to allow flavors to blend. Stir before serving and serve cold.
Notes
Ah that looks great Terri! I’m glad you had a chance to make it and I hope you and your family had a lovely Christmas! We landed in a snowy Swedish landscape last week and it was beautiful! Stockholm is such a beautiful city and tomorrow we’re all going in to town to see the sights at “The southern heights”.
Have a great day!
I love beets-this recipe looks gorgeous!
Lovely photos! There were always beets in our home too but I’ve never had them made like this. sounds delicious!
Anna–Thank you so much for the recipe. It made John so happy to have so many of favorite Swedish food. He will be so jealous that you are in Stockholm. He spent three years there and talks about it all the time. As a matter of fact, his whole family still talk fondly about their days in Stockholm!
Laura and Savoring Time in the Kitchen–Thank you both! It does make a pretty salad and the flavor is true to the beetroot salads that I have eaten made by Swedes here in the U.S.
You must try rye bread with beetroot salad and slized meatballs on top! (^_^) It is a very beloved sandwich here in Sweden!
I made this recipe for a Julbord in 2020 and it was delicious. The only thing I did not add was the senap (mustard). I got rave reviews on this salad. I am so happy to find this recipe. It is one of my favorite foods in Sweden, as it goes with everything. I haven’t been able to go to Sweden in 2020, but now I can have red beet salad at home whenever I like. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Thank you, Sue. We made this at our house, too! It is one of my personal Swedish favorites. 🙂