Recipes

Toast Skagen (Swedish Shrimp Toast)

Serves 4

| Prep Time: 30 mins

| Cook Time: 5 mins

| Total Time: 35 mins

You may need: Nordic Blend

Discover The Recipe

Swedish Shrimp Toast, or Toast Skagen, is an iconic and beloved dish in Sweden, wherein shrimp salad (skagenröra), is served atop butter-fried toast. Commonly served as an appetizer in restaurants as well as in homes throughout Scandinavia, Toast Skagen showcases the simple, yet flavorful ingredient driven philosophy of Nordic cooking in its purest form. Named after the northernmost port-town in Denmark’s Jutland peninsula, Toast Skagen was created by famed Swedish chef Tore Wretman in the 1950s at a time when classical Swedish cooking was fading in favor of foreign fast food alternatives. Wretman is credited with reviving Nordic cooking culture, and his Toast Skagen is one of the iconic dishes that showcase the New Nordic cuisine movement.

We would be remiss not to pay homage to one of Sweden’s most salient dishes, and our Piquant Post Nordic Blend is the perfect seasoning for an easy, at-home Swedish Shrimp Toast. In this recipe, fresh cooked shrimp are coarsely chopped and immersed in a simple mixture of mayonnaise, red onion and lemon, and generously spiced with our Nordic Blend. Dill and caraway seeds infuse the shrimp salad with a distinctly Scandinavian flavor profile, and a short rest in the fridge melds everything together. Piled over butter-fried bread, and optionally topped with fish roe, it’s all at once simple, elevated, crunchy, creamy, fresh, and absolutely delicious. Recipes vary all over the region so feel free to cut the mayo with sour cream, and don’t forget to garnish the final product with an extra hit of the Nordic Blend and lemon.

Ingredients

12 oz cooked shrimp
½ red onion, diced
1 Tbsp Piquant Post Nordic Blend
5 Tbsp mayonnaise
¼ tsp salt
1 lemon
2 Tbsp butter
4 slices bread

Notes

Traditional Toast Skagen is served topped with caviar. Top with your choice of caviar if you please.

Some recipes call for half mayonnaise and half sour cream. Use whichever combination you prefer!

Optional ingredients add a little character and flavor but don’t sweat it if you don’t have them.

Instructions

Coarsely chop the shrimp (about ¼ inch pieces) and place in a medium mixing bowl. Add red onion, Piquant Post Nordic Blend, mayonnaise and salt.

Zest the lemon into the bowl. Then, cut the lemon in half and juice ½ lemon into the bowl (add more to your preference). Mix with the shrimp well and place in the refrigerator. Chill for a minimum 20 minutes.

Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium high heat. Place the bread flat and toast the bread, about 2 minutes each side.

Top the toasted bread with shrimp mixture. Garnish with lemon, red onion and additional Piquant Post Nordic Blend.

Alternatives & Substitutions

Our Nordic Blend is a versatile spice. If you're short on time, try sprinkling on lox and cream cheese with bagels, avocado toast, or over salmon (or any fish) before roasting.
It also is perfect to add to oil and vinegar for a lovely vinaigrette for salads or drizzled over roasted veggies.
Our Nordic Blend goes great with fish. Use it in our Baked Salmon Meatballs with Tartar Sauce, Smoked Trout Rillettes, or Fish Cakes with Mustard Aioli, and Nordic Potato Leek Soup.
Vegans and vegetarians, try our Nordic Potato Salad or this Crispy Tofu with Lemon Dill Cream, or our Swedish Cucumber Red Onion Slad, or our Finnish Salmon Soup.
You can make this Honey Mustard Dill Sauce to top with salad, veggies or meat of your choice.
These Chicken Skewers are perfect on the grill for summer.
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