Jansson’s Temptation (Creamy Potato Casserole) Recipe (2024)

My Swedish wife has made this every Christmas since coming to the US in 1973, and everyone seems to love it. In an adaptation to those who do not care for whole anchovies, with their bones, skin, etc, she subs anchovy paste. Similar taste end result without the physical presence. Gud Yul!

I’m Swedish and eat this for julbord every year. Swedish anjovis are delicious and if you buy the right kind they should be filets with no skin and no bones (or so tiny you’d never know). Grebbestads anjovis are the best and probably can be found at IKEA at the holidays. The only thing missing in this recipe is allspice, maybe a tsp. or so, sprinkled into the layers. No cinnamon! Allspice is typical in Swedish food. Proper Swedish meatballs also have allspice in them.

As a Swede, I make this every Christmas for our julbord. But we never add the onion raw: it’s critical that you first sauté the thinly sliced onion in a little bit of a butter. The onion should turn translucent, but not brown; it’s then ready to use. I agree with Sarah F that Grebbestads ansjovis, in the pink tin, is the very best for this recipe. And absolutely no cinnamon! The dish freezes well, after cooking, so you can make it ahead. God Jul!

Yes, capers, a pinch of nutmeg, and a bit of vegan fish sauce works well, taste for salt. I also double the onion and caramelize it prior to adding for more umami.

I caramelize a ton of chopped onions, use half and half and break up the fish over the layers of potatoes and put the juice over the whole thing. I can't imagine it without the onions being cooked first.

First of all, Jansson's Frestelse is more Swedish than Swedish Meatballs...Being Swedish and making this my whole life - these are my commentUse firm yellow potatoes instead, finely cut into thin strips (1/8 in)Use 2-3 Yellow onions, and as several others pointed out - saute the onion first! This is a must, I even caramelize it sometimes for added depth.Serve with Knäckebröd, Kalles Kaviar, Cheese and schnaps of Aquavit! Skål!

Can you substitute Fritos for the anchovies? Asking for a friend.

To all those asking about how much anchovy paste: 1 tsp = 3 anchovies.

I would just note that you can halve and THEN peel the onion as most of us do every day rather than the insanity of peeling then halving an onion which is much harder, weirder and wasteful

I’m not saying I would do this, but is there a reason one could not substitute frozen straight cut French fries for the potatoes?

My Swedish-Norwegian grandmother made this for Xmas eve every year but she used a can of drained anchovies. And she put allspice and cardamom in and always cooked the onions first, and mixed the bread crumbs with melted butter before scattering on top. The flavor of the anchovy/cooked onion version is more savory and umami than the "authentic" (I assume!) Jansson's I had in Stockholm once, whose flavor was more briny. I liked Grandma's version best!

You can blame Reagan. We would have switched in the 80s under Carter's policy. Why is everything political?

Suggested vegetarian sub for the sprats? Capers?

We've been eating this dish here since 1983. Our local IKEA and other local sources have stopped carrying the canned ansjovis so we have to plan well in advance to have these on hand, but the difference is significant; in fact, I'd suggest not trying substituting anchovies until you've had the real thing a few times. We have an old slicer from Sweden that slices the potatoes thinner than the look of the picture, and have found that works better. This dish reheats well so make plenty.

While this is presented as a side dish for a holiday feast, my first encounter was after a day of skiing. A Swedish friend made this in large quantities as the perfect main course after a long day out on the slopes. Hot, creamy comfort carbs! Highly recommend!

This dish is delicious, but gray. Is there a suggestion for adding color; carrots, yellow and red pepper, for example?

Made this recipe exactly as printed EXCEPT used one extra potato because I wanted to used a 9x13 baker. Also! Next time I will make this with only one tin of the ansjovis, as it was a bit overwhelming. Delicious!

I researched and bought Swedish anchovies because I thought this dish sounded delicious. I was terribly disappointed because the anchovies were sugary and made the dish inedible. I never imagined I would have to check to make sure there was no sugar in the tinned fish! This recipe basically potato gratin with anchovies. I would skip the Swedish anchovies and just use proper salty anchovies.

I made this almost exactly as printed. I used 4 potatoes because I was concerned that the 9x13 pan I was using was a little too large so I used 4 potatoes. The dish came out very good! I do think that the anchojvis were a little strong. I will put it into a 9"baker next time and use 1 tin of the sprats. So glad I tried it!

Please, no one yell at me. I purchased the sprats, fried the onions, and was really looking forward to making this when I realized my potatoes were bad. I know, I know, always mise en place. So, I used frozen French fries. It came out good, just cooked a little longer. Looking forward to trying again with “real potatoes”.

I've made this both ways; with the Swedish sprats and also with the anchovies. Yes, the two are very different. Both are good but I really prefer the anchovies. Maybe that's just what I'm used to, but I found the sprats had too much of a "wintery spice" taste (cardamom, all spice, etc.).

Used allspice, doubled & cooked the onions, doubled the panko - 4* Next-time, to keep the cream from curdling: I'll add 1/4 tsp sodium citrate, and cook at 350-375F for 60-70 mins. (Which keeps scalloped or "funeral" potatoes creamy.) The Grebbestat Ansjovis I bought on Amazon came in an ice-packed box with instructions to refrigerate immediately - that worked. A recipe on a Swedish website advises refrigerating the Ansjovis, and not storing long-term.

I'm 76. This was the worst thing I have ever cooked. Fishy potatoes. A waste of good ingredients. Would have been good scalloped potatoes without the fish.

I took this to 2 holiday gatherings and I got rave reviews. I normally make scalloped potatoes, but I really wanted to up my game. The anchovies can be an issue, so I split the recipe into 2 pans. To my surprise, one family insisted on taking home the anchovy one, they thought it was terrific. I think cutting the potatoes this way, as one reviewer said, increases the surface area for the cream to enrobe the potatoes. Yes it did! And it was a hit! Thank you, Jens and Johanna!

We found “Baltic gold” sprats at our Ukrainian grocer’s tinned fish aisle. They worked extremely well. Maybe Swedish anjovis have a bit more salt or my palette just leans this way, but we sprinkled a little salt on at the table.While I love caramelized onions, I made this following the recipe and the onions had a fine flavor and texture; don’t feel you need to add that additional step if you’re short on time and energy.Added a little nutmeg and in the future will try allspice too!

Delicious. The local Scandinavian shop is no more - I found the tin of sprats (from an unnamed Baltic country) at my local Russian provisions shop.

Are white anchovies closer to the Swedish sprays than the traditional tinned brown anchovies? Would the white ones be better for this recipe?

Can’t remember being more excited about a dish…..or more disappointed. Made it by the book and it was just a bland mush. Bland potatoes with a slight hint of smoky fish. Real nothingburger. Threw out 3/4 of it.

Double the onions and caramelize them while adding the anchovies so that they melt.

I made this as described but without the fish. There is no salt in the recipe!Next time will definitely read the reviews first. I wish NYT would revise these types of recipes to improve on them. Some minor tweaking and this would go from blah to delicious.