What do people eat in Denmark? Is Danish food vocabulary similar to English foods? This article hopes to answer all your questions about traditional Danish food and what they call different foods in Denmark.
Danish culture has heavily influenced food choices and there may be a Danish food tradition or two that you find strange, but as the saying goes, don’t judge it until you try it!
From rye bread, to fried bacon, to something called parsley sauce, let’s begin our food journey.
Traditional Danish Cuisine
The Danes enjoy meals that are quite heavy, hearty, and meaty. Many traditional Danish dishes will have:
You’ll note that nearly all main food dishes contain some form of potato. The potato plays a major role in Danish food culture.
Famous Dishes Of Denmark
Stegt Flæsk Med Persillesovs (Crispy Pork With Parsley Sauce)
This is the national dish of Denmark. The delicious dish is served with crispy fried pork with a side of boiled potatoes. The sauce consists of pickled beetroot and parsley sauce which makes the ingredients pop off the plate.
Brændende Kærlighed (Burning Love)
Do you have mashed potatoes, diced onions, and fried bacon? That’s it, you’re all set! This dish is beloved by the Danes and is meant to be served piping hot, hot, hot. Many people will also garnish it with dill, parsley, or chopped beetroot.
Forlorn Hare (Meatloaf)
This is not your mother’s meatloaf. Referred to as forlorn hare or mock hare because there isn’t actually any hare meat in the meatloaf, rather it’s a mix of half veal and half pork. Then, get this, they wrap the meat in bacon! It’s then baked, smothered in gravy and topped with whipped cream.
Syltede Sild (Pickled Herring)
You simply can’t talk about Nordic cuisine without mentioning pickled herring. It’s served in every restaurant in every which way; smoked, breaded, fried, you name it, they’ve got it! It’s usually served with dark buttered rye bread, a garnish of red onions and dill.
Flæskesteg (Danish Roast Pork)
A traditional Danish Christmas food, Flæskesteg (roast pork), has made its way into the mainstream and can now be enjoyed all year round. It’s served with a side of sweet corn and pickled red cabbage and really, it’s more like fried pork belly than roast pork.
Other Typical Danish Food
There are dozens of delicious dishes available in Denmark. The Danes are famous for their Danish pastries and love sweet goodies. It’s quite common to see locals enjoying a Danish pastry on their break or having what many would consider to be a dessert any point during the day or night.
Here are some other foods the Danish enjoy:
Meals Of The Day In Danish
Talking about meals is an important part of any culture. Here’s how to say the common meals of the day in Danish.
| English | Danish Translation | Pronunciation |
| the breakfast | morgenmaden | |
| the brunch | brunchen | |
| the lunch | frokosten | |
| the dinner | aftensmaden | |
| the dessert | desserten | |
| the snack | snacken |
The Food Pyramid – Danish Food Vocabulary
Now let’s go through the typical staple food groups and have a look at the most common types of fruits, vegetables, meat, desserts, and drinks in Danish.
Fruits
Fruits cannot be easily grown in Denmark so most fruits are imported from abroad elsewhere in Europe or overseas. You can still get the usual fruits you’re used to at local supermarkets. Here’s what fruits are called in Danish.
Vegetables
Vegetables are one of the core elements of Danish cuisine. Most Danish dishes have sides of vegetables. Now we know that not all of these are vegetables; some are tubers, herbs, fungi, etc so please accept these all lumped together under the category of vegetables in Danish.
Meat
One of the main ingredients of Danish cuisine is meat. It is usually the star of the plate and is cooked in various forms. Pork is probably the most popular meat ingredient.
Seafood
Being next to the sea the Danes love their seafood, especially fish. Most of the seafood available in Denmark comes fresh from the sea or is imported.
Drinks
In Denmark, cold and iced drinks are not very popular as the weather is typically a bit cool and overcast. You can still expect name brand drinks and usual things such as coffee and tea.
Danish Cooking Terms
In this vocabulary list, we gathered the most frequently used Danish cooking terms in the kitchen. These words could be easier to memorize if you think about them or say them aloud while cooking in the kitchen.
| English | Danish Translation | Pronunciation |
| baked | bagt | |
| fried | stegt | |
| deep fried | friturestegt | |
| grilled | grillet | |
| roasted | ristede | |
| steamed | dampet | |
| hot | hed | |
| cold | kold | |
| bitter | bitter | |
| salty | saltet | |
| spicy | krydret | |
| sweet | sød |
Useful Dining Phrases In Danish
These casual words and phrases can help you when you go dining out in Denmark or when you’re invited over for the dinner. You could also use the words above to ask about your meal.
| English | Danish Translation | Pronunciation |
| a little | en lille | |
| a lot | en masse | |
| cook | laver mad | |
| eat | spise | |
| good | godt | |
| I’m full | Jeg er mæt | |
| I’m hungry | Jeg er sulten | |
| less | mindre | |
| more | mere | |
| no | ingen | |
| only | kun | |
| please | Vær venlig | |
| thank you | tak skal du have | |
| yes | Ja | |
| yummy | lækkert |
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