Photo by Nicole Michalou on Pexels.
Every year, from mid-November until a few days before Christmas, Swedish restaurants, hotels and even ferries quietly turn into something else: a long, laden table where colleagues, families and friends settle in for three hours of herring, ham and meatballs. This is the julbord — literally “Christmas table” — and it is probably the single most important meal in the Swedish festive calendar. It is also one of the most misunderstood by visitors, who tend to load one plate with everything at once and then wonder why the Swedes around them look faintly alarmed.
The julbord follows rules. Not written ones, but rules all the same, and once you know them, the whole thing makes sense. Here is how the Swedish Christmas table works, course by course.
What Is a Julbord?
A julbord is the Christmas version of the smörgåsbord, the buffet-style spread most people associate with Sweden. Where a regular smörgåsbord can be assembled at any time of year, the julbord is tied firmly to the season and to a specific set of dishes: cured fish, cold cuts, hot dishes, cheeses and sweets, many of them with roots in old Swedish farmhouse preservation traditions such as pickling, curing and smoking.
At home, the julbord is the centrepiece of the main Christmas celebration, which in Sweden takes place on Christmas Eve (24 December) rather than Christmas Day. In restaurants, it works as a seasonal event in its own right, and a work Christmas party in Sweden is very often simply called julbord. Many restaurants sell out weeks ahead, so if you want a table in Stockholm in December, book early.
The Rules: Multiple Plates, Never One
The most important etiquette point is also the simplest: take a fresh plate for each course. Fish and meat do not share a plate, and you do not pile hot food onto the same plate you used for herring. Tradition divides the table into rounds, with a clean plate each time:
- Cold fish — herring, cured salmon and other seafood.
- Cold meats and salads — ham, pâté, beetroot salad, cheeses.
- Hot dishes — meatballs, sausages, Jansson’s temptation and more.
- Dessert and sweets — rice pudding, gingerbread, saffron buns and coffee.
Pace yourself. A julbord is a marathon, not a sprint, and Swedes will happily spend an entire afternoon or evening moving between the table and their seats.
Course One: The Fish
The julbord begins with sill, pickled herring, and it usually arrives in several versions: in mustard sauce, in a sweet onion marinade, with dill, with garlic or with a touch of curry. It is eaten on crispbread or boiled new potatoes with a dollop of sour cream and a scattering of chives. Alongside it you will find gravlax (cured salmon, often with a mustard-dill sauce), smoked salmon, and sometimes eel or shrimp. If you are curious about the cure, our guide to Nordic gravlax explains how it works.
This is also the point at which snaps (aquavit) traditionally appears. Small glasses are raised and, on a truly traditional night, a snapsvisa — a short drinking song — is sung before each sip. If you have read about how Iceland pairs its own harsh spirit with fermented food in our Brennivín article, the logic is similar: strong, clear spirits cut through rich, salty, fatty food.
Course Two: Cold Cuts and Salads
The second round is dominated by the star of the whole table, the julskinka (Christmas ham). It is not the smoked ham familiar in many countries: it is a salt-cured, boiled ham, then coated with a paste of mustard, egg and breadcrumbs and baked until golden. Served cold in thick slices with mustard, it is the dish most closely associated with a Swedish Christmas.
Around the ham you will find:
- Leverpastej — liver pâté, often served with pickled cucumber or lingonberries.
- Rödbetssallad — a bright pink beetroot salad, often with apple and mayonnaise.
- Gubbröra — a chopped egg and anchovy mix, an old-fashioned favourite.
- Head cheese, smoked sausage and sliced cold cuts, plus a selection of hard and soft cheeses.
- Bread, especially dark rye and crispbread, with plenty of butter.
Course Three: The Hot Dishes
The hot section is where the julbord earns its reputation for abundance. The classics:
Köttbullar (Meatballs)
No Swedish table is complete without them, and the julbord is no exception. Small, browned and served with lingonberry jam, they are a fixture even at the most formal restaurants. For the full backstory, see our piece on köttbullar and our guide to lingonberries, the tart red jam that goes with practically everything on the table.
Prinskorv (Little Sausages)
Small, thin, pan-fried sausages known as “prince sausages.” They are cheap, salty and childishly popular, and nobody would dream of leaving them off the julbord.
Janssons Frestelse (Jansson’s Temptation)
A creamy baked casserole of sliced potatoes, onion and Swedish “anchovies” (in fact sprats cured in a sweet-spiced brine), topped with breadcrumbs. Rich, warm and slightly sweet, it is many Swedes’ favourite thing on the whole table.
Revbensspjäll, Brunkål and More
Oven-roasted pork ribs, sweet-sour braised brown cabbage (brunkål), stewed kale (grönkål) and sometimes red cabbage round out the hot plate. Some tables also feature lutfisk, the lye-cured fish that Norwegians also serve (see our explainer on lutefisk), usually with white sauce, peas and potatoes. Divisive elsewhere, in parts of Sweden it is still a traditional highlight.
Dopp i Grytan
Perhaps the most charming tradition of all. On Christmas Eve, many families boil the ham and keep the flavourful broth in a pot on the stove. Everyone then dips slices of bread — ideally dark, sweet-and-sour vörtbröd — into the hot stock. This is dopp i grytan, “dip in the pot,” and it is traditionally eaten before the main meal, sometimes as a small ritual on its own.
Course Four: Sweets, Rice Pudding and Drinks
Dessert on the julbord is a gentle wind-down rather than a grand finale. Look for:
- Risgrynsgröt — warm rice porridge with cinnamon and milk. Traditionally, one almond is hidden in the batch, and whoever finds it wins a prize (often a marzipan pig) or, according to folk belief, is said to be next to marry.
- Pepparkakor — thin, spicy gingerbread biscuits, often eaten with blue cheese.
- Knäck — chewy caramel toffee with almonds.
- Lussekatter — saffron buns, more often associated with St Lucia on 13 December but still frequently on offer.
- Coffee, always, of course.
To drink, Swedes reach for glögg (mulled wine spiked with spices, raisins and almonds), and for the soft-drink alternative julmust, a dark, sweet, malty soda that outsells Coca-Cola in Sweden in December. It is a truly Swedish phenomenon that surprises many visitors.
Julbord Around the Nordics
Sweden is not alone in the tradition. In Denmark, the equivalent is the julefrokost (Christmas lunch), which leans on pickled herring, liver pâté and frikadeller, and often flows into the evening. In Norway, the julebord (spelt with an “e”) is the season of work parties, with dishes such as pinnekjøtt, ribbe or lutefisk depending on the region. Iceland has its own midwinter feasting, which you can read about in our Þorramatur guide. While every country has its own recipes, the shared idea is the same: a long, generous table, plenty of fish, meat and spirits, and hours of unhurried company.
Where to Try a Julbord
Almost every restaurant in Sweden serves a julbord from mid-November. In Stockholm, grand hotels, historic restaurants and old-town taverns all compete, and several archipelago boats run julbord cruises. If you are planning a winter trip, our Stockholm city guide is a good starting point. Expect prices to vary widely, from moderate at a local pub to expensive at a five-star hotel, and drinks are usually charged separately. Book weeks in advance, arrive hungry, and remember: one plate per course.
How to Host Your Own
You do not need to cook everything. Many Swedes buy the ham, herring and sausages ready-made and focus on two or three dishes they love. A simple home julbord might include three kinds of herring, a boiled ham, meatballs, Jansson’s temptation, a beetroot salad, good bread and cheese, and rice pudding for dessert. Set out clean plates, put out the lingonberry jam, and let the table do the talking.
Final Thoughts
The julbord is more than a meal. It is a ritual that structures the whole Swedish festive season, bringing families, friends and colleagues together around a table in the darkest weeks of the year. It is generous, a little theatrical, and gently competitive about who has the best herring. Learn the rules — fresh plate, right order, snaps at the right moment — and you will be able to take your seat at any julbord in Sweden with confidence.
