This Swedish shrimp toast recipe makes ‘toast Skagen’ or Skagenröra on fried bread. It’s an addictively delicious Scandinavian-style open sandwich topped with Skagenröra, a creamy shrimp salad of cooked prawns in a dressing of mayonnaise and crème fraîche or sour cream with a smidgen of mustard and loads of fresh dill and chives piled onto fried bread and topped with caviar. It’s fabulous served for brunch or lunch or as a snack or starter.
If you’re like us and feasted on chilled cooked prawns over Christmas-New Year, you went overboard and still have cooked shrimps in the fridge, and you can’t look at another prawn cocktail, you could make this shrimp/prawn cocktail dip or prawn brioche buns (shrimp sliders) or toss the shrimps in pasta. Or, you could try this Swedish shrimp toast recipe for toast Skagen, a Swedish take on a Scandinavian shrimp toast snack found across the region.
Travel around Scandinavia and you’ll find variations of Swedish shrimp toast everywhere. In fact, we sampled our first Danish smørrebrød or open-faced sandwich topped with shrimp salad or Skagenssalat in Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, where there are smørrebrød restaurants specialising in traditional and modern sandwiches. However, there are a few elements that distinguish Swedish shrimp toast, which I’ll explain below.
This Swedish shrimp toast would be fab served with my baked camembert and festive dukkah on New Year’s Eve. And if you’re hosting a New Year’s Eve party, having a relaxed get-together to watch the fireworks on TV, or taking a plate to a gathering, browse our best New Years Eve recipes for homemade dips and crackers, finger food, cocktails, and substantial food to soak up the booze. And if you do still have prawns in the fridge, more shrimp recipes here.
But before I tell you all about this Swedish shrimp toast recipe, a note on my usage of ‘shrimps’ and ‘prawns’: here in Australia we use ‘prawn’, however, I’m using ‘shrimp’ in this Swedish shrimp toast recipe post, because Scandinavians tend to use ‘shrimp’ more than ‘prawn’ when translating to English in my experience.
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Swedish Shrimp Toast Recipe for Toast Skagen or Skagenröra on Fried Bread
I’ve been making variations of this Swedish shrimp toast recipe for toast Skagen since we first tried an open-faced sandwich piled with creamy shrimp salad on a Scandinavian trip some 20 years. We had some time to fill between submitting a Lonely Planet Amsterdam guidebook manuscript and starting a road trip around Greece for another LP guidebook update.
We decided to spend that time travelling through the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, take a ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn to explore the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and travel Eastern Europe, through Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria to Thessaloniki, where we hired a car to begin our Greece research trip.
Despite being burnt out by a handful of back-to-back guidebooks and other projects for LP, and despite getting terribly sick while in Scandinavia due to being so rundown, it would turn out to be one of the most memorable trips we’ve ever done.
The food was a highlight for both of us, but especially for me with my Russian-Ukrainian heritage, as much of it was what we call ‘same same but different’ in Southeast Asia. This shrimp toast is a great example of that.
Despite this shrimp toast recipe for toast Skagen being Swedish, Skagen is actually a place in Denmark. Located on the northernmost point of Denmark and long a popular summer destination, Skagen is best known for its breathtaking natural beauty, its historic fishing port, and its fantastic-tasting fresh seafood, particularly its shrimp and crayfish.
Distinguished by a dramatic setting on the tip of the Jutland peninsula, a romantic landscape of white-sand beaches and wild windswept dunes, and a soft quality to the light, Skagen is gobsmackingly gorgeous.
Skagen is so beautiful that in the 19th century it was a magnet for impressionist-style artists who painted Skagen’s traditional fishing communities, wispy clouds in pastel-blue skies, and women in long flowing dresses twirling parasols as they strolled Skagen’s desolate beaches.
The group of artists became known as the Skagen Painters, or Skagensmalerne and they were especially inspired by that time of day that most us know as dusk, but which artists and photographers call ‘the blue hour’ when, under certain conditions, the sea and sky seem to merge. Terence and I most memorably experienced the phenomenon at dusk from the beach at Monkey Mia in northwest Western Australia.
Incidentally, part of the beach at Monkey Mia looks like the beach in Danish artist Michael Ancher’s A Stroll on the Beach (1896).That painting, and Norwegian artist Peder Severin Krøyer’s Summer Evening at Skagen Beach – The Artist and his Wife (1899), are perhaps two of the most famous Skagen paintings, or at least, my two favourite Skagen paintings.
If you get to Skagen, you can absorb an impressive collection of their work at Skagens Museum. And if you do get to Skagen, visit the wonderful Skagen Odde Nature Centre, designed by Jørn Utzon, architect of Sydney Opera House.
And if you do get to Skagen, check into Skagen’s Brøndums Hotel, where the Skagen Painters artists stayed and socialised. (Hans Christian Andersen and Karen Blixen also stayed.) The lovely historic lodgings have been restored and are utterly charming and a meal at the atmospheric restaurant is a must.
An historic fishing port, and now Denmark’s largest fishing port, Skagen is also famous for its fantastic-tasting fresh seafood, particularly its shrimp and crayfish. The deep-water prawns are some of the finest shrimp in Scandinavia and, bonus, they’re sustainable.
While feasting on a seafood platter is a highlight of a stay at Skagen and seafood restaurants or fish restaurants (‘fiskerestauranter’) are everywhere — look for signs that say ‘frisk fisk’ or ‘fresh fish’ — for lunch, most people, locals and visitors alike, eat Denmark’s famous open-faced sandwiches or smørrebrød, typically topped with seafood, especially Skagen’s famous shrimp and crayfish.
And if you do stay at Brøndums Hotel, book lunch at the restaurant, where the menu has a long list of open sandwiches, such as smoked eel with scrambled eggs and chives, smoked duck breast with egg custard, mustard and lingonberries, and marinated herring with capers and onions — as well as shrimp with mayonnaise and lemon.
So if Skagen is so famous for its shrimp — and, like Copenhagen, Denmark’s open-faced sandwiches topped with fresh seafood, including shrimps in creamy mayonnaise — why is Sweden’s toast Skagen and Skagenröra shrimp salad better known globally? Good marketing? The internet? Social media?
Probably all of that, because we ate fantastic open sandwiches piled high with plump sweet shrimp in a creamy mayonnaise, creme fraiche and dill dressing, topped with caviar all over Scandinavia. In fact, some of the most memorable shrimp open sandwiches were at the seafood markets in Oslo.
But, as I said, there are a few things that make this Swedish shrimp toast special and set it apart from other Scandinavian-style open-face sandwiches and I’ll tell you what they are in the tips below.
Tips to Making this Swedish Shrimp Toast Recipe for Toast Skagen
I only have a few tips to making this recipe for Scandinavian-style shrimp toast, as it really couldn’t be easier.
Ingredients
This Scandinavian-style shrimp toast recipe calls for less than a dozen ingredients, so let’s start with the key ingredient, the shrimp, or prawns to my fellow Australian readers :)
Shrimps / Prawns
A classic Swedish shrimp toast recipe for toast Skagen calls for small cooked shrimp and some of the Scandinavian open-faced sandwiches with shrimp salad are made with the tiny pink prawns. But you can use any sweet shrimps you can source.
Small fresh and frozen cooked prawns are sold at most supermarkets here in Australia, where you’ll find fresh prawns at the seafood counter or deli counter and frozen prawns in the cold section. If you’re lucky to have a seafood market, fish cooperative or good fishmonger near you, we highly recommend buying cooked fresh prawns.
And if you can’t source small shrimps or just prefer the flavour of larger shrimp, you can simply chop them to size. I bought two kilos of bargain-priced uncooked Australian banana prawns for A$5 a kilo at Coles on Christmas Eve, as it was late in the day and they reduced them to a fifth of the price of the cooked tiger prawns.
Banana prawns are medium-sized prawns here in Australia, so, after boiling them, cooling them down in an ice bath, and shelling them, I chopped them into thirds and quarters. It took me about 30 minutes in total to prep the prawns.
I boiled the prawns for a few minutes a batch, until the prawns floated to the surface, transferred them to a pot of iced water, then spent around 20 minutes to shell a kilo of prawns. I did the same the next day with the rest. So worth it!
My shrimp toast recipe calls for 300g prawns for two, so 150g or half a cup of prawns per person, which makes very generous portions. It was so substantial it served as a meal.
But if you’re serving these as appetisers 300g shrimp could easily make four portions. Halve that again and you could make 8-12 smaller shrimp toasts or toast fingers.
Creamy Dressing
A classic Swedish shrimp toast recipe calls for a creamy dressing comprised of mayonnaise and crème fraîche. Use a really good quality creamy mayonnaise, or make your own. Crème fraîche or ‘fresh cream’ in French is a thick cultured cream that is similar to sour cream.
With a higher fat content of up to 45%, crème fraîche is richer than sour cream. I, personally, prefer the tanginess of sour cream, and while my Swedish shrimp toast recipe calls for crème fraîche for the sake of authenticity, I actually use sour cream when I make my toast Skagen.
Some Swedish shrimp toast recipes call for a significant amount of Dijon mustard, which is one of the ingredients that sets toast Skagen apart from other Scandinavian shrimp sandwiches. I like just a smidgen of Dijon, but do use more if you like.
A combination of fresh dill and fresh chives are essential for toast Skagen, but I have to say that I prefer dill and spring onions. Again, do as you prefer and use whatever you have to hand. Combine the lot and season with salt and pepper.
Toast
Fried white bread is another distinguishing element of toast Skagen. Most Scandinavian-style shrimp sandwiches are made with fresh bread, typically rye bread, dark rye bread or pumpernickel.
I’ve tried the lot, but I absolutely love making Swedish shrimp toast with toasted English muffins. Don’t knock it until you try it!
I slice the muffins in half, generously spread unsalted butter on the muffin halves, and toast them in a sandwich press or panini press with griddle plates for lovely char lines.
Caviar
My shrimp toast recipe calls for caviar or fish roe. A classic Swedish toast Skagen is topped with the orange-red Swedish caviar called Kalix. I like to use red or black lumpfish caviar or salmon roe, and serve the caviar in a jar on the table, so guests can help themselves as they like.
Step-By-Step Process
This shrimp toast recipe is so quick and easy, it takes no more than 15 minutes or so to make if you’re starting with cooked prawns, but here’s a quick overview of the process. Or you can scroll straight to the recipe.
If you’re not using small cooked shrimp, chop the larger cooked shrimp into small chunky pieces and transfer to a bowl or container and refrigerate to keep cold while you’re making the dressing.
In a bowl, use a large spoon to gently combine the quality mayonnaise, crème fraîche (or sour cream), smidgen of Dijon mustard if using, salt and pepper, and fresh dill and chives (or spring onions).
To the same bowl, add the chilled cooked shrimp, and combine well so every shrimp is coated in the creamy dressing. Taste, and adjust the seasoning and herbs to suit your palate.
Generously spread the unsalted butter onto the muffin slices and toast in a sandwich press or panini press with griddle until crispy and golden brown. Alternatively, you could fry the bread in a griddle pan, frying pan, or skillet.
Use tongs to transfer the toasted muffins to plates, spoon generous piles of creamy shrimp onto the toasted round muffin slices, and sprinkle on some more fresh sprigs of dill.
Serve with the shrimp toast with a jar of caviar and dish of lemon wedges, and encourage your guests to squeeze a little lemon juice onto the shrimp toast and spoon on some caviar.
Serve with glasses of Champagne or sparkling wine. We love a Spanish cava or Australian bubbly.
Swedish Shrimp Toast Recipe for Toast Skagen
Equipment
Ingredients
- 300 g small shrimp - cooked, shelled, deveined, 150 g or half a cup of prawns per person makes a generous
- ½ cup mayonnaise - good quality
- ½ cup crème fraîche - or sour cream
- ¼ tsp Dijon mustard - optional
- ¼ tsp salt - or to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper - or to taste
- 2 tbsp fresh dill - finely chopped
- 1 tbsp chives - or spring onions, finely sliced
- 2 muffins - sliced in half, or more if making more portions
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 jar caviar - lumpfish caviar or salmon roe
- 1 lemon - cut into wedges
Instructions
- If you’re not using small cooked shrimp, chop the larger cooked shrimp into small chunky pieces and transfer to a bowl or container and refrigerate to keep cold while you’re making the dressing.
- In a bowl, use a large spoon to gently combine the quality mayonnaise, crème fraîche (or sour cream), smidgen of Dijon mustard if using, salt and pepper, and fresh dill and chives (or spring onions).
- To the same bowl, add the chilled cooked shrimp, and combine well so every shrimp is coated in the creamy dressing. Taste, and adjust the seasoning and herbs to suit your palate.
- Generously spread the unsalted butter onto the muffin slices and toast in a sandwich press or panini press with griddle until crispy and golden brown. Alternatively, you could fry the bread in a griddle pan, frying pan, or skillet.
- Use tongs to transfer the toasted muffins to plates, spoon generous piles of creamy shrimp onto the toasted round muffin slices, and sprinkle on some more fresh sprigs of dill.
- Serve with the shrimp toast with a jar of caviar and dish of lemon wedges, and encourage your guests to squeeze a little lemon juice onto the shrimp toast and spoon on some caviar.
Nutrition
Please do let us know if you make this Swedish shrimp toast recipe for toast skagen or skagenröra on fried bread as we’d love to know how it turns out for you. And please share your own recipe tweaks.
