Quick Answer: The Finnish Christmas table centers on joulukinkku (the slow-roasted Christmas ham, traditionally 5-7kg), rosolli (the beet-and-root vegetable salad with whipped cream), several root vegetable casseroles (lanttulaatikko, porkkanalaatikko, perunalaatikko), graavi lohi (cured salmon), the joulutorttu (Christmas star pastries with prune jam), piparkakku (gingerbread cookies), riisipuuro (Christmas rice porridge with an almond hidden inside), glögi (mulled wine), pipari-juustokakku (gingerbread cheesecake), and the post-Christmas leftover ham sandwich tradition that runs through Boxing Day.
Finnish Christmas (Joulu) eating runs across multiple days from Joulupukki’s Christmas Eve visit through Boxing Day. The central meal happens on Christmas Eve (December 24) rather than Christmas Day, with most Finnish families gathering for a long late-afternoon meal that runs into the evening. The traditional joulupöytä (Christmas table) spreads buffet-style with 15-25 dishes covering ham, salmon, casseroles, salads, pastries, and the broader sweet table.
The 12 dishes below cover the canonical Finnish Christmas table for 2026. Each entry includes the cultural context, the typical preparation timing, and where to find the dish if you’re visiting Finland during the December Christmas season. The Helsinki Christmas markets (Senate Square late November through December) sell most of the canonical items for travelers wanting to taste the canon without a Finnish family invitation. Restaurants serve traditional Christmas menus (joulupöytä lunches) from mid-November through New Year.
A heritage Helsinki Christmas-lunch reservation (Lasipalatsi, Loiste, the Savoy) lands at €45-€85 per person across the December calendar. K-Citymarket sells the canonical 12 dishes for €60-€80 if a family of 4 is cooking at home, which works out to cheaper than dinner-for-one at most heritage venues. Senate Square Christmas market stalls run €5-€12 per dish for travelers wanting to taste the canon without committing to a sit-down reservation.
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12 Items
The shortlist below covers the realistic candidates with practical context for each.
1. Joulukinkku, the Christmas Ham
Joulukinkku is the centerpiece of the Finnish Christmas table: a 5-7kg slow-roasted bone-in ham that takes 6-8 hours in a low-temperature oven (110-125°C) overnight before Christmas Eve. The traditional preparation runs the ham at low temperature for substantial time to keep the texture tender. The cooked ham is typically glazed with mustard, breadcrumbs, and brown sugar before final browning. Roughly 6 million kilos of joulukinkku ham gets cooked across Finnish homes each Christmas. Supermarket K-Citymarket and S-Market both run dedicated ham pre-order systems through November. Restaurant Christmas-table service centers the ham as the buffet anchor.
Read also: Autumn in Finland · Spring in Finland
2. Rosolli, the Christmas Beet Salad
Rosolli is the canonical Finnish Christmas vegetable salad: cooked beets, carrots, potatoes, pickled cucumber, and onion diced and combined with seasonings. The traditional service runs with sweetened-and-whipped beet cream (the beet juice mixed with whipped cream produces a distinctive pink color) on top or on the side. The salad has Russian-influenced roots from the 19th-century Empire period and adapted into Finnish Christmas tradition during the 20th century. Every Finnish family makes rosolli slightly differently with regional and family-recipe variations. Supermarket pre-made tubs cost €4-€7 across the December period. The dish runs at room temperature alongside the warm Christmas casseroles.
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3. Joululaatikko Casseroles (Lanttu, Porkkana, Peruna)
Joululaatikko is the broader category of Finnish Christmas root-vegetable casseroles. Three variants run as canonical: lanttulaatikko (rutabaga casserole, the most-distinctive variant), porkkanalaatikko (carrot casserole with rice), and perunalaatikko (potato casserole, sometimes called Brown Beans potato). Each casserole runs sweet rather than savory, with sugar, syrup, or honey adding flavor. The casseroles bake slowly with breadcrumb toppings and run as side dishes to the Christmas ham. The full Christmas table typically includes 2-3 of the casseroles rather than all variants. Supermarket pre-made versions appear in December at K-Citymarket and S-Market for €5-€8 per tub.
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4. Graavi Lohi, the Cured Christmas Salmon
Graavi lohi (graavilohi) is the Finnish cured salmon variant of the broader Nordic gravlax tradition. Salmon fillet gets cured with salt, sugar, dill, and sometimes spirits (vodka, gin, aquavit) for 2-3 days before slicing thin. The Christmas table service runs the graavi lohi alongside the ham as the second protein anchor. Most Finnish Christmas spreads include 500-1000g of graavi lohi for a family of 4-6 people. The dish pairs with rye bread, mustard sauce (rosolli-mustard), and dill. Pre-made graavi lohi at K-Citymarket December counters costs €25-€35 per kilo; the Old Market Hall fishmongers run substantially higher pricing with better quality.
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5. Joulutorttu, the Christmas Star Pastry
Joulutorttu is the iconic Finnish Christmas pastry: puff pastry cut into squares, folded and pinched into pinwheel-star shapes, filled with traditional prune jam (luumuhillo), and baked to a golden brown. The pastry appears at every Finnish Christmas market stall, every supermarket December bakery section, and every traditional cafe through December. The prune-filled version runs as the canonical variant; some bakeries offer raspberry, apple, or vanilla cream alternatives. Standard Christmas-market pricing runs €2-€4 per pastry. The dish runs as the iconic Finnish Christmas sweet alongside the broader gingerbread tradition. Most Helsinki bakeries (Café Esplanad, Robert’s Coffee, Café Strindberg) sell joulutorttu daily through December.
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6. Piparkakku, the Gingerbread Cookies
Piparkakku is the Finnish gingerbread tradition with cookies, gingerbread house construction, and the broader Christmas baking culture. Finnish piparkakku runs thinner and more crisp than German or American gingerbread with stronger ginger, cinnamon, clove, and cardamom spicing. Family piparkakku-baking sessions are a major late-November to mid-December tradition. Decorative cookies appear at every Helsinki Christmas market in shapes including hearts, stars, pigs, and traditional figures. The gingerbread-cookie variant pairs with mulled wine glögi as the most-recognized Finnish Christmas pairing. Standard supermarket boxes cost €3-€6; bakery-fresh versions at heritage Helsinki cafes run €4-€8 per cookie.
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7. Riisipuuro and the Almond Game
Riisipuuro is the Christmas-morning rice porridge served on Christmas Day with cinnamon, sugar, and butter. The traditional family game involves hiding one almond inside the porridge pot before serving; whoever gets the almond in their bowl receives good fortune for the coming year. The dish typically runs on Christmas Eve morning rather than Christmas Day morning in modern Finnish households. The cooking process simmers rice with milk for 60-90 minutes to a thick, creamy texture. Standard supermarket rice for puuro (Pirkka, Rainbow) costs €2-€4 per kilo. The dish pairs with fruit soup (kiisseli) made from dried fruits and berries, served alongside or after the porridge.
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8. Glögi, the Christmas Mulled Wine
Glögi is the Finnish Christmas-season mulled wine, the most-recognized Finnish drink internationally during December. The drink combines red wine, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, raisins, and almonds, served warm in small cups. Non-alcoholic glögi variants exist for the family-friendly version. The Helsinki Christmas market at Senate Square sells glögi in 200ml cups for €5-€8 from late November through Christmas. Standard supermarket bottles run €5-€12. The drink pairs traditionally with piparkakku cookies and joulutorttu pastries. Finnish glögi culture runs alongside Swedish glögg and German Glühwein but with the distinctive cardamom emphasis. Most Finnish families prepare glögi at home using packaged glögi-base concentrate from any K-Citymarket or S-Market starting in mid-November.
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9. Salmiakki Christmas Sweets
Salmiakki (salty licorice) sits prominently at the Finnish Christmas sweet table alongside chocolate items. Christmas-specific salmiakki variants include licorice-filled chocolate bars, salmiakki-flavored marzipan, and the distinctive Salmiakki Koskenkorva liqueur-infused chocolates. The Fazer brand dominates Finnish licorice and produces multiple Christmas-specific salmiakki product lines. Helsinki Christmas market stalls sell salmiakki sweets alongside the traditional pastry and gingerbread items. Standard supermarket packs run €3-€7. The flavor remains divisive among international visitors but Christmas runs as the peak Finnish salmiakki consumption window of the year. Christmas-week salmiakki gift-giving runs as a quiet tradition between adult Finnish family members. Most travelers who try Finnish salmiakki for the first time during a December trip leave the country with at least one small pack as a gift.
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10. Joulutähti, the Christmas Star Mandarin Tradition
The Christmas mandarin orange tradition runs strong in Finnish Christmas eating, with most families buying 2-3 kilos of mandarins in late December as the canonical fruit table. The tradition connects to Finnish-Russian historical trade routes when Mediterranean fruit was a winter luxury. Modern supermarkets bring substantial mandarin stock for the December calendar at €2-€4 per kilo. Mandarins pair traditionally with chocolate at the post-meal table. The smell of mandarin peel runs as one of the strongest sensory Finnish Christmas memories among adults, similar to how cinnamon and pine define Christmas memory in other cultures.
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11. Christmas Ham Leftover Sandwiches
The post-Christmas Eve ham leftover sandwich tradition runs through December 25 (Joulupäivä) and December 26 (Tapaninpäivä, Boxing Day equivalent). Most Finnish families slice the leftover joulukinkku for sandwich-making across the two days following Christmas Eve. The standard sandwich pairs sliced cold ham with mustard, pickled cucumber, and dark rye bread. Most Finnish offices reopen with a half-day on Boxing Day with employees bringing leftover ham sandwiches as the canonical post-Christmas lunch. The leftover tradition extends the Christmas eating across 3-4 days rather than the single-meal pattern common in some other European Christmas traditions.
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12. Joulutorttu and Glögi Pairing at Christmas Markets
The combination of joulutorttu star pastry and glögi mulled wine is the canonical Helsinki Christmas market eating moment. Senate Square Christmas market runs late November through December 22 daily with multiple glögi stalls and bakery booths. Esplanadi Park hosts a smaller secondary market. The Tuomaan Markkinat (Thomas Market) at Senate Square is Helsinki’s flagship Christmas market dating to 1872 in its current form. A standard glögi-and-joulutorttu pairing costs €7-€10 at the markets. The mid-December evening visit with snow falling and the market lights running is one of the strongest Helsinki sensory experiences available to visitors.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What do Finns eat for Christmas?
The Finnish Christmas table centers on joulukinkku (5-7kg slow-roasted ham), rosolli beet salad, three root-vegetable casseroles, graavi salmon, joulutorttu star pastries, piparkakku gingerbread, and glögi mulled wine.
When is the main Christmas meal in Finland?
Christmas Eve (Joulu Aatto, December 24) is the main meal day, typically late afternoon running into evening. Christmas Day and Boxing Day run as family-time days with leftover ham sandwiches.
What is joulutorttu?
Joulutorttu is the iconic Finnish Christmas pastry: puff pastry folded into pinwheel-star shapes, filled with prune jam, baked golden. The canonical Christmas-market and bakery treat through December.
Where can I try Finnish Christmas food?
Helsinki Christmas market at Senate Square (late November through December 22). Heritage Helsinki restaurants like Lasipalatsi, Loiste, the Savoy run joulupöytä Christmas-table menus through December.
Is Finnish Christmas food vegetarian-friendly?
Partially. The rosolli salad, three casseroles, joulutorttu pastry, and piparkakku gingerbread are vegetarian. The ham and salmon are the main meat-and-fish dishes. Most restaurants offer vegetarian joulupöytä variants on request.
Key Takeaways
- Joulukinkku (5-7kg Christmas ham, slow-roasted overnight) anchors the Finnish Christmas Eve table.
- Rosolli beet salad with whipped beet cream gives the table its distinctive pink color.
- Three joululaatikko casseroles (lanttu rutabaga, porkkana carrot, peruna potato) run as side dishes.
- Joulutorttu star pastry with prune jam pairs with glögi mulled wine as the canonical sweet combination.
- Christmas Eve (Joulu Aatto, December 24) is the main meal day, not Christmas Day itself.
Final Thoughts
The Finnish Christmas table centers on the slow-roasted joulukinkku ham, the pink-tinged rosolli salad, the three root-vegetable casseroles, graavi salmon, and the broader pastry table led by joulutorttu and piparkakku. Glögi mulled wine runs the drink pairing. The meal happens on Christmas Eve (December 24) rather than Christmas Day. Helsinki Christmas markets at Senate Square sell the canonical items for travelers wanting to taste the canon without a family invitation. For deeper context on the season, the Helsinki to Stockholm ferry guide covers the wider Christmas-in-Finland calendar.