• 31 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

What to Eat with Pickled Herring

Hot new potatoes, sour cream with chives, dark rye and crispbread first, then the rest of a herring table.

What to Eat with Pickled Herring

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  1. Sour cream with chivesA spoonful beside the fish and the potatoes.
  2. Boiled new potatoes with dillServe them hot. The warm potato against the cold fish is the point.
  3. Dark rye breadButter a slice and lay the herring on it.
  4. Rye crispbreadButter it first so the fish does not soften it.
  5. Diced raw onionChop it fine and scatter it over the fish.

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All 31 ideas

Potatoes, bread and eggs 8

  • Bialy Split it, butter it and add herring and onion.
  • Boiled new potatoes with dill Serve them hot. The warm potato against the cold fish is the point.
  • Creamed dill potatoes Spoon them hot next to the fish in place of plain boiled ones.
  • Crisp egg crackers (kichel) A piece of herring on each one, eaten in a bite.
  • Dark rye bread Butter a slice and lay the herring on it.
  • Halved boiled eggs Put half an egg next to each piece of fish.
  • Rye crispbread Butter it first so the fish does not soften it.
  • Soft flatbread (lefse) Wrap a piece of herring in a soft round.

Onion, cream and sauces 8

  • Cream sauce with onions and gherkins Spoon it over the fillets and serve with potatoes.
  • Diced raw onion Chop it fine and scatter it over the fish.
  • Lingonberry cream sauce Sweet and sharp, over herring on dark bread.
  • Mustard and dill sauce Sweet and sharp. Spoon it over plain fillets.
  • Sliced gherkins Slice them thin and tuck them beside the fish.
  • Sour cream with chives A spoonful beside the fish and the potatoes.
  • Sunflower oil and sliced onion Cut the fish in pieces, add onion rings and a thread of oil.
  • Tahini Thin it with lemon juice and spoon it next to the fish.

Plates and dishes built round it 4

  • Bread roll with raw onion A fillet or two in a crusty roll, eaten out of hand.
  • Chopped herring with egg, onion and apple Chop it fine and spread it on rye bread or crackers.
  • Green beans, bacon and potatoes in their skins Lay the cold fillets beside the hot beans and potatoes.
  • Layered beet, potato and egg salad Build it in a glass dish so the layers show.

The rest of a herring table 4

  • Baked ham with mustard Slice it cold and put the mustard pot beside it.
  • Creamy potato and sprat casserole Carry it to the table bubbling, once the cold fish is done.
  • Sharp cheese pie Cut it in thin wedges and serve it just warm.
  • Smoked eel A few slices on the same plate as the herring.

Something sweet after 4

  • Ginger thins A plate of them with the coffee.
  • Saffron buns With coffee, once the savory plates are cleared.
  • Strawberries and cream Leave the berries whole and pass the cream in a jug.
  • Strawberry cake A summer finish after a herring lunch.

Drinks 3

  • Blueberry soup, warm or cold Pour it into mugs in winter and glasses in summer.
  • Christmas soda (julmust) Sweet and cold, for a winter herring table.
  • Elderflower drink Mix it weak and serve it very cold.

How it works

What to eat with pickled herring? In the Nordic countries the answer is dark rye bread, crispbread, sour cream or potatoes. These 31 ideas start there and go on through Germany, Eastern Europe and a full herring table.

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What do you eat pickled herring with, by country

Sweden's Midsummer starter is herring with boiled new potatoes, fresh dill and sour cream with chives, and boiled eggs are popular beside it. Northern Germany serves mild soused herring with potatoes boiled in their skins, green beans, bacon and onion, or in a bread roll with raw onion. Russia and Ukraine season the pieces with sunflower oil and onions. Ashkenazi Jewish chopped herring is spread on rye bread or crackers, and Egypt eats pickled herring with tahini.

What to eat with herring from a jar

Drain the fish and cut it into bite-size pieces. Give it one hot, plain thing, one cream and one bread, and let onion or chives be the only sharp note.

  • Put each kind of herring in its own bowl with its own fork, so the flavors stay apart.
  • Pat the pieces dry before they go on bread or crackers.

Questions and answers

What do you eat with pickled herring at Christmas?

On a Swedish Christmas table the first plate is an assortment of pickled herrings with sour cream and chives. Smoked eel, a potato and sprat casserole and ham with mustard are on the same table, with saffron buns among the sweets.

What can you eat with pickled herring besides potatoes?

Dark rye bread or rye crispbread, buttered. A crusty roll with raw onion makes a sandwich, a soft flatbread wraps round a piece, and halved boiled eggs fill out the plate.

What is good to eat with pickled herring on bread?

Butter the bread, add the herring and choose one topping: diced raw onion, sliced gherkins, a mustard and dill sauce or a lingonberry cream sauce.

What do you drink with pickled herring?

Without alcohol: a cold elderflower drink, or julmust, a soft drink that Sweden drinks mainly around Christmas. Nordic blueberry soup is served hot or cold, as a drink too.

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