Norwegian Potato Flatbread (Lefse) - Food Wishes 

Check out the recipe: www.allrecipes.com/recipe/278136/norwegian-potato-flatbread-lefse/

My wife (who makes about 150 lbs of lefse a year) said you probably set a world record for the smallest amount of lefse ever made.

Hot tip from Norway: Use a lefse instead of a bun for your hot dog.

Chef John: "First thing, let's bake a potato." My Norwegian Grandma: "get those leftover mashed potatoes out of the fridge. We're doing lefse." Good eatin' either way.

Norwegian here: It is very common to spread with room temp butter and coat with sugar AND CINNAMON. If you want to make a buffet style lefse you can spread with cream cheese and top with smoked salmon/lox, thinly sliced red onions and arugula (or spinach). Or you can substitute the fish for salted smoked ham and the red onions for scallion or even leak. Most common ways these are eaten however is wrapped around a hotdog. Great vid tho. Been eating these my entire life and not once have I ever seen how they're made!

Potatoes and Bread at the same time?!?! You know the way to my heart.

I want to put in a word for ricing your potatoes, and even double ricing them! We peel, boil, rice, and mix in the butter and cream (not milk!) then chill in the fridge overnight. On day two we rice the cool mixture again, then mix in the flour. But we’re Minnesotans with all the gear, and we usually do 30 pounds of potatoes at a time. Lefse is usually a team sport, spouses, siblings, or parent and child.

I love that you say «lefse» so many times!😄 Norway approves of this video!!👏

Lefse roll is so good. Smoked salmon and creme cheese rolled up in lefse. Yum.

Even though John is an accomplished as well as masterful chef, he also has comedic wit and timing that are equally masterful. I wonder if he’s ever thought of doing stand up?

I grew up with lefse. To honor my Norwegian father, we make this every Christmas Eve. You did a great job! Thanks for spreading the word about this delicious treat! And oh yeah sure about store bought lefse!!☮️

My Grandfather used to make Lefse for us when I was a child. I haven’t heard anybody mention this tasty treat in ages. Yum 😋

I've had this as a food wish for so long that I'd forgotten about it. Thank you, Chef John! The only - and I mean the *only* - gripe I have is that, while these lefse are delicious, they are much too thick. You should be able to see the pattern of the cloth through them when you roll them out. The amount of dough used here should make something like 18-24 lefse or more, depending on how pro and/or dangerous you're feeling on that day. The reason for all the expensive Norwegian lefse-making acoutrements you can buy from some websites is because they all help you make shockingly thin lefse much more easily with them than without them. Fortunately, while I was making the lefse inspired by this video, I developed a reasonably easy technique for making ultra-thin lefse without the specific gear, and I say this as someone who can barely roll out pie dough without it turning into a misshapen mass with holes torn in it. In addition to what is seen in this video, you will need: a French rolling pin, a silicone spatula with a reasonably long and thin handle (so, a cheap one), a griddle pan, and a pastry brush. 1. Make sure you have enough flour on your rolling surface. Like, you should have an embarrassing amount of flour. You will probably need a cup and a half or more just for rolling by the end. Make sure you keep that surface well-floured, especially where the center of the dough will be. 2. Flatten the lefse in the palm of your hand. The reason for using the palm is because you will naturally leave more in the center, which is what you want if you are going to roll them super-thin. 3. Dust your lefse liberally with flour whenever you even think it looks like it maybe might start to stick to anything. This dough is very forgiving and can accept a large amount of flour without affecting the texture, so use it! 4. Start rolling from the center outward, using no more pressure than what it takes to move the rolling pin. Change your angle to keep the dough round. Don't go all the way to the edges until you have made a few passes. 5. Once the dough is starting to get flat, apply a little more pressure and start going all the way to the edges. Use your flour liberally here. 6. Once you have the dough as flat as you dare - again, you should at least be able to see the pattern of the cloth underneath - lightly brush the excess flour off with the pastry brush. 7. Hold the cloth and press the tip of the rubber spatula against it. Gently slide the spatula underneath the middle of the dough, being careful not to move it too suddenly. Do not touch the dough or you will almost certainly tear it. 8. Once the tip of the spatula comes out the other side, use it as a second handle and take it over to your hot griddle pan. 9. Starting at the farthest side, carefully lay the dough on the griddle pan and start "rolling" the spatula toward you to lay out the rest. Do not pull on the dough. If you get any wrinkles, just keep going. Again, do not touch the dough. 10. Let the dough cook for a few seconds. If needed, fix any wrinkles after you lay out the dough by sliding the spatula under the dough and wiggling it a bit. 11. Use the pastry brush to remove the excess flour from the top of the lefse. The lefse is much more resistant to tearing once it has cooked a bit. 12. When you see the bottom starting to get brown, flip it with a spatula and cook the other side. Try not to flip it into the flour. 13. When the second side is cooked, move the lefse somewhere to keep it warm. I used a very low oven and a pan lined with paper towels. 14. Between each lefse, brush the excess flour off of the pan. Don't try making the next while one is cooking unless this is a team effort because you will burn it. Just be patient. Once you have some practice, it only takes about 30 seconds to roll out another sheet. 15. Enjoy!

Lefse, pickled herring, a little onion, maybe a smear of sour cream. So good

I grew up in MN, and although not Norwegian, I had friends that were. They always made it usin leftover mashed potatoes.

My grandmother and her sister "Tante-Lill" have over 160 years of experience of baking lefse. They are are 91 and 94 years old. I have the secret of the recipte , and it's all about the potatoes. In America it's called "Blue Almond", but there is a difference of those cultivated in the "mountains" vs. the lowlands. My olds are getting slow, but i will try to get you the recipte of the true, thin, potato-flavoured origin of lefse. Thank you for your channel!

My great aunt makes lefse for Christmas every year. Our family has Norwegian heritage and her lefse is one of the ways we stay connected to our history. It's everyone's favorite!

As someone who grew up with lefse on the regular, seeing it described so plainly as "Norwegian potato flatbread" shook me a bit.

I've made these using a sweet potato.... Wow! Hot smothered in butter and a dribble of syrup. Outstanding.

Chef John, I love how you make ethnic recipes. Your tutorials make cooking look easy and enjoyable.

Were there any lefse over? :-)))

Grew up with family making and eating them, we always add cinnamon as a topping or butter when it’s still warm

We do Homemade Lefse every year for Christmas. Family tradition that runs for literally generations. Everyone gets together one day a year just to make enough lefse for an army. One of my favorite things ever. I love you're bringing this to thousands of people that have never heard of Lefse! Your technique is very... Interesting to say the least! But its Lefse none the less! Great job!

I have been keeping score at home Chef John, you're definitely winning.

I love you Chef John for making this! My grandma always makes is for Christmas and it's amazing, and don't forget to try it with butter and a bit of brown sugar.

I've never burned my hand on the handle of a pan while taking it out of the oven. However, on many occasions I have burned my hand on the handle of a pan three seconds after taking it out of the oven. Listen to John: leave the towel on! You want to know when it usually happens? I'll take the pan out of the oven, with protection. And I'll set it down. And I'll think, "Handle's hot! Don't touch it!" And I need to flip something or stir it a little bit. So a grab a utensil and get to work. But now with all of this pushing, the pan is slipping and sliding around instead of holding still. So without any thought whatsoever, my free hand steps in to hold the pan steady. And that's how the free hand becomes the burned hand. The bunt hand? The burnt hand.

My Norwegian grandma made the BEST lefse. Out of 6 children, 12 grandchildren and assorted spouses only 2 of her son-in-laws came close to hers. It amazing how something so simple is so finicky to take from good to great. At Christmas we has a lefse table. Butter, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, both light and dark brown sugar, apple jelly, blueberry jam, lingonberry jam, lemon curd, sour cream, smoked salmon and dill cream cheese spread. All home made. Us kids would swarm that table and eat until we got sick. She had the special roller and no one was allowed to touch it unless she was present. Thanks for bringing back some great childhood memories.

Butter, sugar and cinnamon are the most common way in Norway

Floured towel tip is great chef! This is the answer to many of my problems! TY

My daughter and I make lefsa all the time but especially during the holidays. We love it soooo much. Just can't get enough !

As a child in Northern Norway, they were always served to me by my mormor with a butter, cinnamon and sugar filling. Happy memories : )

Lefse in the store is so thick. My family has a special lefse rolling pin in order to roll it out super thin. It is delicate and tender, not stiff at all.

3:50 You are after all the chef John of how much more to pile on! =D you make me so hungry

I'm glad I kept my eyes peeled for this recipe, looks flat out awesome!

Looks pretty good. I just made lefse with my family. It was a whole event. The dough was mixed & rolled into balls the night before. (We riced the potatoes) The dough was pretty moist, cold. We had two cloth covered rolling stations & two lefse irons. We had the rolling pins with lines & a hatch patterned cloth over it. One lefse stick for cold & hot. Lots of flour. We used 3-4 bath towels folded the hamburger way to steam the lefse in. It can stay pretty hot for a long while! It freezes fantastically. Once cooled and ready to package I'd put some paper towels in the bag to absorb moisture. Eat them quickly (a few days) or freeze. My favorite way to eat it is with salted butter and light brown sugar. 💖💖💖 - Minnesota grown, North Dakota is my new home. 😊

Oh chef John… you’re one in a million! So enjoy your videos …your stellar humor. And, as a bonus, I always learn something new! Thank you for being you…

"Totally tubular", haha! This chef is so hip! LOL

Lefse is one of my favorite treats during the holidays. You are correct that butter and sugar is the correct way to enjoy them.

I live in Norway. What people often do here is to wrap a hotdog sausage, some potato salad, ketchup, and fried crunchy onion in a lefse. A sweet version, like you said, would be with cinnamon sugar and butter. Nice recipe, chef John!

"Scoop and Mash" is my favorite 80's buddy cop TV show.

I had no idea Norwegians had their own “tortilla”! Love it when I learn about a food that’s new to me.

We Minnesotans appreciate this, chef John! 👍🏻

I remember my grandmother baked lefser when I was young. Cheers from Oslo, Norway

I absolutely love your show. Keep me laughing and learning

I'm from Norway, and lefse is quite common here indeed! So awesome that you've made a video on this. I'd love to see your take on potetball one day (aka komle)

Would love an "And as always... Enjoyyy" tee! Def want to make these potato lefse!

Ahh!! Love the use of the towel for the rolling! Genius I will use that thank you very much

You always make me both relaxed & hungry, Chef! Love your channel so much

I'm crying like a baby just remembering watching my grandma make these and us kids fighting who gets the next one off the grill. We would put butter, cinnamon and sugar or her freezer jam or it and it was so good. Been along time and thanks for taking me down memory lane.

Actually, with the shape and size of these, I’d say they are more like “Lompe” than “Lefse” but who cares - These look amazing! Best hot dog wrappers, too! I grew up on these in Norway and they can be hard to find in the states. I will definitely give this recipe a try. Thanks for making this video!

I LOVE your videos Chef John! You are hilarious and smart and creative and I look forward to your videos :) I REALLY like how patient and kind you sound for all of us learning your recipes.....THANK YOU for everything!

Wow can you believe chef john has been doing this food wishes channel for 13 years since 07' he is hands down the #1 chef on RU-vid and yes I'm in including Ramsay love you chef john plz never stop

Thank you for this, my husband is Norwegian and this is one of the foods he misses the most. They are impossible to find in the uk. Definitely will be giving them ago.

I want that spatula... the flex vs. firm there has been eluding me in my last couple purchases. 0_0 I must know...

Minnesotan here. Totally self taught in lefse making. Yours looked better than my first attempt at making lefse.

I have many fond memories of watching my aunt make lease for the holidays. She filled a jumbo round short bread tin ( you know, the blue one) and then fought it to Thanksgiving and Christmas, where she softened them between damp towels in the microwave and slathered with butter and cinnamon sugar. I will never forget snitching those yummy little pinwheels from the cutting board.

Mmm my grandma loved this and we have it every Christmas. Top with a thin layer of butter and cinnamon sugar, roll, and have the time of your life.

Damn, they look really good. Tastes great with fermented Mountain trout, sour cream and scallion. Or sugar, butter and Brown Cheese.

I luv the sense of community around Chef John's recipes!!

My dad has been talking about lefse for weeks! What great timing! Already sent hin the link, thank you Chef!

I CANT BELIEVE YOU MADE THIS VIDEO!! I LOVE LEFSE...ALMOST AS MUCH AS I LOVE YELLING IN THE COMMENT SECTION

My dad is Norwegian and he always ate pölse (sausage) with this wrapped around it instead of hotdog buns :)

This post means so much to me. My mom would make this every year. Two years ago she was diagnosed with ms. She went from cooking and leading a normal life to being bed bound in a matter of months. :(

Love your recipes! Easy to follow and your humor adds to the enjoyment of the whole experience. Food also tastes good! Thank you!

I can literally smell and taste it just by looking at it. I miss my grandma :(

My uncle makes this for thanksgiving every year. He wouldn’t give me his recipe, but now I know!

Had a friend from a little town north of Minneapolis, "little Sweden ", who would gather all family and friends together to make lefsa. Fun and delicious, looked a lot like yours.

My son-in-law is Norwegian. Lefse is served at all our holiday dinners. I’ve never made them, but I think I could, thanks to you, Chef John!

There is also a cloth sleeve that is used on the rolling pin.

I'm afraid to try this recipe because I know I would eat them all immediately

Oh wow! They look great! Thank you chef John!!

Amazing and great humor too 😀 thanks so much

This confirms my suspicion that pretty much every culture has some form of round flatbread that looks kinda like a tortilla. Historically speaking it makes sense, since even the Mesopotamians were making something like this.

I'm waiting for the Midwesterners to comment on your technique ;) It seemed you did a very good job considering you didn't have all of the tools--a big round griddle, rolling pin with grooves, a board covered with a cloth to roll on and flipping stick. One tip: it's essential that you properly mash the potatoes completely, preferably with a ricer as you mentioned. If you don't, during the rolling phase, you may mash a dry piece of potato into the towel upon which you're rolling and then other pieces may stick to this which can cause difficulties. My mom has made these every fall for as long as I can remember and they're a staple of our Christmas dinners. Thanks a lot for your attention to a heart-felt traditional food for me, Chef John.

We have something really similar in Finland called Rieska (or Perunarieska to be more precise), but we just use eggs instead of cream. Tastes amazing with cold smoked reindeer and cream cheese.

You have no idea how long I’ve been searching for Norwegian food on RU-vid and any other app I know of that does food. I’m so happy you did this!! I look forward to watching it!!

We use them for tons od things! Hot dogs, as a sweet treat, with cured meats, fish, soup, dinners, as bread... options are limitless!

Biggest laugh of the year: "Store bought lefse".

You are so timely Chef John! I bought some lefse today at $2 each. We’re going broke, our family loves lefse... we can do this! Tusen takk!

Thank you for making this recipe Chef John!!!!! My family gets together on Thanksgiving or Christmas and the whole family makes this together! We have a competition to see who can get the perfect size, shape, and thickness!!! By far one of my favorite things to eat!

Canada: "HEAVY BREATHING"

Me: Bachelor who cannot boil water. Also me: Ends up watching 100 chef John videos in a row...

My grandma, who was Irish as the day is long, used to make lefse. I make it using her recipe and the rolling pin she used. One of my favorite things from my childhood.

Thanks John - You make me smile.

Chef John, you should try these with hot dogs instead of the traditional hot dog bun. It's magnificent.

Congratulations John, this is the first video you've ever done that made me cry. My grandmother was Norwegian and this was her specialty, she made it for all kinds of special dinners when i was growing up and me and my cousins would fight over her lefse and her homemade sweet cream butter. She passed away last year and it p***ed me off to no end that one of my cousins ran off with a bunch of my grandmothers cooking stuff (which she promised to me before she died) like the 70+ years of handwritten recipe cards she'd made and collected from her sisters, mother, and other Norwegians and her special lefse rolling pins. I've kept a civil tongue with my relatives for my grandfathers sake (he's a peaceful man who's reaching his last days) but when he's gone I'm going to show my cousin exactly what kind of man I am, raise Holy Hell, and get those back so I can finally make Nana's Famous Lefse. I'm part Norwegian and part Scottish, I got the height of the Nordmenn and the temper of the Scotsman.

I LOOOOOVE these, I used to get them all the time when I lived in Spain, lots of the small Pakistani corner shops sell them.

Aww I haven’t even watched the video yet but I’m so excited! I love your videos and lefse is near and dear to my heart!

"...i have no idea... sometimes my arms and hands just do things on their own..." classic Chef John... I'm still laughing... you're a unknown national treasure.

5:38 what did I just hear?? """Give that surface a little poking with a fork?"""" What happened to the ole poka poka :'(

OMG, I love listening to him. Happy New Year all.

Discover this channel in 2020 and must say love those videos especially the voice of the chef.

OMG this is my foodwish from like 7 years ago!!!

There are no innocent bystanders in my kitchen.

Brings me back to my childhood at my grandparents house during the holidays. I do love me some lefse

I grew up with Lefse. My mom usually just made it from leftover mashed potatoes. So many uses. A friend once described it as a potato tortilla. Thank you for sharing.

This is not a real Chef John video, it has been faked. He never got out the cayenne.

This is so like Indian aloo parantha gone VILAYATI 😂😂😂

Thanks chef John for this simple way to make lefse! Every Christmas we have lefse with mashed potatoes and cod rolled up inside of lefse! It’s delicious with melted butter and garlic!

I'm going to be trying those, thank you!