Rommegrot (Norwegian Cream Pudding)
Rommegrot is a rich and creamy pudding-like dish that is lightly sweetened and best served with some melted butter, cinnamon and sugar on top. It’s a traditional Norwegian recipe that has been passed down to me from my mom, who got it from her mom, and so on – going back generations!
Hei og velkommen! (That’s “Hello and welcome!” in Norwegian).
Over the past couple of years, I have been posting Norwegian recipes that are near and dear to my heart. These are recipes that have been enjoyed by my family over the years.
Despite being 98% percent Norwegian (according to Ancestry.com), I have never actually been to Norway.
It’s on my bucket list, let me assure you.
So why am I sharing Norwegian recipes when I have never been there?
The recipes that I am sharing with you are recipes that people from my very-Norwegian hometown in Minnesota (and home church in South Dakota) have been making for generations.
These recipes were brought over by families when they came to the New World in the 1880s.
These are salt-of-the-earth recipes, if you will. Not fancy or frilly, but frugal and simple. Recipes made with the simplest of ingredients like cream, butter, flour, and eggs. I hope you can appreciate the beauty in that.
Traditional Norwegian Cooking: A Lost Art?
Sadly but understandably, I have noticed dwindling interest in old Norwegian cooking.
When I was a little girl, the older ladies in town would make all sorts of dishes:
- Sweet soup (sot suppe)
- Liver sausage
- Head cheese
- Lefse
- Lutefisk
- Cooked rice
These recipes still appear from time to time at church potlucks and Sunday suppers, but not like they used to.
So I’ve decided to do my little part in preserving this food heritage. The first recipe I am sharing with you is rømmegrøt.
What Is Rømmegrøt?
Rommegrot is a traditional Norwegian pudding/sour cream porridge made with lots of rich dairy (whole milk and cream) and thickened with flour. It’s slightly sweet and served with melted butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg on top.
I love rommegrot. It’s lightly sweetened but still satisfies my dessert craving and because it is so rich, it doesn’t take much to fill me up. This Norwegian porridge recipe is a classic, one you should definitely consider adding to your roster of traditional recipes.
If you make this dish yourself, don’t skimp on the toppings. That’s where the real indulgence is.
Plan ahead: Consider making this dessert for Syttende Mai (17th of May), which is Norwegian Constitution Day.
These are my dear, rommegrot-loving grandparents, pictured at my Grandpa’s 54th birthday in 1963.
Try This Similar Recipe
I’m a member of a traditional Norwegian recipe sharing group on Facebook, and someone posted a recipe for rommegrot bars.
I was so excited I ran to the store to get ingredients right then and there.
To be perfectly honest, these bars don’t have a lot in common with actual rommegrot.
But they’re still amazing. Layers of pastry filled with a rich, creamy filling. Similar to a Danish pastry – and perfect with a hot cup of coffee.
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Other Cheap, Traditional Norwegian Recipes
- Norwegian potato dumplings
- Norwegian hotdish
- Norwegian flatbread
- Norwegian sweet soup
- Norwegian rice pudding
- Norwegian egg coffee
- My Norwegian grandmother’s meatball recipe
- Norwegian Christmas bread
- Swedish meatballs
- Open-faced sandwiches
- Almond kringler
- Rosettes
- Almond cake
- Pepperkaker (spiced sugar cookies)
- Norwegian almond cake
- Lefse (Norwegian potato flatbread)
- Krumkake (rolled cookies)
- Norwegian kringla cookies
- Sandbakkelse (sugar cookies made in individual tins)
- Goro cookies
- How to assemble a Scandinavian snack board
Don’t forget to follow along on Instagram for extra recipes and money-saving tips! Thanks for stopping by.
Norwegian Rommegrot Recipe
This Norwegian cream pudding is cheap to make and feeds a crowd. Serve warm or chilled with melted butter on top. Once you start cooking the mixture, butter starts to seep out. Remove this from the mixture and save for a topping.
Ingredients
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup flour, divided
- 3 cups whole milk, heated
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and melted butter, for serving
Instructions
- Heat whipping cream in a heavy-bottomed kettle over medium heat, until it comes to a simmer. Whisk in about half of the flour, one tablespoon at a time. Try to whisk out any clumps of flour. As the mixture cooks, some butter will begin to seep out. Pour this butter into a dish and use when you are ready to serve. My batch yielded just over a tablespoon of butter.
- Whisk in the remaining flour. Slowly whisk in the warm milk. Whisk out any remaining lumps of flour. Add sugar. Cook for a few minutes, until pudding is thick.
- Serve warm or chilled, topped with cinnamon, sugar, and melted butter.
This is just SOOOOO good. Try it–you won’t be disappointed AND it’s easy and cheap!
Thank you for sharing. . .a very fond memory (the photo, as well!), and, yes, this is good!
This porridge is good, but it is not Rommegrot, (Rømmegrøt), which is based ont sourcream
The receipt above is the traditional everyday porridge that is being preferred by most Norwegians and called many different names depending on where you are from, some names being melkegrøt, fløyelsgrøt….
The real Rommegrot, (Rømmegrøt) is made of 1 ⅔ cups 35 percent fat sour cream, 1 ¼ Cups flour,
5 Cups full fat milk,
¾ Tsp salt . Simmer sour cream, covered, about 15 minutes.
Sift over ⅓ of the flour. Simmer until the butterfat begins to leach out. Skim off the fat.
Sift over the remaining flour and bring to a boil. Bring the milk to a boil and thin the porridge to desired consistency. Whisk until smooth. Simmer about 10 minutes, and season with salt. Serve with the fat, sugar and cinnamon.
Some people prefers to use butter on top of the porridge instead of the sourcream fat. It is delicious. Leftovers can be mixed with 2 eggs, baking powder and a little bit more flour and you will have the best waffles in the world!!!
Real SOUR cream, not sweet cream.
Why did rommegrot used to take HOURS of stirring over the stove when these comments seem to refer to “10 minutes” of this and “15 minutes” of that? I don’t understand!
I ask the same. Ladies I cooked with simmered all day for hours. Bet it is better that way
My mom made this too, but she used rice, milk, butter, sugar, and the same toppings..I guess it all depends where your family hails from…..mine and me..from Stavanger and Kvinestal.
Hi Ester,
I’m sorry this comment is so long.
The porridge you are describing sounds like Risengrynsgrøt (Rice Grain Porridge)/Risgrøt (Rice Porridge). It’s the most common porridge in Norway. It’s eaten all year round and is also the porridge Norwegians eat for dinner the day before Chrismas Eve or for lunch Christmas Eve. It’s enjoyed with a scalded almond hidden in it (only at Christmas). Whomever finds it wins a price. Usually a marzipan pig. The leftovers are turned into Rice Cream for desert after Christmas dinner. It’s served with homemade, or ready made, raspberry or strawberry sauce. Those are the most common. I’m used to raspberry sauce.
Sincerely,
-Mia 🙂
Marrethe is right. We Call it fløtegrøt or fløyelsrøt. . Rmme is almost like yogurt nd from it e make Our butter
also are very fond of meatcakes.Meaballs are mors sweedish. and different kind of lapskaus 😉
My dad was full-blooded Norwegian/American. Mom was not. She would make this very recipe but she would ladle it onto our dinner plates and place a pat of butter in the middle of it. Then we would sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over it to our taste. NOW here is what is silly: She called it MUSH. Thank you for this recipe. I watched mom make it but I didn’t know about the cream and sugar or how much of anything. I LOVED IT and it was sometimes our evening meal. We didn’t care, it was delicious.
How funny, that your mom called it mush! It’s one of my faves too.
yes, we called it mush too, and it was our main meal, at supper, Loved it, but I have not made it, yet.
Me too!! MUSH!
My Mother made it as well, she called it Mush or Gaduut (sp?), we also had it for dinner, 9 kids in the family so was an inexpensive way to feed a tribe 😊❤️
This is fløyelsgrøt or fløtegrøt. Please stopp calling it Rømmegrøt! (alwas made with fat, Norwegian sour cream) Made with rice it’s called Risengrynsgrøt . Rømme means Sour cream in Norwegian .
This is how my mom made it. We are from Gol and Hollingdal
Hi Haley!
I’m Norwegian but I’ve lived in Canada since 1963 so the idea of having a little roemme groet is very appealing. Though I seam to recall that there was more heavy cream than whole milk. Nevertheless I’m happy to have found your recipe. Do you have the recipe for lapper (Norwegian potatoe pancakes), if so maybe you can post it.
Hi Geir,
Thanks for your comment. I suppose both would work, and historically it would have been made with whatever the cook had on hand. I’m sure the heavy cream one would be even more delicious..!
I have not made lapper before, but I am very curious! I am going to give it a try. Thanks for the tip.
I am thrilled to have this recipe. We had this on our trip round Norway in 1961 and I have wanted the recipe ever since as I fell in live with it. Many thanks.
Wonderful, Rosemary! I hope you enjoy it 🙂
I grew up in a Scandinavian community, in the 30’s and 40’s. I am not Norwegian (Danish and German) but my mother worked for several different Norwegian families, cooking and taking care of their kids, when she was young. Rommegrot was one of our favorites that she learned to make. It was made with sour cream. She would put the cream in a pot on the wood stove and as it was heating, she would sift flour in, whipping continuously unit all of the flour was added and the mixture was simmering. Then it was moved to the back of the stove to finish cooking. She would stir it off and on for several hours until the butter was covering the top. Then we would eat it with sugar and cinnamon. I don’t use a recipe when I make it and I don’t use sour cream. In the 50’s and 60’s with a house full of little kids, I couldn’t afford the cream, so used milk and the kids called it, and still do, milk mush. I no longer use a wood stove but did at one time. I whisk my flour into the milk as it is heating, making sure there are no lumps. When it comes to a boil, I turn it down to simmer for about 15 minutes. I stir in the butter and serve. Then we pour a little milk or sweet cream over it and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. I rarely make Rommegrot but still make lefse, klob, lutifisk, Yulekaka, Rosettes and Fattigman, which I think they called kringle. I also make some Danish dishes, but my hubby is a German from Russia descendant ( his dad was born in Russia) and his mother taught me to make a lot of the things that came from there and that is what I usually fix.
I’ve made this many times from memory. I first was exposed to it in college while working in the campus food service as a cooks assistant. I went to a Lutheran private college. We made it for a Christmas alumni dinner (so I’ve made it many times since for family assuming it was a Christmas dish) It’s even more interesting to find that the version I’ve made isn’t true Rommegrot. I’ll have to try the sour cream next time! One thing I’ve always done differently since taking my first sauces clad in chef training is to make this with a roux as it is essentially just a thick bechemel. I don’t think it changes the flavor at all, and it makes it much easier… No lumps like stirring in dry flour.
By itself, it seems a bit bland.
But put sugar/cinnamon with it, and it is awesome! It would probably make a really nice base for mac n cheese also.
Does anyone ever put honey with it also? Or would that not be keeping with the spirit of this nice food/dessert?
I’ve never tried adding honey. That may change the consistency but it’s worth a try 🙂
Thank you for posting these recipes. My ancestors also migrated from Norway in the mid 1880’s. I am excited to try the pudding. Lefse, rosettes, almond kringler and Yule Kaka {not sure of the spelling) were always made at Christmas time. I visited Norway for a family reunion in 1999. The country is beautiful.
This is a recipe of what in Norwegian is called “Melgrøt” “Rømmegrøt” is made of “rømme” which is sour cream. And there is nothing in your recipe that says sour cream. Btw I am Norwegian born and bread. In my dialect we call it “rømmgraut”. The other thing from your article is that “grøt” is porridge not pudding. Pudding in Norwegian is pudding and is totally different from grøt / graut.
My grandmother made this for me in the 40ies and 50ties when I was a girl. I don’t recall that she used flour but don’t recall that she didn’t either. She had a heavy iron pan and used the heaviest cream that she could find and cooked it on low until the butter fat started to separate. She would skim off the butterfat, and when the cream was thick, she would dish it up, adding a couple of teaspoons of the butter fat, sugar and cinnamon.
Mmmmmm…… always a treat at our house, around Christmas! For all those saying it’s named wrong, it was “Rømmegrøt” to my Norwegian great-grandmother, who came to MN straight from Norway as a grown adult. Maybe the name has changed over the years but, to us MN Norwegian-Americans, it will forever be Rømmegrøt! ; )
Greta, that’s interesting. My grandmother who was born in North Dakota in 1911 whose parents were directly from Norway called this recipe Rommegrot too, but I’m just wondering over the years if the two recipes simply got confused. “Romme” meaning sour cream in Rommegrot and Flotegrot made without sour cream.
I live on the far eastern side of Minnesota right in the middle of Norwegian country. My grandmother used a recipe like Lynn’s did. There was NO milk used. That is why it is so rich! the Kind with milk was a “fake” recipe used when the Norwegians moved to the cities and could no longer get cheap cream. The cream is sweet enough. I don’t think she thickened it with flour, and If she used sugar She did not use very much. It was served with cinnamon and sugar and of course the butter drained off of the cream as it cooked.
I live on the far eastern side of Minnesota right in the middle of Norwegian country. My grandmother used a recipe like Lynn’s did. There was NO milk used. That is why it is so rich! the Kind with milk was a “fake” recipe used when the Norwegians moved to the cities and could no longer get cheap cream. The cream is sweet enough. I don’t think she thickened it with flour, and If she used sugar She did not use very much. It was served with cinnamon and sugar and of course the butter drained off of the cream as it cooked.
My Norwegian mother described this as heavy cream cooked into a porridge and said it was a tasty and filling winter breakfast. I’m a California girl and have tasted it just once, at a festival in a western MN town, and couldn’t believe how rich it was — even before adding butter!
Those Norwegians & Norwegian-Americans are famous for their rich foods!
It is interesting to read all the comments! Norwegians and Norwegian-Americans can be very opinionated. My mom was a Norwegian chef who came from a poor mountain family. So, perhaps to clarify a bit – originally they used whatever they had available! Typically this was heavy cream and perhaps some rømme – which by the way is definitely NOT like our sour cream at all! Yes, flour was definitely used to thicken the porridge and IT does draw out the butter. I suppose if there were many mouths to feed, some whole milk would be used to make enough. NO sugar added to the porridge – it is supposed to be a bit sour – save the sugar for the top! Now, serve with flatbread and spekemat and you have a full meal. I’m going to make some rømmegrøt this weekend!
I’m so glad to finally find this recipe. I grew up with what we called grout. My mom’s Grandparents were from Norway. I regret never learning from my mom how to make this. Thank you for sharing a memory.
No sour cream no real recipe. Sour cream is the main ingredient and it’s left out
Do you have any recommendations for a heavy bottom kettle? How many quarts(size)? I have Revereware copper bottom kettles. I think the porridge will burn. Absolutely love your blog with all the Norwegian dishes my mom used to make and talk about.
Anywhere from a 3 quart to 5 quart should work. Basically, a large soup pot.
I don’t know the name of the kettle I have. It’s silver with a copper lid. The bottom is quite thick, so food does not burn or stick quickly. I hope that helps!
And thank you for the compliment – I love posting these old Norwegian recipes!
We use sour cream instead of cream, delicious.
Thanks for posting!
I appreciate all the comments with varying recipes; I hear the same thing from Germans reading about my Americanized German-from-Russia recipes on my mom’s side.
Haha, I guess everyone has a variation 🙂
OMG. To the Norwegians living in Norway….why is it so hard to understand not ALL ingredients were on hand when our great-grandparents came to Minnesota from Norway? Seriously. We know why it’s called rømme! They had to improvise on some recipes when they immigrated. So rude. Usually it’s just the Swedes that can’t understand things like this. Get a grip!
My father was born in Trondheim, Norway, and my mother’s parents came from Norway. My mother was born in Minnesota. She would make “rommegrot” for our family and for his mother-in-law and usually it would be made with heavy cream and milk. Occasionally there would be sour cream (the real kind, as we had cows), but no matter how it was made or called, I thought it was delicious. She also made Risengryngrot (sp?), which was also really good. Thank you for this recipe.
Thanks for sharing your mom’s method! I wish we had fresh dairy to use to make rommegrot. This more modern method is still delicious though!
Thank you for sharing. I am Norwegian & was also born in Minnesota by both parents being Norwegian. We also try to keep some of these recipes alive for our family & grandchildren. Yes, you should take the trip to Norway, we visited some family near Oslo & met cousins who now live in the family home which was built over 500 years ago, amazing & that visit was a magnificent. Made me even more proud of my descendants. A very good feeling. Hope you can visit in the near future!
Awesome, Marcia. What a blessing to be able to visit the family home and see Norway. I do hope to see it someday!
The Rommegrot my Grandmother used to make us in the 60’s was all cream, or cream/whole milk, as someone above mentioned. The problem with trying to make it now is that it was only possible with raw milk. With pasteurized milk, it doesn’t cook into the smooth, thick pudding consistency. At least that was my grandmother’s experience.
In my family, this wast served once a year. This was a real treat and served as a main course. We called it rommegrot and also milkmush. Butter, flour, sugar and of course the toppings of hot butter and cinnamon. I’m also trying to keep these traditionas alive.
Awesome, Josh! Keep on cooking 🙂
My husband is of Norwegian decent. He often talked how he loved his grandmother’s rommergrot . I tried your recipe and surprised him on his birthday, hoping to get a rise out of him. When he started to eat it he said “ oh my God , I died went to Heaven “! So thank you so much for these wonderful recipes. I’ ll surprise him at Christmas time with lefse and you cookies.
Awww this is the coolest thing ever! What a sweet surprise for your husband. Let me know how he likes the lefse & cookies!
Has anyone made Blood dumplings? We called it Blood rub in the late fifties. Made from blood and flower with hot grease poured on. The next day leftovers were sliced fried and boiled in milk. I don’t have a recipe.
My recipe is almost the same except I use 1/2 cup of flour and it results in more than 1/2 cup of melted butter. Must be because of less flour. Fewer calories.😁
Using cell phone, so being brief. I did a search and found as others mentioned, Rommegrot is made with sour cream, and Flotegrot is not. Sour cream doesn’t have to go to waste.
The best of all recipes hasn’t been mentioned which we call Resk.
My dad, Norwegian and Swedish heritage, still eats this often. He grew up calling it grout. He makes it so thick that you need a wooden spoon and a strong arm to incorporate all of the flour. Eating it is a science for him. He eats it in a bowl, makes a well in the centre to place a chunk of butter. The butter melts and he sprinkles the top with cinnamon and sugar. He has a separate bowl of milk. He spoons some grout (making sure to get all of the flavours of butter, cinnamon and sugar) and then fills the rest of the spoon with the cold milk. Ah, the perfectly bite! Nothing says comfort like a steaming bowl of grout.
My Auntie Mabel used to bring cream mush to family gatherings. Is this the recipe for it? All my relatives are long gone so I have no way to get these recipes anymore. Been desperately looking for an old church ladies cookbook but all sold out. I miss those holidays at my grandparent’s ( Ole and Rakel Ostraat) such memories
Thanks for the recipes.
Hi Jaime – I don’t know if this would be the same as cream mush, but it’s very possible! Did cream mush look and taste much like pudding?
We also served with blueberry syrup
John Rice
My Mother and Father were children (somewhat offbeat name for one’s 19th century-born parents) of Norwegian Immigrants., settling in Houston County, Minnesota. I love rommegrot (whatever it precise ingredients), and lutfisk, krumkake, sot suppe or frukt suppe, lefse, and any other Norse food with a Norse name you put in front of me. I just finished sot suppe this afternoon.
I make rommegrot with a whole milk/heavy cream combination in a large pot, heated to close to simmer, then stirring in gently dropped flour to a medium thick
absolutely lumpless “mush”, meanwhile having melted the required amount of butter
(dependent upon the amount of now ready “mush”) in another pan on the stove, and then spoon the butter into the “mush” all the while stirring the butter/”mush” mix,
until that magic moment arrives when you know it is “done”.
The magic moment arrives when the melted butter arises along the inside of the pot and bubbles on the edge of the “mush”, and then just rests in place. Enjoy the moment and when the rise of butter is consistent, the edible treasure is ready, needing only a limited sweetening with a bit of sugar to perk up what is now rommegrot (allow cooling to your preference).
Cool any if not eaten at the time. The butter will stay with it through time in the refrigerator or freezer and will appear upon heating.
I’ve lived in Norway 10 years ago, this recipe was one of my favorites usually served after we climbed Bessengen mountains for more energy. Great memories ! Thanks for sharing .
That’s a beautiful picture – climbing mountains in Norway and replenishing with a bowl of rommegrot.
How much butter is added? Recipe only mentions as it cools that butter seeps out?
None, actually. The cream and the butter separate while cooking, and the butter part of it seeps out.
Our dad was Swedish and our mom learnt to make this and during our growing up years ate it often . Was a favorite of ours. I have never made it but plan on using this recipe very soon.
In the 1970s I worked in a nursing home with some lovely Norwegian women. That often brought these amazing rich Norwegian desserts. I was in love with this rommegrot . So glad to have this recipe . I hope to make it soon!