Lutefisk with White Sauce
Lye-cured, gelatinous whitefish gently baked and served with a simple butter or cream white sauce. It's a distinctive holiday dish carried on by North Dakota's Norwegian-American Lutheran churches.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Servings
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Calories
- 260 kcal
Equipment
- •Baking dish
- •Small saucepan
Nutrition
Per serving, approximate
- Calories
- 260 kcal
- fat
- 16
- carbs
- 4
- protein
- 24
- calories
- 260
Instructions
- 1
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking dish with foil.
- 2
Cut the lutefisk into serving pieces. Pat them completely dry with paper towels.
- 3
Place the fish pieces skin-side down in the baking dish.
- 4
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes until the fish just flakes and looks opaque.
- 5
Melt butter in a saucepan on the stovetop. Whisk in flour until it forms a smooth paste.
- 6
Slowly whisk in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens into a smooth sauce.
- 7
Stir white pepper into the sauce.
- 8
Pour off any liquid from the baked lutefisk. Sprinkle it lightly with salt right before serving.
- 9
Serve right away with white sauce, boiled potatoes, and lefse.
Chef's tips
Pat the soaked lutefisk very dry before baking. Salt it right before serving, not before cooking, or the fish turns watery.
Storage
Lutefisk is best eaten the day it's cooked; leftovers keep only 1 day refrigerated.
Reheating
Reheat gently in a covered dish in a low oven to avoid drying it further.
Common mistakes to avoid
- •Baking the fish too long, which turns it mushy
- •Not draining the pan well, leaving the fish watery
Serving suggestions
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