What bread can I use if I cannot find Danish rugbrød?

A dense whole grain deli rye or packaged German pumpernickel both work, since they hold their shape under a wet topping. Avoid soft sandwich rye, it collapses under the herring.

Can you make smørrebrød ahead?

You can prep every component a day ahead, but assemble within 20 minutes of serving. Buttered rye holds up for about 2 hours once topped, and after that it goes soft.

Is the smoked salmon safe to eat as it is?

Commercially cold-smoked salmon has been processed and frozen for parasite control before sale, so it is ready to eat straight from the package. If you cure your own, freeze the fish first or buy it sushi grade.

Can I freeze smørrebrød?

No. The bread, the mayonnaise-based remoulade and the sliced egg all fall apart on thawing. Freeze the rye bread on its own if anything.

What else can go on top?

Liver pâté with bacon and pickled beets, small cold shrimp with lemon and mayonnaise, or sliced hard-boiled egg with tomato are all standard. One topping per piece, always.

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Danish Open Sandwiches (Smørrebrød)

Name: Danish Open Sandwiches (Smørrebrød)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Danish
Ingredients: 12 slices rye bread, dense Danish-style rugbrød, or a heavy whole grain deli rye or German pumpernickel; 6 tbsp butter, softened; 8 oz pickled herring, drained, cut into bite-size pieces; 0.5 pieces red onion, very thinly sliced; 2 tbsp caper, drained; 4 sprigs dill, torn into small fronds; 6 oz smoked salmon, cold-smoked, sliced; 2 pieces egg, hard-boiled and sliced; 1 pieces lemon, cut into wedges; 4 sprigs dill, torn into small fronds; black pepper, to taste, freshly ground; 6 oz roast beef, thinly sliced from the deli counter; 0.3 cup mayonnaise, store-bought; 2 tbsp dill pickle, finely chopped; 1 tsp mustard, Dijon; 0.3 tsp curry powder, mild; 0.3 tsp sugar; 0.3 cup crispy fried onion, store-bought, from a can or bag; 12 slices cucumber, thinly sliced; salt, to taste

By MiddagsarkivetSeptember 24, 2026

Time: 40 min
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 4 servings

Smørrebrød is the Danish lunch, eaten sitting down with a knife and fork. The rules are few but firm: the bread is dense rye, the butter goes all the way to the edges so the topping never touches bare bread, and each piece carries one idea rather than five. A Danish deli, a smørrebrødsforretning, will have twenty varieties in the case and every one of them follows the same logic.

At a julefrokost or a påskefrokost the pieces come out in a set order, fish first, then meat, then cheese, with snaps and beer alongside. On an ordinary Tuesday it is two slices in a lunchbox with whatever was in the fridge. Both count.

The bread matters most. Danish rugbrød is dark, sour and heavy enough to hold a load; in an American supermarket the closest thing is a dense whole grain deli rye or a packaged German pumpernickel. Skip fluffy sandwich rye, it collapses. The rest is shopping: herring from a jar, cold-smoked salmon from the fish case, roast beef from the deli counter.

Twelve Danish open sandwiches on dark rye bread topped with pickled herring, smoked salmon with egg, and roast beef with remoulade and crispy onions — AI generated image. The dish has not been photographed.

Ingredients

4 servings

For the base

12 slicesrye bread, dense Danish-style rugbrød, or a heavy whole grain deli rye or German pumpernickel
6 tbspbutter, softened

Pickled herring

8 ozpickled herring, drained, cut into bite-size pieces
0.5 piecesred onion, very thinly sliced
2 tbspcaper, drained
4 sprigsdill, torn into small fronds

Smoked salmon

6 ozsmoked salmon, cold-smoked, sliced
2 piecesegg, hard-boiled and sliced
1 pieceslemon, cut into wedges
4 sprigsdill, torn into small fronds
black pepper, to taste, freshly ground

Roast beef with remoulade

6 ozroast beef, thinly sliced from the deli counter
0.3 cupmayonnaise, store-bought
2 tbspdill pickle, finely chopped
1 tspmustard, Dijon
0.3 tspcurry powder, mild
0.3 tspsugar
0.3 cupcrispy fried onion, store-bought, from a can or bag
12 slicescucumber, thinly sliced
salt, to taste

How to make it

1
Boil the eggs
Lower the eggs into boiling water and cook for 8 minutes, then move them straight to cold water. Peel when cool and cut into slices.
8 min
2
Mix the remoulade
Stir the mayonnaise with the chopped dill pickle, mustard, curry powder and sugar. Season with salt and set aside so the curry loses its raw edge.
3
Soak the onion
Put the thinly sliced red onion in a small bowl of cold water for 10 minutes, then drain well. This takes the harshness out without taking the bite.
10 min
4
Butter the bread
Lay out the twelve slices of rye bread and spread each one with softened butter all the way to the edges. The butter is structural, not optional: it keeps the bread from going soggy under the topping.
5
Build the herring pieces
Cover four slices with pieces of pickled herring. Top each with drained red onion, capers and a few fronds of dill.
6
Build the salmon pieces
Drape four slices with folded cold-smoked salmon. Lay sliced egg alongside, add dill, grind over black pepper and tuck a lemon wedge on the side of each piece.
7
Build the roast beef pieces
Fold the roast beef loosely onto the last four slices. Spoon remoulade down the center, scatter crispy fried onions over the top and lean three cucumber slices against the meat.
8
Serve
Arrange on a platter or serve one piece per plate, fish before meat. Eat with a knife and fork.

A couple of tips

Fold cold cuts and salmon so they stand up rather than lying flat. Height is the whole difference between smørrebrød and a sad flat sandwich.

Let the butter sit out for an hour first. Cold butter tears dense rye bread apart.

Build the pieces no more than 20 minutes before serving, and keep the toppings and the buttered bread separate if you need longer.

Serving

Serve with cold lager and, if the occasion calls for it, a small glass of ice-cold aquavit. A bowl of salt-cured cucumber salad or a few radishes on the side is all the extra anyone needs.

Storing it

Smørrebrød is assembled to be eaten. Built pieces hold for about 2 hours in the fridge, loosely covered, after which the bread softens. The remoulade keeps 5 days in a sealed jar in the fridge, and leftover herring, salmon and roast beef keep in their own containers for 2 to 3 days.

Nutrition per serving

Calories	890 kcal
Fat	52 g
of which saturated	16 g
Carbohydrates	69 g
of which sugars	10 g
Fiber	9 g
Protein	38 g
Salt	6 g

Guideline values, worked out from the ingredients.

Questions and answers

What bread can I use if I cannot find Danish rugbrød?: A dense whole grain deli rye or packaged German pumpernickel both work, since they hold their shape under a wet topping. Avoid soft sandwich rye, it collapses under the herring.
Can you make smørrebrød ahead?: You can prep every component a day ahead, but assemble within 20 minutes of serving. Buttered rye holds up for about 2 hours once topped, and after that it goes soft.
Is the smoked salmon safe to eat as it is?: Commercially cold-smoked salmon has been processed and frozen for parasite control before sale, so it is ready to eat straight from the package. If you cure your own, freeze the fish first or buy it sushi grade.
Can I freeze smørrebrød?: No. The bread, the mayonnaise-based remoulade and the sliced egg all fall apart on thawing. Freeze the rye bread on its own if anything.
What else can go on top?: Liver pâté with bacon and pickled beets, small cold shrimp with lemon and mayonnaise, or sliced hard-boiled egg with tomato are all standard. One topping per piece, always.

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How it was made

This recipe was written by a language model. Below is what it cost, how long it took and when each step ran, so you can see how the archive comes about.

Cost: $0.308
Time: 2 min 33 sec
Model calls: 5
Safety check: Passed

Date	Step	Model	Usage	Time	Cost
Sep 24, 2026	Wrote the recipe	anthropic/claude-opus-5	6,939 in · 5,597 out tokens	1 min 12 sec	$0.175
Sep 24, 2026	Checked food safety	anthropic/claude-sonnet-5	2,541 in · 266 out tokens	3.9 sec	$0.008
Sep 24, 2026	Made the picture	bfl/flux-2-max	1 image	47.7 sec	$0.070
Sep 24, 2026	Worked out the nutrition	anthropic/claude-opus-5	1,759 in · 1,743 out tokens	22.2 sec	$0.052
Sep 24, 2026	Set the collections	anthropic/claude-sonnet-5	1,501 in · 22 out tokens	2.5 sec	$0.003

Danish Open Sandwiches (Smørrebrød)

How to make it

Boil the eggs

Mix the remoulade

Soak the onion

Butter the bread

Build the herring pieces

Build the salmon pieces

Build the roast beef pieces

Serve