Jansson's Temptation (Janssons Frestelse)
By Middagsarkivet
- Easy
- 6 servings
Janssons frestelse turns up on every Swedish julbord, usually in a battered enamel dish that has done the job for thirty years. It is also the standard late-night food after a long party, served warm straight from the oven with cold beer. The name is attached to several Janssons, none of whom can be proven to have been tempted by anything.
The fish is the whole point. Swedish ansjovis is not an anchovy at all, it is sprat cured in a sweet, spiced brine with allspice, sandalwood, and cloves. The brine goes into the dish along with the fillets, and it is what makes Jansson's taste like Jansson's rather than like a plain potato gratin. Cans of Abba or Grebbestads ansjovisfiléer show up in Ikea food markets and online. If you cannot find them, oil-packed Mediterranean anchovies work, but cut them back and add a little sugar and allspice to stand in for the cure.
Cut the potatoes into matchsticks, not slices. Thin batons soften fast and drink up the cream, which is why this is a different dish from a scalloped potato bake even though the ingredient list looks similar.
How to make it
- 1
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish with about 1 tablespoon of the butter.
- 2
Cut the potatoes
Peel the potatoes and cut them into matchsticks about 1/4 inch thick and 2 inches long. Do not rinse them; the surface starch helps thicken the cream. Keep them in a bowl while you work.
- 3
Soften the onion
Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet over medium heat and cook the sliced onion until soft and translucent but not browned, about 8 minutes.
- 4
Layer
Spread half the potatoes in the dish. Scatter over the onion and the drained anchovy fillets, spacing the fish evenly. If you are using Mediterranean anchovies, sprinkle on the sugar and the pinch of allspice now. Top with the remaining potatoes and press the surface flat.
- 5
Add the cream
Stir the heavy cream with the whole milk and 2 tablespoons of the reserved anchovy brine, then pour it evenly over the potatoes. The liquid should come most of the way up but not cover the top layer. Season with black pepper and a little salt.
- 6
Top and bake
Scatter the breadcrumbs over the surface and dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Bake on the middle rack for 45 to 55 minutes, until the potatoes give easily to a knife tip and the top is deep golden. Cover loosely with foil if it browns before the potatoes are done.
- 7
Rest
Let the dish stand 10 minutes before serving so the cream settles around the potatoes.
A couple of tips
A mandoline makes quick work of the matchsticks: slice the potatoes thin, stack the slices, and cut them across into batons.
Save the rest of the brine from the can. If the bake looks dry halfway through, a splash more over the top does more for the flavor than extra cream.
Food processor shredding disks make the potato too fine. It turns to mush in the oven. Cut by hand or with a mandoline.
What you need
- a mandoline, optional but useful for the matchstick potatoes
- a 9x13-inch baking dish
Serving
Serve warm as part of a julbord with Christmas ham, meatballs, and pickled herring, with cold beer and a small glass of aquavit. On its own it is a good late supper with a green salad and a spoonful of lingonberry preserves on the side.
Storing it
Covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat portions at 350°F (175°C) for 20 minutes, uncovered, so the top crisps again. Freezing is not recommended; the cream separates and the potatoes turn grainy.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 450 kcal |
|---|---|
| Fat | 30 g |
| of which saturated | 18 g |
| Carbohydrates | 37 g |
| of which sugars | 7 g |
| Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Salt | 1 g |
Questions and answers
- What are Swedish anchovies and can I use regular ones?
- Swedish ansjovis is sprat cured in a sweet, spiced brine, not the salt-packed Mediterranean anchovy. You can substitute oil-packed anchovy fillets, but use about eight of them and add a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of allspice to approximate the cure.
- Can Jansson's temptation be made ahead?
- Assemble it up to a day in advance, cover, and refrigerate without the breadcrumbs, then add the crumbs and butter and bake straight from the fridge with 10 extra minutes. It also reheats well the next day.
- Can you freeze Jansson's temptation?
- No. The cream splits and the potatoes go grainy and watery on thawing. Keep it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days instead.
- Why are my potatoes still hard after an hour?
- Either they were cut too thick or there was not enough liquid in the dish. Batons about 1/4 inch thick, and cream that reaches most of the way up the potatoes, cook through in under an hour.
- Can I make it without the fish?
- You can, but then it is a cream and onion potato bake, not Jansson's. The brine and the cured sprat are what give the dish its name and its flavor.
This dish belongs to
Collections
Similar recipes
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.
- $0.248
- 1 min 27 sec
- 5
- Passed
| Date | Step | Model | Usage | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 4, 2026 | Wrote the recipe | anthropic/claude-opus-5 | 7,511 in · 3,800 out tokens | 46.8 sec | $0.133 |
| Oct 4, 2026 | Checked food safety | anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 | 2,521 in · 19 out tokens | 2.4 sec | $0.005 |
| Oct 4, 2026 | Made the picture | bfl/flux-2-max | 1 image | 18.3 sec | $0.070 |
| Oct 4, 2026 | Worked out the nutrition | anthropic/claude-opus-5 | 1,645 in · 1,128 out tokens | 13.6 sec | $0.036 |
| Oct 4, 2026 | Set the collections | anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 | 1,505 in · 32 out tokens | 2 sec | $0.003 |