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Potato lefse and lomper

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Soft Norwegian potato flatbreads with wheat and sifted rye flour, rolled into rounds and cooked on a dry griddle.

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Original editorial photograph of soft Norwegian potato lefse and lomper, plain and folded with subtle golden griddle spots.

Potato flatbreads

This Norwegian potato flatbread combines mashed potato with wheat and rye flour. Visit Norway presents the method as potato lefse; Matprat calls the same formula potetlomper. Potato breads vary in thickness, flour and use.

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Potetlefse and lomper

The names overlap, but their uses help orient the cook. Visit Norway describes potetlefse as lefse made with potatoes and lomper as another name often associated with the smaller rounds served around hot dogs. Its guide also describes larger soft breads as lunch wraps or sliced party rolls.

This recipe follows the potato, wheat and rye formula presented by Matprat as potetlomper. Its approximately 20 cm rounds do not define the size of every lompe. Neither the serving name nor a photograph can establish that another maker uses the same flours or potato proportion.

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A varied flatbread family

Norwegian lefse includes more than potato bread. The same guide distinguishes sweet kling in Buskerud, patterned krinalefse from Helgeland and thicker sweet lefse. Their regional names and finishes should not be treated as interchangeable recipes. The milk-and-semolina kling method, for example, is separate from these mashed-potato rounds.

Contemporary restaurant use also varies. Visit Norway documents chef Siriyaporn Rithisirikrerg’s potato lefse with stockfish cream, served in a 2024 cooking competition. That version uses cream and a different flour proportion. It demonstrates one modern use, while the four-ingredient base and dry-pan method here remain unchanged.

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History

Potato lefse and lomper are documented Norwegian flatbreads; the first attestation is not established.

Ingredients

Scaling: source batch only

Potatoes
1 kg
Salt
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
Wheat flour
150 mL
Plus flour for rolling as needed
Sifted rye flour
100 mL

Method

Risks and precautions · Standard risk

Contains wheat and rye.

Do not taste raw flour dough; wash hands and surfaces after handling it.

Use care when peeling hot potatoes and handling the hot griddle.

  1. Boil the potatoes with their skins on until cooked. Cool enough to handle, peel and mash with the salt.
  2. Mix in the wheat and rye flours. Use no more flour than needed to make a workable dough; excess flour makes the rounds hard.
  3. Divide into 12–14 portions and roll into rounds about 20 cm across.
  4. Cook on a dry griddle or in a dry frying pan until pale with some golden-brown spots, turning to cook both sides. Stack under a clean towel to keep the breads soft.

Places

Norway

Documented preparation · Country evidence

The sources document Norwegian potato flatbreads; they do not establish a precise birthplace.

See Norwayon the mapLocation source 1 → · Location source 2 →

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