We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for something fun and different. Why? Because the Winter Olympics only comes once every four years, and it’s a great time to learn more about the world and celebrate different cultures.
We are HUGE Olympics fans in our house. We occasionally get up in the middle of the night to watch it live. One year, pre-iPads/streaming devices when we only had one bulky expensive TV, we set up an inflatable mattress in our living room just to be able to watch more seamlessly.
In addition to the Olympics, I also love food and travel. So, why not combine the three?
For this year’s Winter Olympics, we decided that we are going to celebrate by eating food from the top Winter Olympic countries. Specifically, we took the top 24 medal count winners from the 2018 Winter Olympics – which turned out to be any country that earned two or more medals.
I then found delicious popular foods (and some drinks) in these countries and recipes for those foods. In our house, we are going to eat our way through the Olympics these next 16 days, so join us on Instagram or Twitter to watch the fun!
Also, since the Winter Olympics only lasts for 16 days and we need to eat 24 countries worth of foods, I included some breakfast foods as well.
Let me know what you’re cooking!
70 Popular Foods and Meals from Every Top Winter Olympics Country
A few notes about the recipes that follow:
- The countries are listed below in order of their medal count from 2018
- I’ve categorized foods by Breakfast, Lunch/Dinner, Dessert, and Drink
- I’ve linked to some recipes that looked particularly delicious, but they may be too complicated to make. Feel free to buy it if you can.
- We have two kids in our house, so I also tried to choose foods that were kid-friendly
- I won’t be following the order of the countries below, but I do intend to check off at least one dish for every country.
- I tried my best to find authentic foods and recipes, but I am not an expert. If something isn’t right, please forgive me.
- Please tag me on Olympics foods you’ve tried or are making to celebrate
1. Norway
- Lunch or Dinner: Raspeball (Potato Dumplings)
- Lunch or Dinner: Lapskaus (Beef Stew)
- Lunch or Dinner (and maybe dessert?): Rømmegrøt (Pudding) or make it with sour cream
2. Germany
- Lunch or Dinner: Brezel (Pretzel) (Personally I’ll be buying mine pre-made from a local baker who makes them. I also like the ones from Trader Joes)
- Lunch or Dinner: Currywurst (Curry Sausage)
- Lunch or Dinner: Hamburger Pannfisch (Battered Fish)
3. Canada
- Dessert: Butter tarts
- Dessert: Nanaimo Bars
- Lunch or Dinner: Poutine (buy frozen french fries to save you time)
4. USA
If you’re American, you already know your favorite local restaurant to grab these from. Order on a night when you just want to focus on the Games and don’t want to have to cook!
- Lunch or Dinner: Hamburger
- Lunch or Dinner: Barbeque
- Lunch or Dinner: Deep Dish Pizza
5. Netherlands
- Breakfast: Hagelslag, (Toast with sprinkles). There’s no recipe here. Just grab your favorite bread, toast it, and top with lots and lots of sprinkles. But if you want a recipe, try this.
- Breakfast: Pannekoeken
6. Korea
- Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner: Kimchi. Note that Kimchi is really easy to make, but it has to ferment – so you won’t be able to make homemade and eat for the Olympics (at least not the 2022 olympics!) So buy some pre-made at a local store
- Lunch or Dinner: Bibimpbap
7. Russia
- Lunch or Dinner: Borscht (Beet soup)
- Lunch or Dinner: Beef Stroganoff
- Breakfast or Lunch or Dinner: Blini (Russian pancakes)
- Drink: Vodka
8. Switzerland
9. France
- Breakfast: Croissants (To do this the easy way, buy croissants from your local baker)
- Lunch or Dinner: Ratatouille (Soup)
- Lunch or Dinner: Soupe A L’oignon (French Onion Soup)
- Dessert: Chocolate Soufflé
- Drink: Champagne
10. Sweden
- Breakfast: Kanelbulle (cinnamon buns),
- Lunch or Dinner: Köttbullar med gräddsås (Swedish Meatballs)
- Drink: Oat milk latte
11. Austria
- Lunch or Dinner: Wiener Schnitzel
- Lunch or Dinner: Erdäpfelsalat (Potato Salad)
- Lunch or Dinner: Käsespätzle (Mac and cheese)
- Dessert: Viennese Apfelstrudel (Apple Strudel)
12. Japan
13. Italy
- Lunch or Dinner: Pasta al Limone
- Lunch or Dinner: Lasagne al Forno (Beef Lasagna)
- Dessert: Gelato al pistacchio (Pistachio Ice Cream)
14. China
- Lunch or Dinner: Dumplings (nine recipes in this post)
- Lunch or Dinner: Peking duck
- Lunch or Dinner: Fried Rice
15. Czech Republic
- Lunch or Dinner: Česnečka (garlic soup)
- Lunch or Dinner: Smažený sýr (fried cheese)
16. Finland
- Lunch or Dinner: Karjalanpiirakka (rice pies)
- Lunch or Dinner: Lohikeitto (Salmon soup)
17. Great Britain
- Breakfast: Full English breakfast
- Lunch or Dinner: Yorkshire pudding
- Lunch or Dinner: Shepherd’s Pie
18. Belarus
19. Slovakia
20. Australia
- Breakfast: Smashed Avocado Toast
- Dessert or Snack: Anzac Biscuits (Oatmeal cookies)
- Dessert or Snack: Fairy Bread (Bread with rainbow sprinkles)
21. Poland
- Lunch or Dinner: Ryz z Jablkami (Baked apples with rice) Note this recipe is in Polish, but the Google Translate version works well)
- Lunch or Dinner: Bigos (Hunter’s Stew)
- Lunch or Dinner: Pierogi (Potato Dumplings)
22. Slovenia
- Lunch or Dinner Gobova juha (mushroom soup)
- Lunch or Dinner: Trout
23. Spain
- Lunch or Dinner: Paella
- Lunch or Dinner: Tortilla de patatas (Omelette)
- Lunch or Dinner: Chorizo with Patatas Bravas (Sausage with potatoes)
- Drink: Sangria
24. New Zealand
- Lunch or Dinner: Fish and Chips
- Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner: Spaghetti on toast
- Dessert: Pavlova
The Bottom Line
I haven’t decided exactly which dishes I’m going to make from each country yet, but it’s going to take some serious meal planning! Follow along on Instagram and Twitter to see what we are making and get a copy of the meal calendar I compile.
How are you celebrating these Winter Olympics?
