--- title: "Lingon: what it means in cooking — Tiny Plates" description: "Lingon are small, tart red Nordic forest berries, served as jam with meatballs and pancakes. What they taste like and what to use instead abroad." url: "https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/lingon" --- # Lingon Lingon are small, tart red Nordic forest berries, served as jam with meatballs and pancakes. What they taste like and what to use instead abroad. Also called Lingonberry, Lingonberries, Cowberry, Lingonsylt, Rårörda lingon. _Lingon_ are lingonberries, small, bright red berries that grow wild in Nordic forests and are picked in late summer and fall. They taste sharp, tart and a little bitter, a bit like cranberries but softer and more aromatic. Swedes rarely eat them raw. They are almost always sweetened, as jam or stirred with sugar, and served with savory food. ## How to use it The classic way is _rårörda lingon_, "raw-stirred lingonberries": 1. Put 1 kg (2.2 lb) of cleaned berries in a large bowl. 2. Add about 300 g (1½ cups) of sugar. 3. Stir now and then for 30 to 60 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the berries are juicy. Do not cook them. This is a kind of [maceration](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/macerate). 4. Spoon into clean jars and keep in the fridge. Lingonberries hold a natural preservative, so raw-stirred berries keep for weeks in the fridge. Cooked _lingonsylt_ (jam) keeps longer. Serve them with: * Swedish meatballs with gravy and mashed potatoes. * Potato pancakes (_raggmunk_) and fried pork, or thin pancakes. * Black pudding, liver dishes, game and roast meats. * Porridge, or as part of the [smörgåsbord](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/smorgasbord). ## Substitutes Outside Scandinavia, lingonberry jam is sold in many supermarkets and Scandinavian food shops. Frozen lingonberries are also sold in some places. If you cannot find them: * **Cranberry sauce** is the closest. Choose a tart, whole-berry kind, or cook fresh or frozen cranberries with less sugar than usual into a quick [compote](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/compote). * **Red currant jelly** works with game and meatballs, though it is sweeter and smoother. * Sour cherry jam or a tart redcurrant compote will do in a pinch. ## How to store it Freeze fresh berries spread out on a tray, then bag them. They keep for a year. Use them straight from frozen, or [thaw](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/thaw) them in the fridge. Keep raw-stirred lingon in the fridge and use a clean spoon. ## In recipes _Lingon_ is the Swedish word for both the berry and the plant. _Lingonsylt_ is jam, _lingonsås_ is a sauce, and _rårörda lingon_ is raw-stirred. When a Swedish recipe just says "serve with lingon", it means one of these sweetened forms, not plain berries. ## Recipes that use it 61 recipes from the sites we collect. * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/C2768EAF-8920-4904-95CF7EE74A0DD22E/lingonkaka.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&format=webp)Lingonkakawww.arla.se · 35 min](https://www.arla.se/recept/lingonkaka/) * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/5E37E184-EB83-41AB-B47186C70C406D23/lingonchutney.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&format=webp)Lingonchutneywww.arla.se · 20 min](https://www.arla.se/recept/lingonchutney/) * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/73BA5B84-26F7-423E-94F76EB6B2BC7C4C/klassisk-kottfarslimpa-med-kramig-graddsas-och-pressgurka.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&format=webp)Klassisk köttfärslimpa med krämig gräddsås och pressgurkawww.arla.se · 75 min](https://www.arla.se/recept/klassisk-kottfarslimpa-med-kramig-graddsas-och-pressgurka/) * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/D70982DF-E3D4-411E-A71D18C49613E850/algkottbullar.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&format=webp)Älgköttbullarwww.arla.se · 60 min](https://www.arla.se/recept/algkottbullar/) * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/86A0394C-900D-428D-91125A6A8BBBC493/vilda-kottbullar-med-stekta-applen.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&format=webp)Vilda köttbullar med stekta äpplenwww.arla.se · 30 min](https://www.arla.se/recept/vilda-kottbullar-med-stekta-applen/) * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/33211125-841C-4394-A5F72026682FD498/picture.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&crop=(0,330,0,-201)&format=webp)Wallenbergarewww.arla.se · 75 min](https://www.arla.se/recept/wallenbergare/) * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/79D076C7-F6FE-41F7-81BBCF4448BBEF3D/raggmunk-i-ugn.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&crop=(0,281,0,-250)&format=webp)Raggmunk i ugnwww.arla.se · 60 min](https://www.arla.se/recept/raggmunk-i-ugn/) * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/3194810F-50AF-4B00-A300BF6F72CF84C3/skogsfilepanna.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&format=webp)Fläskfilépanna med smak av svampwww.arla.se](https://www.arla.se/recept/skogsfilepanna/) * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/B8D5C80F-798D-4C7A-B506063A150A4F1A/kryddyoghurt-pannacotta.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&format=webp)Glöggpannacottawww.arla.se · 240 min](https://www.arla.se/recept/kryddyoghurt-pannacotta/) * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/8278C639-64E8-43AF-A970896AF94202A9/kolapaj-med-roda-vinbar.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&format=webp)Kolapaj med lingonwww.arla.se · 60 min](https://www.arla.se/recept/kolapaj-med-roda-vinbar/) * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/5C592F57-0003-4D06-A4E11124EE246C54/rarorda-lingon.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&format=webp)Rårörda lingonwww.arla.se · 10 min](https://www.arla.se/recept/rarorda-lingon/) * [![](https://images.arla.com/recordid/01A700EF-553B-4AAA-883B7DE8A6B7CD42/lingonglass-med-maranger.jpg?width=1300&height=525&mode=crop&format=webp)Lingonglass med marängerwww.arla.se · 255 min](https://www.arla.se/recept/lingonglass-med-maranger/) ## Related terms * [CompoteCompote is fruit cooked gently in sugar syrup until soft but still in pieces. See how it differs from jam and how long it keeps in the fridge.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/compote) * [MacerateTo macerate is to soak fruit in sugar, alcohol or juice so it softens and releases its own syrup. It takes 15 minutes to a few hours and needs no heat.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/macerate) * [SmörgåsbordA smörgåsbord is a Swedish buffet of herring, cured salmon, meatballs, cold cuts, salads and warm dishes, eaten in set rounds. See the order to eat it in.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/smorgasbord) * [ThawThawing brings frozen food back above freezing safely, in the fridge, in cold water or in the microwave, and never on the kitchen counter.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/thaw) [More in nordic ingredients](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/category/nordic-ingredients)[Every term from A to Z](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary)