Sweet Potato Norwegian Lefse (Paleo, AIP)
This Norwegian Lefse is made with sweet potato, and is grain and dairy-free! It’s paleo and AIP-friendly.
What is Norwegian Lefse?
Norwegian Lefse is a potato flatbread made with potatoes, flour, butter, and cream and topped off with sugar or rolled with jam. It’s often made during Christmas as a traditional holiday treat!
This recipe has been highly requested by my readers for years, and I’m so excited to finally be sharing a recipe! I don’t have any Norwegian heritage myself, but Lefse does remotely remind me of Hungarian palsacinta, which I’m very familiar with.
This version of lefse is made to be grain and dairy-free, and it tastes amazing with some berry jam!
The Ingredients for Norwegian Lefse
- White Sweet Potato. Hannah, Jersey, or Japanese Sweet Potato all work!
- Coconut Flour. Coconut flour really helps to bind the excess moisture from the sweet potato and makes it easier to handle.
- Avocado Oil.
- Salt.
- Arrowroot Starch.
The Tools
- Potato ricer. A potato ricer helps to break up the sweet potato super fine in a way that a potato masher couldn’t.
- Rolling pin.
- Angled Spatula. This is helpful to get the raw lefse off on the parchment paper since it’s super delicate!
How to make Sweet Potato Lefse
- Boil and rice the sweet potato.
- Form the dough. Add 2 tbsp of coconut flour, avocado oil, and salt. Stir to combine. Add the arrowroot starch, 1/3 cup at a time, stirring well each time. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes to allow the dough to set and cool.
- Roll the dough. Roll the dough into small pieces, with about 2 tbsp worth of dough. Set aside.
- Form the dough. Prepare a clean surface of parchment paper and generously flour with arrowroot starch. Add a dough ball and place another piece of parchment paper on top. Roll flat with a rolling pin until very thin. Use a tool like a butter knife or angled spatula to very carefully remove the lefse from the surface.
- Cook the lefse. Using a large deep pan, heat 2-3 tbsp of avocado oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, carefully add the lefse. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, pressing down with a spatula to avoid any bubbling up. Transfer to a clean plate and repeat with all of the lefse.
- Serve topped with coconut sugar or jam, and roll or fold the lefse.
Can you make this recipe ahead of time?
You can! You can store it in the fridge for about a day. I haven’t tried freezing it, but it should freeze fine.
Can you use orange sweet potato instead?
I haven’t tried this, but it would likely be a lot sweeter, and obviously a very different color.
Can you make this recipe coconut-free?
I find that coconut flour really helps to bind the excess moisture from the sweet potato and makes it easier to handle, but you can try to forgo it and use more arrowroot or even cassava flour.
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Sweet Potato Norwegian Lefse (Paleo, AIP)
Ingredients
- 1 lb white sweet potato, peeled and chopped (Hannah, Jersey, or Japanese Sweet Potato all work)
- 2-3 tbsp coconut flour
- 3 tbsp avocado oil, plus extra for frying
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup arrowroot starch, plus extra for flouring the surface
Instructions
- Add the sweet potato to a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil for 15-20 minutes or until fork tender. Strain the sweet potato.
- While the sweet potato is still warm, run it through a potato ricer into a large mixing bowl.
- Add 2 tbsp of coconut flour, avocado oil, and salt. Stir to combine. Add the arrowroot starch, 1/3 cup at a time, stirring well each time. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes to allow the dough to set and cool.
- The dough should be easy to handle and roll into small dough balls. If it's still hard to handle, add another tablespoon of coconut flour.
- Roll the dough into small pieces, with about 2 tbsp worth of dough. Set aside.
- Prepare a clean surface of parchment paper and generously flour with arrowroot starch. Add a dough ball and place another piece of parchment paper on top. Roll flat with a rolling pin until very thin. Use a tool like a butter knife or angled spatula to very carefully remove the lefse from the surface.
- Using a large deep pan, heat 2-3 tbsp of avocado oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, carefully add the lefse. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, pressing down with a spatula to avoid any bubbling up. Transfer to a clean plate and repeat with all of the lefse.
- Serve topped with coconut sugar or jam, and roll or fold the lefse.
Notes
These are so delicious! They remind me of my grandmother’s Russian Crepes. I do have trouble keeping them from falling apart when transferring them to the pan after rolling them flat. Any suggestions?
You can try to get it onto a spatula for easier transfer
Absolutely delicious. My go to for tortilla’s, wraps or whatever I want to use them for.
I had great success with this recipe, although I was concerned and skeptical since I have been making traditional Lefse with the family recipe for 20 years. I used white sweet potatoes and increased the coconut flour to about 3-4 cups, a little at a time, using my hands to kneed it through the sticky dough until I got the right consistency for a traditional Lefse grill. It rolled out beautifully, thin and large and held together in the process. I will save this recipe and use in the future to provide for family and friends who want to eat healthier!. Yummy with butter and jam!
So glad you enjoyed!
YUM! Finally a version I can eat.
These are absolutely delicious. When I don’t have them I feel as though I’m missing something. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Thank you!!
Can’t do coconut or cassava flour? Can I use rice flour?
Is it necessary to rice the sweet potatoes or can you chop them in the food processor?
Did you try the food processor? I’m wondering if I should try these without the equipment suggested.
It doesn’t have quite the same texture but it may work!
I second this question!
I don’t have a potato ricer, I just mashed it with a regular mashed and did the best I could. The dough was still pretty smooth and you couldn’t tell the lumps were there once cooked. It turned out very tasty!