Seasonal food in Helsinki: 7 summer treats to enjoy
Summer in Finland is short—and deeply cherished. The return of sunlight brings a burst of life to forests, farms, gardens, and kitchens across the country. For locals, eating seasonally in summer is a celebration of nature, resilience, and renewal.
Whether it’s the first forkful of buttery new potatoes or the juicy bite of a perfectly ripe strawberry, summer flavours in Helsinki are tied to childhood memories, market mornings, and long, light-filled evenings.
What does seasonal summer food taste like in Helsinki?
The flavours of summer in Finland are clean, vibrant and deeply nostalgic. For many locals, biting into a just-picked strawberry or a buttery new potato tastes like childhood. These ingredients don’t need much done to them—just a bit of salt, dill, or cream.
Strawberries are arguably the season’s most loved ingredient. Grown under the long light of Nordic summer days, they’re smaller and sweeter than their southern cousins.
New potatoes are often boiled with dill and served with butter and herring. You’ll see people snacking on fresh peas straight from the pod in parks, and cafés offering rhubarb juice, currant tarts, and chanterelle toast.
Markets are the best way to taste the season. Visit the Old Market Hall or Hakaniemi Market and you’ll find baskets of berries, jars of cloudberry jam, and wild herbs foraged from the forest.
What’s in season in summer?
Strawberries
Finland’s pride and joy, often eaten simply with sugar or cream
New potatoes
Best served with dill, butter, and herring or smoked fish
Fresh peas
A favourite snack eaten straight from the pod
Wild herbs
Like meadowsweet, sorrel and nettle, used in soups and sauces
Arctic char, perch and whitefish
Local fish from the Baltic Sea
Chanterelle mushrooms
Golden, earthy, and delicious with cream or rye bread
Rhubarb and currants
Found in tarts, jams, and juices
Restaurants that serve the season
Helsinki’s food scene has evolved quickly over the past decade—but one thing remains constant: a love of local ingredients. Many of the city’s most beloved restaurants build their menus around what’s in season.
From traditional dishes to modern interpretations, summer’s flavours shine in kitchens across the city. Expect menus that change weekly, fish pulled from local waters, and chefs who forage as much as they source.
Whether you prefer elegant tasting menus or a casual outdoor lunch, Helsinki has a seat for you. And this time of year, that seat often comes with a view—of the sea, the market, or a quiet garden terrace.
Where to eat Helsinki’s seasonal flavours
Eating seasonally like a local
Eating seasonally in Helsinki isn’t just something you do in restaurants. It’s grabbing a punnet of strawberries on your way to the park. It’s ordering the “new potato special” at your neighbourhood lunch spot. It’s taking the ferry to an island restaurant just for the atmosphere.
This kind of eating is easy to fall into. You’ll see the same ingredients popping up again and again—but in different, delightful forms. A chanterelle may be fried in butter one day and swirled into soup the next. A rhubarb might appear in juice, pie, or sparkling wine. The season gives the rules. And Helsinki’s chefs, bakers and home cooks follow.
How to eat like a local in summer
Pick up strawberries from the market
and eat them in a sunny park
Order new potatoes and Baltic herring
at a local lunch spot
Join a foraging walk
or a wild food tasting tour
Head to an island restaurant
for a long dinner with sea breeze
Visit a weekend market or food event
(like Helsinki’s Slow Food Festival or Teurastamo happenings)
A safe and trusted seasonal food culture
Finland is recognised as one of the safest places in the world to eat. According to the 2022 Global Food Security Index, it ranks among the highest globally for food safety standards. Ingredients are traceable, regulations are strict, and transparency is built into every level of the food system.
Whether you’re dining at a market stall or a Michelin-starred restaurant, you can trust the quality and origins of what’s on your plate. That peace of mind—combined with fresh, seasonal ingredients—is what makes eating in Helsinki so uniquely satisfying.
One season, many flavours
Summer in Helsinki is more than a time of year—it’s a state of mind. It’s sunshine and strawberries, food by the sea, and ingredients that only last a little while. Eating seasonally lets you taste the fleeting magic of a Finnish summer—and join in a ritual locals wait all year for.
Visiting in another season? Check out or Quick guide to eating seasonal food in Helsinki.
