Name: Swedish Roast Beef
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 600 min
Total time: 1090 min
Ingredients: One 3 to 4 pound boneless beef rump roast ((or other lean beef roast), frozen); 2 cups water, (at room temperature); ½ cup salt; 3 whole bay leaves; 3 sprigs fresh thyme; 3 sprigs fresh rosemary; ½ teaspoon ground ginger; ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg; ½ teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon; 2 cups ice water; 3 tablespoons honey

This recipe for Swedish Roast Beef was created by accident by the wife of a Swedish moose hunter. It’s a very unique way to make roast beef!

roast beef on board cut into slices

My ancestry is mostly Swedish, so Swedish recipes tend to appeal to me. I’m always up for trying something new. And this Swedish Roast Beef recipe (from The Carnivore Code) is definitely one that is super different and not like anything I have seen before. You probably haven’t either!

From the book:

The original Swedish roast beef (tjälknöl) was created in 1970 by Ragnhild Nilsson, the wife of a Swedish moose hunter, trying to make the best of a bad situation. Her husband was trying to thaw a frozen moose roast in the oven at low temperature and accidentally left it overnight. Of course, it was cooked in the morning. It was such a beautiful (but tasteless) roast, she wanted to salvage it. So she soaked it in a flavorful brine, sliced it thin, and served it cold. This recipe is modeled after an accident- but the flavors are no mistake. The result is a tender and tasty roast beef that could not be any easier to prepare.

The Carnivore Code cookbook cover

This recipe comes from a cool new cookbook by Paul Saladino MD: The Carnivore Code Cookbook. This cookbook is based on an animal-based diet. The author reveals the benefits of an animal-based diet. Rich in nutrients and low in plant toxins that can damage the gut and trigger autoimmunity, this way of eating is scientifically proven to help people lose weight and heal from chronic disease. So here’s a cookbook to help you along with that way of eating. There’s a lot of information in the book about The Carnivore Code. I’m not on this diet, but I do tend to eat a lot of Keto-type, low carb meals so there are several recipes in the book that appeal to me.

Here are the recipes I’ve bookmarked to try:

Easy Sweet Pickled Carrots
Maple Ginger Flank Steak
Cherry Glazed Lamb Chops
Maple Roasted Beef Stuffed Acorn Squash
Spiced Duck Zoodle Soup
Slow Cooker Apple Sage Carnitas
Lemon Balsamic Roasted Chicken
Seared Scallops and Zoodles with Cilantro Citrus Sauce
Honey Balsamic Glaze
Ham and Egg Quiche with Butternut Squash Crust

ingredients displayed for making swedish roast beef

Ingredients needed:

boneless beef rump roast
water
salt
whole bay leaves
fresh thyme and fresh rosemary
ground ginger, ground nutmeg and ground cinnamon
ice water
honey

four photos showing how to make swedish roast beef

How to make Swedish Roast Beef:

The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post.

Cook the roast:

Preheat the oven to 200°F. Place the frozen roast (yes FROZEN!) on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Roast to desired doneness, 7 to 10 hours. Use an instant-read meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat (125° for rare, 135° for medium-rare, and 145° for medium).

Make the brine:

Meanwhile, in a large pot, combine the room temp water, salt, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, add the ice water, and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the honey. Cool the brine to room temperature.

Place the cooked roast in a large storage container. Pour the brine over the roast making sure the roast is completely covered with brine. Cover the container and brine the meat overnight in the refrigerator. Yes, you brine it after it is already roasted!

Remove the roast from the brine and pat it dry with paper towels.

roast beef cut into slices

Slice the meat against the grain and serve. Store the meat tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

I’m curious if you have ever heard of a roast beef being made this way? It’s so unusual, isn’t it?

swedish roast beef cut into slices on board

You need to know that this is a very different tasting roast beef. The additions of the spices really make it quite different than what you’re used to. I mean… there’s cinnamon and nutmeg and ginger in the brine! When I make it again, I might experiment with leaving out the cinnamon and nutmeg. They just give it a really different flavor, and I’d like to try it without. In any case, I love the process used here. It would be fun to experiment with some different spices and see how it goes. Let me know if you try it. Enjoy!

fork full of roast beef