When people think of Viking meals, they imagine roaring feasts in great halls, with massive slabs of roasted meat, overflowing mugs of mead, and tables piled high with bread and cheese. Pop culture has made Viking cuisine seem like one long rowdy celebration, but the reality was much more practical – and sometimes even grim.
Vikings were warriors, traders, and farmers, and their diet reflected their need for survival rather than luxury. While their food was surprisingly balanced and nutritious, it was also shaped by harsh climates, limited preservation methods, and a constant struggle to store enough food for winter. Here’s what they really ate – without the Hollywood embellishments.
Two Simple Meals a Day—No Lavish Feasts
Forget the idea of Vikings stuffing themselves three times a day. Their daily routine revolved around two main meals: dagmal (day meal) in the morning and nattmal (night meal) in the evening.
Breakfast was simple and practical. Leftovers from the previous night’s stew, stale bread, and fruit were common. Children often had porridge made from oats, buckwheat, or millet, sometimes mixed with berries. The evening meal was larger and more protein-heavy, featuring stews, boiled meat, and root vegetables.
Rather than preparing extravagant meals, Vikings used long-cooking stews that simmered for days, ensuring food was always available.
Meat Was a Treat, But Not Always Safe
Yes, Vikings ate meat, but it wasn’t an everyday indulgence. It was boiled rather than roasted, and it came from whatever source was available. This could mean wild game like elk, reindeer, or bear, or farm-raised pigs, cows, horses, and sheep.
But meat wasn’t always safe to eat. Archaeological digs have revealed that Vikings suffered from intestinal parasites, likely caused by undercooked or contaminated meat. Even worse, their bread sometimes contained poisonous plants that they either mistook for food or used as fillers in times of scarcity.
The Never-Ending Viking Stew
At the heart of the Viking diet was scouse, a stew that never really stopped cooking. Meat, vegetables, and grains were added continuously, creating a rich, ever-evolving broth.
Leftover stew from the night before was often reheated for breakfast, and a fresh batch was started using the same broth, maximizing flavor and nutrition. To thicken the stew, they used barley, oats, or ground tree bark – a necessity in a time when food couldn’t be wasted.
Fish: The Real Viking Staple
Despite their reputation as beef-eating warriors, the real backbone of the Viking diet was fish. Living near rivers, lakes, and the sea, they relied on herring, cod, and trout, which they smoked, dried, or salted to last through the winter and long voyages.
Dried cod, known as stockfish, was especially important. It was lightweight, long-lasting, and full of protein, making it valuable for trade and a reliable source of food on sea expeditions.
A Diet Heavy in Dairy
Dairy played a huge role in Viking diets. With cows, sheep, and goats, they had access to milk, butter, cheese, and yogurt.
One of their most important dairy products was skyr, a thick, fermented cheese-yogurt hybrid that stored well over the winter. Even the whey left over from cheese-making wasn’t wasted – Vikings drank it, used it to pickle vegetables, and even preserved meat in it.
Sour milk was also common and often mixed into bread dough, adding to their diet’s nutritional value.
Bread Was Packed With Grains (and Sometimes Bark)
Vikings loved their bread, but it wasn’t soft or fluffy. Their loaves were dense and rough, made from barley, oats, rye, wheat, beans, and nuts. Sometimes, in harder times, they even ground tree bark into flour to stretch their supply.
Rather than baking in ovens, they cooked their flatbreads over open flames or in skillet-like pans placed under their stew cauldrons, letting the bread absorb some of the rich flavors.
Because their bread hardened as it cooled, it was often dunked into stew to soften it up before eating.
Fruits, Vegetables, and Wild Greens
Unlike the meat-heavy Viking feasts of legend, their diet actually included a lot of plant-based foods. Their gardens provided onions, cabbage, carrots, beans, peas, and celery, while wild greens and seaweed were foraged from their surroundings.
Vikings also enjoyed berries, apples, plums, and nuts, often drying them for storage. Honey was their only sweetener, used in bread and desserts. Spices like mustard, cumin, and horseradish added extra flavor.
Eggs and Birds—Risky but Worth It
Vikings relied on eggs and birds as additional food sources. They kept chickens for eggs, but also hunted seabirds, sometimes scaling cliffs or lowering themselves by ropes to steal eggs from high nests.
One of their most commonly eaten birds was the auk, a large seabird that is now extinct – likely due to overhunting by humans, including Vikings.
Alcohol Over Water—For Everyone
Drinking water wasn’t always safe, so beer and ale were the go-to drinks. They brewed two types of ale: a weak version for daily drinking (even for children) and a stronger version for celebrations.
Mead, a fermented honey drink, was a Viking favorite but reserved for special occasions. Honey was expensive, so mead wasn’t something an average Viking drank regularly.
Horses Were on the Menu—Until Christianity Banned It
Before Christianity spread to Scandinavia, Vikings ate horse meat freely. However, in 732 AD, Pope Gregory III banned horse consumption, calling it a pagan ritual tied to Norse gods. As a result, eating horse became taboo, though it likely continued in secret for some time.
Viking Feasts—More Than Just a Party
Yes, Vikings loved to celebrate, but their feasts were not everyday affairs. Large gatherings were reserved for harvest festivals, weddings, and religious events.
For these occasions, Vikings prepared special meats like boar, venison, and beef, accompanied by cheeses, nuts, dried fruits, and strong ale. These events were important social gatherings, not just an excuse for excess.
The Viking Diet: More Survival Than Luxury
For all the romanticized portrayals of Viking feasting, the truth is they were practical eaters. Their meals were about sustainability, nutrition, and making use of every available resource.
They boiled more than they roasted, ate fish more often than beef, and relied heavily on dairy, grains, and foraged plants. They preserved food for harsh winters and long sea voyages, making sure nothing went to waste.
If there’s one thing to take away, it’s this: Viking food wasn’t about indulgence – it was about survival.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.