Flygande Jakob (Flying Jacob) Swedish Casserole

After being so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Jansson’s temptation I thought it might be time to try out another classic Swedish casserole dish. I had always heard about flygande Jacob, or flying Jacob, but had never made it myself because to be honest, it didn’t sound appealing to me!

Flying Jacob is a Swedish casserole dish from the 1970s made with chicken, bacon, banana, and peanuts and topped with a mixture of whipped cream and chili sauce. It’s one of those quick and easy dishes a lot of Scandinavians know from their childhood. It also seems to be one of those dishes that people are a bit embarrassed to love as much as they do. Whipped cream and chili sauce? Banana?

Ok let’s try it.

Tips

Even before I tasted flying Jacob I could understand at least part of its popularity. It really is very quick and easy to put together.

Start by cutting the chicken into small strips and browning them in olive oil. I’ve also seen people buy grilled chicken and simply shred it instead. Really it seems that you can do whatever you like with the chicken and then lay it as the bottom layer in your casserole dish.

Next, add the fried bacon. Again, you can use bacon pieces or strips of bacon – whichever you prefer. Some people opt to sprinkle the bacon on top of the casserole, but I decided to add it in with the chicken for extra flavor in the dish.

The next layer might be the most controversial: banana. In fact my friend Åsne said that she only eats flying Jacob without banana, but all of my other friends were shocked by the news, so I think omitting the banana is frowned upon in Scandinavia. And I would frown too, because the banana is so good in this dish! I certainly wouldn’t make this without banana.

Åsne also said that her mom makes flying Jacob with ketchup instead of chili sauce, so I’m not really sure what kind of casserole they’re making over there but he’s not named Jacob.

Some people slice up the banana into small pieces, but my Swedish friend Josephine said that you really should cut the banana into long strips. Flying Jacob is one of her grandmother’s specialties, so we’re doing what Josephine says!

The sauce is simply a mixture of whipped cream and chili sauce. Whip the cream and gently fold in the chili sauce. Now, some people use regular chili sauce and others use sweet chili sauce. Sweet chili sauce is milder than chili sauce, so if you don’t like spicy food then go for sweet chili sauce instead.

Pour the sauce on top of the casserole, and finally sprinkle peanuts on top. And it’s ready to go in the oven!

Bake for about 20 minutes and serve with rice.

You can switch the recipe from US measurements to metric by clicking from “US Customary” to “Metric” under Ingredients.