Swedish Flying Jacob (Chicken, Banana and Peanut Casserole)
Sweden's famous 1976 party casserole: chicken and bananas baked under whipped cream mixed with ketchup-style chili sauce, then showered with crisp bacon and salted peanuts and served over rice.
Edited by JP Lambiase
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*Flygande Jacob*, "Flying Jacob", is a Swedish casserole of chicken, bananas, peanuts and bacon, baked and usually served with rice and a salad (Wikipedia:). Its inventor was Ove Jacobsson, who worked in air freight, hence "flying". Swedish Wikipedia gives the original ingredients as a store-roasted chicken, banana, crisp bacon, whipped cream, ketchup-style chili sauce and salted roasted peanuts, seasoned with a ready-made Italian salad seasoning, with the bacon and peanuts added after baking so they stay crisp; it was first published in the magazine *Allt om Mat* in 1976, issue 13, pages 44 and 45, which suggested rice, a green salad and a rosé.
How it got to the magazine is told two ways. English Wikipedia says Jacobsson threw it together from leftovers for a summer 1976 party and that his neighbor, Anders Tunberg, worked for *Allt om Mat*. The Takeout says Jacobsson mailed the recipe in, that *Allt om Mat* writer Charlotte Jenkinson republished the original pages in 2014 after years of reader requests, and that it is now sold frozen as "Chicken Jacob". *Allt om Mat* still runs the classic and says Jacobsson worked in air freight forwarding.
The American angle is in the bottle. The chili sauce is the ketchup-style kind America has made for a century, and The Takeout notes that the dish landed during the 1970s casserole craze that America and Sweden shared, yet never caught on in the US; one reason it offers is that most Swedish immigrants came generations earlier, so Swedish American cooking kept older dishes like lutefisk. It is the Swedish answer to chicken divan (our Chicken Divan recipe): chicken in a cream sauce, with fruit and nuts where America put broccoli and cheese.
🇸🇪 The original
Sweden's famous 1976 party casserole: chicken and bananas baked under whipped cream mixed with ketchup-style chili sauce, then showered with crisp bacon and salted peanuts and served over rice.
🇺🇸 The American version
New York's chicken divan bakes chicken and broccoli in a cheese sauce, the creamy chicken bake America took home in a can. See the Chicken Divan (Chicken and Broccoli in Cheese Sauce) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Chicken first, bananas second
15 minutes alone in a hot oven gets the raw thighs most of the way, so the bananas only bake long enough to soften and caramelize at the edges instead of turning to mush.
Whipped cream with chili sauce
Whipping the cream before mixing gives the sauce body, so it browns on top and clings to the chicken instead of running into a thin pink pool.
🧰 You'll need 7 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
Appliances
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Tools
Supplies
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 425°F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Start the rice.
- Step 2
Toss the chicken with the oil, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and spread it in one layer in the dish. Bake 15 minutes.
- Step 3
While the chicken bakes, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, until crisp, and drain on paper towels. Whip the cold cream to soft peaks, 2 to 3 minutes, and fold in the chili sauce.
- Step 4
Peel the bananas, cut each in half crosswise and then in half lengthwise (four pieces each).
- Step 5
Take the dish out, lay the banana pieces over the chicken and spread the chili cream over everything.
- Step 6
Bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until the top is browned in spots, the sauce bubbles and the thickest chicken piece reads 165°F.
- Step 7
Scatter the bacon and peanuts over the top right before serving, so they stay crisp. Serve over rice with a green salad.
Swedish Flying Jacob (Chicken, Banana and Peanut Casserole)
Serves 8 · one 9x13-inch pan plus a pot of rice · 1 hr 5 min total
Chicken
- 2 1/2 lb (1,134 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Banana and chili cream
- 4 medium bananas, ripe but firm
- 1 1/2 cups (357 g) heavy cream, cold
- 3/4 cup (200 g) ketchup-style chili sauce
Topping
- 8 oz (227 g) bacon, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup (60 g) salted roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
To serve
- 2 cups (370 g) long-grain white rice, cooked by the package directions
- Green salad
Equipment: Oven, 9x13-inch baking dish, Skillet, Instant-read thermometer, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Paper towels
Method
- Heat the oven to 425°F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Start the rice.
- Toss the chicken with the oil, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and spread it in one layer in the dish. Bake 15 minutes.
- While the chicken bakes, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, until crisp, and drain on paper towels. Whip the cold cream to soft peaks, 2 to 3 minutes, and fold in the chili sauce.
- Peel the bananas, cut each in half crosswise and then in half lengthwise (four pieces each).
- Take the dish out, lay the banana pieces over the chicken and spread the chili cream over everything.
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until the top is browned in spots, the sauce bubbles and the thickest chicken piece reads 165°F.
- Scatter the bacon and peanuts over the top right before serving, so they stay crisp. Serve over rice with a green salad.
Adapted from *Allt om Mat*, "Flygande Jacob, klassiskt recept", 4 to 5 servings. We follow its build and proportions, doubled for a 9x13: chicken in a greased dish sprinkled with Italian seasoning; bananas cut crosswise and then lengthwise into four pieces each and laid on top; whipped cream mixed with ketchup-style chili sauce spread over; a hot oven (225°C, about 437°F; we use 425°F); crisp bacon and salted peanuts scattered on after baking; rice and salad to serve. Our change for budget: raw boneless chicken thighs baked first in the same dish instead of meat pulled from two store-roasted chickens (the original), plus a bit less cream and bacon than a straight doubling. The two-stage bake and the 165°F check are ours. Estimated cost: about $20.75 with the rice, about $2.59 a serving (chili sauce at our estimate of $3.49 per 12-oz bottle). alltommat.se. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (4)
Tips
- The original shortcut: use the meat from 2 store-roasted chickens (about 6 cups) and skip step 2; bake 20 minutes at 425°F until bubbling and the center reads 165°F. It costs more than raw thighs.
- Make ahead: bacon and rice can be cooked a day ahead and refrigerated. This casserole is best baked and eaten the same day: the bananas darken and the cream sauce does not freeze well (Penn State Extension lists cream sauce among foods that do not freeze well). Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated; reheat to 165°F.
- Peanut allergy at the table: leave the peanuts in a bowl on the side.
- Not as spicy as it sounds: American ketchup-style chili sauce is sweet and mild. For heat, add a few dashes of hot sauce to the cream.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Ove Jacobsson, an air freight worker, invented it, and *Allt om Mat* printed it in 1976. Documented (Swedish and English Wikipedia; *Allt om Mat*; The Takeout).
- How the recipe reached the magazine. Disputed: English Wikipedia says through his neighbor Anders Tunberg, who worked at *Allt om Mat*; The Takeout says Jacobsson mailed it in.
- Bacon and peanuts go on after baking. Documented for the original recipe (Swedish Wikipedia; *Allt om Mat*).
- Real Flying Jacob uses store-roasted chicken. Documented for the 1976 recipe; Folklore as a rule, since *Allt om Mat* itself prints variants with other meats, and Swedish Wikipedia lists versions with chanterelles, smoked pork loin and fish.
- It became an everyday Swedish dish. Documented as The Takeout's report that it is sold frozen as "Chicken Jacob" and that an *Allt om Mat* writer says the recipe is still referenced daily; Swedish Wikipedia adds that it was still popular in the 1980s.
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