Smoked Salmon Salad is made with fresh ingredients. The perfect cold entrée. An elegant smoked salmon recipe that is sure to impress.
An easy salad with cold smoked salmon slices, cucumber noodles, and a creamy dill dressing. You might also want to try smoked salmon cucumber boats.
Refreshing and light, this low carb salad with cucumbers and smoked salmon is a sure hit for lunch or brunch. Patio dining perfection.
I love a good salad recipe. In the summer we often have salad for dinner on warm summer nights. Easy to prepare. Crisp and refreshing. You can never go wrong with the combination of salmon, dill, and cucumbers.
Speaking of cucumbers, if you love traditional cucumber tea sandwiches, then you need to try this cucumber bagel sandwich. Perfect for any meal of the day.
Smoked Salmon Salad Ingredients
- cucumber noodles
- smoked salmon
- sour cream
- fresh dill
- cherry tomatoes
- capers
- salt and pepper
Preparing Cold Smoked Salmon Cucumber Salad
So easy, it doesn’t involve any cooking! Full instructions are in the recipe card. I have some great recipe tips and substitutions below.
- Spiralize the cucumber into noodles.
- Sprinkle with salt and let drain in a colander.
- Mix the dressing ingredients in a bowl.
- Combine the dressing with the cucumber noodles.
- Add the salmon slices.
- Top with tomatoes and capers.
- Garnish and serve.
Suggestions/Recipe Tips
Cucumber noodles are fun. Easily made with a spiralizer or mandoline. Make cucumber ribbons using a potato peeler. You can also just cut the cucumber into thin slices, or thick slices then cut them into quarters. Leave the skin on.
- Sour cream can be replaced with Greek yogurt.
- Fresh dill is always best, but in a pinch, dried dill is always an option.
- Capers can be replaced with olives.
Store leftovers in a container in the fridge. This salad is best served immediately upon making. The noodles will get soggy and watery if it sits too long.
Did you know that there are several types of smoked salmon? Lox is cured in a brine and NOT smoked. It has a buttery texture and a very salty taste.
Smoked salmon is dry-cured in salt and then smoked over a somewhat long period of time. Also known as cold smoked salmon because the temperature never gets above 80 degrees F. Much like my cold smoked cheese. The smoking does not cook the fish, and the texture resembles raw fish.
This type of salmon is the one found most often in stores. Thin slices, vacuum sealed and most often found in the freezer section. You can get it fresh as well.
Hot smoked salmon (also called kippered) is cured in a wet salty brine, then smoked for a few hours at about 120 degrees F (or a little higher).
Then there is gravlax. Salmon is cured and not smoked. This type of curing uses much less salt and ingredients like dill, lemon, sugar, and vodka.
More smoked salmon ideas:
- Smoked Salmon Sandwich
- Potato Appetizers
- Warm Potato and Smoked Salmon Salad
- Smoked Salmon Stuffed Potatoes
- Smoked Salmon Bagel
- Egg Tacos
Smoked Salmon Salad With Cucumber Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 pound cucumber noodles (spiralized)
- 5 ounces smoked salmon
- 2 ½ ounces sour cream
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill (and extra for garnish)
- 3 ounces cherry tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons capers
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- fresh cracked black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
To Make The Cucumber Noodles:
- Spiralize the cucumber (skin on) into thick noodles. Place in a colander and add about ½ tsp. kosher salt.
- Let sit for 15 minutes, rinse, and squeeze dry in a kitchen towel. Place in a large bowl.
To Make The Dressing:
- While the noodles are draining, combine the sour cream and dill in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
To Arrange The Salad:
- Wash and cut the tomatoes (or leave whole if you wish).
- Add the dressing to the cucumber noodles and combine.
- Divide the noodles into 2 bowls or plates.
- Place the salmon slices in and around the noodles on the plate.
- Top with the tomatoes and capers.
- Garnish with additional fresh dill and cracked black pepper.
Alexis
I am a HUGE lox fan. I didn’t know about the other types of smoked salmon though, thank you for that information. This salad looks amazing, I’m going to add it to my weekly meal plan.
Homemade & Yummy
This is a great salad to make for dinner any night of the week. ENJOY!
swathi
smoked salmon salad looks delicious love creamy cucumber along with smoked salmon. I ate best smoked salmon in Sweden. After I couldn’t find that taste any where. your recipe sound easy to put together.
Homemade & Yummy
I bet the salmon in Sweden was amazing!!
Stef
I totally love cucumbers with smoked fish. One of my friends brought it over to our house for an potluck once and I told her that she has to bring it every single time that she comes. But, I never thought of turning it into a salad. What a fun idea to use cucumber noodles!! I am totally trying this!!
Homemade & Yummy
This is a delicious and easy way to enjoy smoked salmon as a total meal deal. Cucumber noodle are fun.
Tammy
This is a great idea for smoked salmon. Your salad looks refreshing and light…I cannot wait to give this a try soon!
Homemade & Yummy
Hope you give this a try soon….I’m sure you will love it.
Cathleen
Oh my goodness yum!! I think I need to make this a staple in my diet right now. This looks amazing!!
Homemade & Yummy
Hope you give this super easy and delicious salad a try soon.
Celeste
What a combo of flavors, perfect for a weekend brunch gathering.
Homemade & Yummy
YES…this is brunch worthy for sure.
Veena Azmanov
Such a quick and delicious way to eat salmon. I love adding salmon to my salad especially with a creamy tangy dressing. This sounds so good. Can’t wait to try it soon. Pinning for later.
Homemade & Yummy
This is a great salad for dinner, and perfect for entertaining on the weekend too. It looks elegant, and tastes delicious. Add a glass of wine and call it dinner.
April
This salad sounds so delicious. I’ve been looking for salad ideas and this one sounds perfect, however I can’t find smoked salmon in the stores near me. Do you think regular non smoked fresh salmon would work?
Homemade & Yummy
Have you tried the freezer section of the grocery store? Fresh salmon would for sure work too.
Amanda
I love smoked salmon. I think it’s the best, bu I had only a vague idea as to what types of smoked salmon there were. I can’t believe I never had it in a salad before, but I am dying to try it now!
Homemade & Yummy
I found it interesting as well. I did not know there were SOOO many different types. Hope you give this a try.
Tina
That’s awesome that you clarified the differences in fish. I have been calling cold smoke salmon lox for years. I love it all and your recipe looks amazing. Saving this, I love the ingredient list and any recipe that looks this good and is healthy for you is a winner in my kitchen. Thanks again for another great recipe!
Homemade & Yummy
I thought it was the same too. Guess that is why I didn’t like my original “bagel & lox” experience. This is a favourite in our house.
Anna
I absolutely love the flavor combo here! The smoked salmon and cucumber dill salad are right up my alley. So much flavor!
Homemade & Yummy
This is a great salad, and perfect for entertaining too. Hope you give it a try.
Jacqueline Debono
Love your cucumber noodles. Def have to try that! The combination of smoked salmon and dill is such a classic and goes so well with the other ingredients in this recipe!
Homemade & Yummy
Yes the classic combo of salmon and dill never goes out of style. The cucumber noodles are fun too.
Karyl Henry
I’m honestly not a fan of smoked salmon. However, I would totally make this with grilled salmon! And since it’s so easy to pull together, I think you could easily make a batch of grilled and a batch of smoked, and let people make their favorite
Homemade & Yummy
Sure, make it with any type of salmon you like. I understand, it took me a long time to like smoked salmon too.
Arjhon
This is great! Another way to enjoy salmon in a healthy way. Definitely adding this to our meal plan next week. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
Homemade & Yummy
ENJOY…hope you give this recipe a try soon.
Mirlene
To answer the first question, the answer is a BIG FAT YES!!! I do love smoked salmon. As a matter of fact we are actually big salmon eaters in our home. I started appreciating the taste of cucumbers a couple years ago, sadly to say, but this salad has all of my favorites- old and new. Pinning to try soon!
Homemade & Yummy
Well if you love salmon, you will love this recipe. The cucumber noodles are fun too. ENJOY!