Smoked Salmon Salad

This smoked salmon salad is the ideal quick dinner: no cooking involved! It’s fresh, healthy, and full of big flavor.

Here’s a genius trick that makes a fast dinner or healthy lunch with no cooking required. That’s right, no need to grab your pan and spatula. Try this Smoked Salmon Salad! It’s healthy, fresh, and 100% cook free. Imagine: savory smoked salmon, fresh greens, fluffy goat cheese dollops and a tangy shallot vinaigrette. It’s ideal for a meal al fresco or fast lunch: and it comes together in 15 minutes flat.

Components in smoked salmon salad

Sometimes we forget about the magic of smoked salmon for making fast meals, so we’re remedying that with this recipe. Smoked salmon salad is the type of lifesaver meal you can throw together while kids are screaming or when you don’t have energy to think. Of course, you’ll need to have a few ingredients on hand:

• Smoked salmon: Either cold smoked (lox) or hot smoked work; find it in the refrigerated section near the meat counter.
• Fresh greens: Mixed spring greens make for color and texture contrasts.
• Goat cheese: Chevre adds creamy, savory notes: substitute feta if desired.
• Homemade shallot vinaigrette: This homemade dressing is easy to mix up.
• Red onion slices: Onion or shallot add savory notes.

Using hot vs cold smoked salmon

You can use either cold smoked or hot smoked salmon in this salad recipe. What’s the difference? Hot smoking flavors the salmon and cooks it at the same time, whereas cold smoking imparts flavors without fully cooking it. Cold smoked salmon (lox) has a buttery, smooth texture, whereas hot smoked salmon is flaky and cooked through.

You can use either type of salmon in this salad recipe. Cold smoked has a very strong, smoky flavor and that signature buttery texture. But hot smoked salmon works great here with its flaky texture! If you have an outdoor smoker, you can make homemade hot smoked salmon to really take this fish to the next level.

Optional ingredients and variations

This smoked salmon salad is totally customizable, based on what you have on hand in your refrigerator. Use it as a “clean out the fridge” concept and add any veggies, nuts or seeds you like. A few ideas that would go well:

• Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Radishes
• Sesame seeds or pepitas
• Almonds, walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts

Mix up a homemade shallot vinaigrette

The star of this smoked salmon salad, other than the salmon itself, is the dressing! This homemade vinaigrette comes together quickly and has the perfect tangy flavor. It stars shallots, small onions that have a delicate flavor. They’re one of our favorites to use in salad dressings! Here’s what to know about the dressing:

• Whisk the olive oil in gradually to get the perfect emulsion. We like to do it about 1 tablespoon at a time. The Dijon mustard is also a key component to getting a creamy consistency.
• Dressing stores up to 2 weeks. The dressing can solidify in the fridge because of the oil, so bring to room temperature before serving.

Dressing variations for smoked salmon salad

Of course, you can use any other type of dressing you like for this smoked salmon salad. The quality greatly affects the final flavors. So if you use store-bought, make sure it’s best quality! Here are a few more delicious go-to homemade salad dressing recipes that would work well here:

• Go classic with our favorite Creamy Balsamic Dressing
• Try zingy Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing, Dijon Mustard Dressing, or Citrus Salad Dressing
• Mix up a Quick Tomato Vinaigrette with summer tomatoes
• Go herby with Fresh Basil Vinaigrette or Cilantro Lime Dressing
• Grab berries for Raspberry Vinaigrette or Strawberry Vinaigrette

More easy salmon recipes

Salmon is a weeknight dinner hero, in our book! Smoked salmon is ever better, since you don’t have to cook it! Here are a few more salmon recipes where this lean protein makes a delicious lunch, brunch or dinner:

• Make Smoked Salmon Pasta or Smoked Salmon Sandwich
• Try a quick and easy Salmon Caesar Salad or Salmon Nicoise Salad
• Mix up Salmon Crunch Bowl, Honey Garlic Salmon, or Pistachio Crusted Salmon
• Impress everyone with Classic Salmon Burgers, Salmon Tacos, or Marinaded Salmon

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This smoked salmon salad recipe is…

Pescatarian, dairy-free and gluten-free.

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