A collection of delicious smoked salmon and lox recipes that go beyond the bagel. Everything from fun party lox appetizers to smoked salmon brunch and dinner recipes. There is something here for every salmon lover!
Have you ever had lox / smoked salmon??
If you grew up in the New York City area, you know all about lox. Lox is delicious, tender, salt-cured slices of salmon that go perfectly on top of a toasted bagel with cream cheese.
It's a perfect combination of creamy and salty. It pairs amazingly with a GOOD New York bagel and a cup of coffee (Dunkin Donuts bagels need not apply!).
Recently, Lox started getting more popular all over the US. More and more restaurants are offering it as part of a fancy brunch and it's even appearing on lunch and dinner menus.
About time!! Many countries in Europe have been eating lox as part of their traditional food for centuries!
But before we continue...
Did you know you can easily make your own lox?? If you're a fan of lox, you know it can be quite expensive. Luckily, I have a very easy recipe for how to make lox at home.
All it takes to make lox is a nice salmon fillet, salt, and sugar (the sugar is optional). Ground pepper and some herbs if you want to get fancy.
You can also use smoked sea salt to get the most flavorful lox. It will have all the flavor of smoked salmon without the extra step of using a smoker.
Homemade lox comes out so much tastier than the store-bought stuff. It is also MUCH cheaper and doesn't have any preservatives.
Both lox and smoked salmon can be used interchangeably in all of the recipes below.
Make sure you check out my recipe for how to make your own lox, and then come right back here for some ideas of how to use this lox in many different recipes.
By the way, are you looking for keto lox recipe? Check out this list of Low Carb Smoked Salmon Recipe Ideas!
Delicious Lox Recipes That Go Beyond the Bagel
If you like lox, you absolutely need to try these lox recipes / smoked salmon recipes!
Lox appetizers are always a popular party food. I think people *know* that lox is the expensive fancy stuff, so the lox appetizers always disappear first!
Here is a great tutorial on how to make a Lox Appetizer Platter – complete with a creamy lox dip, cucumber bites, bagel chips, and lots of veggies for dipping. The whole platter can be put together in less than 30 minutes, which is great for entertaining. Less work for you, more snacks for your guests.
And there is a little bit of something for everyone – healthy crisp veggies, delicious crunchy bagel bites, creamy lox spread. Definitely bookmark this one for your next party!
There's nothing better than the combination of flaky puff pastry, creamy cream cheese, and salty smoked salmon. These puff pastry lox appetizers have only 6 ingredients and need only 10 minutes of hands-on prep time!
How gorgeous is this Smoked Salmon Croissant Strata from Julie over at Imagelicious?? I seriously get those little hearts in my eyes just like the emoji when I look at this dish.
Strata is just a fancy word for a casserole with eggs and milk.
It’s like a savory, decadent, croissant French toast with lox that is baked to perfection. This would make a fabulous brunch if you want to treat yourself or impress someone, but I can also see this being an amazing dinner dish. This is going on my “bucket list” of recipes for sure.
These open-faced smoked salmon sandwiches are perfect for brunch, a light lunch, or slice them into smaller pieces for a delicious appetizer. Super easy to make and assemble!
This Cottage Cheese, Kale, and Smoked Salmon Frittata is another gorgeous and elegant recipe using smoked salmon.
The creamy cottage cheese is such a nice pairing to salty, fatty smoked salmon. This frittata is absolutely delicious because of the fresh herbs, and then she suggests topping it with Feta cheese? I can’t even.
These crispy, crunchy Smoked Salmon Cakes from Lisa at Garlic and Zest are absolute perfection, don’t you agree?
They are a fun twist on the traditional crab cakes, but with so much more flavor. And they are just so perfectly crispy. Topped with creamy, garlicky aioli with fresh dill, they are absolutely irresistible. Make these for dinner with a side of pasta or a salad for a lighter meal.
This recipe does use a lot of lox / smoked salmon, so if you want to try a hand at making your own, now would be a good time. Here is my recipe for homemade lox.
Sometimes simple is best. This Fettucine with Smoked Salmon and Fresh Dill from Cynthia at What a Girl Eats is the perfect example.
Take a perfectly cooked pasta, add a creamy flavorful sauce made from scratch (none of that bottled stuff here!), throw in some smoked salmon and of course, fresh dill. The flavor of each ingredient really comes through and this recipe makes a great dinner.
The salty, smoky salmon is a perfect pairing for creamy sauce.
If you want to get fancy with your cooking, these Smoked Salmon, Dill, and Horseradish Tartlets from Karen’s Kitchen Stories are the perfect recipe. The homemade crust is very easy to make, but will make these tartlets look like a million bucks.
And the rich, decadent filling has a ton of flavor thanks to the capers, crème fraîche, fresh lemon juice, and herbs. These tartlets come out so gorgeous with a nice golden brown topping. I can just imagine digging my fork into one!
This Shuba Salad with Salmon from Peter’s Food Adventures is a stunning dish to serve up at a dinner party. “Shuba” means “winter coat” in Russian – so it’s like this salad is wearing a coat of delicious toppings! This dish is traditionally served at big holidays such as Christmas or a New Years Eve dinner.
Shuba is traditionally made with herring as the base of the salad, and I am loving this twist on the recipe. The layers give this salad a gorgeous presentation and are actually a great combination of flavors – salty, rich salmon pairs so well with potatoes, the eggs add a great texture, and the sweetness and color of the shredded cooked beets on top finishes off the dish.
This Smoked Salmon, Farro, and Goat Cheese Salad from Marissa at Pinch and Swirl makes a wholesome, delicious, healthy meal. And it’s so good you’ll forget you’re eating a salad. It’s got a lovely crunchy from the farro, which works in perfect harmony with creamy goat cheese and tender smoked salmon.
Caviar and Smoked Salmon are some of the best things in life. It’s no wonder these are considered gourmet foods – they are so tasty and elegant. And Annemarie from Just a Little Bit of Bacon had a genius idea of combining these ingredients into one delicious Caviar and Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Dip!
But she doesn’t just stop there – she adds a tiny bit of horseradish to this creamy dip – just enough to add flavor but not overpower the recipe. This dip is perfect for crackers, veggies, and crusty bread. It would make an amazing party appetizer.
I love Julia’s use of savory whipped cream for this Smoked Salmon Party Crostini! It’s such a fun way to add rich and creamy flavor to these crostini, which is a perfect complement to smoky salty salmon and crispy toasted bread.
These salmon crostini make a great party food, along with the other crostini in her post: Pear & Goat Cheese, Bruschetta, and Prosciutto & Arugula.
Girl from Dawn Heart Food has a recipe for these Avocado and Smoked Salmon Appetizers, and I just love how she presents them! She layers creamy goat cheese, smoked salmon, and avocado on top of flatbread, and then cuts the flatbread up into perfect rectangles.
Garnished with chives, capers, and a drizzle of olive oil, these little flatbreads are tasty and very pretty! They would be great at a holiday party or as a Valentine’s Day appetizer.
I fell in love with these Smoked Salmon and Potato Canapes from Marianne at Basil and Bubbly the second I saw them. Smoked salmon, potatoes, and sour cream are some of my favorite things (I am Russian, after all!). And to combine them all in a tasty little appetizer that is super easy to make is just brilliant.
Starchy potatoes are a wonderful addition to creamy sour cream and salty smoked salmon. I have to admit though, I did have to look up what a canape was. 😉
If you can find purple or tri-color baby potatoes, they would definitely make this appetizer even more special. But if all you’ve got are white baby potatoes, or even thick potato rounds from regular full-size potatoes, this would still make a super tasty appetizer!
Rainbow Colored Smoked Salmon Toast with Passion fruit Hollandaise Sauce
I cannot believe how gorgeous these little Rainbow Smoked Salmon Toasts with Passion Fruit Hollandaise Sauce are! Dini from the Flavor Bender uses spirulina to make blue cream cheese, and then tops toasted crusty bread with purple cabbage, red tomatoes, orange salmon, and yellow runny eggs.
All of that is topped with a generous drizzle of hollandaise sauce made with passion fruit. I cannot even imagine how good that whole combination must taste. It’s crunchy, salty, creamy, sweet, tart, and everything wonderful all at once.
Did you know that Eggs Royale is a variation of the classic Eggs Benedict recipe that uses lox instead of ham? I did not know that either until seeing this Eggs Royale / Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict recipe from Caroline’s Cooking.
But oh my my, does it look delicious!! The easy and delicious Hollandaise sauce poured over the yummy lox on top of a toasted English muffin with poached eggs. Why HELLO. I just want to dive right into it.
This spreadable, tasty Smoked Salmon Pate by Michelle from Greedy Gourmet is such a tasty treat. She combined smoked salmon with lemon juice and lemon zest, fresh herbs, and heavy cream. And in just a few pulses of the food processor, you have a delicious appetizer. This would also make a great breakfast or brunch side.
Spread it on crackers, toast, or cucumber slices. Yum!
I found this recipe for Smoked Salmon Pinwheels from Pat and Dahn at Savor the Best after I finished putting together this delicious roundup, and I knew I had to include it!! Pinwheels always make great party food, and this very easy recipe will definitely please your guests. People will be grabbing seconds and thirds, without a doubt.
So what have we learned from this delicious list of Smoked Salmon Recipes?
- Smoked Salmon or Lox is a great ingredient for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, AND appetizer recipes. You can add it raw to dips and on top of crostinis, or you can add it to recipes that require cooking, such as pastas and frittatas
- Salty smoked salmon pairs really well creamy ingredients: Greek yogurt, cream cheese, goat cheese, sour cream, mascarpone, savory whipped cream. All of these are delicious with smoked salmon
- Smoked salmon also goes great with a little bit of sharper and zestier flavors. Lemon juice, capers, horseradish will all lend more flavor to your smoked salmon or lox recipes
- A little bit of fresh herbs such as dill will add even more flavor to your lox / smoked salmon recipes
- Smoked salmon appetizers are ALWAYS very popular at holiday parties because they are fancy, tasty, and delicious. People cannot get enough of them
I don't know about you, but I am hungry after writing up this post.
So if I were you, I'd go buy a nice chunk of salmon fillet or make your own lox and start trying these recipes!
Peter
Friday 26th of October 2018
I'm always looking for Salmon recipes! What a great list! Thanks for sharing! :-)
Healthy World Cuisine
Thursday 25th of October 2018
This is a fabulous round up! With the holidays looming having a delicious package of lox gives you so many quick and easy recipe ideas. Just pinned!
Kate
Thursday 25th of October 2018
Right?? I feel like lox is perfect for holiday parties! Thank you :)