Make your own lox (smoked salmon) with this easy lox recipe. You will never go back to store-bought lox! Homemade lox is so much fresher, tastier, and healthier than store-bought lox. Serve lox for breakfast or brunch on a toasted bagel with cream cheese.
2tablespoonsbrown sugaror white sugar if you don't have brown sugar (skip for keto lox)
Optional: A pinch of freshly ground black pepper or dried herbs such as dill or parsley
Instructions
Rinse the salmon and pat it dry with a paper towel. If it has skin, leave the skin on. If you feel any bones in the salmon while you are doing this, remove them - tweezers are useful for this.
Combine the salt and sugar (and pepper and herbs, if using), and rub the seasoning all over the salmon. You might have some extra seasoning that you haven't used up - if so, just place it on top of the salmon.
Get a large piece of plastic wrap. Place the salmon skin-side down. Wrap the salmon tightly with plastic wrap and place it in a container that has a lid. Cover with a lid and place in the fridge.
After 2-3 days, rinse the whole salmon under cold water. Thinly slice the salmon. Serve immediately, or transfer to a clean container, cover, and store refrigerated until serving.
Notes
Homemade lox will keep in the fridge for 3-5 days.
It's best to use a piece of salmon that is the same thickness all around. But it's OK if you can't find a piece like that - just use what you find.
You can cure the salmon for 2 or 3 days - there is some wiggle room here. However, it is best to stop curing and rinse off the extra salt just prior to serving the lox so that it is super fresh. The prepared lox will keep in the fridge for about 3 days in an air-tight container.
Oh, and what to do with that salted cured skin?? Fry salmon skin like bacon!! It will turn crispy on both sides and will be SO DELICIOUS. Just watch out because it will splatter while cooking just like bacon does.
Skip the sugar for a keto-friendly version of this recipe. Serve with slices of cucumber and generous smears of cream cheese.
Please note the actual nutrition will depend on how fatty your salmon fillet is. The sodium in the nutrition facts is just an estimate - a lot of the salt is rinsed off after curing the salmon. However, this is definitely not a low-sodium food!