Smoked Salmon Salad

This smoked salmon salad is made with cold-smoked salmon (or lox), tender greens, avocado and tomato tossed in an easy mustard and caper vinaigrette.

One of the eternal struggles in my life is my love for bagels and lox competing with my desire to eat (just a little bit) fewer carbs.

It’s a whole thing.

In case you’re wondering, I have the same problem when it comes to choosing between eating crab and butter sauce or a crab salad.

The answer, of course, is balance. As in, we’ll eat some of both and it’ll all even out.

Recently, I stocked my freezer full of cold-smoked salmon. In between batches of this lox spread and these smoked salmon crêpes, I decided I needed to make something lighter.

This smoked salmon salad uses fresh, tender greens and cold-smoked salmon, along with some of my favorite bagels and lox toppings, such as avocado, capers and everything bagel seasoning.

What’s the Difference Between Smoked Salmon and Lox?

With smoked salmon, what you’re specifically looking for is cold-smoked, found in the refrigerated or freezer section of the grocery store. It will be thin, semi-transparent slices.

Traditional lox is not technically smoked, but if you want to use it in this recipe, it will work just fine!

Learn more about the differences between lox and smoked salmon, or how to make lox!

Can I Use Un-Smoked Salmon (Regular Lox) Instead?

You can! The flavor will just be a bit different.

Can I Use Hot-Smoked Salmon?

In contrast to the thin slices of cold-smoked salmon, hot-smoked salmon looks like a plump, cooked fillet.

I don’t really recommend hot-smoked salmon in this recipe. There isn’t anything in the salad to balance out the salty flavor.

Looking for hot-smoked salmon recipes instead? Try smoked salmon alfredo or salmon pesto pasta!

Where Can I Find Everything Bagel Seasoning?

I’m a fan of Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning but other brands make versions of it as well.

Something like McCormick Everything Bagel All Purpose Seasoning may be more readily available in many grocery stores.

Making the Salad

Mix together the spinach and baby greens in a bowl.

To prepare the vinaigrette, whisk together olive oil, apple cider vinegar, capers, Dijon mustard, and Everything But the Bagel seasoning.

Toss the salad with some of the vinaigrette.

You’ll have more than enough vinaigrette for this salad, so just save the rest for your next salad!

Add sliced tomatoes and avocado to the bed of greens.

If you like, arrange them so that they look decorative and pretty.

Next, arrange the salmon and green onion to finish off the salad.

I like to twist the salmon into decorative curls.

Serve the salad immediately, either as a main course or a side dish.

If you want to add other dishes to the meal, try serving it alongside these spinach stuffed mushrooms or pesto mac and cheese!