Smoked Salmon Platter
Wondering how to serve smoked salmon? It’s as simple as knowing which ingredients to shop for, and arranging them on a pretty tray. Assemble this elegant Smoked Salmon Platter in just 20 minutes for your next brunch or cocktail party.
This Post Will Tell You Exactly How To Serve Smoked Salmon
We spent a lot of time in culinary school building appetizer and snack boards for various fundraising events the school would host. One of the most popular ones we’d put together was a smoked salmon board.
Kind of like a charcuterie board, but focusing on smoked salmon and an array of traditional accompaniments for it, like cream cheese, capers, cucumbers, herbs and bread.
Today, we’re walking you through exactly how to put together a smoked salmon platter that is perfect for brunches, parties and family gatherings.
Why You’ll Love This Smoked Salmon Platter
- Almost everything can be prepped in advance, making this a great option if you need to do most of the preparation for your party a day ahead of time.
- Whether it’s a fancy brunch of casual get-together, this board fits right in.
- It’s an interesting alternative to a typical charcuterie board.
What To Eat With Smoked Salmon
A full recipe card, including exact ingredient amounts, appears at the bottom of this post.
There are so many good flavor pairings with smoked salmon! Our favorites, that we’ve included on the smoked salmon platter pictures in this post, are:
- toasted baguette – there’s a link to how to make crostini in the oven in the recipe card below.
- cream cheese – we like the whipped kind, because it’s easier to spread!
- sour cream – another creamy option besides cream cheese.
- red onion – finely chopped or thinly sliced red onion adds a pretty purple color to the platter.
- tomatoes – thinly sliced Roma tomatoes work well for a smoked salmon charcuterie board.
- cucumbers – we like to grab a package of mini cucumbers and thinly slice them, but an English cucumber also works well.
- radishes – they’re not everybody’s cup of tea, but we love their sharp, peppery bite. Thinly sliced is best here.
- hard boiled eggs – we served them chopped on this board, but you can also serve them simply cut in half.
- capers – we love the salty, briny bite of these.
- everything bagel seasoning – use our Everything Bagel Seasoning Recipe or buy a bottle.
- sprigs of fresh dill – smoked salmon and fresh dill is a classic flavor pairing!
- lemon wedges – we can’t ever serve fish without lemon!
Other Items To Consider For A Smoked Salmon Charcuterie Board
When figuring out what to eat with smoked salmon, the sky is really the limit. Some other ideas include:
- crème fraîche – which is just a really fancy sour cream, but if you’re fancy, go for it.
- caviar – also fancy!
- bagels, mini bagels or bagel chips – because we can never resist a bagel and lox.
- toasted pumpernickel bread – it’s a great flavor combo with smoked salmon. Your favorite crackers are good here, too!
- pickled red onion – you can’t go wrong with a jar of our Quick Pickled Red Onions in the fridge.
- avocado – it doesn’t last as long as some of the other items (it browns when exposed to air), but a squeeze of lemon juice can prolong that a bit.
- egg salad – a batch of our Egg Salad With Pickles is kind of the upgrade option to chopped hard boiled eggs.
- chives or scallions – these grow like crazy in our garden, and they make a good addition to this board.
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Tips For Buying Smoked Salmon For A Smoked Salmon Board
Just like with all of our salmon recipes, it’s all about quality of the fish. You have a few different options here:
- Smoked Salmon – salmon that has been hot or cold smoked. It is sometimes, but not always, cured first for even more flavor.
- Cold smoked salmon is glossy and thinly sliced, with a rich, buttery texture. This is what we used for the photos in this post.
- Hot smoked salmon looks more like poached fish, and it flakes into larger pieces. We used it for our Sushi Bowl Recipe. It’s not as common for salmon platters like this, but it’s a matter of personal preference.
- Lox – salmon that has been salt cured, but not always smoked. Lox is ideal for a smoked salmon board.
- Gravlax is a Scandinavian style of lox. “Grav” is Swedish for grave, and historically, sides of salmon were buried in salt outside under the snow, like a grave. Nowadays, the term gravlax is used interchangeably with lox in a lot of places.
- Nova lox is named after Nova Scotia, a region of Canada famous for its salmon. Nova lox is both cured and cold smoked.
If you have a local bagel shop that makes their own smoked salmon or lox, that’s probably a great place to buy it. But most large grocery stores have high-quality packaged options, too.
For the best flavor, let the smoked salmon come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving. Serve this smoked salmon appetizer with forks or a small pair of tongs so that people can pick up the delicate slices.
How To Assemble A Smoked Salmon Board
1. BOWLS. Place the ingredients that are in bowls (cream cheese, sour cream, capers and everything bagel seasoning) on a large platter, along with a few of the sliced veggies.
2. SALMON. Place the smoked salmon down the center of the platter. Arrange it in an artful little zigzag so it looks cute.
3. FINISH. Fill in any empty space with the remaining ingredients.
Smoked Salmon Plate Home Chef Tips
- The best part of this smoked salmon board is that most of the elements that require any sort of preparation can be made in advance.
- Eggs can be hard boiled the night before and kept in the fridge until you’re ready to serve this smoked salmon charcuterie board.
- Onions, cucumbers and radishes can all be sliced and chopped and refrigerated as well.
- I recommend slicing the tomatoes just before serving, because refrigerated tomatoes are gross.
What To Serve With A Smoked Salmon Platter
Make this smoked salmon plate part of a larger brunch menu by adding some of the ideas below:
- Sweet or Savory Casserole: To add a more filling option to the spread, add a Sausage Egg Brunch Casserole or Sweet Breakfast Casserole.
- More Egg Options: How about Breakfast Muffins, Vegetarian Quiche or our Ham And Cheese Quiche Recipe?
- Mimosas: You can never go wrong with this classic Orange Juice and Champagne drink (with just a touch of Grand Marnier).
- Bloody Marys: With our favorite Bloody Mary Skewers for a special garnish.
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Smoked Salmon Platter
Ingredients
- 1 cup whipped cream cheese
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup capers
- 2 tablespoons Everything Bagel Seasoning
- 1 pound cold smoked salmon
- 4 hard boiled eggs finely chopped
- 4 radishes thinly sliced
- 2 mini cucumbers thinly sliced
- 2 Roma tomatoes thinly sliced
- ½ cup finely chopped red onion
- Dill sprigs and lemon wedges for garnish
- 1 baguette thinly sliced and toasted (see Notes)
Instructions
- Place the cream cheese, sour cream, capers and everything bagel seasoning in small bowls, then arrange them on a large platter.
- Place the smoked salmon down the center of the platter. Arrange it in an artful little zigzag so it looks cute.
- Fill in any empty space with the remaining ingredients. Garnish platter with dill sprigs and lemon wedges, and serve with toasted baguette.
This looks and sounds delicious!