Smoked Salmon Dip

You can’t buy a Smoked Salmon Dip with flavour this good! It truly tastes of smoked salmon, it’s soft and creamy with a subtle tang from cream cheese and lemon, and the freshness of dill. This is a dip to impress!

Smoked Salmon Dip

I consider this dip a bit fancy pants because the cost to make this is probably about 2 to 3 times the cost to buy a tub from the supermarket. Whereas usually, I’m chirping “this recipe is better AND cheaper than store bought!”, like these copycat Gourmet Crackers which I swear is about 80% cheaper than buying them and I double swear that they taste better.

But in this case, the homemade version costs more.

BUT it tastes SO MUCH BETTER and it’s flavour money can’t buy!! If you’ve ever tried store bought Smoked Salmon Dip, you’d know that it tastes kind of sour and only tastes mildly of smoked salmon. And let’s be honest, it can’t be real because real smoked salmon has to be consumed with 3 – 5 days after opening the packet.

Homemade is made with the real thing – real fresh smoked salmon. And as a result, it truly tastes like smoked salmon. Really truly!

Smoked salmon is not the cheapest thing in the world, especially if you get good quality (Huon Salmon is my favourite – it’s certainly the freshest in Australia + sustainably farmed). So using it in a dip is a good way to make less go further because when it’s blitzed up, it makes the flavour bloom so it’s much more intense than stirring chopped salmon into the dip.

HOW TO MAKE SMOKED SALMOM DIP

In addition to using real smoked salmon, the other bursts of freshness in this dip are lemon juice and zest (lemon flavour comes from the zest, tang comes from the juice) and fresh dill.

I like to use a combination of cream cheese, sour cream (to lighten up the mixture a bit, I find using only cream cheese is too dense) and mayonnaise (for a bit of extra richness and flavour). This is pretty much the same base I use for all my dips.

Serve it with breadsticks, crackers or crostinis. Crostinis are super easy to make yourself – just slice a small breadstick, brush or spray with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and bake! – Nagi x

More dip recipes

• Guacamole or Avocado Hummus Dip
• Hummus
• French Onion Dip (from scratch) OR  Retro Soup Mix 2 Minute French Onion Dip
• Hot Corn Dip – you’ll love the flavour in this creamy, bubbly dip!
• Cheese and Bacon Dip
• Spinach Artichoke Dip
• Mexican Queso Dip
• See all Dip Recipes, all Party Food and the Top 25 Party Foods!

More smoked salmon recipes

• Smoked Salmon Appetizer Bites
• Smoked Salmon and Egg Breakfast Mille-feuille
• Smoked Salmon Potato Rosti Stack
• Salmon Quiche

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Smoked Salmon Dip

Author: Nagi

Prep: 5 mins

Total: 5 mins

4.95 from 19 votes

Servings6 - 10 people

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A wonderful dip to impress! It has a beautiful smoked salmon flavour, it's soft and creamy, with a fabulous fresh lemon and dill flavour. Store bought is completely incomparable - typically too hard, too sour and the smoked salmon flavour is barely there plus probably not real because real smoked salmon has a shelf life of only 3 to 5 days once opened! Makes 2 cups.  Recipe VIDEO below.

Ingredients

• 200 g / 7 oz smoked salmon (or trout)
• 200 g / 7 oz Philadelphia cream cheese , full fat
• 1/4 cup / 55g sour cream (Note 1)
• 1/4 cup / 60g mayonnaise (Note 1, 2)
• 1/4 cup fresh dill , roughly chopped
• 1/2 garlic clove , minced
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest (1 lemon)
• 1 - 2 tbsp lemon juice
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions

• Place all ingredients in a food processor, starting with 1 tbsp lemon juice. Only use a small pinch of salt to start because smoked salmon is salty, also bear in mind saltiness of crackers being used.
• Whizz until fairly smooth - about 10 seconds on high - scraping sides as required.
• Adjust lemon and salt to taste. Whizz again briefly.
• Transfer into bowl, garnish with lemon slices and more dill if desired. Serve at room temperature with crackers - I like using melba toasts and mini crostinis.

Recipe Notes:

1. These can be substituted with Greek Yoghurt for a slightly lighter version.

2. Hellman's or S&W Whole Egg mayonnaise are my favourite.

3. Storage: Keeps for as long as the shelf life of the salmon (read packet for when it needs to be consumed once opened). After 2+ days, it may need a little freshening up with more lemon. 🙂 It firms up when refrigerated, so bring to room temperature, give it a stir then serve - it should be soft and scoopable (see video).

4. UPDATE: It dawned on me recently that this recipe is similar to a recipe I published years ago called "Easy Posh Smoked Salmon Pots or Dip". Basically, this is the improved version I use now. Since discovering this, I have unpublished the old recipe and diverted it to this one. However, if there is anyone after the original recipe, here it is.

5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 10 servings. This recipe makes 2 cups of dip.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 55gCalories: 145kcal (7%)

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WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

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