Date Published: Dec 14th, 2021 | Last Updated: Dec 14th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: easy, <15 mins, appetizers, on the go, quick, dips, snacks
Serves: 1 large bowl or 6 bagel spreads | Prep time: 10 mins | Mix time: 2 mins

Jump to recipe |

This is one of my all time favourite dips. I’m surprised it has taken me this long to write it up! A good cream cheese bagel has always been one of my weaknesses. When I did a vet student placement in New York years ago, there was a bagel cart parked outside of the American Medical Centre. Every morning I’d get an ‘everything bagel with cream cheese’ and it was always the best part of my morning because he loaded it with so much cream cheese 😛. One day I walked up to the cart and before I even spoke, he already started apologizing that he had sold out of the ‘everything bagel’. Although I was disappointed, I was more surprised that he actually remembered me and it was nice the have a bagel guy that knows my “usual”. (Don’t worry guys, I got a plain bagel instead, and it had just as much cream cheese 😜). Aaaaanyways, I digress. The point of that story is that I really fucking love bagels and cream cheese – but what’s even better? Smoked salmon and cream cheese! You’ll commonly find “lox” on the menu of a bagel shop in New York (lox and cold smoked salmon are often used interchangeably, although lox isn’t always smoked). It’s usually served on a toasted bagel with cream cheese, capers, dill, and red onion. Mmmmmmmmm. This recipe is essentially all of those ingredients blended together to make a quick and easy salmon spread.

This dip is perfect to serve as a dip at a party served with some fancy crackers, or as a quick and easy snack or breakfast spread over a warm toasted bagel.

What type of salmon?

I prefer to use cold-smoked salmon for this recipe (the fancy pieces of sliced pink heaven). I usually buy them in big packages from Costco so it’s a little cheaper and it’s also a great way to use up the remainder of the smoked salmon before it goes off. Blending it with the cream cheese and other ingredients preserves it a little longer. It also gives you a break from eating straight up smoked salmon because you bought too much from Costco because it was so cheap… You can also use smoked trout which is a little cheaper and to me, they taste very similar.

You can also used canned smoked salmon instead which will make this recipe even cheaper to make, however the canned version will have a more robust fishy taste so you’ll either have to use less of it in this recipe or increase the rest of the ingredients. It also won’t have the pretty pink colour so your dip won’t have the blush pink colour, but flavour wise is similar.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Recipe originally adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/233564/the-best-smoked-salmon-spread/

Ingredients you’ll need:

• 1 package (8oz/226g) cream cheese, softened
• 150g smoked salmon (cold smoked sliced or canned*)
• 1/4 cup capers, rinsed and drained
• 3 Tbsps fresh dill, (leaves only, no stem)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 3 drops hot pepper sauce (ie Tabasco) OR 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 2 Tbsps fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tbsps green onion, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until creamy/smooth.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or best overnight before serving. Enjoy!

Serve spread on a toasted bagel or as a dip with crackers.

Notes:

• Halve the recipe if you’re making it for yourself for breakfast. It’s a large portion and you’ll end up eating it for a week trying to finish it before it goes off. Speaking from my own experience 😜.
• *If you’re using canned smoked salmon, the fish flavour will be more robust and you may have to use a little less of it or increase the other ingredients to adjust.

Summarized Recipe: