This Smoked Salmon Salad is light, yet hearty and bursting with flavors and textures to satisfy every craving. Savory smoked salmon tossed with mixed greens, fresh avocado, jammy hard boiled eggs, topped with zippy honey mustard vinaigrette.
For more delicious, easy, healthy salad recipes, head on over to my popular posts for this Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad, this Greek Avocado Chicken Salad, and my Berry Orzo Salad.
Why This Recipe Works
Simple ingredients — Sometimes the simplest ingredients are the best. Only six ingredients make up this delicious salmon salad — and that’s the perfect amount! No need to throw everything in and mask the taste of the salmon, eggs, and avocado!
Nutritious — From salmon’s Omega 3s to avocado’s heart-healthy fats and amino acids and from red onion’s antioxidants to egg’s protein and B vitamins, this salmon salad recipe is one heart-smart, healthy meal!
A break from the norm — While I love, love, love the warm, hardy comfort foods of winter, sometimes I just crave something lighter, fresher, healthier, and this smoked salmon salad checks all the boxes. Think of it like a small detox in the tastiest way!
Delicious — Bite after bite, this salad maintains such delicious flavor and amazing textures. There’s the salty smokiness of the salmon, the creamy deliciousness of the eggs, crunch of pistachios, bite of onion…the list goes on and on! And let’s not forget topping all of that with the amazing, lemony, slightly sweet dijon dressing — oh my!
Ingredients
- Red Onion — Thinly sliced red onion is key here. Don’t skip the soaking in water, it takes off that raw bite taste. Pickled red onions would also be good too if you prefer.
- Tossed Salad Greens — I usually just purchase one of those boxes of mixed greens but you can use any greens you like.
- Hard Boiled Eggs — See notes for how to hard boil the eggs. Slice them lengthwise for maximum coverage.
- Avocados — I like to slice ripe avocados lengthwise just like the eggs. I think it makes for a prettier salad and a bigger bite!
- Smoked Salmon — Use a high-quality brand of smoked salmon if you can find it. It is usually in the seafood department, in the refrigerated section.
- Whole Pistachios — Add cracked, whole pistachios, or chop them roughly if you prefer.
- Fresh Lemon Juice — There’s just something about freshly squeezed lemon juice, it’s so much more flavorful and brighter, more citrusy tasting. But you can certainly use bottled lemon juice if that’s what you have on hand.
- Wholegrain Mustard — Not only is wholegrain mustard good for you, it’s delicious too. Plus, it gives an added texture with whole mustard seeds.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil — I almost always use extra virgin olive oil, but you can use whatever olive oil you have.
- Maple Syrup — Use the real-deal maple syrup here if you have it. If not, swap for honey or agave or leave it out.
- Salt — A pinch here, a pinch there in the dressing — keep tasting till it meets your exact specifications.
Here’s How You Make It
- First, slice the red onion into thin strips, then cover the sliced red onion with cold water and set aside for at least 10 minutes. (Soaking the onion removes the raw onion taste).
- While the onion soaks, whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl or you can also shake them all together in a Mason jar with a lid.
- Next, divide the salad greens between four bowls and arrange the sliced eggs and avocados on top.
- Drain the onion and pat it dry on a piece of kitchen paper. Scatter the onions across the salad, along with the smoked salmon and chopped pistachios.
- Drizzle over the dressing just before serving.
Expert Tricks and Tips
- Not sure how long to hard boil the eggs? I’ve found that a large egg will take about 7 minutes to cook in a pot of boiling water for firm whites and a jammy middle. However, be sure to plunge them into ice water at the end of the 7 minutes to stop them from cooking. If you don’t want the jammy center, cook for more like 8-9 minutes.
- No pistachios? Try adding sunflower seeds or pepitas to this smoked salmon salad, instead.
Smoked salmon is cooked with hot smoke. So yes, it is indeed cooked and doesn’t need to be cooked again before putting on top of this salmon salad recipe.
Smoking salmon usually takes about 3-4 hours, depending on the size of your salmon. Typically, a large side of salmon, or filet is smoked and not the whole fish at once. A good smoking temperature is about 225℉ in a smoker (or a grill that has a smoking option). The salmon’s internal temperature should react 145℉ when it’s done and safe to eat.
So very many things go well with smoked salmon! Personally, I love smoked salmon on this salad but here are some other sides and condiments that taste so yummy together with smoked salmon:
In tacos with queso fresco, pickled red onion, dill, and capers
With this Greek lemon rice dish
Atop this creamy spinach parmesan orzo
Baked potatoes with sour cream, smoked salmon, and creamy avocado sauce
Roasted Brussels sprouts or green beans
On a bagel with cream cheese, capers, red onion, and dill.
More Delicious Salmon Recipes
- Dill Cream Sauce for Salmon
- Salmon with Spinach Cream Sauce
- Best Easy Baked Salmon
- Grilled Salmon with Lemon Garlic Butter
Did you make this recipe? FANTASTIC! Please rate the recipe below and be sure to tag me on social when you share a photo of your creation, I love seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
Smoked Salmon Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad
- ¼ red onion - thinly sliced
- 6-8 cups tossed greens
- 4 hard boiled eggs - peeled and sliced into 6 wedges
- 2 ripe avocados - sliced
- 6 ounces smoked salmon
- ¼ cup pistachios - roughly chopped
For the Dressing
- 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Cover the sliced red onion with cold water and set aside for at least 10 minutes. This should remove the raw onion taste. Meanwhile, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
- Divide the salad greens between four bowls and arrange the sliced eggs and avocados on top.
- Drain the onion and pat dry on a piece of kitchen paper. Scatter across the salad, along with the smoked salmon and chopped pistachios.
- Drizzle over the dressing just before serving.
Hi, can you please amend this to show what weight of cherry tomatoes are meant to be used please? They’re not listed amongst the ingredients but are mentioned in the cooking instructions. Thanks in advance! x
This was super fast and super delicious! Pricey too, because of the salmon but worth it.
The Musts: Egg Jammied and surprisingly, the pistachios. The 7 minute timing is a HARD 7 minutes. Mine were cooked slightly more…next time I’ll watch the time more carefully.
This made 2 decent size portions. I know the recipe says 4 but…maybe we’re greedier lol.
Definitely making this again!