Smoked Salmon Salad

This smoked salmon salad is the ideal quick dinner: no cooking involved! It’s fresh, healthy, and full of big flavor.

Here’s a genius trick that makes a fast dinner or healthy lunch with no cooking required. That’s right, no need to grab your pan and spatula. Try this Smoked Salmon Salad! It’s healthy, fresh, and 100% cook free. Imagine: savory smoked salmon, fresh greens, fluffy goat cheese dollops and a tangy shallot vinaigrette. It’s ideal for a summer meal al fresco or fast lunch: and it comes together in 15 minutes flat.

Components in smoked salmon salad

Somehow we tend to forget about the magic of smoked salmon for making fast meals, so we’re remedying that with this recipe. Smoked salmon salad is the type of lifesaver meal you can throw together while your kids are screaming or when you don’t have energy to think. Of course, you’ll need to have a few ingredients on hand:

Smoked salmon: find it in the refrigerated section near the meat counter
Fresh greens: we like to use mixed spring greens for color and texture contrasts
Goat cheese: it adds creamy, savory notes: substitute feta if you’re not a goat cheese fan
Homemade shallot vinaigrette: easy to mix up (see below)
Red onion slices: add just the right spicy bite

Optional ingredients to add!

This smoked salmon salad is totally customizable, based on what you have on hand in your refrigerator. Use it as a “clean out the fridge” concept and add any veggies, nuts or seeds you like. A few ideas that would go well:

Tomatoes
Cucumber
Radishes
Sesame seeds or pepitas
Almonds, walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts

Mix up a homemade shallot vinaigrette

The star of this smoked salmon salad, other than the salmon itself, is the dressing! This homemade vinaigrette comes together quickly and has the perfect tangy flavor. It stars shallots, small onions that have a delicate flavor. They’re one of our favorites to use in salad dressings! Here’s what to know about the dressing:

Whisk the olive oil in gradually to get the perfect emulsion. We like to do it about 1 tablespoon at a time. The Dijon mustard is also a key component to getting a creamy consistency.
Dressing stores up to 2 weeks. The dressing can solidify in the fridge because of the oil, so bring to room temperature before serving.

Dressing variations for smoked salmon salad

Of course, you can use any other type of dressing you like for this smoked salmon salad. The quality greatly affects the final flavors. So if you use store-bought, make sure it’s best quality! Here we’d recommend tangy vinaigrettes starring herbs, tomatoes or fresh berries. Here are a few more delicious go-to homemade salad dressing recipes we love:

Go classic with our favorite Creamy Balsamic Dressing
Try zingy Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing, Dijon Mustard Dressing, or Citrus Salad Dressing
Mix up a Quick Tomato Vinaigrette with summer tomatoes
Go herby with Fresh Basil Vinaigrette or Creamy Cilantro Dressing
Grab berries for Raspberry Vinaigrette or Strawberry Vinaigrette

More easy salmon recipes

Salmon is a weeknight dinner hero, in our book! Smoked salmon is ever better, since you don’t have to cook it! Here are a few more recipes where this lean protein makes a delicious lunch, brunch or dinner:

Try a quick and easy Simple Salmon Bowl
Go elegantly simple with Pecan Crusted Salmon or Pistachio Crusted Salmon
Throw together Salmon and Asparagus Sheet Pan Meal
Make easy Blackened Salmon
Impress everyone with Classic Salmon Burgers or Salmon Cakes

This smoked salmon salad recipe is…

Pescatarian, dairy-free and gluten-free.