Smoked Salmon Recipes

Salmon is one of the best fish you can cook on your smoker.  The fish is meaty, flavorful and an absolute joy to cook.

Keep reading and we will cover:

  • Great Recipes for Smoked Salmon
  • Recipes for Leftover Smoked Salmon
  • What is the Best Type of Salmon to Smoke
  • Hot Smoked vs Cold Smoked Salmon

Our Favorite Recipes for Smoked Salmon

Here are a few great recipes that will get your started!

Smoked Salmon FiletHow to Smoke a Whole Salmon Filet This is a wonderful recipe for a whole salmon filet.  The filet is simply seasoned and then smoked at 250F for about an hour.  This is a great way to feed a crowd.

 

 

 

Cedar Planked Brown Sugar Smoked Salmon This recipe uses individually cut salmon servings and smokes them on a cedar plank with a mustard and brown sugar glaze.

 

 

 

Teriyaki Smoked Salmon  Teriyaki Smoked Salmon A delicious salmon filet is coated in a teriyaki sauce, smoked and served on top of a salad.  A fast, easy, healthy and delicious meal!

 

 

 

Lemon Pepper Smoked Salmon Lemon Pepper Smoked Salmon Steaks Classic lemon pepper flavors work great with the salmon filet.  Add a kiss of smoke and serve with some veggies for a bright and filling meal.

 

 

 

Smoked Salmon with Mustard Sauce Smoked Salmon with Mustard Sauce Salmon and mustard is a surprisingly awesome combination.  Who knew??  Give this recipe a try and I think you will love it!

 

 

 

Sweet Smoked Salmon Sweet Smoked Salmon A salmon filet is coated with teriyaki sauce, seasoned with an all purpose rub and then given an extra coat of brown sugar before it hits the smoker.

 

 

 

Salmon Burger Honey Pineapple Glazed Salmon Burgers Grind up your salmon , make some burgers and top them with a Honey Pineapple glaze.  Serve with some sweet potato fries!

 

 

 

Salmon Burger with White Sauce Salmon Burgers with White Lemon Sauce This is another recipe that uses ground salmon to make a tasty burger.  Enjoy the white lemon sauce for an extra layer of flavor!

 

 

 

Leftover Smoked Salmon Recipes

We are all about using up leftovers to make easy, economical meals and leftover salmon is no exception!

Salmon Jalapeno Poppers Recipe Jalapeno Salmon Poppers Take the seeds out of a jalapeno pepper, add some leftover salmon along with cream cheese and smoke until the peppers are tender.  This is a really tasty appetizer!

 

 

 

Smoked Salmon Salad Smoked Salmon Salad Make up this delicious salmon salad and serve in lettuce wraps for an incredibly healthy weeknight meal.

 

 

 

Smoked Salmon with Spaghetti Squash Pasta Spaghetti Squash with Creamy Salmon Use your leftover salmon in this creamy sauce and serve over a bed of spaghetti squash.  It is worth making extra salmon just so you can have the leftovers available for this recipe!

 

 

 

Smoked Salmon Tacos Smoked Salmon Tacos with Mango Salsa You have to love tacos!  Or…you can call these salmon wraps…doesn’t matter what you call them because all that matters is that they are tasty!

 

 

 

What Type of Salmon is Best for Smoking?

The differences in the type of salmon available in grocery stores is pretty surprising.  While pretty much all types of salmon are just fine for the smoker the type that I highly recommend is Previously Frozen Wild Caught Sockeye Salmon.

Let’s take a look into the different types of salmon and why I think previously frozen wild caught sockeye is the best.

Atlantic vs Sockeye Salmon

The two main types of salmon you are going to find at the grocery store are Atlantic and Sockeye.

Atlantic salmon is almost always farmed in ocean nets in either Chile or Norway.  The majority of farm raised Atlantic salmon is rated “Avoid” by SeafoodWatch.org due to unstainable farming practices including the heavy use of antibiotics and parasiticides.

Farmed Atlantic salmon are fed commercial food pellets that contain significant amounts of beta carotene to give the meat an orangish color. The forced diet makes Atlantic salmon high in calories, fat and cholesterol.

Sockeye salmon is almost always wild caught in Alaska.  These salmon have eaten natural diets their whole lives and have a natural red color along with a “more authentic’ salmon flavor.

The natural diet of wild caught Sockeye salmon means it has fewer calories, fat and cholesterol per serving than Farmed Atlantic salmon.

Fresh vs Frozen Salmon

Whether you are dealing with farm raised Atlantic salmon or wild caught Sockeye salmon there is a real risk that the meat is infected with parasites such as worms.  Parasitic infection in fish is extremely common and is not unique to salmon.

There are two ways to make sure that any parasites in the salmon you smoke have been fully destroyed:

  1. Cook the salmon to an internal temperature of 145F.
  2. Freeze the salmon for a few days before cooking.

I prefer to use a double dose of safety and smoke salmon that has been frozen to a minimum internal temperature of 145F.

Hot Smoked vs Cold Smoked Salmon

There are two types of smoked salmon, Hot Smoked and Cold Smoked, and they are very different in terms of preparation, flavor and texture.  All of the recipes on this site are for Hot Smoked Salmon.

Hot Smoked Salmon

You “Hot Smoke” salmon by cooking it in a smoky environment at elevated temperatures (225-325F).

The salmon is typically seasoned with a dry rub or marinade and cooked to an internal temperature of 145F until it easily flakes.

This is the type of salmon you make to serve as an entrée.

Cold Smoked Salmon

You “Cold Smoke” salmon by first curing it in a salt/sugar mix for several days.  After the fish has cured it is exposed to smoke at low temperatures (75-100F) to impart a smoke flavor.

Cold Smoke salmon is not cooked and is made safe to eat simply by the curing process.

This is the type of salmon you serve with cream cheese on a bagel.