Smoked Salmon Avocado Salad

Looking for a luxurious salad to serve at your next dinner party or for an elegant lunch? Our Smoked Salmon Avocado Salad is exactly what you need to WOW your guests, sumptuous slices of smoked salmon, avocado and dill are drizzled with a dreamy buttermilk dressing for an unforgettable flavour combination.

Smoked salmon avocado salad is my go-to platter for dinner parties! It is a grazing salad that can be made in advance (without the dressing) and kept in the fridge until guests arrive. 

I love serving it on my buffet table with small plates and the dressing on the side for people to help themselves to while I get on with the serious business of getting dinner together! 

What Salmon should I use?

Smoked Salmon, Gravlax, Lox - are you confused with what’s what? I know I was! Well, let’s just break it down and then you can decide on what you like most for this salad.

• Gravlax is not smoked but cured with fillets taken from the belly of the Salmon. Not a lot of salt is used in the cure or brine, and a combination of dill, alcohol (vodka or gin), lemon and other aromatics (juniper berries, horseradish) are added. These are usually weighted down to help the cure be absorbed by the flesh of the fish. 
• Lox is similar to Gravlax in that it is also not smoked but cured; it is also from fillets taken from the belly of the Salmon. A simple salt cure is used with no aromatics added, but as the belly fillets are soo much more succulent and aromatic (it smells fishy fresh), it has a more luxurious flavour. 
• Smoked Salmon is raw Salmon that has been cured in salt and sugar (the sugar helps with salt absorption) for several days; this draws out the moisture. It is then cold-smoked at low temperatures for ten to fifteen hours. This doesn’t cook the Salmon at all but instead gives it a raw like texture. Also, the fillets can be taken from any part of the fish, which is why it has a more subtle flavour. 

Which one should you choose for your salmon avocado salad? 

• For a luxurious rich-tasting salad, go for the Lox; 
• for an aromatic, lush tasting salad, choose the Gravlax; 
• for subtle (and much more affordable) flavour, choose a cold-smoked Salmon. 

Confused about the hot smoked and cold smoked difference check out the Tips & Questions section of our Smoked Trout & Fennel Salad post 😉.

Let’s talk Ingredients & Substitutions 

• Baby cos/romaine lettuce is used as a base but can be replaced with baby gem lettuce, or any soft lettuce such as butter, Boston or Bibb. 
• Cukes are sweet, crisp and tender but you can replace them with two small, Lebanese or Persian cucumbers or even English cucumbers are good (mmm funny how they are all place names 🤔).
• Avocado is added because of its gorgeous creaminess and it partners beautifully with smoked salmon. Try any variety that is in season, we have used two small avocados but you can use one large one instead.
• Shallot we have used a small French eschalot which has a mellow sweetness to it than ordinary onions. You can swap with thinly sliced green onions or chopped chives instead. 
• Dill makes a wonderful partner to seafood but feel free to replace it with fresh mint or tarragon or fennel leaf.
• Buttermilk dressing - let me just pause here and just say how creamy, tangy and delicious this dressing is with the smoked salmon - yum, yum, yum! As a non-dairy alternative, you could try an easy lemon vinaigrette or our Dijon vinaigrette would also go well here. Too busy to fuss with all that then a store-bought green goddess or buttermilk dressing would also work.
• Consider adding - some baby capers or cornichons or some crunchy croutons or for a pop of colourful slices of tomatoes.

You Will Need

How to make it 

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Top Make-ahead Tips

I am going to walk you through step by step what I do in advance the day before serving:

First Step: Super Dry Leaves

Now take note, this is important!

It is essential that we use completely dry the lettuce for this salad. We are using it as a base for other wet ingredients such as the salmon and if you skip this step you risk having wet and slimy lettuce leaves - yuk! 

So strain your leaves well and pat them bone dry, if you have a salad spinner whisk it out and spin the leaves dry a few at a time. It is well and truly worth that little bit of extra effort. 

Second Step: Prepare Veggies

Prepare the ingredients so that they are ready to be assembled no more than an hour before you plan on serving your Salmon Avocado Salad: 

• separate the lettuce leaves, wash them and then dry them completely;
• rinse and trim the cukes and peel them into ribbons;
• wash and trim and thinly slice the shallots into rings;
• tear up the smoked salmon into bite-sized pieces;
• whisk up the dressing and store it in a sealed glass container in the fridge. 

Third Step: Store Well

Place all the prepared veggies in an airtight container and separate them with paper towels and store them in the fridge.

Keep the salmon in a separate covered container and place in a cold part of your fridge.

Fourth Step: Serving Day

Take the buttermilk dressing out of the fridge, allow it to mellow for a minute or two then give it a good whisk. Slice the avocado and chop the dill.

Follow the steps above to assemble the salad.

Other Tips & Questions

Other Seafood Salads to try

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