Add some color and pizzazz to your table with this gorgeous Cured or Smoked Salmon Appetizer Platter. Guests will love putting their own appetizers together with a choice of smoky salmon and all the fixings. From cucumber, onions and tomatoes to potatoes, hard-boiled eggs and radishes, the combinations are endless. Capers, caviar and fresh dill add the finishing flair. Be sure to include hearty crackers or baguette slices for people to build their creations on. Keep reading for our expert tips, including why wild-caught salmon is best.
Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen
These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too!
You can make this with smoked salmon, lox or gravlax. Smoked salmon comes either cold-smoked or hot-smoked and then cured. The cold-smoked variety is smooth, moist and silky, while the hot-smoked is flaky and dry. Lox and gravlax appear similar to cold-smoked salmon, but lox is cured in only a brine, and gravlax is cured in spices and herbs.
When it comes to salmon, smoked wild salmon is the best choice. Wild salmon are allowed to live in their natural environment, resulting in fish that are cleaner, less contaminated and richer in omega-3 fatty acids than farm-raised salmon.
Store-bought crackers are a convenient option that pairs nicely with this platter and saves time. However, you can easily make your own with our recipes for Homemade Multi-Seed Crackers or Spiced Crackers.
Smoked salmon can remain on an appetizer tray at room temperature for about 2 hours before it needs to be returned to the refrigerator. It should not be left out for more than 1 hour on days when temperatures reach 90°F.
Nutrition Notes
Smoked salmon is loaded with rich, smoky notes, as well as heart-healthy fats and protein. While it might be tempting to pile it on for more health benefits, smoked salmon has quite a bit more sodium than salmon that hasn’t been smoked. So if your body is really sensitive to sodium or you’re watching your intake due to a health condition like high blood pressure, go easy on the smoked salmon.
The vegetables on this platter are suggestions—feel free to swap in or add your favorites. Ones that can be sliced to fit onto a cracker work best. Vegetables in general provide a wide range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, which help calm inflammation and lower your risk of disease. And the fiber in veggies has loads of benefits, including gut health perks.