I am blown away by this Smoked Salmon Salad! It is simple, healthy and comes together in 5 minutes without cooking. So perfect for spring and summer!
For those days you want to use fresh salmon over this canned salmon salad or canned salmon cakes!
How to Make Smoked Salmon Avocado Salad
This smoked salmon avocado salad is light, looks impressive, and yet is one of the easiest lunches I ever made. Loaded with tons of greens, anti-inflammatory apple cider vinegar, and heart-healthy avocados.
All you have to do is fill up a large bowl with refrigerated and pantry ingredients. Barely toss its delicate ingredients, just slightly. And you have delicious light lunch or dinner in 5 minutes. Five!
As much as I love healthy Salmon-filled summer dishes like healthy salmon burgers, grilled salmon, salmon stir-fry, and Cedar plank salmon – there’s nothing as simple or quick as this smoked salmon salad!
Ingredients
“Easy smoked salmon salad” suggests simple ingredients. And they are highly customizable. Use what you have. You know me. Or if you are new here, nice to meet you. I love garlic, dill and leftovers.:)
- Spring mix, spinach or arugula
- Smoked salmon
- Cucumber or radishes
- Avocado
- Red onion or green onion
- Olive oil, apple cider vinegar, pepper and sesame seeds.
1. Pile Up Greens High
Salad greens: Grab a medium bowl and pile up greens into it. A few handfuls. Spinach, baby kale, arugula or mixed spring mix works. Please try to buy organic as it is nearly impossible to wash off pesticides from delicate leaves.
Microgreens: I bought a bag of microgreens at my neighbourhood farm and became obsessed. What sold me most is that farmers are in their 90s. They still farm and have a clear mind like me. They eat a bag of greens a day. Is that the secret?!
Health benefits of microgreens include higher concentration of nutrients than mature vegetables and herbs. Very high in antioxidants, microgreens promote health and prevent disease (source). What are microgreens? Young vegetables or baby plants of many vegetables.
Tip: Look for a bag in refrigerated produce section that says “microgreens”.
2. Add Healthy Fats
Smoked salmon: Look for wild smoked salmon. Thankfully, smoked farmed salmon has become rare. But still please read the package to make sure it doesn’t say “Atlantic salmon”. I talk about the differences between the two in my very easy baked salmon recipe.
You can also use cooked salmon leftovers like this Thai salmon, honey garlic salmon, Lime ginger salmon, teriyaki salmon – for more flavor!
Tip: Smoked salmon is pricey. Tear or cut salmon into smaller pieces to make it go further.
Avocado: Use 1-2 large avocados. I love size and creamy taste of Costco avocados. They are larger (it’s Costco size), so I used only 1. Avocado contains more potassium than bananas and is loaded with heart healthy monounsaturated fatty acids and fiber (source). You could always serve it alongside this healthy avocado salad, if preferred.
Then add cucumber for freshness and red onion for a zing.
3. Dress It Up
Oh my. I am a queen of pouring salad dressing on top of salad ingredients. No whisking in a separate bowl or don’t even mention a blender to me. It just won’t happen here.
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil + 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar + a sprinkle of freshly ground pepper + toasted sesame seeds. Sushi restaurant has got nothing on us. OMG, so good!
What to Serve With?
Green salad with smoked salmon is perfect for a brunch like Mother’s Day or a baby shower. Or for Easter dinner. Or for lunch or light dinner. It’s just such a festive and fresh salad I crave in spring as it symbolizes that we survived cold dreary dark winter nights.
If you have a hungry man in the house like me, serve with quinoa or brown rice. Or I could see sweet corn as a source of complex carbs go so well with this smoky and fresh salad.
Just look at this bite of health on a fork! Enjoy!
More Light Salad Recipes
- Avocado salad with only 3 ingredients.
- Avocado egg salad
- Creamy cucumber salad
- Canned salmon salad – perfect for lunches!
- Spinach salad you can make any time because so easy.
- Avocado corn salad – summer in a bowl.
For more protein-rich salads, you might enjoy this healthy shrimp salad, shrimp avocado salad, tuna salad recipe, Thai chicken salad recipe, or even grilled chicken salad!
Smoked Salmon Salad
Ingredients
- Big handful of salad greens arugula or spinach
- Small handful of microgreens optional
- 6-7 slices wild salmon
- 1 very large avocado diced
- 1/2 long English cucumber sliced
- 10 thin slices red onion or 2 green onion sprigs chopped
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds better toasted
- 2 tbsp apple cider white vinegar
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add greens and salmon. To stretch salmon further, cut or tear into small pieces.
- Add avocado, cucumber and red onion.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds and pepper on top and drizzle vinegar and olive oil. Give a gentle toss and be blown away!
Store: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 12 hours.
Make Ahead: Assemble salad without vinegar and oil. Refrigerate covered for up to 24 hours. Dress and toss before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes without permission. Nutritional info is approximate.
This was easy and very tasty! Thanks!
Very helpful and easy to make . Thanks !
You are welcome!
This smoked salmon salad was amazing!
Yay!:) So happy you enjoyed it.
Hi Olena! This looks delicious… I think I’ll be trying it soon. I love & eat Salmon regularly, however, I’ve never tried Smoked Salmon. We eat a lot of salads, avocados, cucumber & red onions… all ingredients (staple items in our household) I already have – with the exception of the Smoked Salmon… will be purchasing soon – hopefully this week/end!! I’m all for dishes to make w/o the oven as it’s getting hot in Texas…not so much for oven cooking recipes during the Summer – will be resorting to Slow Cooker meals. Thanks again Olena for making/sharing such great tasting healthy meals!! I’ll be sure to give a review after making this recipe!!
Hi Tricia. I think you will like it if you love salmon. As a European I adore smoked salmon. It was such a delicacy back home but I grew up on smoked salmon, not fresh. So good! Send some of your Texas heat to my Canadian island. It is getting warmer but I want summer-summer.:) Let me know how you like smoked salmon salad. This was one of my most favorite salads I ever made!
I definitely will let you know when I make it & how I liked it – although, I’m p r e t t y sure I’m going to like it. I absolutely love everything I’ve made from your site so far… this will be no exception! We just finished Chicken Breast with Garlic & Tomatoes… served with whole wheat pasta AND Avocado Salad (both recipes I’ve made more than once or twice already). My husband loves your recipes I’ve cooked so far and even offers to make a run to the grocery store so I can cook him up one of your delicious meals. I do venture into other food blog sites but always – ALWAYS – come back to yours to actually cook a meal which helps since everything so far has been good… yours is the one I trust.
And, I’ll send you some of our Texas heat if you’ll send me a piece of your beautiful water view – and that sunset! We have that here, too, just not at our back door!!
I also eat a lot of salmon. I am diabetic and have been advised to follow a low-carb diet. This site is absolutely unbeatable. I live in the Shetland Islands where salmon is readily available. This is going to be one of my go-to recipes. Thank you Olena for this wonderful selection of recipes. Can have a different one every day.
That is so amazing to hear! Glad you enjoyed my recipe!