Salmon Salad
This Salmon Salad is easy to make and wonderful to keep on hand in the fridge. There are many different ways to eat it, and it has great crunch and flavor from celery, herbs, and a creamy homemade dressing.
While tuna salad is the more common seafood salad, I think salmon salad is so much better.
First, salmon doesn’t have the mercury problems that tuna has, and it has more nutritional benefits than tuna with its wonderful Omega-3 fats.
I also think it’s more delicious. Let’s not forget that, for it’s probably the most real reason.
I first tasted salmon salad at my local grocery store 10 years ago, where they had samples of their Whole Foods salmon salad with crackers. I had the hardest time not taking seconds (okay, I did anyway and felt rude but it was SO good), and grabbed a tub of it to take home with me. From that day I was hooked, and eventually I started making it myself to save money. It’s so easy anyway!
Salads like this are pretty popular in our house, and we regularly alternate between Egg Salad, Chicken Salad, Shrimp and Avocado Salad, and this salmon salad for our main “protein salads.”
While we make potato salad and pasta salad too, you don’t really put those into sandwiches or wraps, like you can with protein-based salads.
There’s so much you can do with this salmon salad, and I’ll include all those suggestions further down.
How to Make Salmon Salad:
To get started, cook some salmon any way you wish…grill it, bake it, poach it, saute it. It doesn’t really matter since we’ll be flaking it up anyway.
If cooking it in a skillet, cook for about 5-10 minutes (depending on thickness) over medium high heat, until the interior reaches 140F and is no longer pink.
Most of the time I just use the method from my Baked Salmon, at 425 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes, until no longer pink inside.
While the salmon cooks, prep your veggies.
For my salmon salad ingredients, I like scallions, parsley, celery, and dill:
You can do minced shallots if you prefer them over green onion.
Next, mix up your dressing, which includes mayonnaise, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt and pepper:
If you have 10 minutes to spare, I recommend using homemade mayonnaise for the best flavor. Store-bought is fine though if you have one you really like.
Once the salmon is all cooked, flake it with a fork and add it to the dressing:
Add all the fresh green herbs and veggies too:
Stir it all together to combine well.
How to Serve Salmon Salad:
- With fancy crackers like rosemary croccantini, wheat crackers, or water crackers
- In a wrap for lunch. Spoon it into a wrap tortilla and add tomato, lettuce, onion, and whatever you’d like
- In endive cups for a healthier and light option. You can also do romaine or butter lettuce
- Make stuffed avocado halves with salmon salad in the middle
- Put a big scoop of salmon salad on cooked quinoa for a healthy grain bowl
- In sandwiches just like egg salad
How long does salmon salad keep in the fridge? You can keep it for about 3 days before it goes downhill.
Can salmon salad be frozen? Unfortunately it doesn’t freeze well, so I don’t recommend it.
Here’s a video I made for the recipe. Enjoy!
Salmon Salad
Ingredients
- 2 lbs salmon
- 1/3 cup sliced scallions
- 1/3 cup loosely packed fresh dill chopped
- 1/3 cup chopped celery
- 1/3 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- a pinch of salt and pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Start by cooking the salmon using your preferred method. Much of the time I use my method from Baked Salmon, baking in a 425F oven for 12-15 minutes, but you can also cook in a skillet over medium high heat, which takes about 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your salmon. You may also grill it, poach it, etc. When the salmon is cooked through to 140 degrees F, flake the salmon with a fork (and discard any skin).
- In a big bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
- Add the salmon to the dressing, and toss. Taste and check for seasoning.
- It is now ready to be enjoyed warm, or you can pop it into the fridge until fully chilled. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
59 Comments on “Salmon Salad”
I love that this is made with fresh salmon and not canned!
I love the combination of flavors! What a perfect summer dish!
Tuna salad is my usual go-to but I have to try this! Such a great lunch!
Now why have I never thought of making a fresh salmon salad?? This looks amazing—and will be perfect for my lunch menu rotation!
This a great way to use leftover salmon too! Can’t wait to make our next salmon dinner so I can enjoy this for lunch the next day!
Made this for a Mother’s Day gathering. Adults and children both enjoyed the salmon salad. The smoked paprika is a very tasty addition and the proportions of other spices and flavors put this recipe into my book.
Hi Suzanne, that’s fantastic! So glad you all enjoyed the salad.
I devour this with crackers!
Delicious! I can see why your brother liked it so much!
This is making me SO hungry!!! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
I am not so fortunate to have fresh salmon do make salads using can fish and can say with your suggestions of the herbs surely will enhance my salads both salmon and tuna. Thanks for your recipe. Barb on the west coast.
Thank you for the nice recipe.
Me too…love salmon
That looks just wonderful, and you used my secret ingredient Old Bay.
I have that “eat the whole bowl!” devil perched on my shoulder most of the time, too — don’t worry!
You know, I was never a big fan of salmon growing up — I hated it, in fact — but have recently discovered its succulent awesomeness. This sounds like something I would enjoy and put out for a party — you know, if I could save any for guests. 🙂
Nice recipe! I like salmon salad, too — never tried the Whole Foods version though. Lots of tasty things going on in your recipe. Looks really good.