Smoked Salmon Bagel with Cream Cheese

How to make a smoked salmon cream cheese bagel

A bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon is one of the fastest good breakfasts there is: toast, spread, layer, finish. The order matters more than people expect. Spread the cream cheese on the bagel while it is still warm so it softens and goes on thick without tearing the crumb. Then drape the salmon in loose folds rather than laying it flat, so every bite gets some. Capers, a few fronds of dill and a squeeze of lemon go on last, because lemon juice on cream cheese turns it runny if it sits.

If you don't have a toaster, a dry skillet works well, as in the method above: cut side down over medium heat for two to three minutes gives a crisp face and a soft back. Toasting is optional with a very fresh bagel, but a day-old one needs it.

Lox, nova or smoked salmon: which to buy

The labels get used loosely, so here is what they usually mean. Traditional lox is salmon cured in salt and never smoked; it is silky and very salty. Nova (or nova-style lox) is cured and then cold-smoked at a low temperature, so it is still raw-textured and sliceable, with a milder salt level and a gentle smoke. That is what most delis put on a bagel. Hot-smoked salmon is smoked with heat until it is cooked through, so it flakes like a baked fillet; it works on a bagel too, but you crumble it rather than drape it.

Any of them works in this recipe. The difference you will notice most is salt. USDA's FoodData Central lists smoked chinook salmon at 672 mg of sodium per 100 g and lox at 2,000 mg per 100 g, so a 2-ounce portion of lox carries roughly three times the sodium of the same amount of smoked salmon. If you are watching salt, buy smoked salmon or nova, skip the extra capers and lean on lemon and dill for flavor.

The best toppings for a salmon bagel

The classic deli build is cream cheese, salmon, thinly sliced red onion, capers, tomato and a little dill. Each topping does a job: onion and capers cut the richness, tomato adds juice, dill and lemon make it taste fresh. Other good additions are thin cucumber slices for crunch, a few arugula or spinach leaves, sliced avocado, a sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning on a plain bagel, or black pepper over the top.

For the bagel itself, everything, plain, sesame, onion and pumpernickel all work. Sweet bagels such as cinnamon raisin fight with the smoke. For the spread, plain cream cheese is traditional; scallion or chive cream cheese is a good shortcut that saves chopping, and whipped cream cheese spreads more thinly if you want a lighter bagel.

How much protein is in a smoked salmon bagel?

Salmon is what brings the protein. USDA lists smoked chinook salmon at 18.3 g of protein per 100 g, so the 2 ounces in this recipe (about 57 g) adds roughly 10 g. Our estimate for the whole bagel as written is shown in the panel above, around 18 g of protein per serving, with the bagel itself contributing much of the rest. To push it higher, add a third ounce of salmon or a fried or scrambled egg on the side. For a bigger picture of what a day of protein looks like, see how much protein you need.

If you log meals in NTRLY, you can log this recipe's calories and macros when you eat it instead of entering the bagel, cream cheese and salmon one by one. You can see the rest of what the app does on the features page.

How long does smoked salmon last once opened?

Cold-smoked salmon and lox are not cooked, so treat them like any chilled ready-to-eat food. FDA says to keep your refrigerator at 40°F or below, and to keep cold seafood chilled until you serve it and not leave it out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F. Go by the date on a sealed pack. Once it is open, wrap it tightly and use it within a few days; NTRLY's kitchen tracker, which follows USDA FoodKeeper guidance, counts five days for an opened pack. Smoked salmon also freezes well for a couple of months for best quality, and thaws overnight in the fridge. More detail in how long smoked salmon lasts in the fridge.

NTRLY's kitchen list counts those days down for you, so a half-used pack shows up before it goes off, and a recipe like the smoked salmon and avocado toast or a spinach and feta omelette with smoked salmon can use up the rest.

Who should skip cold smoked salmon

FDA lists refrigerated smoked seafood, including salmon labeled nova-style, lox, kippered or smoked, among the foods that pregnant women, young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems should avoid unless it is cooked into a dish such as a casserole. Canned or shelf-stable smoked seafood is fine. If that's you, a breakfast quesadilla with egg and smoked salmon, where the salmon is heated through, is the better pick. If you're unsure, ask your doctor.

Make it for a crowd

For brunch, set out the parts instead of building bagels: halved and toasted bagels, two kinds of cream cheese, a platter of salmon, and small bowls of onion, capers, tomato, cucumber, dill and lemon wedges. Plan about 2 ounces of salmon and one bagel per person, and keep the salmon platter in the fridge until people sit down. Leftover cream cheese and salmon make a quick smoked salmon and cream cheese roll the next day.