Salmon Dip Recipe

Our salmon dip recipe will help you make a delicious crowd pleaser in just 20 minutes.

Rich in flavor and nutrients, this salmon dip serves phenomenally well with bread, chips, fresh vegetables, or practically anything else that comes to mind. It can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge, so you won’t have to worry about what side to have with your pasta or meat.

Is Salmon Dip Healthy?

Yes, our salmon dip is a healthy snack.

The dip’s main ingredient is salmon, which is dense in protein and rich in brain-healthy unsaturated fats — omega 3s, 6s, and oleic acid. It is served with carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, and celery sticks, all adding their own vitamins, minerals, and fiber to the meal.

We also like to serve the dip with toasted bread, which should give you about 7.5 g of carbohydrates in each serving.

Nonetheless, a large serving of this dip can be high in calories, saturated fats, and sodium. We reduced the amount of cheese, mayo, and salt to a reasonable level, and tried to keep our recommended portion size small. Each portion now contains only 229 calories, 2.8 g of saturated fats, and 280 mg of sodium. These numbers make it easier for you to adhere to the USDA’s healthy eating guidelines.

Ingredients for This Salmon Dip

Our salmon dip calls for fresh salmon, dill, mayo, cream cheese, milk, celery, onion, cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, bread, lemon juice, capers, and ground pepper.

1. Can I Use Frozen or Smoked Salmon for This Recipe?

Unlike other salmon dip recipes, ours uses fresh or frozen salmon instead of smoked salmon. While it’s undeniably tasty, smoked salmon is high in sodium and should be saved for other dishes, in our opinion.

To save on money, try looking for salmon trimmings instead of a whole filet. It’ll all be thrown into the food processor anyway.

2. Poaching Water

We poach the fish in a pot of water and aromatics. We use the basics — celery, dill, and onion — which lend the fish complementing aromas.

Once finished, let the fish cool down in a bowl and blend/mash it into fine bits. Keep the water in the fridge or freezer — it’ll make a flavorful stock base for soup or ramen noodles.

3. Cheese, Mayonnaise, and Seasonings

Next, we mix the fish with cream cheese, mayo, lemon juice, chopped dill, and pepper. We also top it with some canned capers, which are already salty so we needn’t add any salt.

To make this dip even better, you can try cheddar or mozzarella in place of cream cheese. Their stretchy texture will give your dip a whole different character.

4. Vegetables and Bread

We serve this cold dip with crisp, juicy vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, celery, and bell peppers. Feel free to add your favorite vegetable to the mix.

Diversity is key for a flavorful meal, so we also include some bread. We cut our baguette into thin slices and air-fried them. They just make the best accompaniment for any dip.

How to Make Salmon Dip

Here’s an overview of the whole process:

1. Bring a pot of water and aromatics to a boil.
2. Blend/mash the salmon.
3. Mix salmon with cheese, mayo, and seasonings. Chill in the fridge.
4. Air-fry or bake the baguette until crispy.
5. Serve the dip with crispy bread and vegetable sticks.

For the best results, check out our measurements in the printable ‘Salmon Dip Recipe’ card at the bottom of this article.

Storing and Freezing Leftover Salmon Dip

Because our salmon dip contains cheese and mayonnaise, it’s suggested that you only keep it in the fridge. Products containing eggs and dairy don’t thaw properly after being frozen.

To safely store the dip, place each portion into a small bowl/container and cover it nicely with plastic wrap or a tight-fitting lid. Keep it all in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. The veggies can be stored in the same manner.

Since this dip is basically cooked seafood, you will want to consume it all within 4 days. Our recipe makes just 4 servings, so that really shouldn’t be difficult.

While the dip and vegetables can be served cold, you may want to reheat the baguette so it becomes crispy again. We suggest wrapping the whole baguette in plastic wrap, and only slicing and baking it when you want to serve. Reheating it multiple times will turn the bread unpleasantly hard rather than merely crispy.

What to Serve With Salmon Dip

Anything crunchy goes phenomenally well with our salmon dip. Besides fresh vegetables and crispy breadsticks, we tend to like crackers or chips.

If you’re not fond of the second or third serving of this dip as a snack, turn it into a main course by mixing it with cooked pasta. It can also make for a nice sandwich filling for tomorrow’s lunch along with some lettuce and thinly shaved carrots.