Smoked Salmon Cocktail Recipe

This smoked salmon cocktail recipe is a fantastic Christmas starter idea, an excellent twist on the all-time British favourite seafood starter Prawn Cocktail.

We show you how to make delicious easy starters consisting of smoked salmon, eggs & salad. Serve as it is for a healthy smoked salmon salad that is low in saturated fat.

Or add some Marie Rose sauce for some extra special flavour on special occasions like Christmas dinner starters.

We have spruced up the Classic 70's style seafood starter with a more sophisticated smoked salmon and egg combination.

The perfect way to begin a dinner party or served up as a Christmas day starter, or served for lunch with some bread on the side 

It can even be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge.

Click the button below to jump straight to the recipe card.

How to prepare a Smoked Salmon Cocktail ?

Build up your smoked salmon salad with layers of sliced cucumber, lettuce, sweetcorn, tomatoes.

Then more lettuce and cucumbers, olives, sliced boiled egg, and smoked salmon, add a generous drizzle of balsamic vinegar and finally a sprig of dill.

Keep it healthy with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar glaze on top.

How do you hard boil the perfect egg for salad?

I have always followed Delia Smith's recipe for perfect results when cooking hard-boiled eggs.

Put eggs in a saucepan and cover them with cold water.

Bring to the boil before turning down to a simmer, cook for 7 minutes.

Drain away the hot water and fill the saucepan back up with cold water. Leave to cool for a few minutes.

Once they are cool enough to handle, crack the shell all over against the worktop, this makes it easier to peel away the shell.

Christmas Dinner Starter

If serving this up for a Christmas day starter, why not serve your smoked salmon salad with a Marie Rose sauce? It will be the hit of Christmas dinner!

You can make your own Marie Rose sauce or buy a shop-bought one.

Marie Rose Sauce

Use our recipe to make a simple marie rose sauce add a thin layer of Marie rose sauce at the bottom, middle, and top of your smoked salmon cocktail.

Alternative ingredients

Here are some alternative ingredients to use in this smoked salmon cocktail instead of what we have used to make it your own!

Salad leaves

We used romaine lettuce leaves; other good lettuce leaves to use are;

• Rocket
• Iceberg
• Watercress
• Baby Spinach
• Red leaf
• Baby Gem

Salad Dressings

If you want to add a salad dressing to this salad recipe, try.

• Olive oil and balsamic vinegar 
• Crème fraîche with dill and lemon juice
• Marie rose sauce
• French Vinaigrette

Smoked Salmon alternatives

Thinly sliced smoked salmon is the main star of this recipe, but you can change it up for other ingredients to suit all your guest’s tastes. If you have vegan or vegetarian dinner party guests this year, check out the options below for Christmas starters which can serve all!

• Hot smoked salmon flakes
• Ham hock
• Mozzarella balls - Perfect Vegetarian Option
• Avocado - Great Vegan option (omit the egg too) 

What to serve with a Smoked Salmon cocktail?

As a seafood starter, this smoked salmon salad is perfect for serving straight up, as it is in individual bowls or a centrepiece in a large bowl or platter for all to help themself.

Alternatively, serve this smoked salmon starter with some fresh bread and butter. Or even better, spread your bread with cream cheese.

We made this for a festive Christmas starter dish as it’s a firm favourite with our family, following the tradition when my Nan always served Prawn cocktail.

Extremely tasty and so easy to make up, no cooking (except the eggs) involved just layer up your own Smoked Salmon Cocktail low in saturated fat starter today.

📖 Step by Step Recipe

This smoked salmon starters recipe was originally written in November 2019 and has been updated on 24/11/2021 to include alternative ingredients and simplified instructions.

Christmas Dinner Starters

I hope you liked this Smoked Salmon recipe. Here are a few more Christmas dinner starter recipe ideas. Mushrooms in a Creamy Garlic Sauce, or our Pancetta Mushrooms with Mozzarella.

Christmas Day Recipe ideas

To follow your Christmas day starter, check out our whole roast turkey or turkey crown with all the trimmings. Such as our homemade cranberry sauce, honey roast parsnips; find out the secret to our crispy roast potatoes.

More Salad Recipe Ideas

Looking for more salad recipes, try our Italian Rice Salad. Or, for another seafood salad, try King Prawn Salad.