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.
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.
How to make a Marie Rose Sauce?
To make a simple Marie Rose Sauce, mix two tablespoons of ketchup with five tablespoons of mayonnaise, add a squeeze of lemon and lastly, a pinch of paprika.
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 Vinagrette
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.
Smoked Salmon Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ Cucumber sliced
- 1 Romaine Lettuce shredded
- ½ tin sweetcorn
- 10 plum tomatoes halved
- 4 Boiled eggs sliced
- 10 olives sliced, we used green
- 120 g (4 oz) Smoked Salmon
Optional Marie Rose Sauce - or you can buy shop brought
- 2 tbsp Ketchup
- 5 tbsp Mayonaise
- 2 tsp Lemon juice
- 1 pinch Paprika
To Serve
- Drizzle Balsamic Vinegar Glaze to serve
- 2 sprigs Dill garnish
- 4 slices wholemeal bread buttered to serve
- 1 tbsp Cream cheese spread (optional)
Instructions
- Build up the Smoked Salmon Cocktail starting with sliced cucumber, lettuce, sweetcorn, tomatoes, more lettuce, olives, egg, more cucumber, Smoked Salmon, more egg, a generous drizzle of balsamic vinegar and finally a sprig of Dill.
- If using Marie Rose Sauce add layer at bottom, after 2nd layer of lettuce and a dollop on top at the end.
- Serve as it is or with bread and butter / cream cheese spread
Notes
Nutrition
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.
This looks extremely good and tasty. A perfect recipe for a New Years' evening table!
I also want to say that you have a very good blog with very delicious recipes! Thanks for that and keep going! 😉
Sandra, it is well-loved by all, and something a little different to the usual Prawn cocktail. Thank you so much for your kind words!
I’ve never seen this combination before. You have such a pretty way of presenting it, love the added balsamic!
Something different, Balsamic glaze is one of my favorite ways to dress salads, looks good but also tastes fantastic and not too high in calories.
Yum! Looks great. I’ll have to try this.
Please do, its really quite simple the key is the preparation! Have a play around with what dishes you have at home!
This looks delicious! I love the drizzle of balsamic vinegar on top.
Hi Colleen
Thank you for your comment, I'm glad you liked this recipe!!