Smoked Salmon Bagel
Updated Aug 27, 2026
Quick and easy to make, this cream cheese and smoked salmon bagel is the perfect brunch. Full of fresh flavors, every bite is delicious!
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Smoked salmon bagels are one of my favorite ways to turn a few simple ingredients into a breakfast or brunch that feels a little special. I make mine with toasted bagels, a lemon-dill cream cheese, smoked salmon, crisp cucumber, red onion, and capers. If you have extra smoked salmon, you can use it to make my Smoked Salmon Salad!
Recipe Testing Notes
For the past 10 years, I’ve tested every recipe before sharing it with you! These notes give you a peek into the process of developing this recipe.
Lemon Juice Balance: After receiving feedback that 2 tablespoons of lemon juice overpowered the smoked salmon, I retested the recipe. Even though I love the taste of lemon juice with salmon and seafood, I do agree that it was a little too much here. I’m tempted to reduce it to 1 and half tablespoons but 1 tablespoon works great. It gave the cream cheese enough brightness without covering up the smoky flavor of the salmon.
More Precise Seasoning: I also used the retest to tighten up a few measurements since some of my older recipes just mentioned salt and pepper to taste, without exact measurements. I found that ¼ teaspoon of each worked great for this recipe.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
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Smoked Salmon Bagel Ingredients
- Bagel: Use your favorite bagels for this recipe. Plain works well or you can try sesame seed bagels.
- Smoked Salmon: Look for high quality smoked salmon from the Norwegian area. Most importantly, make sure it has no coloring and go for natural smoked salmon for the best flavor.
- Cream Cheese Sauce: Mix together full fat cream cheese, lemon juice, fresh dill or substitute 1 tablespoon fresh dill for 1 teaspoon dried dill and salt and pepper.
- Toppings: Use any toppings like, cucumbers, red onions, capers as pictured blow. You can even try avocado, chopped eggs, tomatoes or even olives!
How to Make Smoked Salmon Bagel
These step-by-step photos walk you through how to make Smoked Salmon Bagels. For the full ingredient list and detailed instructions, head to the recipe card below, or skip straight to the → Smoked Salmon Bagel Recipe below
1. Place Sauce Ingredients in Bowl
Add the cream cheese, lemon juice, dill and salt and pepper to a bowl.
2. Use a Spoon to Mix Well
Mix well to combine.
3. Spread the Cream Cheese Mixture on the Bagel
Spread the cheese mixture on to half of a toasted bagel.
4. Add the Smoked Salmon and Toppings on Top
Top with cucumber, smoked salmon, capers and red onions and close the bagel.
Full Smoked Salmon Bagel Recipe
Smoked Salmon Bagel
Video
Ingredients
- 2 bagels halved
- 4 ounces smoked salmon thinly sliced
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill plus more for serving
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 Persian cucumbers peeled in ribbons
- Red onion slices, for serving
- Capers to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, lemon juice, fresh dill and salt and pepper, to taste.
- Toast the bagels, then spread the cream cheese mixture on one or both sides of the bagel. Add the cucumbers, smoked salmon, capers and red onions on the bottom of the toasted bagels. Top with the top of the bagels.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Recipe Tips
- Toast your bagels. Toasting them adds another texture and really adds to the deliciousness! You can have them un-toasted, but they are so much better this way!
- Soften the cream cheese before combining. This will allow the ingredients to mix in more evenly and easily. The easiest way to do this is to just take the cheese out of the fridge 30 minutes before making the smoked salmon bagels.
Comments
I made this tonight for dinner and served it with a bowl of homemade clam chowder soup. It was very good, but I found that 2 tablespoons of lemon was too much and overpowered the smoked salmon, next time. I’ll just make it with 1 tablespoon of lemon.. thanks for a great recipe. Too bad your site doesn’t allow people to post pictures as well.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Smoked salmon bagels with homemade clam chowder sounds like such a great dinner. I appreciate the feedback on the lemon. It can definitely vary depending on the lemon and personal taste, so starting with 1 tablespoon next time is a great idea. That said, I will retest this recipe to check on the lemon!
Perfect , best Sunday breakfast I made
Yay, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it for Sunday breakfast!
Wow. This was REALLY good. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was. I didn’t have any cucumbers and I only had dried dill, and I bet this would have been even better with the proper ingredients.
I really dislike raw onions, so I used homemade pickles red onions and it was perfect.
Aww, so happy you loved it!! Love the idea of swapping raw red onion for pickled. Yum! Thanks, Matt!!
This was a great recipe. Followed each step and it was delicious. Highly recommend you try it out.
So happy you liked it, Nina! Thank you!!
I love this recipe and make it open faced because I find a whole bagel to be rather heavy. Also, I mash the capers into the cream cheese mix – it keeps them from rolling off, especially when served open faced. : )
Great tips, Rosemary! An open-faced salmon bagel sounds great!
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