Diane's Food Blog

Looking for a crowd-pleasing appetizer, or just a tasty snack to have on hand? This tartare takes only minutes to make and to be honest, it may very well last only minutes around hungry friends and family. I saw this recipe prepared on a local TV show, and I knew I had to try it. Serve with a thin, crisp cracker for a crisp contrast to the salmon topping, and use the dill sour cream to balance out some of the richness of the salmon.

 Smoked Salmon Tartare Appetizer
8 ounces smoked salmon
¼ cup minced red onion or shallots
¼ cup capers
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup sour cream
1-2 teaspoons dried dill weed (or fresh chopped dill, to taste)

Dice the salmon and finely mince the red onion/shallots. Combine the diced salmon, minced onion/shallots, capers, olive oil and lemon juice and mix well. For the topping, combine the sour cream and dill in a small bowl, adjusting amount of dill to taste. Serve with neutral-flavored wafer or flatbread crackers.

Step by Step Details

This easy appetizer only requires a few ingredients. Use a high quality extra virgin olive oil (like those sold at the Olive Grove Olive Oil store, where I got this recipe!)

Start by dicing the salmon. It’s a little easier to cut if the salmon is slightly frozen. Stack the pieces, slice into thin strips and then rotate the strips to dice into small cubes. You’ll end up with roughly two cups of diced salmon.

Finely mince the red onion/shallots. Be aware that overly strong onions/shallots can easily overpower this dish, so to take the edge off,  I soak the minced onions/shallots for 2-3 minutes in cold water, draining before adding them to the mix.

To make the spread, combine the diced salmon, minced onion/shallots, capers, olive oil and lemon juice and mix well.

For the topping, combine the sour cream and dill, adjusting amount of dill to taste. The amount will vary if you use dry dill weed or fresh dill, so just keep adding whatever you’re using until you like the flavor. And even though you may be tempted to add a little salt to the sour cream, don’t: its purpose is to balance the saltiness of the salmon.

Serve with thin, neutral-flavored wafer or flatbread crackers (I loved it with the Toll House Flatbread crisps pictured). Serve on a pretty tray for added visual appeal: I’ve plated mine here using my SlatePlate board. Enjoy!