This salmon salad recipe is quick and healthy: an easy lunch or dinner! Make it with canned salmon or as a way to use leftover salmon.

Salmon Salad

Here’s a fun way to mix up lunch with a spin on a deli-style favorite: Salmon Salad! It’s a creamy, crunchy mix of tangy flavors: just like Tuna Salad but using canned salmon. Or, use it as a smart way to revitalize leftover salmon! The flavor is savory and satisfying, and this recipe has a healthy spin with less mayo. You can also class it up for a fancy brunch and serve it with fresh herbs on a croissant. It takes just 5 minutes, and works with crackers, in lettuce wraps, in a sandwich, and more. Lunch just got tastier!

Ingredients for salmon salad

The classic tuna salad goes back as far as 1907, and salmon salad is a spinoff on that theme. Using canned salmon makes it work for quick and easy meals. It’s a bit more expensive than canned tuna, but just as convenient and a fun way to mix up the standard tuna. But this recipe also works with cooked salmon: either as a way to use leftover salmon, or classed up as a fun brunch idea! Here’s what you’ll need for this quick recipe:

  • Canned salmon or cooked salmon
  • Celery
  • Red onion
  • Dill pickle
  • Capers
  • Greek yogurt or plain yogurt
  • Mayonnaise
  • Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper

Looking for a green salad instead? Go to Smoked Salmon Salad and substitute cooked salmon for smoked.

Yogurt and mayo make a creamy sauce

This salmon salad is creamy but not mayo-laden. What’s the secret? Greek yogurt! You can also use plain yogurt here. Yogurt in combination with mayo makes the salmon salad ultra creamy while keeping the calories low. It also makes the flavor fresh instead of heavy! Mayo and Greek yogurt work perfectly together: we also use this trick in our classic Tuna SaladHealthy Ranch Dressing, and more.

Salmon Salad

Using leftover salmon or fresh cooked salmon

At it’s core, this recipe is a quick and easy lunch idea. But it’s also a great way to use up leftover salmon. You can also cook the salmon fresh to make a fancier version of salmon salad (see below). Here are a few things to note:

Variations: a fancier salmon salad

This salmon salad is so versatile: you can make it straight-forward or add a few ingredients to make it more elevated. Serve it on a croissant and it’s now fancy brunch ready! Here’s what we’d do:

  • Add 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or basil
  • Add 1 to 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese to elevate the flavors
  • Serve on a croissant or crostini for an elegant presentation
Salmon Salad Sandwich

Ways to serve salmon salad

There are so many ways to serve this salmon salad recipe, our heads spin thinking about it! Here are a few ideas from simple lunch to fancy brunch:

  • Over greens: Place it over crunchy greens and it works as a simple lunch or dinner. Add some sliced tomatoes and hard boiled eggs for a heartier meal, or a cooked grain on the side (like rice or quinoa).
  • Sandwich: Make it into a Salmon Salad Sandwich! Use focaccia bread, ciabatta bread or a croissant to mix things up.
  • Lettuce wraps: Wrap it into lettuce leaves as a gluten-free lunch or dinner.
  • Crackers: Serve with cracker or gluten-free nut crackers as an easy lunch
  • Crostini: Spread it baguette slices for an appetizer
  • In an avocado: Throw it into half of an avocado for a healthy dinner idea

More salmon recipes

There are so many ways to serve salmon! Here are some of our favorite salmon recipes, with options for canned salmon and fresh:

This salmon salad recipe is…

Gluten-free and pescatarian. For dairy free, skip the yogurt and use only mayonnaise: see the recipe below.

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Salmon salad

Easy Salmon Salad


  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 2 servings 1x

Description

This salmon salad recipe is quick and healthy: an easy lunch or dinner! Make it with canned salmon or as a way to use leftover salmon.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 celery rib, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
  • 1 dill pickle, finely chopped (¼ cup)
  • 1 5-ounce can salmon (2/3 cup cooked flaked salmon)
  • 1 tablespoon capers, drained
  • ¼ cup Greek yogurt or plain yogurt*
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Prep the celery, red onion and dill pickle as noted above.
  2. Drain the salmon and place it in a medium bowl: mash it lightly with a fork. Add the chopped vegetables, capers, Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and kosher salt and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt if desired. Stores up to 3 days refrigerated.

Notes

*For dairy free, skip the yogurt and use 3 total tablespoons mayonnaise: add more to taste if desired.

  • Category: Main dish
  • Method: No cook
  • Cuisine: Seafood
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Keywords: Salmon salad, salmon salad recipe

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Meet Sonja and Alex Overhiser: Husband and wife. Expert home cooks. Authors of recipes you'll want to make again and again.

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12 Comments

  1. YUM YUM! Easy and delicious. I used chopped red pepper instead of the pickle. Nice balance of flavors.

  2. I just made this and it’s very nice. I used some honey sweetened oven baked salmon and that flavor is shining thru with the salad ingredients. I did skip the capers and pickle, though. I will put the salmon salad on salad greens, top with bacon, and pair with a nice French rosè. A lovely recipe on this first full day of spring.

  3. Not well balanced recipe. Too much on acidic, tangy side. I would skip yogurt entirely and would skip dill pickle (maybe to be replace by a cornichon).
    I would put only 1 tsp of Dijon Mustard. Maybe some chopped fresh dill. And few drops of lemon juice…

  4. This was really good!! Loved that is lighter with the yogurt and less mayonnaise. Thanks for a delicious lunch!!

  5. Tried this recipe and we loved it!! Adds some variety from chicken and tuna! Thank y’all for sharing it on here, God bless 🙂

  6. This was delicious! The perfect amount of tangy, creamy and crunchy. My husband isn’t a big fan of salmon, but I truly think he will like this. Thank you!

  7. I was looking for a low calorie sauce with canned salmon. I found this, and it had all my favorite ingredients.
    It was perfect. I served it over arugula with lemon juice on the greens. This sauce with the vegetables will be my go to .