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With its silky salmon, whipped cream cheese, crisp veggies, and elevated toppings, this Lox Bagel Recipe brings all the luxe hotel brunch vibes home. Whether you’re hosting friends or just treating yourself to a weekend upgrade, it’s equal parts show-stopping and effortless.
Why You’ll Love This Lox Bagel Recipe
There’s something about a lox bagel that instantly elevates your morning. My version is deceptively simple, impressive, and crafted with a classically-trained chef’s touch.
The secret to an elevated lox bagel is offer high-quality basics, like deli-fresh bagels and premium lox, with a few gourmet touches such as capers, fresh herbs, or salmon roe. It makes your bagel both familiar and elegant and decidedly memorable.
By the way, lox and smoked salmon are not the same thing. Both are cured, but lox is cured in a briny solution and not smoked.
Whether you’re making lox bagels for a lazy morning or for an elevated brunch, you’ll find plenty of inspiration on how to customize your next lox bagel to your taste, time, and budget.
Lox Bagel Ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
- Bagels: Plain, wheat, sesame seed, poppy seed, and everything bagels are all good choices. Need a weekend baking project? Make your own homemade Bagels.
- Cream cheese: For the easiest spreading, buy a tub of whipped cream cheese. Or, whip regular (block) cream cheese in a mixer until fluffy.
- Lox: This salmon has been cured like smoked salmon (in a salt or brine mixture), but not smoked. Substitute smoked salmon if you prefer that.
- Hard-boiled eggs: Buy these at the supermarket to save time, or hard-boil eggs to your desired doneness.
- Vegetables: Try cucumbers, red onion, radishes (watermelon radishes are stunning, if you can find them), or tomatoes, everything thinly sliced. Fresh fennel (sliced bulb and fronds) is also delicious.
- Avocado: Offer thin slices or a bowl of mashed avocado.
- Capers: These are pickled, unopened flower buds. They have a strong, salty-sour flavor similar to green olives.
- Herbs: Offer fresh dill, chives, or parsley
- Everything bagel seasoning: To mix your own, in a small jar, combine 2 tablespoons poppy seeds, 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon dried minced garlic, 1 tablespoon dried minced onion, and 2 teaspoons coarse salt.
- Lemons: Wedges for squeezing
- Salmon roe: The most expensive, elegant bagel topping for special events. Or substitute sturgeon caviar.
How to Make a Lox Bagel
- Arrange the cut halves of a bagel (toasted if desired) on a plate or board. Spread each half with cream cheese.
- Layer with lox, avocado, cucumber, red onion, and hard-boiled egg slices. Sprinkle with capers, salmon roe, herbs, and bagel seasoning if desired. Serve with lemon wedges.
Lox Bagel Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Lox Bagel recipe was written for 4, but it can easily be scaled up or down depending on what you need.
- Storage: Store leftover bagels at room temperature according to package directions (or freeze indefinitely). Store leftover toppings covered in the refrigerator for up to four days.
- Make ahead: The vegetables can be cut the day before. Store covered in the refrigerator. Eggs can be hard-boiled up to 1 week in advance.
- Toasted: For brunch, set out a toaster so guests can help themselves. Or, toast bagels in a big batch in the oven.
- Sweet Bagel Bar: Substitute blueberry, cinnamon-raisin, chocolate chip, or cinnamon-sugar bagels, plain or fruit-based cream cheese, and sweet toppings such as honey, berries or other fruits, mint, melted nut butter, chopped toasted nuts, toasted coconut, and mini chocolate chips.
- Flavored cream cheese: Add vegetables, fruit, herbs, and spices to 8 ounces of softened whipped cream cheese. Here are some of my favorites:
- Garden vegetable: Mix in finely minced carrots, bell peppers, celery, cucumbers, and onions.
- Pico de gallo: Stir in finely chopped tomatoes, red onion, and jalapeño.
- Sun-dried tomato: Add a few tablespoons of dry or oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes.
Lox Bagel Recipe FAQs
Lox is typically salmon that has been cured in a brine or salt mixture, but not smoked. It’s soft, silky, and has a salty flavor.
To add a few fun flavors to your spread, try making pico cream cheese: whip 8 ounces of plain cream cheese with ½ cup diced tomatoes, ¼ cup diced red onion, 1 tablespoon diced jalapeño, plus salt and black pepper to taste. Or go for a sun-dried tomato twist by mixing 8 ounces of plain cream cheese with ¼ cup (about 2 ounces) of chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes.
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Lox Bagel Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 bagels split and toasted if desired (see note 1)
- 4 ounces cream cheese whipped if desired (see note 2)
- 1 pound lox or smoked salmon (see note 3)
- 1 avocado halved, pitted, and thinly sliced
- 1 cucumber peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 small red onion peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 hard-boiled eggs peeled and sliced
- 4 tablespoons capers drained
- 2 ounces salmon roe
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs such as dill, chives, or parsley
- Everything Bagel Seasoning
- 2 lemons cut into wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Arrange the cut halves of a bagel (toasted if desired) on a plate or board. Spread each half with cream cheese.
- Layer with lox, avocado, cucumber, red onion, and hard-boiled egg slices. Sprinkle with capers, salmon roe, herbs, and bagel seasoning if desired. Serve with lemon wedges.
Notes
- Bagels: Plain, wheat, sesame seed, poppy seed, and everything bagels are all good choices.
- Cream cheese: For the easiest spreading, buy a tub of whipped cream cheese. Or, whip regular (block) cream cheese in a mixer until fluffy.
- Lox: This salmon has been cured like smoked salmon (in a salt or brine mixture), but not smoked. Substitute smoked salmon if you prefer that.
Nutrition
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