Cool off with this easy Salmon Salad! Poached salmon is gently tossed with celery, red onions, capers, and dill and is perfect for a brunch or light lunch.

Photography Credit: Elise Bauer

Are you a salmon lover?

Here is a salmon salad using freshly poached salmon that is restaurant-worthy. It’s light, cool, and wonderfully flavored with dill, capers, and lemon. Perfect for a brunch or light lunch!

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How to make salmon salad

To make this salmon salad, we first salt the fillets and chill them. This gives time for the salt to penetrate the fillets a bit and give them more flavor.

Then we lightly poach the salmon fillets for just a few minutes in salted water with a slice of lemon.

Next we toss the cooled, poached salmon with celery, red onion, capers, fresh dill, and extra virgin olive oil, along with lemon juice and zest.

Poach the salmon for the best results

While you could use leftover cooked salmon from a summer barbecue for this salmon salad recipe, it’s easy enough to poach it. Poaching allows you to have more control over how long to cook the salmon.

You want to cook the salmon just enough to be barely cooked through. That way it will be tender. Over-cooked salmon is dry and tough.

Tips for the best salmon salad

Freshness is everything. Use the freshest fish possible (or cook it as soon as you defrost frozen fish). Fresh fish degrades in quality every day after its caught. So cook the fish the day you buy it. Use quality salmon. Wild salmon tastes better than farmed salmon. That said, farmed salmon (properly farmed) can be a sustainable, and more budget-friendly option. Check the Monterey Aquarium Seafood Watch for the best salmon to buy, or buy from reputable sources. Do not overcook it! Fish is best when it is just barely cooked through. Past that, it starts to get dry. Eat it up. This salad will last a day or two in the fridge but is best eaten the day it’s made.

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