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Jewish-American

Smoked Salmon Bagel Bites

Mini bagels topped with cream cheese, lox, capers, and red onion

canapeEasyJewish-American
Prep20 minCook5 minTotal25 minServes24Temproom_temp
⚠ Contains: 🌾 Gluten, 🥛 Dairy, 🐟 Fish
Recipe
Ingredients
  • 12mini bagels(or regular bagels quartered)
  • 8 ozcream cheese(softened)
  • 8 ozsmoked salmon(thinly sliced)
  • 0.25 cupcapers(drained)
  • 0.5red onion(very thinly sliced)
  • 2 tbspfresh dill(chopped)
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • lemon wedges(for serving)
Make Ahead

Prep all toppings ahead. Assemble just before serving to keep bagels from getting soggy.

Instructions
  1. 1Slice mini bagels in half and toast lightly
  2. 2Spread each half generously with cream cheese
  3. 3Fold or drape smoked salmon on top
  4. 4Scatter capers and thin red onion rings over salmon
  5. 5Sprinkle with fresh dill and black pepper
  6. 6Arrange on platter with lemon wedges for squeezing
Notes
Pro Tips

Quality matters here - use real lox or cold-smoked salmon, not hot-smoked. Slice onions paper-thin and soak in ice water for 10 minutes to mellow their bite. Everything bagels add extra flavor but can overwhelm the salmon. Toast bagels lightly - too crisp and they're hard to bite.

History & Origin

Bagels with lox became a Sunday morning staple in Jewish-American households in New York City by the early 20th century. The combination brings together Eastern European traditions of cured fish with the American bagel. It remains the quintessential New York brunch food.

Cocktail Pairings
Pairs Well With
champagneproseccobloody-maryvodka
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Jewish-American◆Easy