Smoked Salmon Salad Rolls with a Creamy Basil Citrus Dressing

I’m introducing these Smoked Salmon Salad Rolls you can eat with your hands or easily turn into sushi. You’d be right if you think of smoked salmon as served on a bagel with cream cheese, but smoked salmon can be so much more versatile!

Serve this as an appetizer, lunch, or a tasty side dish – everyone will love this sophisticated finger food with a wicked dipping sauce! You can even make them a little extra fancy by adding roe on top.

Why this Recipe Works

This recipe is light and fresh, and you can customize the ingredients to your taste – I’m sharing all the different kinds of veggie combinations you can use in this recipe so you can use up whatever you have in the fridge.

Spring rolls are perfect, no-fuss finger food to serve for any occasion. I have a special trick to rolling spring rolls to help prevent them from tearing – I roll each one with 2 wrappers, overlapping like a Venn diagram.

You can use any dipping sauce you like, but I love serving these with this Creamy Basil Citrus Dressing. It’s the perfect pairing of herbaceous, creamy, and light. Plus if you want to up the wow factor, I’m sharing a special ingredient to make it a little extra if you’re feeling fancy.

Ingredients, Dressing Ideas, & Veggie Combinations

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Smoked salmon – buy as fresh as you can for these, and make sure to buy it without any flavoring or glaze

Veggies – you can choose whatever you like: cucumber, avocado, carrots, cabbage, sweet potato, red onion, sprouts, whatever you like best or need to use up

Salt and pepper – season to your taste, any type of salt or pepper will work

Rice paper – you can buy these online, at an Asian grocery store, or from the ethnic aisle of most grocery stores.

Dipping sauce – you can use your favorite salad dressing, or make it with the dipping sauce in the recipe.

Dressings I love with this recipe

I use my favorite dressing, a Creamy Basil Citrus Dressing, that goes great with these smoked salad rolls, and I’m also sharing other dressing options that can work well, such as:

• Avocado Lime Sauce
• Simple Potsticker and Spring Roll Dipping Sauce

How to Make this Recipe

First, make the dressing and set it aside or in the refrigerator, then make the rolls. If you’re making this with friends, it’s fun to let everyone roll their own.

Smoked Salmon Rolls

You can prepare all your cucumbers and onions by slicing them thinly on a mandoline.

If it’s your first time rolling rice paper, my advice is to try not to have too high expectations until you get the hang of it. And do expect that the first one will likely tear.

Pour some water into a shallow dish that will fit the rice paper wrappers. Dip the rice paper in the water for about 5 seconds per side until it becomes pliable, but isn’t completely soggy. Then, transfer the damp rice paper to a damp cutting board or table surface.

My trick is to roll each one with 2 wrappers, overlapping like a Venn diagram. For some reason, it makes it much easier to capture all the filling and roll. Then I cut them in half and they look really pretty.

On top of the rice paper, add 1 layer of smoked salmon, then the cucumber slices, spinach, onion, avocado, basil, and romaine. Don’t worry about them being perfect or identical: your smoked salmon rolls don’t all need to be the same.

Next, gently roll the smoked salmon rolls up like a burrito. Ripping does happen, but don’t worry, you can minimize this with practice! I’ve found that doubling two paper pieces up yields the best result and helps with any ripping. Or, you can take your whole ripped rice paper roll, pop it in a new sheet, and roll it all up.

You can serve them as is, or cut them into smaller bitsize pieces. You can top each one with a little roe for added pizazz.

Usually, when I make these, we enjoy eating them with our hands. Simply cut them in half and dip them in the dressing.

Sometimes, I like cutting them into sushi-sized pieces, about 1 1/2 inches, topping them with fish eggs, and eating them with chopsticks (below).

More Flavorful Salmon Recipes

Love cooking with salmon? Here are some more excellent recipes I think you’ll love.

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