Deli-Style Lox Bagel with Cream Cheese, Capers & Dill

Name: Deli-Style Lox Bagel with Cream Cheese, Capers & Dill
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Jewish deli
Ingredients: 2 piece large bagels; 170 g cream cheese; 170 g smoked salmon (lox or Nova); 0.25 medium red onion red onion; 1 medium tomato; 2 tbsp capers; 2 tbsp fresh dill; 0.5 piece lemon; 0.25 tsp freshly ground black pepper

A classic Jewish deli open-faced bagel — toasted bagel, a generous smear of cream cheese, thinly sliced lox (smoked salmon), red onion, capers and fresh dill. Ready in under 35 minutes and perfect for a fast weeknight lunch or light dinner.

15 min

start to finish

10 min

hands on

Easy

difficulty

servings

2 servings

Ingredients

2 piece large bagelsplain, everything, or sesame; halved horizontally
170 g cream cheeseplain, room temperature (about 6 oz)
170 g smoked salmon (lox or Nova)thinly sliced (about 6 oz)
¼ medium red onion red onionvery thinly sliced
1 medium tomatoripe, thinly sliced
2 tbsp capersdrained
2 tbsp fresh dillchopped
½ piece lemoncut into wedges
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepperor to taste

Contains gluten, dairy, fish. Cooking for an allergy? Check the label on every packet you use — brands differ, and we can only tell you what the recipe calls for.

Roughly, per serving

760 kcal34g protein71g carbs40g fat

An estimate, not a lab analysis.

Method

Separate bagels and set halves cut-side up.
Very thinly slice the red onion and put the slices in a small bowl of cold water to take the edge off the bite.
Soaking the onion for 5 minutes mellows sharpness and keeps slices crisp.
Toast the bagel halves in a toaster or under the broiler until edges are lightly golden and the cut surface is just crisp.
Watch closely under the broiler; 2–3 minutes is usually enough.
Spread an even layer of cream cheese on each toasted bagel half (about 2–3 tablespoons per half).
Arrange the smoked salmon over the cream cheese in loose folds so it covers each half.
Drain the onion slices and blot them on a paper towel; scatter onions over the salmon.
Top with tomato slices, then sprinkle capers and chopped dill over each half.
Finish with a squeeze of lemon and a few grinds of black pepper, then serve immediately.

Worth knowing

If you can't find Nova or traditional lox, use thinly sliced cold-smoked salmon labeled 'smoked' — flavor will be similar though slightly different in salt/smoke level.
For a lighter spread, use whipped cream cheese or mix half cream cheese and half plain Greek yogurt (note: changes texture and dairy content).
Make the onion slices paper-thin by chilling the onion for 15 minutes before slicing or using a mandoline, but be careful and use a guard.
Leftovers (assembled) keep best when eaten the same day; store salmon and cream cheese separately from the bagel to avoid sogginess.

Make it yours

Cooking without dairy, without an oven, for someone who won't touch chilli, or for six instead of four? Have the recipe rewritten around it — quantities, steps and all.

PescatarianQuick

Watch someone make it

A different recipe for the same dish, by a cook who has spent years on it.

More Jewish deli cooking

An original Restaurant Pro recipe — our own composition in the idiom of Jewish deli cooking, not any restaurant's recipe. Written to be pescatarian as listed.