This smoked fish schmear is really simple to make and has a ton of uses. Of course, it tastes fantastic spread over any form of bread or crackers, but its best application might be on a warm bagel.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 5 ounces smoked, boneless trout fillets, checked for bones and crumbled
- 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
- 2 teaspoons capers, drained
- 1 teaspoon hot prepared horseradish, or more to taste
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Place crumbled trout and softened cream cheese in a bowl. Add lemon juice, dill, chives, capers, horseradish, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper. Mix together with a fork until mixture achieves the chunkiness or creaminess you prefer. Transfer to a ramekin; wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 or 3 hours before serving to let flavors develop.
- The ideal amount of salt, acidity, and heat are very subjective. Equal proportions of cream cheese and smoked trout is a good starting point, but everything else should be added “to taste.”
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 214 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 97 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 212 mg |
| Sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Made with no changes. Great recipe. Trying it again with some smoked swordfish. Probably going to be my go-to “schmeer” for fish.
This is a delicious dish. I liked it but by crumbling the trout, you lose its beautiful texture. I preferred making the schmear without the trout and placing chunks of the trout on top of the schmear. If you use smoked trout from a tin, by all means follow this recipe. If you have beautiful fillets, enjoy the silky and oily texture of the large chunks.
Delicious! I smoke my trout with a sweet smoke, like apple or cherry wood. I also use more trout than cream cheese.
Great flavors but I used my food processor! Put the lemon juice, dill, chives, horseradish, and capers in and pulse to get a paste. Then add cream cheese and process until well mixed. Finally add the trout chunks and pulse for the consistency you want. Much less labor and the exact same results.
Served at a bring-a-dish holiday gathering. Received a somewhat tepid response. The taste was okay but it didn’t have a pronounced smoky flavor. In our coastal community, smoked fish dips are served at most restaurants and many local fisherman have their own secret version creating a high bar for achieving marvelous accolades. The cream cheese base produces a firm spread and tends to overpower the other ingredients. Refrigerated this dip for about 8 hours before serving. The flavor profile better developed by the following day so you may want to make this a day before serving.
Love it and my guest did as well.
This is amazing! Anytime I want something that will be delicious I look up Chef John recipes and go from there. I have never been disappointed.
Added salmon caviar, smoked salmon & garnished with toasted walnuts
So simple to prepare. Flavour is excellent. Followed the recipe to the letter. Everyone at home loves it, either as a dip or on toast, even for breakfast!