Ginger Scallion Salmon Dip Recipe

This ginger scallion salmon dip from recipe developer A.J. Forget is a the perfect appetizer for just about any occasion. It is creamy, savory, a little sweet, a little spicy, and packed with flavor from the ginger, garlic, scallions, and sriracha. A buttery cracker dipped in this warm, luxurious salmon dip is about as good as it gets. With thinly sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds to garnish it, this dip is almost too pretty to eat — a lovely addition to an appetizer platter. But, while it can play alongside fancier dishes with a look like that, it is also easy to prepare and, at its roots, a pretty humble dip.

Really, you can lump this salmon dip in with any of the other creamy dips out there, like spicy Nashville hot chicken dip, cool and creamy spinach and artichoke dip, even the game day classic, Buffalo chicken dip. This recipe really is suitable for everything from a fancy cocktail hour to a game day spread. However nicely you choose to dress it up will dictate what other dishes it fits in with. So, whether you're looking for an interesting new appetizer to share at happy hour or you forgot that you have friends coming over to watch the game in 15 minutes, this recipe has you covered.

For this recipe you will need cream cheese, Greek yogurt, scallions, garlic, ginger, cooked salmon, sriracha, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and salt. One you have these ingredients together, you are only 15 minutes away from enjoying delicious warm salmon dip.

Melt together the cream cheese and Greek yogurt in a small skillet over medium-low heat.

Once melted, stir in the scallions, ginger, and garlic, and allow to cook for 2 minutes.

Add the salmon, sriracha, rice vinegar, and sesame oil, then stir until well mixed.

Cook for around 3 minutes, until the dip is uniform in texture and the salmon is warm. Remove from heat.

Add salt to taste and serve warm, garnished with scallions and sesame seeds, if desired.

We were intentionally vague with the salmon choice for this recipe. All you need is cooked salmon. If you can crumble it into a skillet with cream cheese, yogurt, and a whole bunch of delicious sauces, oils, and aromatics, then it will work perfectly. That said, you do still have to pick a variety at the grocery store in order to prepare this recipe. So, we can weigh in on how to choose.

There are many types of salmon out there, and the price can vary widely based on species and how they are caught or raised. For this recipe you probably don't want to get a really nice piece of fish. Farmed salmon is perfect. There are a lot of other flavors that will be competing with your fish, so save that beautiful piece of wild-caught sockeye for something luxurious, like this walnut and sage crusted salmon recipe. Though, if you have leftovers after preparing that recipe, using them to make this salmon dip is a great choice.

Alternatively, you could save yourself some time and effort and just pop open a can. There is no reason to turn your nose up at canned salmon — it's pretty good stuff! Especially for dishes like this, where the fish is awash in a sea of other flavorful ingredients, you probably won't even be able to tell that it came from a can.

The flavor combination in this recipe is a guaranteed win. Salmon plays beautifully with ginger, garlic, scallions, sesame, sriracha — all of it. But that doesn't mean that's where the flavor journey has to end. The beauty with a recipe like this is that it is very easy to tweak to your preferences.

Aside from the base of cream cheese and yogurt as well as the cooked salmon, everything else is open to interpretation, to an extent. If you want to keep calling it a ginger scallion salmon dip, you'll probably have to keep those. But in lieu of the sriracha and sesame oil, you could, for example, take inspiration from this Thai-inspired salmon curry recipe and spike the flavors with some red curry paste, fish sauce, and lime. Scallions and ginger are also big flavors in Caribbean cuisine, so you could step away from the Asian-inspired side of things and opt for a warm, creamy dip based on this easy jerk salmon recipe.

Once you've made this dip a few times and seen how simple and delicious it is, we wouldn't blame you for wanting to try really mixing things up. Fortunately for you, we have a lot of excellent salmon recipes that you can turn to for inspiration. Honey garlic, barbecue, miso, lemon, and dill — any of those flavor combinations could work great here.