Vegan Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese

I finally did it! I have been wanting to make carrot lox for quite a while now, but it seemed complicated, so I never did. That is, until I was recently looking up carrot lox recipes on Youtube and found this easy one by the Edgy Veg. I decided to give it a try and WOW – I’m so glad I did! Made some cashew cream cheese while I was at it and let me tell you, this is the perfect breakfast, brunch, lunch, there’s no bad time for vegan lox.

I’m somewhat of a lox connoisseur, having grown up with a Jewish dad and a grandma from New York, I was scarfing down lox and bagels almost since birth. Lucky for me, this recipe for vegan smoked salmon & cream cheese imitates the same smoky, tangy, flavorful non-vegan version I remember. And it doesn’t take as much effort as you would think!

I only slightly altered the recipe from Edgy Veg. Here’s what I did for the carrot lox and below that is the cream cheese…

VEGAN SMOKED SALMON

Ingredients You Will Need:

• 3 large carrots, cut in half, not peeled
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ¾ cup hot water
• 3 sheets of seaweed crumpled (or blended until fine)
• 3 tbsp caper brine
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 3 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ¼ cup olive oil

How to Make:

1. Put carrots and 1 tsp of salt into a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5-10 mins, or until fork-tender, but not mushy. They should hold their shape.
2. Transfer carrots to ice-cold water immediately to stop them from continuing to cook. Allow to cool for 2 mins.
3. Meanwhile, in a container or bowl, whisk together the hot water, seaweed, caper brine, rice vinegar, liquid smoke, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic powder, and olive oil. Set aside.
4. Using a very sharp knife, slice the dry carrots lengthwise, alternating between thin strips and sashimi-style sushi pieces, and place into the marinade.
5. Marinate in fridge for a few hours, but overnight is best! The longer you marinate, the more the carrots will have the texture and consistency of lox.
6. When you’re ready to use, remove carrot lox from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature.
7. Serve with toasted bagels, vegan cream cheese, dill, capers and tomato.

Notes:

The recipe makes a lot of lox! Like, I’m going to run out of bagels and cream cheese long before I run out of lox. It makes enough for a family or even a small gathering.

If I’m being nitpicky, I actually would have preferred the boil the carrots a little longer. I boiled them for the full 10 minutes, but they weren’t as soft as I would ideally like.

The original calls for miso paste, not liquid smoke, but I didn’t have any miso paste at home and found that the liquid smoke was a great substitute.

For the 3/4 cup of hot water I used the leftover water from boiling the carrots.

I kept the leftover carrots and marinade in the fridge, so that each day they will hopefully be increasingly flavorful. The lox has kept for several days.

VEGAN CREAM CHEESE

Ingredients You Will Need:

• 2 cups of cashews, soaked overnight
  
• 4 tbsp water
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• salt and pepper to taste

How to Make:

Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth.

I followed the exact recipe from More Salt Please. It came out delicious! She has a different carrot lox recipe at this link as well.

If you like this cream cheese recipe, you may like my own Vegan Cream Cheese recipe from a couple years back, and my Sunflower Cheese that is surprisingly yummy!

There’s several variations for carrot lox, but I went with this one because I felt it would be the most flavorful recipe I could get without having to go through the trouble of salt roasting the carrots which some versions call for.

The finished product of course does not taste exactly like the real thing, but it is delicious and full of flavor. Has more of a cream cheese flavor when refrigerated overnight. The whole dish is very tangy and smoky. And filling! The tomato and dill added some freshness to it as well.

I am definitely adding this recipe to my repertoire and look forward to trying out different methods and ingredients. For me, this is the perfect savory breakfast that keeps me full until lunchtime! And also reminds me of having lox and bagels with my family growing up. I hope you enjoy this recipe for Vegan Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese! You may also like my review on a store-bought vegan smoked salmon. However, I think homemade is always better 🙂

Jillian 💙