Smoked Salmon Benedict

Stunningly simple to make, Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict is perfect for everything from an intimate breakfast in bed to an elegant brunch gathering.

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• What Goes into this Recipe
• How to Make this Recipe
• FAQs & Expert Tips
• Easy, Fancy Brunch Ideas
• Smoked Salmon Benedict

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict (or Eggs Royale, as it is sometimes known) is one of our all-time favorite breakfasts ever! Our creamy, lemony 2-Minute Blender Hollandaise complements the smoky salmon perfectly, resulting in a Benedict that transcends all others.

What Goes into this Recipe

What kind of cured salmon works best for this recipe?

Cured salmon can be broken down into two basic categories: brine-cured salmon, and smoked salmon (hot & cold). 

★ For best results, use cold-smoked salmon when making this recipe. Lox or Gravlax also work fine, and will also result in a tasty Salmon Benedict.

• Smoked salmon

This is a blanket term for salmon of any origin (wild, farmed) or cut (fillet, steak) that is cured with hot or cold smoke. Cold-Smoked Salmon is smoked significantly longer and at a lower temperature than hot-smoked, which results in a texture that is similar to lox, but with an infused smoky flavor. 

• Brine-Cured Salmon

Lox is salmon that has been cured in a salt-brine. Authentic lox traditionally comes from the belly of the salmon, and is sliced very thin for serving. Lox are salt-cured, but unlike smoked salmon, does not go through a smoking process. 

Gravlax is like Lox, in that it undergoes a curing process, but it isn't smoked afterwards. The difference between lox and gravlax is in the brining spices: gravlax is cured with sugar, salt, and dill, rather than a salt brine. 

How to Make this Recipe

There are three basic steps to making this recipe: poaching the eggs, making the hollandaise sauce, and putting it all together.

Perfectly Poached Eggs

It's astonishingly easy it is to cook a velvety soft, perfectly poached egg - all you need are a few simple tricks!

Start with the freshest eggs you can find. (As eggs age, the white breaks down and becomes more watery, so the fresher the egg, the more viscous the white.)

Simmer, don’t boil: You want the water to be hot enough to immediately begin to cook the egg when it submerges, but you don’t want the water to move the egg around in the pan. In fact, you don’t want anything to move the egg in the pan, especially for the first minute. That’s means no shaking, no stirring, and for Pete’s sake, no swirling!

Fill a pot or deep skillet with 2 inches deep with water. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the water. Bring to a rolling boil and then reduce heat so that the water is just barely simmering. There should still be bubbles on the bottom of the pan, but the surface of the water should look calm.

Crack egg into small sieve and allow watery albumin to drain off. Don’t worry; the white and yolk will stay intact inside the sieve.

Holding the egg in the sieve just above the water, gently roll the egg out of the sieve and into the water.

Leave the egg alone.

You can put about four or five eggs into the pan at the same time, but be sure they all have enough room. After about a minute, use a slotted spoon to unstick the egg from the bottom of the pan.

Allow it to cook a minute or two, and then use the slotted spoon to lift it up out of the water and gently poke it with your finger to see if it is done to your liking. If it is, remove it to a plate. If it needs to cook longer, simply lower it back into the water for another minute and check it again.

For more egg-poaching tips and detailed instructions, check How to Make Perfect Poached Eggs. 

2-Minute Blender Hollandaise

Don't let the Hollandaise Sauce intimidate you!

For this eggs Benedict, we use our version of Julia Child's (nearly) foolproof 2-Minute Blender Hollandaise Sauce recipe. 

Place egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and cayenne in a blender pitcher. Pulse for a few seconds to blend.

Cut up the butter and place it in a small saucepan. Heat it until it is completely melted and foamy.

I sometimes melt the butter for this in a microwave, but if you do this, make sure that the butter is bubbling when you take it out or it won’t be hot enough to “cook” the sauce.

Start up the blender on high and uncover. Immediately start pouring the hot melted butter in a very thin stream.

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to have patience here. Take your time! Under no circumstances should the pouring process be rushed.

The sauce will begin to thicken before you have added all the butter. Taste the sauce and add more lemon juice and seasonings if desired.

Hollandaise sauce should be used immediately. If it sets out too long, it will begin to solidify.

Assemble the Benedicts

Split and toast English muffins.Put one half on each plate. (Or two on each if you're hungry!) (You can butter them if you want.) Lay a thin layer of smoked salmon on each toasted muffin half.

Top each salmon-muffin with a poached egg. Spoon hollandaise sauce generously on top.

Serve immediately.

FAQs & Expert Tips

Easy, Fancy Brunch Ideas

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