Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict

Name: Smoked Salmon Benedict
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 3 large egg yolks; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 pinch cayenne (or a few drops of hot sauce); ½ cup salted butter; 4 large eggs; 1 tablespoon vinegar; 2 ounces smoked salmon (sliced thin); 2 English muffins

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Smoked salmon rests under a perfectly poached egg, blanketed with creamy, lemony hollandaise: a transcendent Salmon Eggs Benedict for breakfast or brunch. Stunningly simple to make, it takes only about 20 minutes to prepare!

Overhead shot of salmon eggs Benedict, with hollandaise poured over top, garnished with fresh herbs.

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.

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Salmon Benedict Ingredients
How to Make Eggs Benedict with Salmon
Variations
Equipment
Top Tip
FAQ
More Salmon Recipes
Pairing
Smoked Salmon Benedict
Food Safety

Salmon Benedict Ingredients

Smoked Salmon: 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.
Eggs: 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.
- There is always a risk of food-borne illnesses when using undercooked eggs. If you are concerned about salmonella, use pasteurized eggs.
English muffins: This is the traditional bread that forms the base of a Benedict. Crumpets also work great!
Hollandaise Sauce:
- Egg yolks
- Lemon juice: Use fresh if possible. Bottled juice is too astringent.
- Cayenne: You can also use hot sauce.
- Salted butter

How to Make Eggs Benedict with Salmon

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

Perfectly Poached Eggs

This is the method we prefer for poaching eggs. If you prefer to make your poached eggs differently, go for it.

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.

Small sieve with a raw egg in it, over a small prep bowl.

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. After about a minute, use a slotted spoon to unstick the egg from the bottom of the pan.

Allow the egg 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.

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

2-Minute Blender Hollandaise

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.

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.

Prepared hollandaise sauce in a small, Asian-inspired pottery bowl and sauce pitcher.

Assemble the Benedict

Split and toast English muffins. Butter the muffins at this time if you wish.

For each Benedict, put one toasted muffin half on a plate. Lay a thin layer of smoked salmon on each toasted muffin half.

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

Serve immediately.

Variations

Sauce: You can substitute a béarnaise or classic mornay sauce for the hollandaise sauce.

Bacon Benedict: Substitute bacon for the salmon.
Ham Benedict: Substitute ham for the salmon.
Chicken Benedict: Substitute thinly sliced chicken for the salmon. Smoked chicken is particularly tasty.

Equipment

For about a couple of dollars, you can buy what I consider the key to perfectly poached eggs. A small kitchen sieve (i.e., tea or cocktail sieve) allows you to strain off any watery white from the egg, and also gives you the perfect vessel from which to gently roll the egg into the simmering water.

Top Tip

Leftover hollandaise sauce is lumpy and ugly when reheated, but it is still as delicious as ever! If you end up having extra, refrigerate it and use it within 3 days.

We use leftover hollandaise all the time. It's especially delicious over scrambled eggs, toast, and leftover casserole or seafood.

To reheat, microwave the sauce for 30 seconds at a time, stirring until smooth each time.

FAQ

Lox & Bagels at beautifully displayed with capers, pickled onions, and arugula. — _{We had these beautiful lox for breakfast when we visited Meridian at Headlands, Pacific City, Oregon.}

What are the different types of cured salmon?

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

• 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.

★ For best results, use cold-smoked salmon when making this recipe.

Smoked salmon Benedict plated on a blue, Asian-inspired plate.

More Salmon Recipes

If you love salmon, be sure to try our delicious, easy-to-make Honey Glazed Salmon. Marinate it the night before, and you can have on the table in just 20 minutes!

Pairing

Eggs Benedict pairs well with a variety of sides, including:

5 from 8 votes

Smoked Salmon Benedict

Smoked salmon rests under a perfectly poached egg, blanketed with creamy, lemony hollandaise: a transcendent Benedict for breakfast or brunch. Stunningly simple to make, it takes only about 15 minutes to prepare!

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Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Prep Time:20

Total Time:20

Servings: Benedicts

Calories: 400kcal

Author: Renee

Equipment

1 Blender
1 small sieve
1 slotted spoon
1 3-4 Quart Saucepan

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

Hollandaise Sauce

3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 pinch cayenne or a few drops of hot sauce
½ cup salted butter

Benedicts

4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 ounces smoked salmon sliced thin
2 English muffins

Instructions

Poach Eggs

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.)
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 over high heat, 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 a 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 the egg 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 done, 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.

Easy Hollandaise Sauce

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 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.

Notes

Our blender has a little hole at the top through which you can pour liquids while it is running. I hope that yours does too - it makes the hollandaise so much easier!

You may choose to omit the milk solids at the bottom of the butter pan, but we usually go ahead and add them.

Serves 2 or 4, depending upon how hungry you are.

For more tips and detailed instructions, check How to Make Perfect Poached Eggs and 2-Minute Blender Hollandaise Sauce.

Nutrition

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.

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Food Safety

Hollandaise should kept warm, not hot. Do not hold hollandaise for more than 1½ hours.

Hollandaise should be held between 120F° to 145F° (49°C to 63°C) so it does not split or curdle. If the sauce is heated above 150F°, the eggs can overcook and become grainy, potentially splitting the sauce.

There is always a risk of food-borne illnesses when using undercooked eggs. If you are concerned about salmonella, use pasteurized eggs.

The shelf life of cold-smoked salmon is one to two weeks in the refrigerator, and one month in the freezer.

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Salmon Benedict Ingredients