Gravlax substitute

Best substitute

Cold-Smoked Salmon (Lox, Nova)

Use the same amount by weight as the gravlax you are replacing

Best for canapes

Different taste

The best substitute for gravlax is cold-smoked salmon, used measure for measure, with plenty of chopped fresh dill scattered over to bring back the herbal note. Cured trout is the closest twin if you can find it, and hot-smoked salmon works wherever the fish gets flaked rather than draped.

Other gravlax substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Cured or Smoked Trout (Gravad Trout)
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Trout takes a salt-sugar-dill cure exactly the way salmon does, and cured trout is often cheaper and easier to find in Nordic and German delis.
What changes
Best for
canapes, open sandwiches, salads, brunch
The nearest match in both flavour and texture. Slightly leaner and more delicate, so the slices are less unctuous and the flavour reads gentler; a heavier hand with the dill sauce compensates.
3Hot-Smoked Salmon
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Fully cooked, firm and opaque, which makes it excellent anywhere the fish is going to be broken up rather than laid out in slices.
What changes
Best for
dips, potato salads, scrambled eggs, pasta, chowders
It flakes instead of slicing, so it cannot be rolled or draped over a canape, and the flavour is strongly smoky and much less delicate. In a warm dish or a dip that difference barely matters and it is usually cheaper.
4Smoked Mackerel or Smoked Trout Fillet
Taste and texture differ
Use about two thirds the weight
Strong, oily and cheap, and they fill the same role of cured fatty fish against rye bread, potato and dill.
What changes
Best for
salads, rye bread, pates and rillettes, warm potato dishes
Far more assertive and oilier, which is why you use less, and clearly smoked rather than cured, so a delicate dish gets bulldozed. In a creamy salad or a fish pate it is genuinely good rather than a compromise.
5Prosciutto or Thin-Sliced Cured Ham
Different taste
Use the same amount by slice
When you need the structural job gravlax was doing on a canape, which is salt, fat and a slice that drapes, and there is no fish in the house.
What changes
Best for
canapes, open sandwiches, party platters
Obviously not fish, but it holds a rye canape together in exactly the same way and is surprisingly good with dill mustard sauce and cucumber. Skip it if the dish is meant to read as Scandinavian seafood.
6Beetroot or Carrot Ribbons, Salt-and-Sugar Cured
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume
The vegetarian gravlax-style option: thin ribbons tossed with salt, sugar and dill for a few hours until they slacken and turn glossy.
What changes
Best for
vegetarian canapes, salads, smorrebrod
You get the colour, the sweet-salty seasoning and a slippery, yielding texture, and you lose the fatty richness completely. A swipe of creme fraiche or a little oil underneath puts some of that fat back and makes the difference much smaller.

What is Gravlax?

Gravlax is raw salmon cured for a few days in salt, sugar and dill and then sliced thin, never cooked and never smoked, so what it brings to a cold plate is silky fat, a sweet-salty seasoning and a clean herbal note.

Cooking tips

Slice gravlax very thin on a shallow bias with a long thin knife. It is softer than smoked salmon, so twenty minutes in the freezer firms it up enough to behave, and any substitute you use will slice more easily the same way.
Gravlax's traditional partner is hovmastarsas, the sweet dill mustard sauce built on Swedish mustard. If you substitute cold-smoked salmon, dial the sugar in that sauce down a touch, because the fish is already saltier and less sweet than gravlax.
Scrape off a heavy dill and pepper crust before slicing if you find the cure aggressive; the flavour has already gone into the flesh and the crust is mostly seasoning.
Never warm gravlax. Heat sets the proteins and turns it from silky to chalky in seconds, which is exactly why it appears on cold plates and never in a hot pan.
If you are tempted to cure your own, know that curing raw salmon for cold eating depends on the salt ratio, the quality of the fish and commercial freezing to control parasites. Follow a tested recipe exactly rather than adjusting it, and check National Center for Home Food Preservation guidance first. Buying cured or smoked salmon is the safer route.
Once opened, treat it like fresh fish: tightly wrapped in the coldest part of the fridge and eaten within two or three days.

Frequently asked questions

Is gravlax the same as smoked salmon?

No. Gravlax is cured in salt, sugar and dill and never sees smoke, so it tastes sweet, herbal and clean. Cold-smoked salmon is cured and then cold-smoked, which makes it saltier and woodsmoky. They look nearly identical and slice the same way, which is exactly why smoked salmon is the best substitute, but the flavour swap is noticeable if you taste them side by side. Gravlax is also labelled gravad lax, gravlaks or graved salmon, all of which mean the same cured fish.

Can I just leave gravlax out?

If it is one element on a mixed brunch or Christmas platter, yes. If it is the topping on a canape, the filling in a smorrebrod or the point of the plate, no, because it is providing the salt, the fat and the slice all at once. Cold-smoked salmon is the direct replacement, and cured trout is even closer.

Can I make gravlax at home quickly?

Not really. A proper cure takes two to three days in the fridge under weight, and it also depends on starting with fish that has been commercially frozen to handle parasites, since gravlax is eaten raw. Short-cut cures of a few hours give you salted salmon, not gravlax. If you need it tonight, buy cold-smoked salmon and add fresh dill.

What is the cheapest substitute for gravlax?

Hot-smoked salmon trimmings or smoked trout fillet, both of which cost a fraction of sliced gravlax. Neither will drape over a canape, so use them where the fish gets flaked into eggs, folded into a dip, tossed with warm potatoes, or spread as a pate with lemon and dill.

Can I use canned salmon instead of gravlax?

Not for anything sliced, because canned salmon is cooked, flaky and much softer. It does make a decent substitute in a spread: mash it with creme fraiche, plenty of chopped dill, lemon juice, salt and white pepper, and use it where you would have spread gravlax on rye or blini.

Related substitutes

More seafood substitutes

Gravlax substitute

Other gravlax substitutes

2Cured or Smoked Trout (Gravad Trout)

3Hot-Smoked Salmon

4Smoked Mackerel or Smoked Trout Fillet

5Prosciutto or Thin-Sliced Cured Ham

6Beetroot or Carrot Ribbons, Salt-and-Sugar Cured