Smoked haddock substitutes
Smoked haddock substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Smoked cod or smoked pollock
Same amount as the smoked haddock
Smoked cod and smoked pollock are almost the same fish and swap in at the same weight with no change to the recipe, which makes them the answer whenever you can find them. If all you can get is hot-smoked mackerel or hot-smoked trout, use about two thirds of the weight and add it flaked at the very end, because it is already cooked and much oilier and stronger. Failing that, use plain haddock, cod or pollock at 1:1 with half a teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of smoked paprika or two or three drops of liquid smoke per 400g; it is an approximation, but it puts the salt and the smoke back in roughly the right places.
- Verdict —
- Works
- The tweak —
- Poach gently in milk or water for 5 to 8 minutes until it flakes, then keep the liquid; it is the base of the dish, not waste.
- Best for —
- kedgeree
Updated 19 Aug 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of smoked haddock | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smoked cod or smoked pollockkedgeree | Same amountWorks | Works |
| 2 | Hot-smoked mackerel or hot-smoked troutkedgeree | About 2:3, so use two thirds by weightYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 3 | Unsmoked white fish plus salt and smokefish pie | Same amountPlus ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp smoked paprika or 2 to 3 drops liquid smoke per 400gYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Cold-smoked salmonkedgeree | Same amount by weightAdded off the heatYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Kippers or smoked herringkedgeree | About 1:2, so use half as muchYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Salt cod, soaked (for texture only)fish pie | Same amount by soaked weightTweak it | Tweak it |
Smoked cod or smoked pollock
similar taste and texture
Other white fish given the same brine-and-cold-smoke treatment, sold in the same fillet form.
- Best for
- kedgeree, cullen skink, fish pie, poaching in milk, smoked fish chowder, fishcakes
- Prep
- Poach gently in milk or water for 5 to 8 minutes until it flakes, then keep the liquid; it is the base of the dish, not waste.
Effectively a straight swap, because the smoking and the salting are doing most of the flavour work and haddock is not a strongly flavoured fish to begin with. Smoked cod flakes into slightly larger, looser pieces and is a touch softer, while smoked pollock is a little firmer and often a bit more cheaply cured, meaning saltier. Both release the same smoky, savoury liquid when poached, which is the crucial thing for cullen skink and for a kedgeree where the poaching milk goes into the rice. Taste a corner after poaching and adjust the salt in the dish accordingly rather than assuming they match your usual brand.
Hot-smoked mackerel or hot-smoked trout
different taste and texture
Oily fish that has been smoked hot enough to cook it through, sold ready to eat.
- Best for
- kedgeree, fishcakes, smoked fish pate, salads, stirring into risotto, fish pie at a push
- Prep
- Peel off the skin, flake into large pieces, check for pin bones, and fold in off the heat at the last moment.
Widely available and genuinely useful, but it is a different ingredient and needs handling differently. It is already cooked, so it must go in at the very end, flaked, off the heat; poached alongside the other ingredients it disintegrates into shreds. It is also far oilier and much more strongly smoked than haddock, so a kedgeree made with it tastes rich and assertively smoky rather than clean and gently savoury, and mackerel in particular can dominate. Two thirds of the weight is about right. The bigger loss is that it will not flavour your poaching milk, so for cullen skink you would need to build that savoury liquid another way, with a good fish stock and a piece of smoked bacon.
Unsmoked white fish plus salt and smoke
different taste and texture
Fresh haddock, cod, pollock, hake or whiting seasoned to imitate the cure.
- Best for
- fish pie, kedgeree, chowder, fishcakes, cullen skink at a stretch
- Prep
- Salt the fillet 30 minutes ahead, rinse and pat dry, then poach as usual. Add the smoke element to the cooking liquid, not directly onto the fish.
Say plainly what this is: an approximation, not a match, and the right one when smoked fish is simply not available where you live. Smoking a brined fillet changes its texture as well as its flavour, firming and slightly drying the flesh so it flakes into distinct dense pieces, and a fresh fillet stays softer and more delicate. What you can reproduce is the salt and the aroma. Salt the fillet lightly half an hour ahead and pat it dry, which firms it noticeably, then add smoke sparingly, because liquid smoke is potent and a heavy hand makes the dish taste like a barbecue rather than a Scottish breakfast. Smoked paprika brings colour as well, which suits kedgeree. A small piece of smoked bacon or pancetta cooked in the base of the dish is often a better route to smokiness than anything added to the fish itself.
Cold-smoked salmon
different taste and texture
Salmon cured and cold-smoked, sold in thin slices or trimmings.
- Best for
- kedgeree, scrambled eggs, fish pie, pasta, tarts and quiches
- Prep
- Cut into 2cm ribbons and stir through off the heat, just before serving.
A reasonable swap in dishes where the fish is stirred through rather than poached, and smoked salmon trimmings are cheap enough to make it practical. The flavour is in the right family, salty and smoky, but salmon is richer, oilier and sweeter than haddock, so a kedgeree comes out noticeably more luxurious and less clean-tasting. Texture is the main problem: sliced smoked salmon has no flake at all and turns papery and slightly rubbery if it is cooked, so cut it into ribbons and fold it in at the end with the residual heat doing the work. It will not flavour a poaching liquid, so it is the wrong choice for cullen skink.
Kippers or smoked herring
different taste and texture
Whole herring split, brined and cold-smoked, sold in fillets or in tins.
- Best for
- kedgeree, fish pate, breakfast dishes, when you like a strong smoked fish
- Prep
- Poach or grill briefly, remove skin and bones, and flake. Reduce or omit added salt in the dish.
Traditional, cheap and available almost everywhere, and honestly quite a big change. Kippers are much oilier and far more intensely smoky and salty than haddock, and they carry the distinctive strong herring flavour, so a kedgeree made with them is a robust, pungent dish that some people love and others find overwhelming. Half the weight is a sensible starting point. They are also bony, so fillet carefully or use tinned kipper fillets. If you do use them, cut back the salt elsewhere in the recipe entirely and add a good squeeze of lemon at the end, which lifts the oiliness considerably.
Salt cod, soaked (for texture only)
different taste, similar texture
Cod preserved in heavy salt, requiring 24 to 48 hours of soaking with several changes of water.
- Best for
- fish pie, chowder, fishcakes, brandade-style dishes
- Prep
- Soak for 24 to 48 hours in the fridge, changing the water at least four times, then poach gently and flake.
Included because it gets you the one thing that is hardest to imitate, which is the firm, dense, distinctly separated flake that comes from a cured fillet rather than a fresh one. It brings no smoke at all, so pair it with smoked bacon in the base of the dish or a few drops of liquid smoke in the poaching liquid. It is also a commitment, needing a full day or two of soaking with the water changed several times, and if you undersoak it the dish will be inedibly salty. Once soaked and poached it behaves beautifully in a fish pie or a chowder. Add no salt to the dish until you have tasted it.
Questions
5 questionsWhat can I use instead of smoked haddock in kedgeree?
Smoked cod or smoked pollock at the same weight, without changing anything else, is the best answer. If you can only get hot-smoked mackerel or trout, use about two thirds of the weight and fold it in flaked at the very end rather than poaching it, since it is already cooked and much oilier; the kedgeree will taste richer and more strongly smoky. Smoked salmon trimmings also work stirred through off the heat. If you have no smoked fish at all, poach plain haddock or cod with half a teaspoon of salt and two or three drops of liquid smoke per 400g, and cook a little chopped smoked bacon into the onions at the start, which supplies smokiness more convincingly than anything you can do to the fish.
Is finnan haddie the same as smoked haddock?
It is a particular kind of it. Finnan haddie is the traditional Scottish preparation, in which the haddock is split along the backbone, left on the bone and cold-smoked, usually undyed, giving a paler and often more gently smoked fish than the boneless dyed fillets in most supermarkets. Any recipe calling for finnan haddie will work with undyed smoked haddock fillet, and vice versa. Arbroath smokies are a different thing again, being hot-smoked and therefore already cooked, so they should be flaked in at the end rather than poached.
What is the smoked haddock actually doing in the dish?
Three things. It provides salt, because it has been brined, which is why so many recipes using it add little or none. It provides smoke, an aroma that carries into whatever liquid you cook it in and gives cullen skink and fish pie their character. And it provides firm, dense flakes, because curing and smoking tighten the flesh so it holds together in distinct pieces instead of dissolving. A substitute that misses any one of those needs specific compensation: salt for the first, smoked paprika, liquid smoke or smoked bacon for the second, and a light pre-salting of the fillet for the third.
Can I use fresh haddock instead of smoked haddock?
Yes, and the dish will still be good, but be clear that it will be a different dish. Fresh haddock has no salt and no smoke and a softer, more delicate flake, so a fish pie made with it is milder and creamier and a cullen skink loses most of what makes it distinctive. To close the gap, salt the fillet lightly half an hour before cooking and pat it dry, which firms the flesh, then bring smoke in through the base of the dish rather than the fish, by cooking a little chopped smoked bacon or pancetta with the onions, or by adding a couple of drops of liquid smoke or a quarter teaspoon of smoked paprika to the poaching liquid.
Can I just leave the smoked haddock out?
Not really, in the dishes that are built around it. Kedgeree, cullen skink and a smoked fish pie are all essentially vehicles for smoked fish, and without it kedgeree becomes spiced rice and eggs and cullen skink becomes potato and leek soup, both pleasant and neither the dish you set out to make. Where it appears as one component among several, such as a mixed fish pie that also contains salmon and prawns, you can drop it and increase the others, but add a smoky element elsewhere, a little smoked bacon or a pinch of smoked paprika in the sauce, or the pie will taste noticeably flatter.
Tips for substituting smoked haddock
5 tips- The poaching liquid is the dish, not a by-product. In cullen skink and in most kedgeree recipes the fish is gently poached in milk or water and that liquid, now smoky and savoury, becomes the base of the soup or is used to cook the rice. Whatever substitute you use, ask whether it will give up flavour to a liquid: cold-smoked fillets will, but ready-to-eat hot-smoked mackerel and sliced smoked salmon will not, so with those you need to build the savoury base separately with a good fish stock or a piece of smoked bacon.
- Cold-smoked haddock is raw and must be cooked, which surprises people who have met hot-smoked mackerel first. Poach it for five to eight minutes in barely simmering liquid until it flakes easily; a full boil tightens the protein and turns it dry and stringy. Hot-smoked fish is the opposite case, being fully cooked already, so it only needs warming through at the end.
- Taste before you salt, every single time. Smoked haddock is cured, and cures vary enormously between producers and even more between fish, with cheap smoked pollock often much saltier than good undyed haddock. Poach the fish, taste a flake, and only then decide how much salt the potatoes, rice or sauce need. This is the most common way a smoked fish dish goes wrong.
- Buy undyed if you have the choice. The bright yellow colour on much supermarket smoked haddock is dye, not smoke, and dyed fillets are often more lightly and more quickly smoked than pale undyed ones, so they taste weaker despite looking stronger. If you are using an undyed fillet or a substitute in kedgeree and you miss the golden colour, the turmeric in the rice does that job well.
- Go carefully with liquid smoke, which is much stronger than people expect. Two or three drops stirred into the poaching liquid for 400g of fish is enough to register; a quarter teaspoon will make the dish taste of a bonfire. Add it to the liquid rather than rubbing it on the fillet, so it disperses evenly, and taste as you go.