The following recipe and photography is courtesy of Graham R. and his dog, Carl. For more of their delicious food ventures, visit them on Instagram @cookingwithcarrrl.
When I was a kid, I had to swim upstream both ways to school. Salmon dad jokes, am I right?
Smoked salmon is one of my favorite snacks, and I’ll take it any way I can get it! That being said, I was thrilled to find out that Heinen’s makes their own. It was a true reality check because I thought my homemade version was the best, but not compared to Heinen’s honey oak roasted smoked salmon. Its sweet, smoky, salty and oh-so tender! It’s really thick too, which sets it apart from other pre-packaged smoked salmon.

I’d eat this smoked salmon straight out of the container, but in the spirit of the holidays, I turned it into a festive appetizer.
This recipe is as easy as it gets and takes all of five minutes to throw together. Swimming with capers, chives, cream cheese and a bunch of fresh dill, it’s actually more of a spread than a dip, but you can call it whatever you prefer.
I like to smear this on a bagel, or use it to fill up celery sticks for a healthy treat, but since society has yet to reach a point where bagels are considered an acceptable appetizer, I served this dip with the next best things – crostini, fresh veggies crackers and my two-ingredient parmesan dill crisps!
Follow the easy steps below and your holiday appetizer will go swimmingly!

- Cook time:
- 5min
- Prep time:
- 5min
- Total time:
- 10min
- Servings:
- 8
Ingredients
For the Smoked Salmon Dip
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 2 Tbsp. Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 6 oz. Heinen’s smoked salmon
- 1 Tbsp. capers
- 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp. freshly chopped dill
- 2 tsp. freshly chopped chives
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
- 1 tsp. hot sauce
- For the Parmesan Dill Crisps
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Fresh dill
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- For the crisps, place a large tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese on the baking sheet and repeat until all of the cheese is gone. Top with a sprig of dill and bake for 5 minutes, or until melted. Set aside.
These parmesan dill crisps are amazing at any time of year and can be topped with a variety of seasonal ingredients. - Next, place the softened, room temperature cream cheese in a large bowl. Mix until smooth.
- Add the Greek yogurt, lemon juice and hot sauce. Mix.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the salmon. Mix.
- Fold in the salmon.
- Serve this immediately, or place in the fridge for at least an hour. This will bring all the flavors together and ensure that the dip is chilled.
- Serve the dip in a bowl. Place the bowl on a large plate or serving board. Surround the bowl with the parmesan dill crisps, fresh vegetables, Heinen’s crostini and Heinen’s golden round crackers.