Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Cups – A Festive Party Appetizer
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These Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Cups are the ideal party appetizer at festive gatherings and make great hors d’oeuvres for dinner or brunch. Created in just 20 minutes using cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, and crunchy crackers to serve, your guests are sure to love them!
This post is part of Create the Holidays (formerly Create Christmas) – a series of festive recipes, crafts, printables, and more on The Purple Pumpkin Blog!
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Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Cups
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading the blog post all the way through so that you don’t miss any tips or substitution suggestions and ensure that you have all the ingredients and equipment required and understand the steps and timings involved.
These smoked salmon cream cheese cups are an elegant and festive appetizer that is perfect for holiday parties.
They’re easy to make, simple to transport, and hard not to love. The best part? You can make them ahead of time which means you’ll be able to enjoy your party as much as the guests!
Depending on the type of event you are catering for, you can make this appetizer in different size cups.
Shown in our photos are 5-oz cups that are a little more substantial and make a great pre-dinner appetizer or starter.
For a party, why not use 3-oz cups, which will yield more from this recipe (which is pretty easy to scale up as required).
You could even serve small bites of the smoked salmon and cream cheese on tasting spoons for an elegant cocktail party.
The Create the Holidays (formerly Create Christmas) series on The Purple Pumpkin Blog is filled with free printables, crafts, recipes, and more for Christmas and the Winter Holidays! You can check out Create the Holidays from 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 and 2012 for tons of awesome Holiday ideas and inspiration!
Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe
While most ingredients can be bought in grocery stores, for your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients and equipment needed for this recipe have been listed below and linked to Amazon or other stores if available online.
It may not include staple ingredients such as oil, salt, sugar, etc., as you’re likely to have those in your kitchen. The complete list of ingredients with measurements is found in the recipe card.
- Protein – Smoked Salmon
- Fresh Produce – Chives
- Dairy – Cream Cheese, Heavy Cream (Double Cream)
- Capers
- Crackers – your choice, to serve
- 5-oz Appetizer Cups – the perfect size for a pre-dinner starter/appetizer
- 3-oz Appetizer Cups – the perfect size for a party appetizer
- Tear-shaped Plastic Tasting Spoons – want to go for an even smaller portion? These tasting spoons are just the thing!
- Fleur-de-Lis Cheese Spread – similar to photos
- Pastry Bags and Tips
Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog use both cup measurements and/or weighted measurements. American cups and kitchen food scales are handy pieces of equipment to have in your kitchen as it means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog. I try to give American, imperial, and metric measurements in my recipes. Please note, you can mix cup measurements with weighted measurements, but never mix imperial (pounds, ounces, pints, etc.,) with metric (kilograms, grams, litres, etc.,).
More Recipes Using Smoked Salmon
One of the hero ingredients in this dish is smoked salmon, so here are some more recipes using the same:
More Appetizer Recipes
Looking for more party appetizers to make? Check these recipes out next:
- Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers Recipe For A Crowd
- Crispy Zucchini Fries with Marinara Sauce – A Tasty Gluten-Free Appetizer
- This Mango Shrimp Cups Appetizer is Perfect for Parties!
Recipe Tips
- For planning purposes, suggest one cup per guest when using the larger 5-oz. appetizer cups as shown. If desired, smaller 2 or 3-oz. cups or decorative tasting spoons would also work well with this recipe to increase the yield.
How Do I Make Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Cups?
Check out the printable recipe card below with full ingredients and instructions. Any demonstration photos do not print out to save your ink.
Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Cups
Ingredients
- 16 oz 450g cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup heavy cream double cream
- 3 oz smoked salmon chopped
- ¼ cup capers well drained
- Chives for garish
- Crackers to serve
SUGGESTED PRODUCTS
Instructions
- Add the cream cheese and heavy cream to a large bowl and beat for 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Scoop the whipped cream cheese mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe cream cheese into the bottom of each cup until about ¼ full, being sure to fill in the corners. Then add a layer of the chopped smoked salmon and one teaspoon of the drained capers.
- Repeat this process one more time and then conclude with a final layer of whipped cream cheese and one teaspoon of capers on top. Garnish each cup with a couple chives and serve immediately with crackers. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.
Make It A Holiday Dinner!
You’ve made the appetizer, but what about the rest of the courses?
Here are additional recipes to make a full meal for a holiday dinner party!
- Soup: Hearty & Creamy New England Clam Chowder Recipe
- Salad: Iceberg Lettuce Wedge Salad with Bacon & Blue Cheese Dressing
- Main Dish: Amazing Pecan Crusted Pork Chops with a Fresh Plum Sauce
- Side Dish: Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes – A Quick & Tasty Side Dish
- Beverage: Sparkling Pomegranate Cocktail with Citrus Vodka & Lime
- Dessert: Poached Pears with Honey Mascarpone Cream in 30 Minutes!
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy – please feel free to check them out too.