Smoked Salmon Tartines

Smoked salmon tartines are a quick an easy idea for breakfast, lunch or a snack.

These open faced smoked salmon sandwiches are great for entertaining as they make a perfect appetiser or canapé too!

Simple to make in minutes, and with lots of variations, this is an easy recipe for a quick and luxurious bite to eat.

Read on to see how easy these are and more ideas for your next tartines too.

Bon appétit!   

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• 🥙 Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• 🍣 Storage
• 📋 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Much as I love cooking, there are times when there are just not enough hours in the day for a complicated breakfast.

These tartines are perfect for Christmas morning, breakfast in bed or any time when you need a little luxury without too much fuss.

Tartine is the French term for a slice of bread. After all, at its simplest, a typical French breakfast is normally a piece of bread. It's often spread with jam or just dipped in hot chocolate.

It's now often known as an open sandwich, mostly on toasted bread, with a spreadable topping. For me, it's better than a sandwich, as its less filling than a sandwich with two slices of bread.

Even better, the variations are endless!

❤️ Why you will love this dish

• Perfect snack for any time of day.
• Ready in less than 10 minutes.
• Great for entertaining.
• Endless variations.

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🥘 Ingredients

• Bread - use a thicker sliced bread than sandwich bread so it can hold the toppings, such as a crusty loaf or tiger loaf.
• Cream cheese - low fat or full fat cream cheese.
• Smoked salmon - thinly sliced, so that you can drape it over the tartine.
• Capers - pickled capers from a jar
• Lemon - fresh lemon zest for flavour, which won't make the cheese too runny like juice would.
• Chives - fresh chives
• Mustard - wholegrain French mustard for tang and texture.

The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.

🍽 Equipment

• sharp knife
• fine grater for zesting

🔪 Instructions

Slice the bread to about 1 centimetre or half an inch thick.

Toast both sides of the bread and allow to cool.

Mix the cream cheese with half of the chopped chives and the mustard.

Spread the cheese mixture over the toasts.

Arrange the smoked salmon over the tartine.

For decorative effect it is best to drape the slices.

Garnish with the remaining chives, lemon zest and capers.

Cut into halves or quarters and enjoy!

💭 Top Tip

• If you want to serve the smoked salmon tartines as canapés, cut the bread into squares or fingers before adding the salmon, for easier cutting.

🥗 Side Dishes

Serve as a breakfast on its own or with:

• Savoury Bread and Butter pudding
• Baked Potatoes with Bacon and Egg
• Croissants
• Derbyshire Oatcakes
• Madeleines

Serve at a brunch gathering with:

• Quail Scotch eggs
• Buckwheat galettes
• Kedgeree
• Haslet
• Quiche Lorraine
• Game Terrine
• Onion Tarte Tatin
• Tomato and Courgette Soup
• Seafood Bisque
• French Onion Soup
• Tarte Flambée

🥙 Substitutions

• Smoked salmon - use smoked trout or anchovies instead.
• Cream cheese - use crème fraîche or soured cream as an alternative.
• Bread - slices of toasted baguettes, brown bread, bagels or Kentish huffkins would work.

📖 Variations

Although smoked salmon is delicious there are so many other variations to try.

• Goat cheese - soft goat cheese topped with Parma ham and fig slices.
• Stilton - mashed Stilton or other blud cheese topped with thin sliced beef.
• Egg - mashed with mayonnaise and topped with cress.
• Pâté - such as chicken liver parfait, topped with sliced cornichons.
• Tuna - mixed with mayonnaise and topped with cucumber slices
• Pork - pork rillettes with onion chutney.
• Herbs - use tarragon, dill or parsley in place of the chives.
• Mustard - swap for a teaspoon of creamed horseradish.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - keep the tartines in the fridge for up to 3 days. However, the toast will become soft.
• Freezer - not recommended as the bread will become soft from the moisture in the cheese.

Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais

More recipes using smoked salmon

• Smoked Salmon Canapés
• Salmon Timbales
• Smoked Salmon Mousse with Avocado
• Smoked Salmon Mac and Cheese
• Smoked Salmon Pâté 

📋 Recipe

More light bites to try

🍲 Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.