Ah, salmon! When I was growing up in England one of my favorite things was when Mum made Salmon Vol-au-Vents, which only happened on high days and holidays, so I didn’t get them often, but I loved like a little bit harder when I did. Vol-au-Vents are little cups of flaky pastry with a big hole in the middle that you filled with whatever. Mum liked filling them with a creamy salmon mixture. And the memory of my mother’s Salmon Vol-au-Vents is what spurred the making of these Cheesy Salmon Pots. Because I needed the filling without the pastry container. And so do you.
Salmon is highly underrated in the world of keto and low carb, but I’m not sure why. The focus seems to be on all meat all the time, but let me tell you just how fabulous salmon is: VERY, VERY FABULOUS. One of the things that helps make it even more fabulous for me is how different it is when you can it. Canned salmon is like a completely different animal to fresh salmon. Well, OK, a completely different fish then.
I love fresh poached salmon. But I also love canned salmon, and one of the reasons for that is that it doesn’t need cooking. And that it’s storable and portable in a way that fresh salmon just isn’t. There are many a day when dinner involves opening a can of salmon and opening the drawer to get a fork. But I gotta say, I enjoyed eating these Cheesy Salmon Pots even more than I like just eating plain canned salmon. So I encourage you to take the extra few minutes of time and effort and whip these up.
One of the reason that some folks don’t like canned salmon is because of the bones. In these Cheesy Salmon Pots you can handle the bones two ways – you can either remove them or you can just mash them up with the salmon. I highly recommend the latter because the bones are nutritious and because once they’re mashed up with the flesh you won’t know they’re there. Seriously. Have a I ever led you astray?
These Cheesy Salmon Pots keep well in the ‘fridge if covered with plastic wrap or stored in an airtight container, so even for the singles among us we can make the whole batch and eat them over a week – one round of effort for 4 meals.
You can serve these Cheesy Salmon Pots just as they are, or with a lovely green salad on the side. I pretty much just like to get a spoon out of the drawer and dig in.
Cheesy Salmon Pots
Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 0 mins | Total time: 15 mins | Serves: 2
What You Need
- 1 cup / 8 fl oz. chicken stock
- 2 tsp. gelatin (use this for vegetarians and vegans)
- 6 oz. / 170g canned salmon
- 4 oz. / 110g cream cheese
- Sea salt and ground black pepper
- 3 tsp. lemon juice
- ½ oz. / 15g fresh chives, finely chopped
What You Do
- Pour the stock into a small pan and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the surface. Leave to soften for 5 minutes.
- Gently warm the stock and gelatin until the gelatin has completely dissolved.
- Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a bowl, blend the salmon and cream cheese together well.
- Add the sea salt and pepper, lemon juice, and chives.
- Pour the warm stock into the salmon mixture and mix very well until completely combined.
- Spoon into dishes and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set.
Top Recipe Tips
- It is much easier to mix the cream cheese if it has been removed from the fridge for several hours – or preferably overnight – before using. Place in a sealed container on the counter. IF you don’t get the cream cheese out in advance you are going to have to beat the dickens out of it when it comes time to blend it with the salmon. Letting it warm up out of the ‘fridge first will definitely make life easier for you.
- Don’t try and use dried chives in this recipe. You will be sad.
- Different stocks and broths have different levels of salt added, so be sure to taste and adjust accordingly before you spoon the mixture into the dishes.
- Check out the Ingredients Guide for information on ingredients.
- Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?
Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links
- More fish / seafood recipes
- Come laugh and learn with us over at The Kitchen Podcast
- Come hang out in The Keto Kitchen Facebook Group
- For lots more great recipes check out our scrumptious cookbooks!
- Check out the categories and tags at the bottom of the post to help you find more recipes using certain ingredients or from certain categories.
Podcast Episodes and You Tube Videos
Substitutions
- Don’t. Just buy the correct ingredients and you, too, shall have a fabulous outcome!
- You can use canned tuna instead if you prefer it and that’s what you have on hand. The taste will be distinctly different.
VanessaThis sounds delicious, and about as easy as the espresso mousse recipe, which I loved. I giggled at the vegetarian/vegan gelatin option. Wouldn’t they also need a salmon substitute?
MelanieI made these the other day and they were DELICIOUS!! Perhaps a bit too much chives tho..Definitely will make again!