Smoked Salmon and Avocado Breakfast Bowl with Soft-Boiled Egg
This is Adam's most-requested weekend breakfast, and it's barely a recipe, it's an assembly job. We started making it on mornings after a trail run in the hills above the Bay Area, back when ten minutes of assembly felt like cooking. Silky smoked salmon, ripe avocado, a jammy soft-boiled egg with a yolk that runs when you cut into it, pickled red onion for acidity, capers for brine, cucumber ribbons for crunch, and everything-bagel seasoning because it makes everything better. The whole thing comes together in about five minutes once the egg is boiled and the pickled onion is ready. It looks like something you'd pay twenty-two dollars for at a brunch spot in the Marina, and it takes less time to make than it does to wait for a table.
- PRO
- GF
- DF
- PF
- ≤30
Calories ~310 · Protein ~19g · Carbs ~10g · Fat ~22g
Ingredients
For the bowls:
- 4 ounces wild-caught smoked salmon (cold-smoked or hot-smoked, your preference)
- 1 large ripe avocado, halved, pitted, and sliced
- 2 large eggs
- ½ English cucumber, shaved into thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler
- 2 tablespoons pickled red onion (see note below)
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained
- 1 tablespoon everything-bagel seasoning
- 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup mixed greens or arugula (optional, for a bed)
Quick pickled red onion:
- ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Method
- Make the pickled red onion (if you don't have some on hand): Combine the sliced red onion, apple cider vinegar, warm water, maple syrup, and salt in a small jar. Shake well and let sit for at least 20–30 minutes. The 15-minute version works in a pinch but will be sharply tart; the onion mellows beautifully after an hour. These keep for 2 weeks in the fridge, so make a big batch and thank yourself later.
- Bring a small saucepan of water to a rolling boil. Gently lower the eggs into the water with a slotted spoon. Boil for exactly 7 minutes for a jammy, just-set yolk. Start the eggs while the pickled onion sits to run both steps in parallel. Transfer immediately to an ice bath for at least 3–5 minutes, or until cool enough to handle, then peel carefully.
- Divide the mixed greens (if using) between two bowls. Arrange the smoked salmon and sliced avocado on top.
- Halve the soft-boiled eggs and place them in the bowls, yolk-side up. Scatter the cucumber ribbons, pickled red onion, and capers around the bowls.
- Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle generously with everything-bagel seasoning and black pepper, and serve immediately.
Variations & Notes
- Vegan Swap: Replace the egg with half an avocado (so a full avocado per bowl) and the smoked salmon with marinated, thinly sliced smoked tofu or roasted beet slices for that silky texture.
- Extra Hungry: Serve over a base of cooked quinoa or farro. Or add a slice of toasted sourdough on the side for scooping.
- Substitutions: Smoked trout works beautifully in place of salmon. If you can't find everything-bagel seasoning, mix equal parts sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried garlic flakes, and dried onion flakes with a pinch of flaky salt. For strict paleo, choose hot-smoked salmon; many cold-smoked varieties contain added sugar in the cure.
- Food Safety: Two honest caveats on this bowl. Refrigerated smoked salmon — hot- or cold-smoked — can carry Listeria, which keeps growing in the fridge, so the FDA's advice for anyone pregnant is to skip refrigerated smoked seafood unless it's cooked into a hot dish; canned or shelf-stable salmon is the safe stand-in here. And the 7-minute jammy yolk is a soft-cooked egg: per FDA guidance, cook it to a fully set yolk (10–11 minutes) for anyone pregnant, very young, older, or immunocompromised.
- Storage: This is a make-and-eat-now situation. Nothing about a cut avocado and a soft-boiled egg improves with time.