This smoked mackerel salad is a quick and easy recipe ready in under 10 minutes. Combining smoked mackerel fillets with fresh vegetables, Asian noodles and a light soy and lime dressing, it's an easy way to enjoy a fresh and flavourful cold fish salad for lunch or dinner.
Because the mackerel is already cooked, this salad comes together incredibly quickly. Simply stir-fry the vegetables, toss them with noodles and dressing, then add the smoked mackerel on top.
It's also a great way to use up leftover crunchy vegetables from the fridge. Add whatever you have to hand and create a fresh and colourful noodle salad.
Quick Summary. Smoked Mackerel Salad
- Prep time: 5 minutes.
- Cook time: 4 minutes.
- Servings: 4 (can be adjusted in recipe card).
- Key Ingredients: spring onions, mangetout, Asian noodles, smoked mackerel fillets.
- Cooking method: Pan-fry.
- Make ahead: Yes.
- Fridge storage: 3-4 days.
- Freezer storage: No.
Jump to:
- Quick Summary. Smoked Mackerel Salad
- Why This Smoked Mackerel Salad Works
- Ingredients for Smoked Mackerel Salad
- How to use Smoked Mackerel
- Other Fish Options
- Vegetables You Can Add
- Noodle Options
- How to make Smoked Mackerel Salad
- Top Tip
- More Recipes Using Smoked Mackerel
- Sustainability
- How to Store Smoked Mackerel Salad
- FAQs
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Reviews
Why This Smoked Mackerel Salad Works
This recipe is designed to be quick, flexible and full of flavour.
- Ready in under 10 minutes.
- An alternative way to enjoy oily fish.
- Perfect for lunch, dinner or meal prep.
- Easy to adapt with leftover vegetables.
- Can be served warm or cold.
- Relatively cheap compared to other fish so a great budget meal.
- Easy way to add oily fish to your diet.
Ingredients for Smoked Mackerel Salad
This smoked mackerel fillet salad uses simple everyday ingredients.
Key ingredients include:
- Smoked mackerel fillets: already cooked and full of flavour.
- Asian noodles: quick cook noodles make the recipe even faster.
- Spring onions and mangetout: add freshness and crunch.
- Red chilli: optional but adds a gentle heat.
- Soy sauce, lime and garlic: for a light and tangy dressing.
- Fresh coriander(cilantro): to finish the dish.
How to use Smoked Mackerel
Smoked mackerel fillets are already cooked, so they only need to be added at the end of the recipe.
You can either:
- Place the whole fillet on top of the salad, or
- Flake the fish away from the skin and mix it through the noodles.
As a guide, use one fillet per person.
You can buy them in several varieties including:
- Plain smoked mackerel.
- Pepper smoked mackerel.
- Hot smoked mackerel.
All work well in this salad.
Other Fish Options
This is a cold smoked mackerel recipe and it's easy to swap out the mackerel for other varieties of oily fish.
- Tinned (canned) hot smoked mackerel fillets. This makes an excellent budget version.
- Tuna steaks. Just sear over a high heat for 60 seconds on either side.
- Tinned tuna. Flake the tinned or canned tuna into the salad.
- Tinned sardines. Another oily fish that goes well.
- Hot smoked salmon fillets. Not as strong as smoked mackerel.
- Tinned salmon. Another great budget option.
Vegetables You Can Add
A smoked fish noodle salad is a great opportunity to use up leftover crunchy veg.
Good additions include:
- Sugar snap peas (steam or fry)
- Pak choi or bok choy (steam or fry)
- Carrots (raw)
- Courgette / zucchini (steam or fry)
- Bell peppers (red or yellow) (fry)
- Tenderstem broccoli (steam or fry)
- Mushrooms (fry)
- Green beans (steam or fry)
- Cabbage (steam or fry)
- Bean sprouts (fry).
These vegetables work well as they will stay crisp and fresh.
Noodle Options
I've used 'straight to wok' Asian noodles in this recipe because they can simply be stirred into the pan with the vegetables. You can also use:
- Egg noodles
- Rice noodles
- Wholewheat noodles
Just cook them according to the packet instructions before adding them to the pan.
How to make Smoked Mackerel Salad
If you need to make this salad gluten free, simply use gluten-free soy sauce.
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Step 1: Vegetables
Add the oil to a frying pan and fry the spring onions, red chilli and mangetout for around 2 minutes.
If you are using dried noodles, cook them according to the packet instructions.
Step 2: Sauce
Mix the soy sauce, garlic and lime juice together with a few tablespoons of water.
Step 3: Noodles
Add the Asian noodles and the sauce to the pan and stir everything together for around 2 minutes.
Step 4: Serve
Serve the smoked mackerel fillet over the top of the noodle salad.
Finish with fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) and the remaining lime cut into wedges.
See recipe card for quantites.
Top Tip
Smoked mackerel has a rich flavour, so balance it with fresh ingredients such as lime juice, crunchy vegetables and herbs like coriander (cilantro) or parsley. This keeps the salad light while still letting the smoked flavour of the fish come through.
More Recipes Using Smoked Mackerel
Smoked mackerel is already cooked, which makes it perfect for quick meals. Other easy recipes include:
Sustainability
Choosing sustainable fish is important to help protect fish stocks. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) provides guidance on which fish come from sustainable sources.
Look out for the blue MSC logo when buying fish.
Several ingredients in this smoked fish salad are also available as Fairtrade, including:
- Groundnut (peanut) oil.
- Asian noodles.
- Limes.
Buying Fairtrade products helps support some of the world's poorest farmers and promotes more sustainable farming practices.
How to Store Smoked Mackerel Salad
This smoked fish salad is best eaten fresh but will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Store it in an airtight container to prevent the strong aroma of smoked fish spreading in the fridge.
Smoked mackerel filletscan be frozen for up to three months. After three months, the texture may start to change, but it will still be safe to eat.
The smoked mackerel salad is not suitable for freezing.
FAQs
Yes. Smoked mackerel salad is delicious served either warm or cold, making it perfect for packed lunches or meal prep.
Smoked mackerel is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for heart and brain health. It is also high in protein and vitamins such as vitamin D and B12.
One smoked mackerel fillet per person is usually enough for a main meal when served with noodles and vegetables.
Once opened, smoked mackerel fillets are best eaten within 2-3 days. Store in an airtight container to prevent the smell from permeating into other foods in your fridge.
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📖 Recipe
Smoked Mackerel Salad. Simple 10 Minute Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground nut oil Fairtrade available
- 8 spring onions trimmed and sliced
- 1 red chilli de-seeded and finely sliced
- 200 g mangetout trimmed and sliced lengthways
- 600 g straight to wok noodles or other noodles. Fairtrade available
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce (use gluten free if necessary)
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
- 2 limes juice of half the limes. Fairtrade available
- 4 smoked mackerel fillets MSC certified, skinned and broken into large flakes
- 10 g fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves chopped
Instructions
- Add the oil to a frying pan and fry the spring onions, red chilli and mangetout for around 2 minutes.If you are using dried noodles, cook them according to the packet instructions.1 tablespoon ground nut oil, 8 spring onions, 1 red chilli, 200 g mangetout
- Mix the soy sauce, garlic and lime juice together with a few tablespoons of water.2 tablespoon light soy sauce, 2 garlic cloves, 2 limes
- Add the noodles and the sauce to the pan and stir everything together for around 2 minutes.600 g straight to wok noodles
- Serve the smoked mackerel fillet over the top of the noodle salad. Finish with fresh coriander leaves and the remaining lime cut into wedges.4 smoked mackerel fillets, 10 g fresh coriander (cilantro)
Notes
Tips
- Smoked mackerel fillets are already cooked so just add the entire fillet either whole or flake the fish and mix together with the noodles. I would use one fillet per person.
- You can buy plain smoked mackerel fillets or hot smoked or peppered. Use whichever you fancy.
- A noodle salad is a great opportunity to use up any leftover crunchy vegetables that don't require much cooking. I've used spring onions and mangetout but you could also use sugar snap peas, pak choi or bok choy, carrots, courgette, peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, green beans, cabbage or bean sprouts.
- If you need to make this dish gluten free, remember you can buy gluten free soy sauce.
- I've used 'Straight to Wok' noodles in this recipe as they just need stirring into the vegetables in the pan and allow the dish to be cooked in just 5 minutes. You can of course use any other type of Asian noodles, just follow the packet cooking instructions
Storage
This smoked mackerel salad is best eaten fresh but will keep in the fridge for 3 - 4 days and is great for leftovers. Store in an airtight container. Smoked mackerel fillets can be frozen for 3-4 months but the salad is not suitable for freezing.Nutrition per serving
The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.
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