Smoked Fish Dip

Smoked Fish DipI had never tried smoked fish dip until I started dating Tavis.  I found out early on, he impulsively orders any fish dip he sees, on his self proclaimed pilgrimage.  His goal is to talk the chef out of the recipe and create his own ultimate fish dip.

When I would see fish dip on a menu, I would skim right over it and on to the next appetizer.  I treated it with the same disdain as escargot or raw oysters, it was just not for me. So I was a little put off when Tavis insisted that we order it on one of our first dates.  I know what you are thinking ladies… he sure does know how to treat a lady right… but he is taken!!

So Tavis ordered a Smoked Wahoo Dip, and after convincing me that it was not raw fish, I gave it a try… and was hooked (no pun intended). Since then, we order smoked fish dip whenever we get the opportunity.  Being from Florida and now living in the Caribbean, we frequently fish and usually have a good stock pile in our freezer (Wahoo, Dolphin, Snapper, Tuna, Hog or whatever else edible we catch).

For this recipe you can use the fish that you smoke or you can purchase pre-smoked fish at many local supermarkets.  We smoke the fish on our Big Green Egg. Here is what you will need for the dip:

1-2 lbs smoked fish of your choice
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of cream cheese
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
3-4 stalks of green onion
The above recipe uses a 2:2:1 ration of sour cream, cream cheese and mayo, if you are making a large batch use this ratio to increase the batch of dip. 

Toppings we like:

Club crackers (or corn tortilla chips if you want it to be gluten free)
tabasco sauce (or pepper sauce of choice)
finely chopped red onion
lemon wedges for squeezing juice

So after your smoked fish is cooled, shred it by hand, making sure that all the bones are removed. In a food processor add sour cream, cream cheese and mayo. Play with it until you get a flavor that you like, I try to avoid adding too much mayo.

After you get a flavor that works for you, add 3-4 stalks of green onions, and process again. Try not to over process it, I like to leave a little texture to the onions. Add salt and pepper to taste, sometimes I add a little Tony’s Creole seasoning, but be careful because it is really salty.

Start off with only a cup of your wet mixture and mix it into the shredded fish with a spoon, mix very well. Add a tablespoon more as needed, but do not add too much. You should be adding just enough to make it moist and get it to stick together but you don’t want it to be all soupy.

If Possible, make the dip the day before or at least that morning. When you give the different flavors time to mingle and chill in the fridge, it significantly increases the overall flavor of the dip (we prefer eating this dip on the second day).

We love this stuff so much that we have developed a little ritual when we eat; first taste some of the dip on a plain cracker (such as a club cracker or a saltine) this is just so you can see how the dip turned out. Next time you fix a cracker with some dip, add a little shredded red onion, a dash of pepper sauce and a squeeze of lemon, Tavis also prefers some tabasco…

Smoked Fish Dip table afterwardsThis is a great dish with beer or wine, some other appetizers and some friends and family. On our last trip home we made it for everybody and the appetizer turned into dinner, we never cooked the steak (see above picture of aftermath).

On the same recent trip to Florida, we got the chance to order fish dip from several different restaurants. On the left is Smoked Wahoo Dip from the Islamorda Fish Company. Notice how it is not over processed and you can see lots of fish. The picture on the right is from another restaurant where we didn’t finish the fish dip… Since fish is an expensive ingredient, some restaurants will cut their dip with extra mayo or other other less pricy ingredients and over process, notice how wet the dip on the right looks.

Smoked Fish Dip from Restaurants

Smoked Fish Dip
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
 
Ingredients
  • 1-2 pounds of fish (wahoo, yellowfin or ahi tuna, mahi mahi, or red snapper)
  • ½ cup Sour Cream
  • ½ cup Cream Cheese
  • ¼ cup Mayo
  • salt and peper to taste
  • 2-3 stalks of green onions
  • Serve with Club crackers, diced red onion, lemon wedges and hot sauce
Instructions
  1. Shred the smoked fish
  2. Combine sour cream, cream cheese and mayo in a food processor
  3. After wet ingredients are combined, add green onions and lightly process
  4. Add salt and pepper to taste
  5. Chill for 2 hours or more
  6. Serve with Club crackers, diced red onion, lemon wedges and hot sauce

 

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Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing over at Merry Mondays link party. Oh to be able to eat dairy! -Treana @ houseofbennetts.com

    • Ashley says:

      Thanks for stoping by, I’m not sure what I would do if I couldn’t eat dairy! Are there some substitutes that you might be able to use to recreate dishes like this?

      • Typically yes. Anything with butter I can do, but cream cheese is totally out. :( Womp womp. There are quite a few places in Denver that do dairy-free/vegan cheese on pizzas so that has been a life saver. (Daiya, is the only way to go). I thought the same thing, but here I am 3 years without dairy and doing JUST FINE!

        • Ashley says:

          That’s great that their are restaurants that have vegan Cheese! I have noticed more and more places offering dairy free and gluten free options for people with dietary restrictions. I bet I would benefit from going dairy free for a while but I doubt I would have the will power. Good Luck!

  2. I am pinning this. I have always loved the dip made from smoked mullet but I am going to try making this with whatever fish I have in the freezer. Thanks

    • Ashley says:

      That is the beauty of this recipe, it works great with a lot of different fish. Let me know what you think if you try it!

  3. That sounds really delicious. I have never had fish dip before but I know this would be amazing. I am going to try this. I might try it with smoked salmon, just because I have some. Thanks!

    • Ashley says:

      Heather, I bet the salmon would be delicious! Let me know how you like it!

  4. I like your husband already! Yay for fish dip! We are always trying to find a good recipe to make our own. Probably some of the best fish dip is found in the Florida Keys – Snooks in Key Largo or Hogfish Grill in Stock Island – I’d love to get their recipes. I’ll definitely be trying this one soon! Thanks for sharing on Cast Party Wednesday.

    • Ashley says:

      I LOVE the keys and I think that I might have eaten at HogFish Grill… but it has been a while. We have family that live in the keys so we try to make it down there a few times a year. There are so many DELICIOUS restaurants down there

  5. Wow does this look amazing! I found you over at the Cast Party Wednesday link party. I host Tickle My Tastebuds Tuesday and would love it if you linked up this recipe. I’m sure our party goers would love it as much as I do. Here is the link http://bit.ly/1l4cu0j. Have a wonderful day!!

    • Ashley says:

      Thanks for stoping by Lori, and thanks for the invite! I just stopped by and added the Smoked Fish Dip to your link up! Can’t wait to join up again next week!

  6. Jessi Fearon (@thebudgetmama) says:

    Oh my! This looks so delicious. I can not wait to try it! What a perfect dip for summer.

  7. This dip sounds great. I love fish…and fishing. Thanks for sharing this with great Idea thursdays. I’m featuring this.

    • Ashley says:

      Thanks for the feature Joybee! Let me know how you like if when you give it a try.

  8. Oh, now this looks amazing! Wish I were there to have a bite or two. Thanks for linking up at Wonderful Wed Blog Hop. Carrie, A Mother’s Shadow

  9. The smoked fish dip looks sooo good. I’ve made smoked salmon dip before, but never tried other fish. Love your cute fish serving dish, too. Visiting from Anything Blue Friday.

  10. This looks yummy! Pinned! Thanks for being a part of our party. Please join us tonight at 7 pm. We love having you! http://loulougirls.blogspot.com
    Happy Monday! Lou Lou Girls

  11. Monica says:

    Looks delicious! And I have just the smoked salmon to use in it. Thanks!

  12. Jack says:

    There is a guy in fortLauderdale that makes the best fish dip
    In the world….954-729-xxxx

Trackbacks

  1. […] of all, this Smoked Fish Dip from Leaving the Rut looks super easy to make and sounds like the perfect starter to any […]

  2. […] many people would be interested in our travels, antics and our collection of recipes, except for my smoked fish dip :). But we are growing, and during the holiday season, we are getting a lot of traffic on one post […]

  3. […] of all, this Smoked Fish Dip from Leaving the Rut looks super easy to make and sounds like the perfect starter to any […]

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