Beetroot Cured Salmon (Gravlax)

Beetroot-cured salmon gravlax is my favourite way to bring a bit of Scandinavian flavour to the table. Curing the salmon with beetroot does two lovely things: it stains the edges a deep ruby colour, and it adds a gentle earthy sweetness that sits beautifully against the rich fish.

It looks like a real centrepiece but it is mostly hands-off, the salmon does its work in the fridge over a couple of days. I serve it thinly sliced with a crisp fennel slaw. Try it with some Beetroot Kvass Recipe on the side for a proper beetroot spread. Smacznego!

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What Is Gravlax

Gravlax is the Scandinavian way of curing salmon in salt, sugar and dill. The name comes from the Swedish gravad lax, “buried salmon”, from the old days when fishermen would bury the fish near the shore to cure it.

The burying and fermenting are long gone; now it is simply salt, sugar and time in the fridge, which is exactly what makes it such an easy thing to do at home. Cooks flavour it all sorts of ways, and this version leans on beetroot for that gorgeous ruby edge. Slice it thin and it goes with almost anything.

What the Cure Is Doing

Curing is two ingredients and time. The salt draws water out of the flesh by osmosis, which concentrates the flavour and leaves less free water for bacteria to work in. It also does something you can feel in the slice: salt dissolves myosin, the main contracting protein in the muscle, and that is what gives cured salmon its dense, silky texture and lets you cut it so thin.

The sugar is not only there for sweetness. It softens the edge of the salt so the fish tastes seasoned rather than salty, and it holds a little moisture back, which keeps the flesh supple instead of drying it out. My cure runs salt-heavier than sugar, at 120 g to 70 g, which is where most gravlax recipes I compared sit.

Time is the third ingredient. Twelve to twenty-four hours gives a softer, milder result; thirty-six to forty-eight is firmer and more pronounced, which is what I am after. Past that it keeps getting saltier rather than better, so four days is the outer limit rather than a target.

The weight is worth using. It presses the cure into contact with every part of the surface, squeezes out the liquid the salt is drawing off, and compacts the flesh, so a weighted side slices more cleanly than an unweighted one. A couple of tins on a plate is plenty.

The gin or vodka is optional in the sense that the cure works without it, but alcohol dissolves aromatic compounds that water does not, so it carries the juniper and coriander further into the fish than they would otherwise go. Gin does this twice over, since it is already juniper-flavoured.

Dill, or the Pine Needles That Came First

Fresh dill is the standard flavouring now, and it is what I use. It is worth knowing that it is probably a stand-in: the original Scandinavian cure used pine needles, and a resinous, faintly citrus note against oily fish is a genuinely good idea rather than a curiosity.

If you want to try it, tuck a small handful of needles under and over the fillet along with the dill, crushing them lightly first to release the oils. Use fewer than you think, or the resin takes over.

One caution, because this is the one ingredient here you might pick yourself. Only use a conifer you can identify with certainty, from a tree that has not been sprayed. Yew is poisonous and grows in a great many British gardens and churchyards. If you are not certain what the tree is, use the dill.

Which Salt to Use

Use coarse sea salt or kosher salt, and weigh it. My cure is 120 g of salt to 70 g of sugar, and once you are weighing rather than spooning, grain size stops mattering nearly as much as people say it does.

That is worth saying plainly, because the usual explanation is the wrong way round. Fine table salt is the densest of the lot and is actually the slowest to dissolve, not the fastest. What makes it a poor choice for curing is what is mixed into it: standard table salt can carry up to two per cent anti-caking additives, which do not dissolve readily and can bring a slight taste of their own, which is exactly why salts sold for pickling leave them out.

Iodised salt is worth avoiding too, though again not for the reason usually given. Iodide reacts with the chlorine in tap water and can throw a faint seaweed-like smell, which is the last thing you want sitting against fish for two days.

Where grain size does matter is measuring. A spoon of coarse flakes holds far less salt than the same spoon of fine grains, so swapping one for the other by volume is how gravlax ends up either bland or inedible. Weighing sidesteps the whole problem.

Equipment You’ll Need

Curing asks for patience more than gear, but these four help.

A Closer Look at the Ingredients

The cure is five things and the slaw is six, and none of it is hard to find.

• Salmon A kilo side, trimmed, and I take the skin off before curing so the cure meets the flesh on every face. Buy it as fresh as you can and read the sourcing note below before you decide which salmon to use.
• Salt and sugar 120 g of coarse salt to 70 g of sugar. This is the cure, and the ratio is what decides how the finished fish tastes.
• Beetroot 200 g raw, peeled and diced. It gives the ruby edge and a mild earthy sweetness that suits oily fish.
• Dill A generous handful. The classic Nordic partner to salmon, and the flavour most people expect from gravlax.
• Gin or vodka Three tablespoons. It carries the spice into the fish; gin adds its own juniper on top.
• Coriander, pepper and juniper The spice trio. Lightly crushed rather than ground, so they perfume the cure without gritting the surface.
• For the slaw Fennel, red onion, carrot, mayonnaise, Dijon or English mustard and the zest and juice of a lemon. Sharp and crunchy, which is what the rich fish wants beside it.

How to Make Beetroot Cured Salmon, Step by Step

The cure does almost all of it in the fridge. These eight steps are the same eight on the recipe card, with the reasons written in.

1. Make the beetroot cure. Put 200 g of peeled, diced beetroot into a food processor with 70 g of sugar, 120 g of coarse salt, 40 ml of gin or vodka, 2 teaspoons of coriander seeds, 2 teaspoons of black peppercorns and a teaspoon of juniper berries. Blitz for about fifteen seconds. You are after a coarse, wet rubble rather than a smooth puree: the pieces of spice should still be visible, and the mixture should be damp enough to hold together when you squeeze it. Raw beetroot is dense and this is hard work for a small processor, so do it in two goes if the motor starts to labour, and expect the bowl to stain. No processor is not a problem, grate the beetroot on the coarse side of a box grater and stir everything together by hand.
2. Line the dish. Find a dish that the side of salmon lies flat in, with straight sides rather than a curved bowl, and line it with a double layer of cling film left long enough to fold right over the fish. Two days of curing draws a surprising amount of liquid out, and the lining is what keeps that liquid pressed against the salmon instead of running away into the dish. A roasting tin or a large plastic tub does the job as well as anything.
3. Bury the salmon in the cure. Spread half the cure on the cling film in roughly the shape and size of the fillet, then lay the salmon on top. Pack the rest over the fish, pressing it down the sides so no bare flesh is showing anywhere. This is the step people rush. Anywhere the cure is not touching, the fish will not cure, and you will see it later as a pale soft patch in an otherwise firm side.
4. Wrap it, weigh it down and wait. Fold the cling film over tightly and press out the air. Sit a plate on top with a couple of tins on it, and refrigerate for 48 hours. Turn the parcel over every twelve hours if you can, so the brine that collects washes back over both faces. The weight is not fussiness: it holds the cure in contact with the flesh, presses out the liquid the salt is drawing off, and compacts the fish so it slices cleanly.
5. Rinse, rest and slice. Unwrap it over the sink and rinse all the cure off under cold water, which takes longer than you expect around the thick end. Pat it thoroughly dry, then wrap it in fresh cling film and give it a few hours back in the fridge before you slice it. That rest lets the salt even out through the fish, so the outside stops tasting sharper than the middle. When you come to slice, twenty or thirty minutes in the freezer firms the surface and makes it far easier. Use the longest sharp knife you own, hold it at a shallow angle almost flat to the board, and draw it through in one long stroke rather than sawing. Aim away from where the skin was, so each slice comes off wide with the ruby edge running along it. A blunt knife tears cured salmon rather than cutting it, and there is no recovering the slice once it has torn.
6. Make the slaw dressing. Whisk the mayonnaise with the mustard and the zest and juice of one lemon until it is smooth and pourable. Taste it now while you can still fix it: it should be sharper than feels comfortable on a spoon, because the fennel and carrot will soften it considerably and the salmon beside it is rich and salty.
7. Cut the slaw vegetables. Slice the fennel and the red onions as thinly as you can manage, and cut the carrot into matchsticks or grate it coarsely. Thin matters here: fennel cut thick stays woody and refuses to take up any dressing, where fine slices go tender and sweet in minutes. A mandoline earns its keep, carefully. Keep the bowl dry and undressed until the last minute.
8. Dress it and serve. Pour the dressing over and toss until everything is coated, and do this just before it goes to the table rather than in advance. Salt and acid pull water straight out of fennel, so a slaw dressed early sits in a puddle and goes limp. Pile the gravlax alongside, scatter over the dill and the nigella seeds, and that is it. Smacznego!

Recipe Card for Gravlax

🍴 What to serve with gravlax. The fennel slaw on the card is how I serve it, but thin slices go on almost anything: rye or sourdough with soured cream and capers, folded through scrambled eggs, on a bagel with cream cheese and cucumber, or laid over boiled new potatoes with a dill and mustard sauce in the Scandinavian way. Sliced red onion and a squeeze of lemon suit it wherever it lands.

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Storing and Freezing Gravlax

Once it is cured and rinsed, keep it tightly wrapped in the fridge and eat it within about five days. It is raw fish that has been firmed and seasoned rather than cooked, so the cure buys it time rather than making it keep indefinitely.

It freezes well, and freezing whole beats freezing slices: wrap the piece tightly, freeze for up to three months, and thaw it overnight in the fridge before slicing. Slices frozen loose stick together and tear apart when you separate them.

Trust your nose over the calendar. Gravlax should smell clean and faintly of the sea. Anything sour, ammoniac or sulphurous means it goes in the bin, whatever day of the week it is.

FAQ for Beetroot Cured Salmon

How long does the salmon need to cure?

Usually 24 to 48 hours in the fridge under a light weight. The longer it cures, the firmer and more intense it gets - 24 hours gives a softer, milder result, 48 a firmer, saltier one.

Is it safe to eat salmon that is not cooked?

It depends on the fish, and this is worth getting right. Curing firms and seasons salmon, it does not kill parasites. Under UK and EU rules, fish eaten raw or almost raw has to be frozen first - at least 24 hours at -20°C - but farmed Atlantic salmon raised in cages or tanks on compound feed is specifically exempt, because the parasite risk is negligible. That covers the ordinary farmed salmon most British supermarkets sell, which is what I use. Wild-caught or unknown-provenance salmon is not exempt: buy it sashimi-grade, or previously frozen, or freeze it yourself first. Worth knowing that a domestic freezer often runs at about -18°C rather than -20°C, so it is slower and less certain than the rule assumes.

How long does gravlax keep?

About five days, tightly wrapped in the fridge. It freezes well for up to three months, and it is better to freeze the piece whole and slice it after thawing than to freeze the slices, which stick together and tear.

What do I serve it with?

Classic partners are rye or sourdough bread, a dill-mustard sauce, capers, thinly sliced red onion and a spoon of creme fraiche.

Why beetroot?

The beetroot in the cure adds an earthy sweetness and, beautifully, stains the outer edge of the salmon a deep ruby red, so each slice has a striking pink border.

A Few Words from the Chef

This is my Beetroot Cured Salmon, a Nordic appetiser that works at any time of the year.