Gravlax (Gravad Lax)
By Middagsarkivet
- Easy
- 8 servings
The name comes from grav, grave, and lax, salmon: fishermen once salted salmon and buried it in the sand to ferment, a preservation trick from long before refrigerators. What is sold as gravlax today is a much gentler, much faster descendant of that method, a dry cure of salt, sugar, and dill that firms the fish and seasons it through without any fermentation at all.
It is standard on the Swedish julbord and shows up on Danish and Norwegian Christmas and New Year's tables just as often, always sliced thin and always with a sweet-sharp mustard-dill sauce on the side. Outside the Nordic countries it became, more than any other dish, the thing people meant when they said 'Nordic cuisine,' partly because it travels well and partly because it looks impressive for something a home cook can do in a fridge over a weekend.
There is no cooking involved, which means the curing time does the actual work. Plan for it two to three days ahead of when you want to eat it, not two to three hours.
How to make it
- 1
Check the salmon
Pat the fillets dry with paper towels and run a hand over the flesh to check for any remaining pin bones, pulling them with tweezers or pliers.
- 2
Mix the cure
In a small bowl, stir together the salt, sugar, and crushed black pepper.
- 3
Season the fillets
Lay both fillets skin-side down and rub the cure evenly over the flesh side of each, pressing it in. Drizzle with the vodka if using.
- 4
Pack with dill and sandwich the fillets
Scatter the chopped dill over one fillet, then place the second fillet on top, flesh side down against the dill, so the two skin sides face out and the fish forms one thick block.
- 5
Wrap and weight it down
Wrap the salmon tightly in plastic wrap, set it in a shallow dish to catch any liquid, and weight it down with a couple of heavy cans or a smaller dish filled with something heavy.
- 6
Cure in the refrigerator
Refrigerate, turning the whole package over every 12 hours so the cure and the liquid it draws out reach both sides evenly.
- 7
Unwrap and scrape off the cure
Unwrap the salmon, pour off the liquid, and scrape away the dill and any wet cure clinging to the surface. Pat the fillets dry.
- 8
Slice thin
Using a long, sharp knife, slice the salmon on a sharp angle away from the skin into thin sheets, leaving the skin behind.
A couple of tips
Choose fillets that are close to the same thickness so they cure evenly when sandwiched together.
Don't skip the weight: it presses out moisture and keeps the two fillets in full contact with the dill.
A half hour in the freezer right before slicing firms the fish up and makes thin, even slices much easier to cut.
What you need
- plastic wrap
- a shallow dish to catch liquid
- a couple of heavy cans or another weight
- a long, sharp slicing knife
Serving
Serve thin slices on dark rye bread with a mustard-dill sauce, or on a platter with boiled potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and extra dill for a Christmas or New Year's spread.
Storing it
Wrapped tightly in plastic, cured gravlax keeps in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Sliced or whole, it also freezes well for up to 2 months; thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 240 kcal |
|---|---|
| Fat | 15 g |
| of which saturated | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 1 g |
| of which sugars | 1 g |
| Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 23 g |
| Salt | 2 g |
Questions and answers
- Can you freeze gravlax?
- Yes. Freeze it whole or already sliced, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 months, and thaw it in the refrigerator before serving.
- Do I need to use frozen salmon?
- Yes, because gravlax is never cooked, the salmon needs to have been frozen first to kill any parasites; ask your fishmonger for previously frozen or sushi-grade fish.
- How long does gravlax keep in the fridge?
- Once cured and unwrapped, it keeps for up to 5 days tightly wrapped in the refrigerator.
- Can I make gravlax ahead of a party?
- That's the point of it: cure it two to three days before you plan to serve it, then slice it just before guests arrive.
- What do I serve with gravlax?
- Dark rye bread, a sweet mustard-dill sauce, boiled potatoes, and hard-boiled eggs are the classic accompaniments.
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- $0.133
- 2 min 4 sec
- 5
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 2026 | Wrote the recipe | anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 | 6,455 in · 6,663 out tokens | 1 min 15 sec | $0.080 |
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