Are you a fan of a good lox bagel sandwich? Piled high… creamy… smoky… messy? Well, this super cost saving recipe is for you! This smoky carrot lox bagel sandwich is:
So loaded
Slathered with creamy dill spread
Piled high with soft, smoky lox
Easy to prepare
And… wait for it… CAD $2.04 per serving!
Are you thinking… “I pay $8.99 to $14.99 for lox and cheese, how does this cost $2“?
It’s all in the carrots!
Is it exactly the same as the salmon lox you’re used to… no. Is it pretty darn close and does it fulfill that craving for a soft, smoky, creamy, messy lox and cheese sandwich… oh yes it does! So for a fraction of the price; we’re all in!
Ingredients
Your Favourite Bagel
Creamy Dill Spread (or hummus works well too)
Cucumber
Smoky Carrot Lox
Fresh Dill
And Our Quick Pickled Red Onion!
Does this seem like a lot to prepare? The beauty is, all the components are best prepared ahead of time.
- The smoky carrot lox is 10 minutes to prep, 25 minutes to bake, and it’s best with a minimum of 2 hours marinating in the fridge.
- The creamy dill spread can be made in 5 minutes while your lox bakes.
- And you’ll still have time to prep your quick pickled onion and slice your cucumber before the carrots come out of the oven.
The instructions are in the recipe below, but if some of the ingredients are new to you… jump to our Smoky Carrot Lox recipe for more info on how to prepare the carrots and a big shout out to Rachel Ama’s cookbook for the inspiration!
And if you’re new to making tofu taste good, jump to our Creamy Dill Spread recipe for all the details there.
Recipe Cost
This recipe makes 6 full sandwiches and costs us roughly: CAD $12.23.
Half a dozen Sesame Montreal Bagels costs us: CAD $3.99
One English Cucumber costs us: CAD $1.50
450g of Smoky Carrot Lox costs us: CAD $2.79
The Creamy Dill Breakfast Spread costs us: CAD $2.49
And a batch of Our Quick Pickled Red Onion costs us: CAD $1.46
That’s CAD $2.04 per loaded lox bagel sandwich!
To make this at home using smoked salmon and cream cheese would cost us approximately: CAD $26.93 ($4.49/serving)
And to buy lox and cheese out, we were paying: CAD $8.99 – $14 per sandwich.
So bite into this loaded carrot lox bagel sandwich and bask in the tasty savings! Let us know if you’ll give it a try in the comments below!
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Carrot Lox Bagel Sandwich You Can’t Help But Love
- Total Time: 40 minutes (plus 2 hour marinating)
- Yield: 6 sandwiches 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A loaded carrot lox bagel sandwich for less than $2! Oh yes! This simple swap offers big creamy, smoky taste and even bigger savings!
Ingredients
- 6 bagels of choice*
- 1 english cucumber*
- Fresh dill*
- optional topping: Quick Pickled Red Onion
- optional topping: hummus in place of creamy dill spread
For the Smoky Lox
- 4–5 large carrots (peeled and sliced thin-not julienned, 450g)*
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
- 1–2 tablespoon dulse flakes (or 2 snack sheets of nori, sliced small)
- 2 tsp liquid smoke
For the Creamy Dill Spread
- 200g extra firm tofu
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice (if doubling the recipe, start by not doubling the lemon juice)
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¾ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp fresh or frozen dill
- ⅛ – ¼ cup non dairy milk (if doubling the recipe, start by not doubling the milk)
- ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
*Fresh ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Wash, peel, and thinly slice your carrots into long strips using a mandoline, vegetable peeler, or cheese slicer. Alternatively, try and cut them by hand as thinly as you can.
- Lay the sliced carrots in an ovenproof casserole dish and sprinkle with salt. Cover with foil or a baking sheet to allow the carrots to steam. Bake for 25 minutes until they are nice and tender. They are soft enough when they are easily pierced with a fork. If the slices were thicker you may need to bake them longer.
- While the carrots bake, make the smoky lox marinade by combining all the ingredients in a shallow dish.
- When the marinade is done, make the dill breakfast spread (if you really really like to slather on the “cheese” consider doubling the recipe but start with the lesser amounts of liquid, taste, and adjust as needed). Add all the ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate ideally for 2 hours or overnight. The spread will thicken nicely as it sits in the fridge.
- When the carrots are done cooking, add them to the dish with the marinade and gently turn them with a spoon or your hands to make sure they all get coated.
- Cover and marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours to strengthen the flavours.
- To serve, toast your bagels and spread the creamy dill spread (or hummus) on each half. With the bottom half of the bagel; lay the thinly sliced cucumber on top of the dill spread, pile on the smoky lox, sprinkle with fresh dill, add the pickled red onion, and cover with the top of the bagel. Dig in!
Notes
*Approximate Cost: CAD $12.23 ($2.04/serving). Vs. at minimum, $26.93 to make at home with smoked salmon and cream cheese. That’s $4.49/serving and if we were to order lox and cheese bagels out, they would cost us: CAD $8.99 – $14.00 each.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Burgers & Sandwiches
- Method: Various
- Cuisine: Jewish
Ted M
Woah. This was deeelicious. I’ve made your carrot lox and had it open faced but adding in the cucumber and topping off the bagel for a sandwich was epic. The lox is so easy to make, this will become a repeat recipe for us for sure.
Kathryn Alexandre
It does feel like it becomes a whole new beast as a sandwich doesn’t it! I agree that it’s pretty epic. You have me craving it again! Enjoy your future sandwiches and thank you for the star rating!