Roasting the carrots whole before they ever touch the marinade is what makes this vegan smoked salmon work. A raw carrot ribbon stays crunchy no matter how long it soaks, but a roasted carrot turns silky and supple, so it drapes over a bagel and drinks up the smoky marinade the way you want it to.
The marinade itself is a short list with one job each. Tamari brings the salty depth, rice vinegar brings the brightness, maple syrup rounds the edges, liquid smoke brings the smokehouse note, and torn nori brings the faint ocean background. Four hours in the fridge is the minimum, overnight is better, and the ribbons keep for days once they are done.
Vegan Smoked Salmon
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Rub the whole scrubbed carrots with the olive oil and salt, wrap them together loosely in foil, and roast directly on the oven rack until completely tender when pierced with a knife, 30 to 40 minutes depending on thickness. Unwrap and let them cool until you can handle them.
- Using a vegetable peeler, shave the cooled carrots lengthwise into long thin ribbons. Discard the woody core ends if they resist the peeler, and don't worry if a few ribbons tear, shorter pieces cure just as well.
- Whisk the soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup, liquid smoke, and olive oil in a shallow dish. Add the carrot ribbons, the torn nori pieces, and the cracked pepper, and turn everything gently so every ribbon is coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, turning once or twice if you think of it.
- Lift the ribbons out of the marinade with a fork, letting the excess drip off, and pick out and discard the nori pieces. Serve on bagels with vegan cream cheese, capers, and dill. Keep any leftovers in the marinade in a sealed jar in the fridge.
Notes
How it gets smoky without any fish
Nobody is going to mistake a carrot for the ocean on its own, so the flavor here is layered rather than faked. Liquid smoke does the obvious work, but it only tastes right when the other pieces hold it up: tamari for salty depth, rice vinegar for the bright cured tang, maple syrup to round the sharp edges, and nori steeped in the marinade for the faint briny background that reads as seafood-adjacent.
Texture does the other half. Roasting whole carrots in foil steams them in their own moisture, which is why they turn supple instead of waterlogged the way boiled carrots do. Shaving them thin after roasting gives you ribbons with real drape, and thin ribbons absorb the marinade all the way through instead of staying raw-tasting in the middle.
Ways to serve it
The bagel is the classic for a reason. A toasted bagel with vegan cream cheese, a tangle of the ribbons, capers, thin red onion, and dill is the full experience, and it is the platter I put out when people come over for brunch alongside a simple pot of my vegan overnight oats.
Beyond bagels, treat it like any delicate appetizer. It is good on rye crackers with mustard-dill sauce, folded into a wrap with cucumber and vegan cream cheese, or laid over a green salad where the smoky dressing-like marinade clinging to the ribbons seasons the leaves.
Make-ahead and storage
This is a natural make-ahead appetizer because the marinating time is the recipe. Make it the day before you need it and it is better, not worse, and it holds in its marinade in a sealed jar in the fridge for 4 to 5 days. The flavor deepens slightly over the first two days and then holds steady. Serve it straight from the fridge, cold is the point, and give the jar a gentle turn before serving so every ribbon glistens again.
FAQ
What is vegan smoked salmon made of?
Most homemade versions, including this one, are made from carrots: whole-roasted until silky, shaved into ribbons, and cured in a marinade of soy sauce, vinegar, maple syrup, liquid smoke, and nori. The carrots provide the color and the silky bite, and the marinade provides the smoky, salty, briny flavor.
How long does carrot lox keep?
Stored in its marinade in a sealed jar in the refrigerator, it keeps for 4 to 5 days. The flavor is best after the first overnight rest and stays steady after that. I don’t recommend freezing it, thawed ribbons turn watery and lose the silky texture that makes the recipe work.
Can I skip the liquid smoke?
You can, but the result will read more as pickled carrots than anything smoky. If you skip it, double the nori and add an extra spoon of toasted sesame oil to lean into the savory side instead. Smoked salt is another option: replace the fine sea salt on the roasting carrots with the same amount of smoked salt.
