Balkan Smoked Mackerel Potato Spread with Pickles and Dill 🐟✨

Description

Balkan Smoked Mackerel Potato Spread with Pickles and Dill is a rustic cold seafood spread made with smoky mackerel, boiled potatoes, pickles, red onion, garlic, dill, parsley, lemon, olive oil, and thick yogurt. It is creamy but textured, salty, tangy, smoky, and perfect with toasted bread, crackers, cucumbers, or a Balkan-style mezze table.
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Hook ✨
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Smoked mackerel, soft potatoes, crunchy pickles, red onion, dill, lemon, and yogurt turn into a bold Balkan seafood spread made for bread. 🐟

Ingredients

• Smoked mackerel base 🐟
• ‌
• 🐟 300 g smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed and flaked (10.6 oz)
• 🥔 350 g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (2½ cups / 12.3 oz)
• 🥒 120 g pickles, finely chopped (¾ cup / 4.2 oz)
• 🧅 80 g red onion, finely chopped (½ cup / 2.8 oz)
• 🧄 2 garlic cloves, finely grated (2 cloves / 0.35 oz)
• 🌿 15 g fresh dill, finely chopped (½ cup loose / 0.5 oz)
• 🌿 15 g fresh parsley, finely chopped (½ cup loose / 0.5 oz)
• 🍋 25 ml lemon juice (1 tbsp + 2 tsp / 0.85 fl oz)
• 🍋 4 g lemon zest (2 tsp / 0.14 oz)
• 🫒 35 ml olive oil (2 tbsp + 1 tsp / 1.2 fl oz)
• ⚫ 2 g black pepper (1 tsp / 0.07 oz)
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• Creamy finish 🥛
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• 🥛 180 g thick plain yogurt (¾ cup / 6.3 oz)
• 🥄 15 g Dijon mustard or mild mustard (1 tbsp / 0.5 oz)
• 🥒 20 ml pickle juice (1 tbsp + 1 tsp / 0.7 fl oz)
• 🧂 2 g fine sea salt, only if needed (⅓ tsp / 0.07 oz)
• ‌
• To serve 🍞
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• 🍞 Toasted bread or rye bread
• 🥒 Cucumber slices
• 🍋 Lemon wedges
• 🌿 Extra dill
• 🫒 A small drizzle of olive oil

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Boil the potatoes 🥔
2. ‌
3. Place the potatoes in salted water and boil for 15 min, until tender. Drain well and let them steam dry for 5 min so the spread does not become watery.
4. ‌
5. 2️⃣ Mash the potatoes 🌿
6. ‌
7. Mash the warm potatoes roughly with a fork. Keep some small pieces for texture instead of making a completely smooth mash.
8. ‌
9. 3️⃣ Prepare the mackerel 🐟
10. ‌
11. Remove the skin from the smoked mackerel and check carefully for bones. Flake the fish into small rustic pieces with your fingers or a fork.
12. ‌
13. 4️⃣ Mix the fresh base 🥒
14. ‌
15. Add pickles, red onion, garlic, dill, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, and black pepper to a wide bowl. Stir for 30 sec so the onion and herbs start to soften.
16. ‌
17. 5️⃣ Add fish and potatoes 🥄
18. ‌
19. Add the flaked smoked mackerel and mashed potatoes to the bowl. Fold gently so the fish stays in small visible pieces and the potatoes help bind the spread.
20. ‌
21. 6️⃣ Make it creamy 🥛
22. ‌
23. Add thick yogurt, mustard, and pickle juice. Mix gently until creamy, smoky, and spoonable. Add salt only if needed, because smoked mackerel and pickles are already salty.
24. ‌
25. 7️⃣ Rest for flavor 🛋
26. ‌
27. Cover and chill for 20 min. This helps the smoky fish, lemon, pickles, dill, and yogurt settle into one balanced spread.
28. ‌
29. 8️⃣ Finish and serve 🍋
30. ‌
31. Spoon the spread into a dark bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil, and top with extra dill, black pepper, and lemon zest. Serve cold with toasted bread, cucumber slices, and lemon wedges.

Total Time

⏱ Prep: 18 min
🔥 Cook/Bake: 15 min
🛋 Rest: 25 min
⏰ Total: 58 min

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