The 7 Best Ways to Enjoy Caviar, From Blinis to Doritos

Jessica Quinn, chef and co-owner of the Eastern European pop-up Dacha 46, grew up eating caviar as an everyday food. Jars of black caviar and red salmon roe were constants in the family fridge. Speak to her and others with former Soviet roots, and you’ll hear a similar refrain — caviar is best enjoyed either heaped onto bread slathered with unsalted butter, or unadorned, by the mouthful.

Caviar experts agree: To savor the delicacy to the fullest, caviar should be consumed plain, or with mild accompaniments that bolster its subtle flavors. But in recent years, restaurants around the country and viral TikTok trends have gone in the opposite direction. They’ve embraced a maximalist approach to caviar, munching it on Doritos, over Wagyu hot dogs, and with buckets of fried chicken.

While there’s no wrong way to eat caviar, there are some useful guidelines for making the most of it. Bonnie Morales, chef and co-owner of Kachka, an Eastern European-inspired restaurant in Portland, Oregon, recommends choosing accompaniments that are neutral and rich, like blini, potatoes, and sweet butter. “Otherwise they fight the caviar,” she says. Alternatively, if you wish to experiment with bolder pairings, Morales recommends thinking of caviar as a seasoning. “People should treat it like a type of salt,” she says. “It’s very delicious but it can go anywhere.”

This holiday season, consider adding caviar to your table with some of these fun bites.

Caviar sandwich

The iconic caviar sandwich from New York City’s Grand Central Oyster Bar is easy to duplicate at home. Spread some caviar on white toast, cover with chopped hard-boiled eggs, and close with a second piece of toast. Cut into triangles and serve with crème fraîche for dunking.

Eggs on eggs

Every Christmas morning, Markus Draxler, owner of the caviar retailer Solex Catsmo, makes his family “eggs on eggs,” a special treat of soft-scrambled or soft-boiled eggs crowned with a generous pile of osetra or kaluga caviar. The creamy texture and gentle richness of the eggs are an ideal foil to caviar’s briny pop. 

Caviar dim sum

Inspired by the quintessential duo of blini and caviar, Brandon Jew, chef-owner of Mr. Jiu’s in San Francisco, sprinkles cheong fun, steamed Chinese rice noodle rolls, with umami-rich caviar pearls. He’s also been known to top scallion pancakes with oozy stracciatella and California’s own Tsar Nicoulai caviar.

Caviar and hash browns

Caviar and potatoes have always been great friends. At Born and Raised, an upscale steakhouse in San Diego, chef Charleen Sandoval garnishes crispy hash browns with house-smoked trout roe for an added layer of depth, salinity, and texture.

Salmon roe zakuska 

Follow the cues of a crowd-pleasing Russian zakuska, which translates to the ”bite” that starts a meal. Pop the yolk out of a split hard-boiled egg and fill the white with a mound of salmon roe (“ikra” in Russian). For authenticity’s sake, pair it with ice-cold vodka.

Caviar and Doritos

Before it was a TikTok trend, Bonnie Morales of Kachka was serving Cool Ranch Doritos with house-made onion dip and Tsar Nicoulai Estate white sturgeon caviar, a decadent play on chips and dip. For a subtler snack, sub in lightly salted potato chips.

Caviar onigiri

For a luxe onigiri, mold warm Japanese rice into a triangle shape, make a small indentation, fill it with your favorite caviar, cover with rice, wrap it in a square of nori, and eat while the seaweed is crisp. Top with more caviar for extra flair.