Save It
Saved
Raising six kids on a teacher’s salary, my parents were always cooking on a budget. Being Catholic, with the requirement back then of meatless Fridays, Lent or not, this meant that we ate a lot of tuna macaroni salad and fried fish.
My mother often made tuna patties for us, and less frequently, because they were more expensive, salmon patties.
For several years, my father and I tried to talk my mother into making these salmon cakes again for us. For some unfathomable reason, she refused, even going as far as to claim that she never made salmon cakes in the first place.
After a while, we gave up and made our own version of the recipe.
How to Make Salmon Patties
Salmon patties, or salmon cakes, are wonderfully easy to make. You make salmon patties with just a base of canned salmon, shredded bread (or breadcrumbs or even saltines), chopped onion, and egg to bind it all into patties, and then these salmon cakes are quickly fried.
In this easy salmon patties recipe, we dress up the salmon cakes with garlic, dill, bell pepper, paprika, lemon zest, and lemon juice. You could also add parsley, Old Bay seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, or cilantro. Feel free to improvise and make these salmon cakes your own!
What to Serve with These Salmon Patties
Salmon patties can be served with a wedge of lemon, or a dollop of mayonnaise or tartar sauce. Round out your meal with a simple side salad or a scoop of coleslaw.
Storing and Freezing Salmon Patties
Once cooked, leftover patties can be stored in the fridge for up to three days. Eat them cold, or warm them up briefly in a skillet over low heat or in the microwave.
Salmon patties also freeze well. Wrap them in plastic and foil, and defrost them in the fridge before reheating.
Love Fish Cakes? Try These Recipes!
- Tuna Patties
- Fresh Salmon Cakes with Spicy Mayo
- Classic Crab Cakes
- Fish Cakes with Tarragon Mayo
- Shrimp Cakes
Salmon Patties Recipe
If the mixture is too wet to form patties, add a little more shredded bread (not the crusts) to the mixture. If too dry, add a tablespoon of water.
Ingredients
- 1 (14.75 ounce) can salmon, drained of all but 2 tablespoons of the can liquid, flaked
- 1 large slice bread (crust removed), shredded (1 cup, 50 g)
- 3 tablespoons chopped green onion, including the green parts
- 1 medium garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon dried
- 3 tablespoons minced green bell pepper
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Several turns of freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Method
1 Mix patty ingredients: In a large bowl, gently mix together the salmon (including 2 tablespoons of the can liquid), bread, green onion, garlic, dill, bell pepper, flour, egg, paprika, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
2 Form into 8 patties, each about 1/2 inch thick.
3 Brown in skillet: Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Cook the patties until nicely browned on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side.
Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Thank you!
Products We Love
This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Simply Recipes. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.
Links:
Baked Salmon Cakes from Gina of SkinnyTaste
Fresh Salmon Cakes from Chef John of Food Wishes
Paleo Salmon Cakes from Everyday Maven
Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Salmon Patties
Great recipe. I’ve used it for years.
xxxxxyyyyy
Yay! I’m so glad you like it!
We loved it! Made a few tweaks to fit our taste (added celery, an extra egg, and tons of old bay and cayenne…. no dill)… we cannot wait to make these again!
xxxxxyyyyy
We have tried MANY salmon “croquette” recipes and keep searching for “the one.” Found it! Thanks
xxxxxyyyyy
So glad you like it Sandra!
These were really good. I’m always looking for a different salmon pattie recipe, and I found this one. I didn’t have all of the ingredients, so I made a few changes. I had no green onion, so I diced about a quarter of a white one. It worked. I had some breadcrumbs in the freezer from a hard roll bun that I had turned into breadcrumbs a few weeks ago, so I used about 1 1/2 cups of that. I added a little Old Bay Seasoning. I always do that with my salmon patties. I didn’t see initially that I was supposed to add some of the liquid from the can of salmon until it was too late, so I used an extra-large egg and added a dollop of mayonnaise for some additional moisture. Finally…I baked them on a oiled sheet at 400 degrees until brown…flipping them once. They were delicious. What I think gave them the edge was the lemon zest/juice. You could taste it, but it was not overpowering. They probably would have been a tad better if I had fried them, but I didn’t want to bother with that. This recipe is a keeper!
xxxxxyyyyy
Wonderful Janet, I’m so glad you liked the salmon patties! Love your adjustments too.
These are great! Reminds me of crab cakes, they are excellent, I got my 3 kids to eat them and that’s a plus!
xxxxxyyyyy