Salmon is one of the best nutritious fish and its good fat content makes it even better for making fish cakes! This is the BEST Salmon Fish Cakes Recipe and it’s perfect on a bed of greens or as a sandwich.
Salmon is our favorite fish to cook when we are in the mood for seafood. My husband is from the Northwest and when I married him, he brought with him his mother’s Steamed Ginger Salmon recipe, like a dowry. I gave him Kimchi in return. I’ve had the freshest salmon from one of his neighbors who’d returned from a “Salmon Run“, the day before. It was fresh as if I caught it myself. Actually, it was better since I didn’t have to catch it. I don’t know if I could eat it if I’d caught it myself. Having said, I tried various salmon recipes since my MIL’s recipe and this is the best Salmon Cake recipe I developed with the wild caught salmon. You “could” technically use any fish for this for salmon is by far the tastiest and nutritious fish there is, as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve also had the good fortune of tasting the Northwest style smoked salmon straight out of a neighbor’s backyard smokehouse. Northwesterners along the Pacific coast have more smokehouses in their backyards than BBQ grills.
What’s so great about salmon?
Salmon is one of the most nutritious fish there is. 1/2 fillet serving size of wild coho salmon has almost 3000mg of Omega 3 Fatty Acids – a key anti-inflammatory nutrient – is low in sodium, high in Niacin, Protein, Selenium, B6, B12, and Phosphorus. And as it turns out, Pacific salmon – especially from Alaska – is one of the best sustainable and ocean safe choices for fish, according to Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch.
“Seafood Watch recommends wild-caught salmon from Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington as these are ocean-friendly choices. “Avoid” salmon farmed in open net pens. Salmon farmed on land in “closed” or “contained” farms is a viable alternative that points the way to a more environmentally-friendly future for salmon farming.”
Now you know why I think Frankenfish is dangerous for us and the environment and why I think wild salmon is so important in maintaining the ecological integrity of the salmon population and they should be protected from being destroyed by more aggressive genetically engineered (GE) salmon.
Enough about the salmon and on with the Salmon Cake Recipe
Ok, ok…..I had to give you some background so that you will appreciate why salmon is so important to our diet and what type of salmon to buy.
So, anyway, since we never eat farmed salmon, whenever we see a big sale on “Wild Caught” salmon from Alaska or from the Pacific, we buy a few pounds and freeze them. Sometimes, we don’t even get to freeze them as my husband grills pounds of salmon with his “secret” marinade and they get gobbled up pretty fast. And YES, there is a HUGE taste (and nutritional) difference between FARMED and WILD salmon.
But when my hubby grills or bakes too much salmon, then, it’s up to me to take care of the leftovers. And this salmon cake recipe is the easiest way to polish up whatever cooked salmon that’s left in the fridge. Of course, you can always cook this dish from scratch and not wait for leftovers.
Actually, you can use any kinds of fish for this recipe – Pacific cod, Pacific halibut, Scrod (Haddock), and even crab. They are all sustainable and will hold up well when you shape them into cakes. This recipe is how I usually make salmon cakes, with peppers and not with peas and corn, as pictured below, but I ran out of peppers and used frozen organic peas and corn instead. And they worked fine as well.
Some fish cake calls for bread crumbs and lots of herbs but I don’t like to overpower the fish and I don’t want to use fillers like breadcrumbs; I want to taste the fish, not the bread crumbs or overpowering herbs.
Besides, if you’re on a special diet that eliminates gluten or flour, then, this recipe is all you’ll need.
The BEST Salmon (Fish) Cakes Recipe
The BEST Salmon (Fish) Cakes Recipe
PrintIngredients
- 1-1 1/2 lbs wild caught salmon
- 2-3 tbsp homemade mayonnaise
- 2 tsp. dijon mustard
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1/4 c red bell pepper diced
- 1/4 c yellow pepper diced
- 1/4 c red or yellow onion diced
- 1 tsp chopped fresh tarragon
- 1 tsp chopped fresh dill
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp horseradish
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 c avocado oil
- 1/2 lemon juiced for topping
Instructions
- Rinse salmon in cold water and pat dry. (If you have leftover salmon or using canned salmon, you can skip to step No.6.)
- Put salmon, skin side down, on a 9"x13" glass pan.
- Brush with oil lightly and sprinkle salt and pepper.
- Bake in the oven at 350 °F or grill on the outdoor BBQ grill for about 20 minutes until it's flaky but not overcooked. It's better to be slightly undercooked since you'll be finish cooking it later.
- When salmon is cooked, set it aside to cool and then, chill it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes or overnight. You can prepare the salmon up to this point days earlier.
- Meanwhile, sauté peppers and onions until soft and onions translucent. Set aside and let it cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix egg, mayonnaise, mustard, tarragon, dill, parsley, horseradish and sea salt.
- Take the chilled salmon out from the fridge, crumble the fish in small chunks, and add them to the mixing bowl.
- Add the sautéed peppers and onions to the mixing bowl and mix well.
- Cover and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- When the salmon mixture is chilled, shape them into patties, the size of hamburger patties.
- Heat the pan on medium heat. When hot, add 2 tbsp of avocado oil. When sizzling, cook the patties until each side is brown in batches - about 3 minutes each side.
- Drizzle lemon juice on each cooked pattie, cover and keep warm until serving.
- Serve on a bed of greens or on sandwich buns.
Nutrition
If you can tolerate gluten, the best bun to have the salmon cake is on a brioche bun. Brioche is a soft buttery bun and it compliments the fatty salmon!
Wow it looks amazing and it’s really easy to bake! Thank you for sharing the recipe with us and we wish you a Merry Christmas!
I love wild salmon but I’ve been reluctant to buy it because I’m ignorant about how damaging the Fukushima radiation dump was to pacific fishes. Do you have info about it?
I think there are more issues with farmed salmons than wild pacific salmon being radioactive. I’m sure the U.S Fish WIldlife in the Pacific Northwest is thorough in protecting their salmon population as this is their livelihood. I’m sure they are doing everything they can to protect it.
Yummy Yummy!! These are sure to make the “Monday Blues” disappear!!. . . No matter what way you prepare them 😛
These look fantastic Karen! Will they hold up to freezing and reheating? Would be great for us to be able to make a big batch and freeze for later.
Actually, YES! I made a batch and gave a few to my brother and he reheated them on the pan and they came out perfect as if I just made them!