How to make salmon patties with cooked salmon, bread, green onion, dill, bell pepper, egg, lemon, and paprika. These easy salmon cakes make a perfect midweek meal.
Easy Salmon Patties
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 my father set about to make these salmon patties himself, with his own spur-of-the-moment 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 cooked salmon, shredded bread, 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, my father dresses up the salmon cakes with garlic, dill, bell pepper, and paprika. I’ve added some 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!
Salmon Patties Recipe
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
If the mixture is too wet to form patties, add a little more shredded bread (not the crusts) to the mixture.
Ingredients
- 1 (14.75 ounce) can salmon, undrained and flaked
- 1 slice of bread, shredded
- 3 tablespoons chopped green onion, including the green parts
- 1 medium garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill weed, or 1 teaspoon dried
- 3 tablespoons minced green bell pepper
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/2 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, 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.
Links:
Baked Salmon Cakes from Gina of SkinnyTaste
Fresh Salmon Cakes from Chef John of Food Wishes
Paleo Salmon Cakes from Everyday Maven
