Salmon Patties – quick to prepare, golden and crispy on the outside, moist and savoury on the inside with lovely big flakes of salmon! A very easy salmon cakes recipe that can be made with either canned salmon OR fresh salmon. These are Can’t-Stop-Eating-Them good!
This canned salmon recipe will make you realise you CAN make incredible dishes using canned fish!
Salmon Patties
Good quality fresh salmon is not cheap. So if I buy fresh salmon, I like to cook it whole rather than mixing it up with other ingredients for things like salmon patties. My go-to quick salmon fillet recipes are Honey Garlic Salmon and Lemon Glazed Salmon 🙂
So I’ve always used canned salmon to make salmon cakes.
But one bite of these Salmon Patties, and any thought of compromising by using canned salmon instead of fresh will fly out the window. These taste SO GOOD!! Serve these up to anyone who has wrinkled their nose in distaste at the thought of canned salmon, and I bet you’ll change their mind.
These salmon cakes are SO GOOD whether made with canned salmon OR fresh salmon!
They’re moreish, beautifully seasoned, juicy and tender, studded with flakes of salmon, and a hint of herby freshness from dill.
These are so tasty, I’d proudly serve them up as an appetiser at a gathering! (And to all my friends reading this, don’t be surprised if that happens the next time you come over!)
BAKED Salmon Patties!
These babies are so golden and crispy on the outside, it’s almost hard to believe they’re baked. But they are, they really are.
The trick to the golden crust is to preheat the tray. This makes a difference when baking things that are low in fat, like these salmon patties.
This canned salmon recipe will make you realise you CAN make incredibly delicious food using canned fish!
Making Salmon Patties
The mixture for the Salmon Patties is pretty straight forward. I start with my usual trick to make extra tender, extra tasty patties / meatballs – grating onion over breadcrumbs. This serves two purposes –
the onion juices soaks the breadcrumbs which then expand while cooking, creating little air pockets which makes the patties more tender; and
avoids the need to precook the onion, which you have to do if you use chopped onion otherwise you end up with raw bits of onion in the patties.
Then toss in egg to bind it, parmesan for umami (food nerd word for savouriness, the 5th taste sensation), shallots / green onions / scallions (global food language inconsistencies = 🤯), garlic, dill (or other herb, dried or fresh) and canned salmon.
Give it a mix, and this is what you end up with. I know the mixture looks loose and you wonder how on earth the patties will hold together, but they do, they really do.
The egg in this recipe keeps the salmon patties from falling apart while cooking. Also, because these are baked rather than pan fried, they are handled less so this also helps.
I’ve never had Salmon Patties fall apart on me.
How to Serve Salmon Patties
As a meal – try a side of Yoghurt Slaw and Cauliflower Puree (low carb!), I’ve popped these recipes in the notes. You get freshness from the Yoghurt Slaw and low-carb creaminess from the Cauliflower Puree that’s made for smearing over each bite of the Salmon Patties.
Starter – pile onto platters with dipping sauce and pass around to share!
Burgers – make giant ones and make salmon burgers
Super tasty dinner, made from a can of salmon. Who would have though, eh?? ❤️ – Nagi x
PS You can, of course, make this with fresh salmon if you happen to be blessed with an abundant supply of them. Tell me all about it, and make me green with envy.
More patties and fritters (I love them!)
Salmon Patties recipe
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Salmon Patties
Ingredients
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs (Note 1 for subs)
- 1 small onion (or 1/2 large), grated
- 1 garlic clove , finely minced
- 400 g/ 14 oz cooked fresh salmon OR canned red or pink salmon , drained (Note 2)
- 2 shallots / scallions / green onions , finely sliced
- 1/3 cup fresh dill , roughly chopped (or 1 tsp dried herbs of choice)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup parmesan , grated or shredded
- 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
Cooking:
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220C/430F standard (200C fan)
- Place breadcrumbs in a bowl. Grate over onion, including juices. Mix onion into breadcrumbs, ensuring all breadcrumbs are soaked. (Note 3)
- Add remaining ingredients except salmon. Mix well.
- Add salmon. Stir through gently, leaving flakes of salmon (rather than vigorously mixing salmon into tiny pieces).
- Scoop up 1/4 cup mixture (level, packed standard ice cream scoop, see Video). Form round patties about 1.5 cm/ 2/3″ thick and set aside.
- Drizzle oil all over tray. Place in oven for 2 minutes until hot – oil will spread over tray. Tilt tray to spread if needed.
- Place patties on tray – DO NOT press down (makes them stick on tray). Spray surface with oil spray.
- Bake 15 minutes. Flip, spray surface with oil spray, bake 5 minutes.
- Serve with sour cream or yoghurt on the side for dipping / dolloping, and extra fresh dill if desired.
- I served mine with cauliflower puree and Yoghurt Slaw – healthy side options! (Note 3)
Recipe Notes:
- Low carb – 1 cup of raw cauliflower rice
- Guten free – 1 cup crushed rice crackers or almond meal in place of the breadcrumbs.
Nutrition Information:
Salmon Patties originally published February 2019, updated for housekeeping matters in March 2019. No change to recipe.
LIFE OF DOZER
In my pre-Dozer life, I was hooning around in a little 2 seater convertible. I had to give up my little zippy car not only because he grew out of it, but also because he didn’t like the wind in his eyes.🙄
So I reluctantly upsized to a 4WD. Then he grew even more – his head smooshes on the ceiling of the car, smearing it with filth.
I am not getting another damn car for this damn dog. 😖
I recently tried to make a different salmon cake recipe and bought a large can of salmon from the supermarket and was surprised by the amount of bones. I know you said it’s fine to keep in this recipe but I don’t suppose you can recommend the brand you use. This one (JW brand) had whole spinal columns which couldn’t be ignored. Yikes!
Hi Michelle! Try it 🙂 The bone is SOFT! I swear!!!
Delicious, we had them with your slaw tonight I cannot get my husband to eat salmon, he enjoyed them even asked if there was some left for lunch. Love the yogurt dressing. Tomorrow is the BBQ beef brisket. It is in the fridge well rubbed for the slow cooker tomorrow. Love your recipes. . Thank you
That’s terrific to hear Roberta! Thanks for sharing your feedback! N x ❤️
Had this for lunch. Very tasty and a breeze to make. Another keeper.
SO GLAD!!! N xx
I made these tonight and they were absolutely delicious. I made them with Costco pink Salmon and used chives and fresh thyme for the herbs. Thank you so much for your really great recipe.
So pleased you enjoyed this Angela! Thank you for letting me know!! N xx
I did these last night for dinner and they were lovely only thing is mine stuck to the baking tray so I lost most of the crunch on them but will buy a not stick pan which will work much better, great recipe and healthy 😘🐶 your so beautiful Dozer
I won’t be passing that message onto him because he’s received so many compliments already today, his head is going to grow way too big! So glad you enjoyed this Kristine. Heating the oil in the oven should stop the patties from sticking to the tray, and also just place them on the tray as I do in the video, do NOT press down (I made that mistake once and ended up with patties stuck the tray). The tray you see in the photos and video is not non stick and you can see they don’t stick at all 🙂 Hope that helps! N xx
Hi Nagi, I am dying to try these. However, I am on a super-low carb diet at the moment and usually replace breadcrumbs in recipes with almond meal. A cup is a lot though… Do you think I’d destroy them by doing this?
Have you heard of Joseph’s lavash bread??? It’s low carb. You can bake it for a few minutes then put it in the food processor to make bread crumbs!
That sounds worth a try! Thanks Susan!
Hi Rachel! I am thinking to try this with 1/2 cup of almond meal and 1/2 cup of cauliflower rice. 🙂 Because there is 2 eggs in this, I’m pretty sure it’s enough to hold the patties together even using some cauliflower rice! N x
Great recipe Nagi, the patties taste fabulous. I think that grated onion is going to make a regular appearance in many of my recipes, so much quicker than pre-cooking in a pan. I’m going to try freezing the uncooked burgers and then defrost a few at a time and pan fry as I go.
So glad you loved them! Would love to know how it goes cooking frozen uncooked burgers, I wasn’t sure how the raw egg would hold up. 🙂 Pretty sure it will be ok, just wasn’t 100% sure which is why I didn’t suggest it 🙂 N xx
Results of freezing raw patties, defrosting and then pan frying. I’ve had some patties in the freezer and have defrosted and pan fried them and they turned out perfectly. Before frying I’ve added a light sprinkling of panic to each side of the pattie. They were nice and crisper and probably a bit moister than the oven baked ones.
Also a comment on salt. The tinned salmon that I bought had a really high salt content and as a result my patties were a bit too salty. In future I’ll be carefully looking at the salt content before adding salt.
Cathy
Thanks so much for that feedback Cathy! YOU ROCK! N x
Nagi, I followed your recipe using left over cooked snapper ,
the patties were superb, better than restaurant quality,
but almost suspiciously too easy.
Mind you your recipes always work brilliantly, thanks again.
Suspiciously easy! LOVE THAT! N xx
Hi Nagi, don’t feel bad about paying $26 for salmon. Here in New Zealand you can add another $10 plus. I find here fish from the Supermarket is priced way higher than the fish shop unless they have it on special. BUT you can guarantee that it is on special because it is not selling and no longer fresh.
You’d think a place like NZ that has lots of Salmon that it would be cheaper
love your recipes by the way
gail
That’s the opposite to us, fish shops are way more expensive than supermarkets! PS I am in NZ this weekend, I look forward to browsing the supermarkets there! N xx
Salmon Patties
Somewhere along the way, I really must have made a mistake in preparation! Was I supposed to use shallot,scallion, and
green onions. Too much, I guess. Patties fell apart (so put then in individual egg rings, mashed in place and chilled for
15 minutes.
Taste was not what I thought it should be. Any suggestions? Will try again-they look mouth watering.
Hi Dan! It’s meant to use just ONE of those because they are all the same thing! Very annoying, different countries describe them differently 🙂 The video might be helpful to watch! N xx
Do you think I could do this with raw salmon since it’s baked? I had a brand of canned salmon that I used to love, but lately they all taste like dirt to me. 😉 But I got a good price on fresh salmon, and I’d love to try this with that.
That meal looks amazing!
I made these last night and they were delicious. I grew up eating Pacific salmon and have tried other recipes but they never worked. My husband went back for seconds. I love the fact you do videos with your recipes as I like to watch them before I try. I am a very visual learner. So far every one of your recipes I’ve tried I have loved.
So glad you both enjoyed this Susan! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 N x
Oh, boo. I just read the recipe notes. Sigh. Still, do you think it’s necessary to cook the salmon first? Not trying to be a rebel or anything, but it seems like even raw it would cook through.
Hi BeeJay! It would work great to chop up raw salmon and mix it through 🙂 Definitely! Dice the salmon, then salt and pepper it, then mix through. 🙂
Ooh this looks so delicious,
It SO IS!!!
I made these tonight and they were great! None left over. Any chance of tweaking the size and cooking times to make them cocktail nibbles? They would go down so well?
Hi Linda – so glad you enjoyed these! I was thinking about that too but it needs 20 minutes to brown so I thought making them smaller would dry them out a bit on the inside. 🙂
Hi Nagi and Dozer:
UGH! Sort of like Ron, I too grew up with routine fish cakes on Friday. Da wouldn’t have it any other way. “Fried till they died” was reality, no choice. So when I saw this post, I discounted it almost immediately. Something I would never, ever try. Then a good look-see through my cupboards revealed a hidden can of red salmon, but the reason for its being there will always remain a mystery to me. I don’t throw out food, so the decision to try this was a no-brainer for me. Oh, I was so wrong! Just a guess, but I think it was addition of the parm and the dill which back in childhood wasn’t really part of the recipe. I wish Mum were still with me to share this gem of a meal, because I know she would have loved it, too. Thanks for the help changing a life-long distaste to a new favorite. Hat’s off, as always, to you and Dozer.
I LOVE HEARING THAT!!! “Fried until they died” <-- had me bursting into laughter at the cafe I'm sitting at, responding to messages. 🙂 Truly so thrilled you enjoyed this Flap, and thank you for sharing the story. N x ❤️
This recipe looks much more simple than the one I grew up with, we used crushed saltine crackers for the binder. And fried those patties in a cast-iron skillet. They were tasty the next day, straight from the fridge.
I like the idea these patties are baked, will need to make using dried dill and waiting for the fresh to come in this spring. I grow the Dill for the Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillars.
Oh and like you, my newest vehicle had to be purchased for my 75lb long-legged fur baby. He looks like Yoda in the rear-view mirror.
B-)
🤣 You make me feel so much better about getting new car just for a DOG!!!!!!
I am definitely making this next week as I love cauliflower and cabbage slaw Yummo 😍 I am doing your Mum’s Terriaki Chicken tonight with the cabbage and carrots and can’t wait to taste it. Love all your little stories about Dozer as he is so gorgeous love the Goldies 🐶😘
My mum will be so chuffed to hear that! 🙂
I will certainly let her know after having it for dinner tonight 😘
I love your recipes, my family thoroughly enjoy the broccoli chicken and rice casserole for dinner last night. I was wondering, could I use tinned sardines in this recipe for salmon patties instead of salmon. The sardines are on sale at Woolies this week?? Do you think they would hold their shape the same.
Thanks again for your user family friendly recipes XX
Taryn
Hi Taryn – so pleased you enjoyed the casserole! 🙂 Yep sardines would be great in this, I added it in the recipe notes as an option. Just follow the recipe as is, using sardines instead of salmon 🙂
I love the simplicity of these salmon patties. I’m going to try them. And the cauliflower purée, you have convinced a cauliflower hater to give it a try. I’m actually looking forward to it.
Honestly, just a tiny bit of browned butter totally transforms it!!!
As I also live in British Columbia Canada, salmon is readily available to me. I own a smoker grill and make patties with the smoked salmon we have left over. Have also used my own canned trout. Baking is my prefered method of cooking things that used to be fried. We often have fish patties topped with poached eggs for breakfast on the weekend. Always with a beautiful buttery sauce. I know it makes no sense to bake and save the fat calories and pour on a wonderful sauce. Sort of like ordering a Big Mac and fries with a diet soda. We will be trying your recipe next time.
That is absolutely my logic. When I do the drive through of shame, it’s always a Quarter Pounder meal with Diet Coke. 😂
I also live in BC and grew up eating salmon…my mom had a friend who worked as a fisherman, we always got whole salmon. There was never any left for salmon cakes! I love crab cakes, must try salmon cakes. I am totally with you on the diet soft drink with a burger and fries…might as well save those calories when you can so you can indulge when you want !
I AM SO JEALOUS! I NEED A FISHERMAN FRIEND! 😂
If you use tuna, would you take in oil or in water for the best result? Could on use freh salmon for these and how to proceed?
Those look so delicious!
Hi Eija! Oil will give a tastier end result because tuna is leaner than salmon and also fish in oil is tastier / juicier full stop 🙂 Even when drained, there is still plenty of oil in the tuna. I also added directions for fresh salmon! 500g/1 lb fresh, season then bake it or pan fry it then use per recipe. N x