Salmon Cakes
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Made from fresh salmon and dill, these salmon cakes are as elegant as crab cakes but so much more affordable to make.
Photo by Johnny Miller (Clarkson Potter, 2021)
When I told my friend and Once Upon a Chef right hand, Betsy Goldstein, about these salmon cakes, she said, “Hmmm…I think I’ll wait until some of the reviews roll in to try those.” I laughed because I knew she was thinking of the version made from canned salmon that many of us grew up on. I promise: these are a whole different animal. Made from fresh raw salmon and seasoned with Old Bay, they’re as elegant as crab cakes yet so much more affordable to make. What’s more, they can be made entirely ahead of time and reheated.
I love these salmon cakes for brunch over a green salad with vinaigrette, but they also make a delicious dinner alongside rice pilaf and roasted asparagus. Either way, they are wonderful with my easy homemade tartar sauce.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Salmon Cakes
Step-by-Step Instructions
To begin, finely dice the salmon into 1/4-inch pieces (or smaller). It’s important that the pieces are not too large or the cakes won’t bind together easily.
Set the salmon aside and, in a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, Old Bay, salt, and pepper.
Whisk to combine.
Add the diced salmon, ¼ cup of the panko, the scallions, the celery, and the dill.
Gently mix until uniformly combined.
Place the remaining 1 cup of panko in a shallow dish or pie plate.
Using a 1/3-cup measure, scoop the salmon mixture and form into a compact cake about 1 inch high. Place the salmon cake into the reserved panko and gently coat it all over in crumbs.
Repeat with the remaining mixture to form about 9 cakes. (At this point, you can refrigerate the cakes for up to a few hours before cooking, if you’d like.)
Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place the salmon cakes in the skillet and cook without moving until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
Carefully flip the cakes and cook until second side is golden brown, about 2 minutes more. Reduce the heat to medium if the cakes are browning too quickly.
Transfer cakes to a paper towel–lined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining cakes (no need to change the oil).
Serve warm with tartar sauce and enjoy!
Video Tutorial
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Salmon Cakes
Made from fresh salmon and dill, these salmon cakes are as elegant as crab cakes but so much more affordable to make.
Ingredients
For the Salmon Cakes
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1¼ lb skinless salmon fillet, finely diced into ¼-inch pieces (see note)
- 1¼ cups panko bread crumbs, divided
- ¼ cup thinly sliced scallions, from 3 to 4 scallions, light and dark green parts
- ⅓ cup finely diced celery, from 2 stalks
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- Salad greens with vinaigrette, tartar sauce and/or lemon wedges, for serving (see note)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, Old Bay, salt, and pepper. Add the diced salmon, ¼ cup of the panko, the scallions, the celery, and the dill. Gently mix until uniformly combined.
- Place the remaining 1 cup of panko in a shallow dish or pie plate. Using a ⅓-cup measure, scoop the salmon mixture and form into a compact cake about 1 inch high. Place the salmon cake into the panko and gently coat it all over in crumbs. Repeat with the remaining mixture to form about 9 cakes. (At this point, you can refrigerate the salmon cakes for a few hours until ready to cook, if you'd like.)
- Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place half of the salmon cakes in the skillet and cook without moving until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip the cakes and cook until second side is golden brown, about 2 minutes more. Reduce the heat to medium if the cakes are browning too quickly. Transfer cakes to paper towel–lined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining cakes (no need to change the oil). Serve warm.
- Note: If buying a skin-on salmon fillet, purchase 1⅓ pounds of fish to yield 1¼ pounds of fish after skinning.
- Make-Ahead: The salmon cakes can be fully cooked and refrigerated up to several hours ahead of time. To reheat: preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the salmon cakes in the oven and cook until crisp on the exterior and warm throughout, 10 to 15 minutes. The cakes may also be frozen for up to 3 months; defrost in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cooked salmon cakes can be frozen for up to 3 months. Once cool, lay them out on one (or more) foil-lined baking sheet(s) and cover them loosely with plastic wrap. Freeze the patties in a single layer for about an hour, then remove them from the freezer. Wrap the cakes individually in plastic wrap and then put them together in a freezer bag or airtight container. Before serving, defrost in the refrigerator before reheating.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 salmon cake
- Calories: 280
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Sugar: 0 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 14 g
- Sodium: 222 mg
- Cholesterol: 37 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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can I make this into one large pie instead of individual patties, and then bake it ?
Hi Carol, Technically, it will work but I think you’ll miss the crispy exterior of the pan-fried cakes. Hope that helps!
I’ve made these delicious salmon cakes twice. My only changes are using a 1/4 cup measure for the cakes, dried dill and serving with a remoulade instead of tartar sauce. Outstanding in flavor, crunch and presentation. For anyone who had a problem with them falling apart, they need to be tightly smooshed into the measuring cup prior to coating with Panko, and well chilled before frying. Jenn, you never disappoint.
Every single one of your recipes that I’ve tried so far has been amazing but this one takes the trophy, (so far). I got tired of eating salmon just the way i always cook it (air fryer) so I decided to try this instead and I’m oh so glad I did. I’m never going back. Exceeded my expectations most definitely. It is a little time consuming to chop everything uo and get it prepared but it’s SO worth it. This deserves like 100 stars ! You rock!!!
So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I made these for dinner tonight and they were excellent! Another very tasty recipe Jennifer! Thanks for sharing the recipe! The only change I made was to cook them in an air fryer. I cooked them at 400 degrees for 5 minutes a side. It was a little tricky but it worked.
Thanks again for another foolproof recipe!
Hi! I was wondering if I could grill these? Thank you!
Hi Julia, Unfortunately, I think these would fall apart on the grill. Sorry!
Oh my goodness, these are so good! I had the fishmonger skin it at the store and had no problem finely chopping it at home. I have two questions if you would be so kind. First, why only good in the freezer for a month? I would like to make them in bulk! Second, I do not like tartar sauce. Could you suggest an alternative aïoli that you think would pair nicely? Thanks so much! By the way, I have your book and I love it!
So glad you enjoyed these, Julia! I actually think it would be fine to freeze them for up to three months and have updated the recipe with that. Also, I think these would be tasty with garlic aioli. This one looks easy and gets positive reviews. (Please keep in mind that I haven’t tried it myself.)
Thanks so much Jenn! Which garlic aïoli? Am I missing something?
Oops – I forgot the link!! And coincidentally, after I replied to your question, I realized I had a recipe for aioli (with my tilapia fingers) that you could use. Sorry about that! 🙂
I think these are the best fish cakes I’ve ever had! I have made them a number of times now and always get lots of compliments, especially as fish cakes are normally more potato than fish. If anyone is like me and doesn’t have access to Old Bay seasoning, I use the below for this recipe: 1) almost full teaspoon of celery salt, 2) big pinch paprika, 3) big pinch black pepper, 4) pinch mustard powder, and 5) pinch of cayenne pepper. I have found this to work very well. Most of the copycat Old Bay recipes I found have a million ingredients and I don’t have it all. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Jenn!
These taste amazing! But, they don’t look as pretty as yours! Things I changed – used almond flour instead of panko, AND forget to separate it, so all the flour was mixed into the cakes. And, I could not find Old Bay, maybe because of the recent crawfish boil craze, so I made my own.
Can these be made with something other than mayo. I hate mayo.
thank you
Hi Cathleen, I think you could get away with using Greek yogurt here. But because Greek yogurt has some tang to it, I’d suggest omitting the lemon juice. Please LMK how they turn out!
Any replacement for mayonnaise? We dont have mayo 🙁
Hi Noel, I think you could get away with replacing the mayo with Greek yogurt. But because Greek yogurt has some tang to it, I’d suggest omitting the lemon juice. Please LMK how they turn out!
I served these for my mom today for Mother’s Day lunch along with Jenn’s Grilled Asparagus Salad with Lemon & Feta and her Baileys Cheesecake-Marbled Brownies with vanilla ice cream and sliced strawberries for dessert. The meal was a big hit. I bought the salmon at Whole Foods yesterday afternoon and had them skin it for me and when I got home I made the salmon cakes and put them in the coldest part of my refrigerator on ice packs. This morning I sauteed the salmon cakes which stayed together and looked as good as the pictures. I also made the rest of the meal. When we got to my mom’s apartment I reheated the salmon cakes for 10 minutes as directed, tossed the greens with the dressing, and served the salmon cakes on the greens with tartar sauce on the side. We all had tartar sauce but there was lots of it left over so next time I will make 1/2 – 3/4 of a recipe.