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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I add eggs to this recipe and omit the mayonnaise. I tried without egg and it came out too moist. The egg gave a good crisp and cooked the patty better
I’ve made this recipe at least five times now and every time the cakes are flavorful and my wife loves them. A super recipe and great alternative to simply cooking salmon. Thanks Jenn.
We have a lot of salmon in the freezer from a fishing trip to Alaska and I am so glad we tried this recipe, will definitely be part of the rotation!
Made this recipe last week and it truly one of the best recipes I’ve used for Salmon. Delicious! I couldn’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch the next day. Perfect!
Another great recipe! Small changes out of necessity: I ended up substituting with ahi and used mostly celery leaves (rather than the stalk) for the anti-celery eaters in the house. It worked great! My whole family loved it. I also made the vinaigrette and thought it was great!
Wow!! These were absolutely delicious and a perfect way to use up some frozen salmon I had on hand. Made recipe exactly as written but only used 3 tbsp of oil for all 9 patties to cut down on grease. Probably should have used one more tbsp but what I’m getting at is you can get away with using less. I had lots of panko dredge leftover so I’ll know for next time I can coat heavily. Loved the crunch of the celery and the fresh dill made these perfect. Excited to have these for lunch leftovers!
This recipe is a big favorite in my house. Thinking about trying to lighten it up a bit for some family members with more dietary restrictions. Do you think I could sub Greek yogurt for Mayo? And cook in my air fryer?
Hi Gabby, Glad these have become a new favorite! You can replace 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!
This was very good, I added chopped capers and did it in the air fryer. I had to use dried dill and chives instead of green onions, and I didn’t have celery. But the flavor was excellent. I did it for about 16 minutes in the air fryer.
I tried these also using Ahi tuna stakes instead of the salmon and it came out delicious.
Fantastic dish! I think I need to dice the celery even finer (maybe use a mini processor) because the salmon cake had a hard time sticking together. I also noted that the pan had to be hot enough to sear the cake to stay together. Despite the “visual” appeal, my family loved this dish!