How to Make Salmon Cakes – An Easy and Delicious Weeknight Dinner

To think that six months ago I didn’t like salmon and now I’m not only eating it, I’m making Salmon Cakes out of it.

It’s not that I didn’t try to like salmon, as a chef, I kept experimenting with specials stuffing, seasoning and cooking it as many ways as I could think of. But it just never tasted good to me…sigh

Which Salmon is the Best to Eat?

When I found Pacific Northwest Salmon everything changed! I’m not sure why those flavors agreed with my taste buds, but I’ve been enjoying salmon, sauteed, roasted, blackened and on salads since discovering this healthier version of salmon.

I say healthier because it’s wild-caught (not farm-raised) from the pacific northwest waters where the better varieties of salmon can be found. Sockeye and coho have been the two that I’ve tried with Sockeye being my favorite because of the less fishy flavor and beautiful color.

Wild Alaskan salmon is all wild caught. They spend most of their lives in open waters, and generally have very low levels of toxins.

Coastal and farmed salmon, depending on the type of fish and meal they are fed, may have higher levels of toxins. The Environmental Defense Fund lists farmed Atlantic salmon as an “Eco-Worst” choice and recommends people eat no more than 2 servings a month due to high PCB levels.

On my cooking show Around the Kitchen Table I decided to give this recipe a try and after doing some research I decided upon the ingredients and methods I would use to make these tasty cakes (sorry Philadelphia, not those tasty cakes).

I had never made salmon cakes before but had an idea of how I wanted them to taste and came up with a pretty good recipe on the first try!

What do I need to Make Salmon Cakes?

Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Salmon Cakes. In Chef Speak this is called the Mise en Place which translates into Everything in its Place.

Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.

How do I make Salmon Cakes?

The first step is cooking the salmon. Depending upon the type of salmon you use and where its caught, salmon can have different levels of sodium or at least they taste that way. I was lucky enough to get an order of Copper River sockeye salmon this season and the salmon cakes were ah-mazing!

I use Himalayan Pink Salt these days. I did salt and pepper my salmon filets and drizzled olive oil over them before cooking.

Under cook the salmon a little. I cooked my salmon for 14 minutes and they turned out well.

Do I have to cook the salmon to make Salmon cakes?

For my recipe, you do need to cook the salmon. I have seen raw salmon used for salmon burgers.

You can also use leftover cooked salmon or canned salmon to make my salmon cakes.

When the salmon has completely cooled, flake the pieces into a small bowl. Add in the chopped onion, roasted red pepper, and chopped parsley.

Gently mix and return to the refrigerator until needed.

In another bowl add mayonnaise, mustard, old bay, lemon, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and egg. Mix ingredients together until well blended.

This is the imperial style sauce that you will use as a binder.

Add the imperial sauce and bread crumbs to the salmon mixture and mix together until well blended.

Try not to break up the salmon too much. (if the mixture looks too wet you can add little additional bread crumbs).

Cover the mixture and allow it to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour. This will help you shape into salmon into cakes more easily.

Do I have to add onions and peppers to my salmon cakes?

No you don’t. These are your salmon cakes and should be made with ingredients you enjoy eating.

While the onions do add flavor, the roasted red peppers are more for color.

After shaping the salmon cakes, dredge the cakes in bread crumbs. Seasoned, unseasoned or panko, it’s your choice.

When all your salmon cakes are ready, it’s time to fry them up to a nice golden brown.

*Allow the cakes to drain for a few minutes on paper towels or a wire rack.

Do I have to fry Salmon Cakes?

No you don’t. You can bake them in the oven (with or without the bread crumb coating). If you’d rather bake the cakes, 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes should do the trick.

The Salmon Cakes were delicious and I the wheels started turning as to other ingredients and seasoning I can add to them in the future. Maybe a buffalo bleu cheese salmon cake….hmmm

What Kind of Sauce should I serve with Salmon Cakes?

I made a remoulade sauce to go with the salmon cakes which was a hit (because Lisa loved it). Remoulade is easy to make and is basically just a fancy tartar sauce.

The ingredients can vary according to your taste, using horseradish and even Greek yogurt to change the flavors. You’ll see some remoulade’s that contain chili sauce, I listed that as optional and didn’t use it in my version because mama doesn’t like it that way.

If you enjoyed this recipe you might also like these delicious seafood recipes:

• Blackened Salmon with a Gorgonzola Cream Sauce
• Pan Seared Halibut
• How to Poach Mahi-Mahi (or your favorite fish)
• Grilled Atlantic Rockfish