Budget-friendly Canned Salmon Cakes are the tastier healthy version of this classic appetizer. These salmon patties are crispy and golden on the outside, tender and flaky on the inside with only a subtle salmon flavour.
If you are wondering what else you can make with all of the canned salmon you bought, try this incredible canned salmon salad recipe. That and a healthy tuna salad are just two of my favourite ways to enjoy any canned fish.
Canned Salmon Patties Recipe
As you can tell by the 15 healthy salmon recipes I posted the other day, I LOVE salmon. Grilled salmon, baked salmon, air fryer or Thai salmon, you name it! If you’re like me, you’ll find any excuse to eat it. But when fresh isn’t available or in the budget, the cheaper wild pink salmon canned alternative brings on the magic – canned salmon cakes!
Combine with some sweet potatoes, dill, eggs, and oats, and enjoy a healthy, tasty meal. Just like my grandma’s healthy chicken burgers, these canned salmon cakes are so addictive! You can serve them with a side of your favorite creamy dip, on a tray as an appetizer for a crowd, or sandwich them between two buns. Healthy salmon burgers anyone?!
This is an easy salmon patties recipe that kids and adults will love. It has a crusty exterior and light flaky salmon on the inside. Plus, when it’s done my way, they won’t fall apart on you. And the best part is, this recipe yields enough to leave you with plenty of leftovers for healthy lunch ideas. A major win for busy families!
Ingredients for Canned Salmon Patties
- Sweet potatoes: Skin on and cubed. You can also use yams which are a bit more starchy.
- Canned salmon: Wild pink is the cheapest.
- Eggs: You’ll need large for this recipe.
- Oats: Used for binding along with the eggs. Can use either quick or rolled oats.
- Garlic clove: Grated.
- Herbs: Chopped fine. Dill and salmon are a wonderful pairing, but cilantro and parsley will also work.
- Salt and Pepper: Salt brings out the natural flavours of the rest of the ingredients. Use black pepper to taste.
- Oil: Avocado, coconut or olive oil.
How to Make Canned Salmon Cakes
Boil: In a medium pot, bring sweet potatoes to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook until fork tender. Drain potatoes, then transfer to a mixing bowl.
Mash potatoes and add salmon: With a masher get to smashing! If you like the fine texture that a food processor yields, you can use that instead. Add salmon including the juices (all that flavour!) and mash a bit more.
Add remaining ingredients: Toss in eggs, oats, garlic, dill, salt, pepper, and stir with a spatula until combined. Let the mixture sit for 15 minutes to let oats soak up and act as a binder.
Preheat pan: On medium heat, add oil to coat a large ceramic non-stick skillet. Make sure your skillet and oil are hot before adding anything to it! Scoop out the mixture, less than a 1/4 cup at a time, and form it into small cakes. If you make them too big, they won’t hold their shape as well. Place them on the hot skillet.
Cook: Watch for the patties to turn golden brown, and carefully flip with a flat spatula, to cook for another 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on it, and watch for a nice crust to form. Remember that as the skillet gets hotter, the cakes cook faster.
Serve: These delicious salmon cakes can be served hot or cold. Either way is extremely tasty!!! Have some healthy yogurt dip with dill on the side for dipping, serve with a salad, or on a whole-grain English muffin.
More Tips
- Fresh salmon: This is a recipe for canned salmon, yes, but I’ve got to let you know that you can use fresh as well!
- Salmon leftovers: If you have baked salmon leftovers, mash them up and voila.
- Moisture: To combat too much moisture, you can either remember for next time, not to add all the liquid from the can. Maybe just a tablespoon. OR add in a bit more of the oats.
- Too dry: Add a bit more of the sweet potato to your mixture, bit by bit until you’ve reached the desired consistency. Not too much to overpower the salmon. You can also add a bit of mayo.
- A squirt of lemon: Serve with a lemon wedge and squirt a bit over the salmon cakes before eating them. The pop of citrus balances the fish so nicely!
- Crab instead? Salmon cakes are the lower-budget version of a fancy crab cake. If you happen to have some crab on hand, this recipe will work for crab cakes as well.
- Best dips: Tartar sauce, creamy dill sauce, healthy ranch dressing, or even healthy honey mustard dressing would be great.
Storing, Freezing, and Reheating
Store: These salmon cakes will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freeze: This recipe makes a lot, which is great for freezing! They will keep for 3 months.
Reheat: As you’d like! You can toss them in the microwave or place them back in the oven at 375.
More Salmon Recipes
Canned Salmon Cakes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes yams, skin on and cubed
- 2 cans salmon wild Pink is the cheapest
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup quick or rolled oats
- 1 garlic clove grated
- 1/2 cup dill parsley or cilantro, finely chopped
- 3/4 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- Coconut or avocado oil for cooking
Instructions
- In a medium pot, combine sweet potatoes and enough cold water to cover. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil on high, reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes or until fork tender.
- Drain potatoes and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Mash sweet potatoes with a masher (I do not like the fine texture that food processor yields but you could use it).
- Add salmon including the juices (all that flavour!) and mash a bit more. Add eggs, oats, garlic, dill, salt, pepper and stir with spatula until combined. Let mixture sit for 15 minutes to let oats soak up and act as a binder.
- Preheat large ceramic non-stick skillet on medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil to coat. It is important that skillet and oil are hot. Using under 1/4 cup mixture, form small salmon sweet potato cakes and place on a skillet. These are delicate, and I found large size patties do not hold as well.
- Cook for about 5-7 minutes (or until golden brown), carefully flip with a flat spatula and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Play it by ear until a nice crust forms, and as a skillet gets hotter, cakes cook faster, usually by the end of batch #2. Work in batches.
- Serve hot or cold, both states are extremely tasty!!! You can use your favourite sauce for dipping, serve with a salad or on a whole grain English muffin.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Up to 3 months.
- Fresh salmon: This is a recipe for canned salmon, yes, but you can use fresh as well! If you have baked salmon leftovers, mash them up and voila.
- Too much moisture: Next time, add just a tablespoon of liquid from can or add in a bit more of the oats.
- Too dry: Add a bit more of the sweet potato to your mixture, bit by bit until you’ve reached the desired consistency. You can also add a bit of mayo.
- A squirt of lemon: Serve with a lemon wedge and squirt a bit over the salmon cakes before eating them. The pop of citrus balances the fish so nicely!
- Crab instead? Salmon cakes are the lower-budget version of a fancy crab cake. If you happen to have some crab on hand, this recipe will work for crab cakes as well.
- Best dips: Tartar sauce, creamy dill sauce, healthy ranch dressing, or even healthy honey mustard dressing would be great.
I have made a variation on this recipe so many times for my kids. The main thing that I do differently is that I gently roll the cakes in panko breadcrumbs and then bake them instead of fry them. I use parchment paper and I brush it with a little melted butter to give the panko a bit or richness and flavor. I also flip them roughly halfway through the baking time. I usually double the recipe as they freeze really well.
So glad it has been such a success with the kids and a great timesaver freezer meal!
Did anyone try putting the mixture into mini-muffin pans and baking them?
It has not been tested but I would try oven at 350 and check them at 10 minutes or less! Again, not been tested, but do let us know how it goes!