Today was my second night fixing dinner in my new kitchen. Last night we had Giada’s Parmesan Pork Chops & mashed potatoes but I didn’t get dinner done til 10pm since hubby got home from work at 9pm. It wasn’t anything new for the blog and it was way too late to take time for pictures 
Tonight though, I made my first blog-worthy post in my new kitchen… Fresh Salmon Cakes. They were delicious!!! Definitely a keeper. This is a slightly modified Cook’s Illustrated recipe… I cut back on the oil, and I subbed olive oil for vegetable oil. It definitely didn’t need anymore. I’ve posted the recipe as I made it.
I have to say midway through making them, I thought this is taking forever and I bet they’re not going to be worth the effort because the last time I attempted making salmon cakes they weren’t that great honestly. But boy was I wrong! They were definitely worth the effort and I can’t wait to have these again! I served them with a simple spinach salad. It was a wonderful dinner!
Pan-Fried Fresh Salmon Cakes
1 1/4 pound salmon fillets, skinned, any bones removed
1 slice high-quality white sandwich bread, such as Pepperidge Farm, crusts removed & finely chopped
1/4 c grated onion
2 Tbsp fresh parsley leaves
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 c panko, or plain dry bread crumbs
Chop salmon into 1/2-inch pieces and mix with chopped bread, onion, parsley, mayonnaise, salt & lemon juice in medium bowl. Scoop a generous 1/4 cup portion and use your hands to form into a patty measuring roughly 2 1/2 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining mixture, making 6-8 patties. Freeze the patties until the surface moisture has evaporated, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, spread the flour in a shallow dish. Beat the eggs in a second shallow dish. Spread the bread crumbs in a third. Dip the chilled salmon patties in the flour to cover and shake off the excess. Transfer to the beaten egg and with a slotted spatula, turn to coat; let the excess drip off. Transfer to the panko, shaking the dish to coat the patties completely. Return breaded patties to baking sheet.
Heat olive oil in large heavy skillet over medium-high heat until simmering, about 3 minutes. Add salmon patties and cook until medium golden brown on the bottoms. Flip cakes and cook until medium golden brown on the other side.
Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and allow to drain for a minute. Serve hot.
Source: Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
What a GREAT dish for the first one in your new kitchen congrats on that and congrats on the most YUMMY looking salmon cakes! Mmmm…
yum! these look SO good! DH isn’t a huge fan of fish but i think i could probably get him to eat these
i am definitely adding this to my list of things to try!
i luv salmon cakes!
happy new kitchen! these look great. I absolutely love crab cakes, but I’d never thought to make cakes out of salmon. looks like a wonderful recipe.
happy new kitchen! these look great. I absolutely love crab cakes, but I’d never thought to make cakes out of salmon. looks like a wonderful recipe.
I do think that fresh salmon fish cake tastes so much better than the canned one!
I can only eat salmon in two ways: in fish cake or sushi/sashimi. Still trying to convert myself to like it more.
We live in the Pacific Northwest and salmon is everywhere! I grew up in the midwest and Texas and we always had canned salmon…I will never go back. Fresh is the way to go.
That looks fab! I’m holding on to this recipe for future use..
These look really, really good. I think I’m going to give them a try this week or next.
What do you think about using low fat mayo and/or eggbeaters to slim the recipe down abit? Think it will effect the outcome much?
Wow! I am so happy to have found your blog, and this recipe. I am a Canadian currently living in (and reading your blog from) South Korea where fresh, delicious seafood is cheap and readily available. I will definitely be making these again!
kp
Kristen – I’m glad you liked it! Its definitely one of our favorites! If you like these, try out the Salmon & Asparagus pasta… another one of our faves!
Wow! Googled “salmon cakes” and came across this recipe. Delish indeed! It made enough for two meals for my boyfriend and me. We added a half cup of thawed frozen corn to the mix (to make up for the fact that we only had a pound of salmon).
So, so yummy. Thanks for the recipe!
Just now ate the salmon cakes. I served them over greens and put a few dollops of a green goddess-like dressing with chopped cukes over all. They are FANTASTIC!
Awesome!!!!!!
I shaped balls a bit smaller than a walnut. Slightly flattened them as they cooked and served as an appetizer. Delicious. I did not have dried bread crumbs, so substituted crushed saltine crackers.
What a great idea! Genius!!
These were fabulous!! One of my co-workers shared this recipe (and his cooking skills!) yesterday with a few of us and I was sold. (He added lemon zest IN the cakes…beautiful!) I made them for my hubby last night. (I did not get fancy and use lemon zest though…) You are so right…it is a lot of work but so worth it. In fact, I am eating some of the leftovers at work for lunch right now!
A couple of things I noticed: 1. The freezing part is very very important, to anyone who makes these – do not skip on that. It really helps hold them together while you are breading the cakes. 2. Size matters. When I followed the size directions, the cakes came out really nice. When I got impatient and tried to make them bigger…they fell apart. Sigh. Lesson learned. I love Carole’s idea about doing them for appetizers! Genius!!
I was wondering too: Chopping salmon into tiny little pieces is hard! How did you do it? I ended up with some salmon chunks – not big but not flakes. Did you just chop it or did you use a food processor? Just wondering.
Anyway, I passed this recipe and your awesome blog on to several of my friends and family. Thank you and count at least one more follower to your blog!!
I just use a knife and quickly chop up the salmon… nothing fancy!
Thank you Ashley. That’s what I did too. Did you cook the salmon first? I didn’t and thought maybe that was why I had all the chunks. Anyway, this dish made amazing leftovers. I even broke my own rule about not microwaving fish at work! Ha!
Salmon seasoned opened this past week here in Tacoma and my husband has brought in some fresh fish! I’m going to make these again this weekend. Thanks again!
no don’t cook them first. chunks are okay. at least i don’t mind them when its delicious fresh salmon!
That’s what I thought…and I really didn’t mind the chunks either. I asked the guy who made them first what he did and he seared the salmon a little first so that it would flake. Mine didn’t look the same so I thought maybe I had skipped a step. But I didn’t…he just added one!
I kind of prefer the chunky…fresh salmon is great! Thanks! Hope you are having an amazing day.
I’ve never commented on a recipe before, but I just had to with this one. I made these for dinner this evening and they were truly awesome! I’ve never known about the freezer trick before, but what a difference that makes in holding things together! I served them with a light sauce of fresh lemon juice, stone ground mustard and butter over a bed of wilted lettuce. This is definitely going to be a new staple in our house. So glad THIS recipe rose to the top of the Google results when I searched “fresh salmon cakes”.
Wow. This is a really well thought out recipe. This completely works. It immediately goes into regular rotation at our house now.
— I used shallots instead of onion. And used pumpernickel bread.