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Salmon cakes

Quick and Easy 4 Ingredient Salmon Cakes

NovelFoodie
Cooking meals on a budget and turning one meal into two can be delicious, fast, and easy! When we have a bit of salmon leftover from "Salmon Sunday" I freeze it until I have enough for salmon cakes. These four-ingredient salmon cakes will make weeknight cooking a breeze!
Preheat oven to 425° or prepare your air-fryer basket. You will need a cookie sheet, some cooking oil spray, and a lightly greased baking/cooling rack.
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5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people
Calories 162 kcal

Equipment

  • medium bowl
  • cast iron pan or skillet to fry in. Cookie sheet, oiled. If oven frying or an air fryer.
  • spatula
  • small bowl
  • Spoons
  • zester (optional, if using lemon)
  • rimmed dish or plate for panko coating.

Ingredients
  

For the Salmon Cakes

  • 7 ounces Salmon Leftover, cooked
  • 1 egg (Don't have an egg? Substitute 2-3 heaping tbsp mayo instead!)
  • 12 Ritz or Club (stack-sized) crackers (Gently crushed. Leave some chunks. Add one or two more if the mixture is too wet)
  • ⅓ cup Panko Seasoned with salt & pepper. Optional, add onion powder or try Weber Garlic Sriracha seasoning

Optional Dipping Sauce

  • ⅓ cup Greek yogurt I really like Greek Gods plain yogurt!
  • ½ tsp Lemon zest
  • 2 tbsp Lemon juice
  • ½ tsp Sriracha (Optional)

Instructions
 

For the Salmon Cakes

  • Use your hands to break up the leftover salmon into flakes and add to the bowl. Taste, and add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Crack the egg into the same bowl and whisk it with a fork.
  • Add the crushed butter crackers and stir together gently with a fork until you can make a small ball of the mixture in the palm of your hand. Don't over stir, you want to see some flakes!
  • Shape the salmon mixture into about four to five, even palm-size balls, and set aside. 
  • Add a third cup of Panko bread crumbs to a plate and season with salt and pepper. (Optional, add some dried parsley or garlic powder, onion powder, or other seasoning.)
  • One at a time, flatten a ball gently into the Panko breadcrumbs. Gently flip it over and press it into the panko on the other side, to coat both sides.
  • Since this is a loose, flaky mixture, it will try to fall apart on you. Turn it on its side and roll it into a hockey puck shape to coat all around the edges. You will probably need both hands to do this. Once it looks like a panko-coated hockey puck, lightly spray the top with cooking oil and place it on the greased baking rack if oven "frying".
  • Place the salmon cakes and rack on top of the cookie sheet and bake for about seven minutes, or until slightly browned on top.
    *Or place in your oiled air-fryer basket gently and not touching and air-fry at 400 until browned on top. Or add 2 tbsp oil to a skillet and fry on both sides until golden.
  • Flip cakes gently and place back into the oven for another seven minutes. Remove salmon cakes from the oven when they are lightly browned on both sides. When you press lightly with a finger, they should not be squishy.
    *or flip and air-fry a few minutes on 425 just until browned slightly. All we need to do is cook the egg through since the salmon has already been cooked!
    They can be served plain, or squeeze fresh lemon over the top! You can also put them in a burger bun and make a salmon burger!

For Optional Dipping Sauce

  • Spoon 1/3 cup greek yogurt (or mayonnaise) into a small bowl.
  • Zest one lemon, and add a pinch of the zest to the bowl. (Reserve the rest of the zest, I keep mine in zipper bags in the freezer to use as flavor bombs in other recipes.)
  • Cut lemon in half and squeeze about two tablespoons into the bowl. 
  • Add a small squeeze of sriracha, about 1/2 to 1 tsp depending on how spicy you like your food! Stir and taste, add a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Notes

Nutritional value and pictured are “oven-fried".  Feel free to pan-fry! They are equally as delicious! They are amazing in the air-fryer!
If you have more or less leftover salmon, it's pretty easy to modify the recipe. Just add more or less crushed crackers! 
We love these quick, four-ingredient leftover salmon cakes with spicy sriracha lemon yogurt dipping sauce.
This recipe is adapted from my Granny, Evelyn's tuna cake recipe. My Gran is 102 years old and hasn't cooked in a long time. One of my fondest memories of dinner at Granny's is of watching her make her Tuna Cakes. Having lived through the depression, my Gran had to learn to use what she had to feed her family. She could turn a simple can of tuna into a family meal! Of course, she would shallow fry her patties to a golden crisp! I promise to post her tuna cake recipe soon. It's a little different. 
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Nutrition

Calories: 162kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 14gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 69mgSodium: 160mgPotassium: 310mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 80IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 54mgIron: 1mg
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