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Thrifty and flavoursome, salmon cakes with chives and garlic sauce are delicate, golden rounds of flaked salmon, either tinned or fresh, with a fluffy mashed potato centre. They are bright with lemon and fresh herbs, and come with a cool and refreshing, yoghurt, garlic and chive dipping sauce. These pink fish patties are minutes to mix together and around ten to cook.
Make these salmon cakes with leftover salmon from this celebration-worthy baked side of salmon with rose and wine cream sauce. It’s one of my holiday favourites.
I’ll let you into a secret- I really dislike frying food. It’s nothing to do with the taste- who doesn’t love some delicately fried tempura, or deep-fried pickles?
But the smell. The smell of cooking oil clings to me, my clothes, my hair, my skin. And it lingers in all the rooms- even upstairs, wafting about the place for days like a house guest who has outstayed their welcome.
But my love for salmon cakes is stronger than my aversion to hot oil and the frying pan. So, committed to my fishcake fetish, I turned to my trusty air fryer to reinvent one of my best-loved recipes.
So how did the updated method measure up to the original? Not only were the patties crispier on the outside, fluffier at their centre and golden delicious, there was no stale odour to contend with and I could breathe easy.
And not have to shower and wash my hair immediately after. It’s a kitchen revelation!
Best salmon cakes recipe
Salmon cakes with chives and garlic sauce sounds fancy, but it can be very frugal with a few thrifty twists. Ever find yourself with a heap of leftover mashed potato? How about a spare uneaten fillet or two of salmon loitering in the fridge?
Well, have I got good news for you! You can combine both of these ingredients to make the most divine, quick and easy, gold and crispy salmon patties.
You’ll also need an egg and some flour- simple store cupboard staples, which will bind the fish and potato together to make the cakes cake-shaped and firm.
Finally, an everyday lemon will bring sharpness to the sweet and fatty salmon, I use zest and juice. And lastly, fresh herbs. Dill or parsley commonly accompany salmon thanks to their bold anise and peppery notes, respectively. These strong and fresh flavours uplift the would-be heavy fishcakes.
Creamy chives and garlic sauce
This may be the best salmon cakes recipe delivering satisfaction with every mouthful, but the creamy garlic sauce sends it off the charts. Dip, smother, spread it on your patty- just don’t leave it out.
This simple to put together but intensely flavoured sauce is thick, cool and tangy Greek-style yoghurt with a generous measure of mild oniony chives, pungent garlic and tart lemon juice. It is powerful and bold and livens up many a fish dish, for example baked herb and garlic salmon with panko breadcrumbs.
Its compliments even extend beyond fish: try topping a sweet jacket potato, add to a spicy chicken wrap, serve with morning eggs Turkish style, or just dip your French fries in it.
Recipe tips and notes
- Salmon is obviously the star here. Buy the best quality canned salmon available to you or use fresh salmon.
- If the flakes are on the large side, break them up a bit for a more even, delicate texture. But not too much! You want to know where the salmon ends and the mash starts.
- Some salmon cakes recipes will call for breadcrumbs, but I am a potato girl! So, I use mashed potatoes.
- The egg and flour act as binding agents. They are vital to the recipe.
- I add plenty of zingy lemon zest and fresh herbs to my salmon and mashed potato mix for maximum flavour.
- Using an ice-cream scoop, form the mixture into even-sized balls and then flatten them into patties.
- If you have the luxury of time, the salmon patties can sit for an hour in the fridge to firm up. This step is non-essential if you follow the next one…
- I empty the scoop of mix directly on the This is an affiliate link.frying pan to prevent the uncooked patties falling apart in the transfer.
- Fry 5 or 6 salmon cakes at a time. Don’t overcrowd the pan or you’ll end up with sad and soggy salmon cakes. Watch the video for the process in detail.
- Or, if you’re not a keen fryer like me, use your This is an affiliate link.air fryer or oven bake.
Serving suggestions
When served as a starter all these sumptuous salmon cakes need is their cool and creamy garlic sauce co-star, a lemon wedge, and a little leafy garnish.
To make more of a meal, bring on the greens. Salmon and broccoli is a beaut, and my lively lemony tenderstem broccoli recipe will offset these fishcakes with its feisty vinaigrette like a dream.
If broccoli is your go-to, try roasted asparagus and radish. The same tart mustardy flavours apply and bring out the softness of the salmon and mashed potato.
If you’ve already put your all into making the best salmon cakes, take the easy route with a low-prep garden salad. This will ensure all the focus is on the fishcakes.
Storage and leftovers
It’s true I love leftovers- and these salmon cakes with leftover salmon AND leftover mashed potatoes is a testament to that! However, there is one golden rule: don’t save any leftovers from a meal made with leftovers.
If you lovingly crafted your salmon cakes from scratch, that’s a different story. These leftover salmon cakes will keep in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
They also make great freezers! Either cook then freeze or freeze after assembly. Either way, they will be at their best for three months. Whether cooked then frozen or uncooked and frozen, salmon fishcakes need to be defrosted in the fridge overnight before being cooked and served.
Once thoroughly defrosted, follow the recipe instructions in the recipe card below.
More favourite salmon recipes
- Creamy Salmon Pasta
- Baked Salmon in Rose Cream Sauce
- Salmon en croute (Salmon in Pastry)
- Teriyaki Salmon with Bok Choy
Salmon Cakes with Chive and Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 4-5 potatoes, I used 3 cups of mashed potatoes
- 450g/2cups canned or fresh cooked salmon
- 1 egg
- 1 lemon, juice and zest of
- 1 tbsp flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 tbsp parsley or dill
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil
For the sauce (optional)
- 125ml/1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp chives
- 1 clove garlic, pressed
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the salmon cakes
- In a large mixing bowl combine mashed potatoes and salmon while making sure no skin or bones end up in there as well, and break an egg into it. Add the lemon zest to the mixture, juice the lemon and pour it in as well along with chopped parsley and flour. Mix everything well, add a pinch of each salt and pepper.
- Scoop the mixture with an ice cream scoop to get even-sized cakes and roll them in the flour on your flour dusted board or plate, flatten them slightly to form a patty.
- Fry salmon cakes in hot olive oil until golden and crunchy on the outside.
Air fryer method
- Follow the recipe up to point 3. Instead of pan frying, preheat your air fryer to 240C/500F spray the salmon cakes with an oil spray and arrange in the basket of the air fryer, cook for 8-9 minutes until golden on the outside.
- You will need to do it in 2 or 3 batches depending on the size of your air fryer.
For the yogurt sauce
- For the sauce mix yogurt, lemon juice, chopped chives and minced garlic in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes before serving for the flavours to blend.
Video
Notes
- You can also prepare these salmon cakes with fresh salmon. The taste is no doubt superior to the canned variety.
- If not leftover mashed potatoes available, you can cook the potatoes specifically for the recipe.
- Boil potatoes until tender and mash them while still hot. Poach your fresh salmon or steam or bake, in other words, cook it any way you like it and then proceed with the recipe.
- Alternatively you can use any type of fish you like or find at the back of your cupboard!
- If you have the luxury of time, the salmon patties can sit for an hour in the fridge to firm up. This step is non-essential if you follow the next one…
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m making them now. I can’t wait!!!!!
Always a good day when salmon cakes are for dinner!
I just made these for the first time last night. They are AH-MAZING!!! I, too, used dill instead of parsley because I didn’t have any (and am also more partial to dill anyway), and I added some dill to the dip too. And fried them in coconut oil and a bit of butter instead of olive oil. We all loved them, including my picky husband, and 1 year old!!
Sounds delicious! Thank you for your feedback, Cait.
Hi there! I can’t wait to try this recipe but I have two questions.. First can I substitute sweet potatoes or yams for the white potatoes… Also can I bake these instead of fry them? Thanks!
Yes and yes. If you decided to bake them I would spray them with something like Pam or brush with olive oil to crisp them up.
I was given an entire case of canned mackerel and had no idea what to do with it. I’m gonna try this recipe with it instead of salmon.
I love mackerel! Please, let me know how it turns out, Bob. 🙂
Is it possible to make these without the potatoes, and use something like almond flour instead of the regular flour?? These sound amazing, and I’d looooove to make them, but my fiance & I are on a low carb diet.
Hi Rose, I haven’t tried but if I wanted to make them low carb I would use roasted and well-drained butternut squash instead of potatoes because of the similar texture. You can try using almond flour but I am not sure if it would alter the taste too much. You can always experiment and see. Do let me know how they turn out. 🙂
Rose, I make Salmon patties all the time and use almond flour. Just be sure no use enough for the salmon to stick together, but not so much as to be able to taste it. I also use an egg and sometimes add a bit of yogurt;. If my chives are doing good, I’ll add a few of them – chopped of course. Be sure to taste the raw mixture (it won’t hurt you because the salmon has actually been steamed in the can) before you cook it to see if the almond flour has altered the taste too much.
By “Fresh” Salmon, do you mean uncooked salmon? Unsure of whether or not I should cook the salmon a bit before mixing everything together! Thanks
Alex, by “fresh” salmon I mean not-canned but cooked which I mention at the end of the recipe.
Yay! I have been trying to figure out something fun to do with the canned salmon languishing in my pantry and this almost looks too good for it! 😀 I might just make them right now!
Please, let me know how they turned out! 🙂
All right, it took me a couple of days to finally get to these since I had a couple of things I needed to use first. (And the salmon was not in fact “languishing”, it was recently purchased!)
I just mixed them up and can barely wait to cook them for lunch. They are tasty already, so I know they will be even more so with the surface crisped in yummy olive oil! I didn’t have parsley so I used dill instead, but I am confident that a Russian chef would approve of that substitution! 😉
Hahaha, Lisa, Russian chef approved indeed. I have used dill in that recipe in the past and I actually prefer it with dill but I am partial to that amazing herb!
How much dill was used? Also, was the dill fresh, or dried like you’d find in a spice bottle?
By the way, your new grater/zester is pretty cool. Looks like a doable DIY project too…. hope you don’t mind any copies floating around.
I am trying this recipe for tomorrow night. I am looking forward to it. Thank you for sharing the recipe, and the great tutorial.
There is no dill in the recipe although you can use 1-2 tbsp of fresh chopped dill instead of parsley. I am impressed you can DIY something like a grater! I would love to see what you end up with!
Verdict: YUM! Even my one year old liked them!
Forgot to mention, the skin and bones of canned salmon are completely edible. I just mashed them with a fork and mixed them in!
And…I LOVE your new grater/zester! 🙂
Awesome! Thank you for sharing, Lisa. 🙂
oh gosh, I love this! I am totally making it this week!
I hope you do, they are so delicious! 🙂
Ok, I love this!! I always wanted to make fish cakes, but for whatever reason I though it would take lots of time and ingredients! Loving this recipe…looking forward to make some soon!! i’ll let you know the outcome! 😉