Leftover or canned salmon made into these crispy salmon cakes creates a whole new meal with tons of flavor made extra delicious thanks to a super simple, creamy roasted red pepper sauce.
Crispy Salmon Cakes
I have very vivid food memories of my childhood and I’ve shared so many of them with all of you here on the blog, with more to come. But one of the challenges I’ve struggled with over the past year or so is the fact that I’m not creating those same types of memories for my daughter.
Think about it. Most cooks rotate 10-20 favorite meals for dinner time. Some drop in and some drop out of the menu line-up, but mostly, our favorite recipes go on repeat.
Not when you’re a food blogger.
As a food blogger and recipe creator, I’m most often preparing something different to test or try or develop, all in the name of food fodder for this here bloggity blog.
And if I’m not taking advantage of spending my money for dinner on a multi-purpose blog post, I feel like I’m creating an extra expense of time and money in missing an opportunity to do so. I mean, what better time to try out something new than when you have friends and family so you have a crowd to share it with, aka pawn it off on?
But lately, what I’ve been longing for are some of my favorite stand-by dinners of the past. The ones I have hand-written in my dog-eared, bursting at the binding recipe book. These are the dinners I had as a kid, or as a young cook I made over and over again to share with the ones I love.
I crave these recipes not just for their taste but to share my favorite food memories cravings with my daughter, and hopefully influence her future foodie memories.
What’s in These Salmon Cakes?
This is one of the recipes I’ve kept in my line-up for years. If you’ve been to our house for dinner, it’s highly likely that we’ve made you these easy salmon patties. And if you’ve been to our house for dinner and we haven’t, well then, it’s high time we did. It’s one you won’t soon forget.
The best part is that these salmon cakes can be used as one of those meal prep situations by cooking a salmon on Sunday or Monday from recipes like this roasted salmon recipe or this sheet pan salmon recipe to enjoy for dinner one night, then use the leftovers for these crispy salmon cakes.
It’s a familiar meal prepared in a whole new way. Just another reason I love my salmon recipes, because depending on how many you have at the table, they’ll likely yield leftovers. I’ve never used canned salmon but if you look for a quality brand, it will likely work well.
Of course you can cook the salmon especially for this dish. And it’s worth doing so because these salmon cakes ARE that good. And because the creamy roasted red pepper sauce drizzled on top makes them even better.
To make the best salmon patties, you’ll need:
- Green onions
- Fresh parsley and dill
- Fresh breadcrumbs
- Butter
- Mayonnaise
- Spicy brown mustard
- Lemon juice
- Cooked salmon
- Vegetable oil (for sautéing)
And to make the creamy roasted red pepper sauce, you’ll need:
- Red bell peppers
- Heavy whipping cream
- Kosher salt
- Cayenne pepper
How to Make Salmon Cakes
Making the crispy salmon patties is as easy as tossing everything into a food processor and blending until combined. Then, that mixture needs to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before being shaped into salmon patties, dipped in breadcrumbs, and pan fried.
And the roasted red pepper sauce couldn’t be easier to prepare. It’s simply roasted red bell peppers steeped in cream with a dash of cayenne and blended until smooth.
The secret is to use this sauce as a condiment, a drizzled addition and flavoring, to try and avoid drowning the whole dish in its lush deliciousness of red pepper cream. Unless you are my husband. And then you just go for it.
We especially like eating the roasted red pepper sauce served on extra broad egg noodles. At least that’s our favorite food memory. You, of course, are welcome and encouraged to create your own.
Do I Have to Use Whipping Cream in the Sauce?
Don’t get all freaked out in the fact that we use REAL cream in this recipe. If you wanted to cut a few calories you could certainly use half and half, but you’ll be missing out on the a lot of the thickener that whipping cream provides.
Can I Prep Salmon Cakes in Advance?
You can make the salmon patty and let it hang out in the fridge overnight, if desired. Or, quickly blitz together the ingredients before leaving for work and sauté the patties as soon as you get home.
Tips for Making the Best Salmon Patties
When mixing together the salmon cakes ingredients, be sure not to over process them. You want the ingredients to be gently combined, but it shouldn’t be super mushy.
Also note that dried herbs can’t be substituted for fresh in the salmon cakes. Dried herbs are more potent than fresh and won’t give you the right flavor for this recipe.
I usually roast my own peppers to make the sauce for the sauce for the salmon patties, but it is totally acceptable to use a quality jarred version.
Salmon Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- For the Salmon Cakes:
- 4 green onions roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup Italian parsley chopped
- ¼ cup fresh dill chopped
- 3 cups fine fresh bread crumbs from about 10 ounces of bread divided (I prefer french bread)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 ½ cups flaked cooked salmon about 15 ounces
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup vegetable oil for sautéeing
- For the Red Bell Pepper Cream Sauce:
- 4 red bell peppers or two 15-ounce jars of roasted red bell peppers
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- Kosher salt and cayenne pepper
Instructions
- For the Salmon Cakes:
- Add the green onions, parsley and dill to the bowl of a food processor and process until fine.
- Add 1 ½ cups bread crumbs, eggs, melted butter, mayonnaise, mustard and lemon juice. Pulse on and off until well mixed.
- Add the chunks of salmon and season with kosher salt and black pepper and pulse on and off until gently combined and mixture begins to hold together. Be careful not to over process.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes up to overnight.
- Shape into patties ⅜’ thick. Dip the patties into the remaining bread crumbs, and pat to coat all of the sides completely then set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil to medium or so that the oil sizzles when a bread crumb is dropped into it. Sauté the patties for 2 minutes or until golden brown on each side turning once. Place the patties on a plate lined with paper towels and cover to keep warm. Serve with egg noodles and red bell pepper cream sauce.
- For the Red Bell Pepper Cream Sauce
- Roast the whole peppers over medium high flame, turning often, until charred.
- Place in a plastic bag, seal and allow to steam in the bag for about 10-15 minutes or until the skin peels off easily. Remove the skin, stem and seeds and coarsely chop the bell peppers.
- In a medium pot over medium heat, add the bell peppers and the cream and bring almost to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a medium and cook until the cream has reduced by half, about 8 minutes.
- Purée with a hand held blender, in a blender or in food processor (be sure the top is vented to allow steam to escape so it doesn’t blow off the lid) until smooth. Season with kosher salt and a few shakes of cayenne pepper to taste. Keep over low heat before serving.
