Easy Crispy Salmon Fishcakes

These simple crispy salmon fishcakes are a light and delicious meal that is easy on the wallet and great for picky eaters! Shallow-fried in olive oil, these fishcakes have a crispy exterior and a soft, delicately-flavored interior that even kids will love. With simple ingredients and the option to make ahead, these are perfect for a quick and easy midweek meal.

Why you’ll love them

Light but delicious. Since these are shallow fried in a little olive oil, they’re crispy but still on the lighter side. The inside is soft with flavors that are delicious but don’t overshadow the delicately-flavored fish.

Kid frendly crowd pleasers. Salmon fishcakes can be a great way to get your picky eaters to eat nutritious fish and vegetables. Kids love the crispy texture and mild flavor, and it’s easy to customize the recipe to include their favorite ingredients.

Budget friendly. Fish cakes are a great way to make salmon go further, or to use up leftover salmon. Salmon isn’t always the most economical of ingredients, but flaked in with potatoes, these make an affordable midweek meal.

A simple pantry meal. Grab some fresh salmon and parsley and you probably have most of the other ingredients already. Using canned salmon and dried parsley instead can make this a true pantry meal.

Make-ahead meal. Why not assemble in advance and store in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to cook them?

About the ingredients

Potatoes: You’ll need around 4 medium-sized potatoes to help bind and fill out your salmon fishcakes. Some say starchy potatoes such as Russets, Yukon Golds or purple potatoes are best. However, I say any all-purpose potatoes will do the trick!

Can you also make these with leftover mashed potato? Sure, why not!

Salmon: I usually use 3 small fresh salmon fillets for this recipe. However, defrosted frozen salmon will work, as will another type of affordable firm fish such as cod, trout, tilapia, pollock, hake, haddock or sea bass.

Of course, you can use leftover cooked salmon instead if that’s what you have.

Can you use canned salmon? Yes! I’d remove any soft bones and keep it in fairly big chunks, then proceed with the recipe as written.

Frozen peas: For ‘hidden’ goodness! The best part about this is that you simply add the frozen peas to the water while you’re cooking the potatoes. So easy!

Butter: Just a little, to mash along with the potatoes.

Lemon: The zest goes into the salmon and potatoes mixture while you can use the juice to squeeze over your delicious homemade salmon fishcakes to serve.

Mustard: Just a little adds extra delicate flavor.

Grated cheese: Adding a little melted cheese both helps to bind the potato salmon mixture and add extra flavor. I usually use a sharp cheddar but another tasty hard cheese or even parmesan or feta would work.

Fresh parsley: For a little added flavor, color and freshness. Feel free to substitute with a different herb. Dill or basil work particularly well. Alternatively, feel free to use dried herbs. Use a teaspoon of dried for every tablespoon of fresh.

Mayonnaise: This may seem like a strange ingredient to add, but it’s great for binding the mixture together as well as adding a little extra moisture and creaminess.

A pinch of chili flakes: This is purely optional, but works well to add a little depth and complexity to the flavor of the fish cakes.

Salt and pepper: As always, add plenty of seasoning to the mixture to enhance the other flavors.

For the panko breadcrumb coating

Panko breadcrumbs: I like to use these for the lightest, crispiest coating. However, regular bread crumbs are fine too.

You’ll also need a whisked egg and a little flour so that the breadcrumbs will stick.

How to make easy salmon fishcakes

Firstly, after peeling and chopping the potatoes into chunks, boil them until tender.

Add the frozen peas for the last part of cooking, then mash both together with a little butter. This mixture forms the basis of your delicious salmon cakes!

The next thing to do is to add the fish. If you need to cook the fish from scratch (or perhaps you’re using leftover or canned salmon!), I find the easiest way to do this is to microwave it in milk.

This is so quick and easy, and keeps the fish nice and moist. Simply pop the fish into a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap/cling film, and microwave for just a couple of minutes or until ‘just cooked’.

However, feel free to cook the salmon in any way you wish. Pan-fry it or bake it for 10 minutes if you prefer.

Then flake the fish and add it to the potato mixture along with all the other fishcake ingredients.

Mix together really well. Then gather the mixture into balls and flatten into fish cake shapes.

Roll the fishcakes first in flour, then dip into egg, then coat in panko breadcrumbs.

The final step is to heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan. Then pan-fry for around 5 minutes on each side or until beautifully dark golden brown and crispy!

Use a fish slice to carefully add and remove them from the pan and turn them over.

So delicious with a squeeze of lemon juice on the top. And so so easy!

How to serve salmon fishcakes

I love eating these simply, with a salad and perhaps some coleslaw on the side. Try a classic Greek village salad or a tangy Greek lettuce salad. If you’d like a fancier (but still easy!) salad, go for this feta walnut beetroot salad.

If you enjoy a Mediterranean vibe, try adding a bowl of this simple 10-minute tsatziki sauce on the side for dipping. Or how about a homemade tartare sauce, or even a simple homemade Marie Rose sauce that you can make by simply mixing mayonnaise and tomato ketchup together?

Even jarred mayonnaise will work for dipping in a pinch!

This quinoa salad with feta, fennel and blueberries is a fancier salad option that tastes just incredible and goes perfectly with the salmon fishcakes.

To make a more substantial meal out of your fishcakes, serve with a delicious Mediterranean side dish such as this easy Greek lemon rice, Greek baked eggplant or orzo salad with pesto.

Mediterranean roasted vegetables or simpler sautéed frozen green beans would also go well, perhaps with some of this 2-minute toasted bread with olive oil and salt on the side.

Variations

It’s so easy to adapt this salmon fish cake recipe to your personal taste, or to what you have in the fridge or pantry.

Try a different veggie instead of peas, such as frozen broccoli, spinach, edamame or green beans. Pack in all that green goodness!

You can also try adding chopped scallions/spring onions to the mixture. You can use alternative fresh herbs (dill works wonderfully, as does basil), or dried herbs if you prefer. Chopped chives also work well.

Some people even like to add some chopped hard-boiled egg to the fishcake mixture. Try it – it’s really delicious!

As for the fish, as already mentioned feel free to use canned salmon (or even tuna if you like for a budget version). Use a large can (around 425g/14oz) in oil or water (drained). Other types of fresh firm white fish work as well, such as cod, smoked fish, tilapia, pollock or sea bass.

Lastly, how about trying the recipe with sweet potatoes instead?

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