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These salmon cakes are crisp on the outside with tasty bites of flaked salmon – YUMM!! It’s mostly salmon which makes every bite such a treat! These salmon cakes always disappear fast and are well loved by the kids and grown ups in our family. I love that there isn’t a hint of fishiness in them.
It’s a smart way to use up leftover cooked salmon, but it’s worth the extra 10 minutes it takes to roast salmon just for this recipe. These salmon patties are THAT GOOD! p.s. You can also use well-drained packaged or canned salmon if that’s what you have on hand.
Make sure to serve with this homemade tartar sauce – it’s the easiest sauce to make, keeps well in the fridge, and once you try homemade, there’s just no going back to the store-bought muck. The same goes for these salmon cakes – they are truly delicious!
Ingredients for Salmon Cakes:
1 lb fresh salmon filet*
Garlic Salt – I use Lawry’s brand
Black Pepper
Olive Oil
1 medium onion (1 cup finely diced)
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1 cup Panko bread crumbs (Japanese Style crumbs)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp mayo
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
*Note: Fresh salmon is best, but it can be substituted with leftover cooked salmon, or 14-15 oz of well-drained canned salmon, or three 5 oz salmon packets. If mixture is too moist to hold the patty shape, add more bread crumbs and if it is too dry, add an extra Tablespoon of mayo.
Watch How To Make Salmon Patties:
How To Make Salmon Cakes (Salmon Patties):
1. Preheat Oven to 425˚F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silpat. Place salmon skin-side down, brush with olive oil and season with garlic salt and black pepper.
Bake uncovered for 10-15 min or just until cooked through (my thinner cut wild salmon was closer to 10 minutes). Remove from oven, cover with foil and rest ten minutes. Discard skin, flake salmon with forks, remove any bones, and cool to room temp while prepping remaining ingredients.
2. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp butter and finely diced onion and bell pepper. Saute until softened and golden (7-9 minutes) then remove from heat.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine cooled flaked salmon, sautéed onion and pepper, 1 cup bread crumbs, 2 beaten eggs, 3 Tbsp mayo, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1/4 cup fresh parsley. Stir to combine then form into 13-14 patties. I find it’s easiest to portion the patties using a flat ice cream scoop then pressing them into 1/3 to 1/2″ thick patties.
4. Heat 1 Tbsp oil and 1 Tbsp butter in a large pan over medium heat and once butter is done sizzling, add half of the salmon cakes and sauté 3 1/2 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through.
If salmon cakes brown too quickly, reduce heat. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate. Add remaining 1 Tbsp oil and 1 Tbsp butter and repeat cooking remaining salmon cakes.
I can’t get enough of those big flakes of salmon! Major Cravings for salmon cakes with homemade tartar sauce right now. Hands down, these are the best salmon cakes I’ve ever tried and they are so easy!
P.S. If you love this recipe and salmon in general, our famous baked salmon is a must try!
Salmon Cakes Recipe (Salmon Patties)

Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh salmon filet*
- Garlic Salt - I use Lawry's brand
- Black Pepper
- olive oil
- 1 medium onion, 1 cup finely diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs, Japanese Style crumbs
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 425˚F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silpat. Place salmon skin-side down, brush with olive oil and season with garlic salt and black pepper. Bake uncovered for 10-15 min or just until cooked through (my thinner cut salmon was closer to 10 min). Remove from oven, cover with foil and rest ten minutes. Discard skin, flake salmon with forks, remove any bones, and cool to room temp.
- Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp butter and finely diced onion and bell pepper. Saute until softened and golden (7-9 minutes) then remove from heat.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cooled flaked salmon, sautéed onion and pepper, 1 cup bread crumbs, 2 beaten eggs, 3 Tbsp mayo, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1/4 cup fresh parsley. Stir to combine then form into 13-14 patties. It's easy to portion patties using a flat ice cream scoop then pressing them into 1/3 to 1/2" thick patties.
- Heat 1 Tbsp oil and 1 Tbsp butter in a large pan over medium heat and once butter is done sizzling, add half of the salmon cakes and sauté 3 1/2 to 4 min per side or until golden brown and cooked through. If salmon cakes brown too quickly, reduce heat. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate. Add remaining 1 Tbsp oil and 1 Tbsp butter and repeat cooking remaining salmon cakes.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Loved this recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Kelly!
Delicious! My daughter made these with our leftover grilled salmon from the night before and they were a huge hit for lunch today 🙂
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Yvonne!
I used canned salmon and gf bread crumbs. My husband loved them. I experimented with dipping some patties in bread crumb/parsley mix before frying. He liked both. I added sriracha to the tartar sauce for some zip too.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Annette! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I haven’t made this yet, but I want to THANK YOU for putting the measurements in the text of the recipe!!!! I have always found it very annoying to keep going back and forth between the text and ingredient list, and wondered why nobody else seemed to use the Joy of Cooking style, where they list the amounts as you go through the recipe. It’s so much easier! You even did the best of both worlds, listing them at the top AND in the text! Great job!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy that was helpful!
These look really good. Can they be frozen after cooked? How would you reheat?
Hi Katie, I bet freezing that could work. I would cook the salmon to form the patties and then freeze before cooking the patties. We keep them in an airtight container separated by parchment paper. I hope that helps you.
Thank you made tonight and excellent. I am going to try freezing the rest.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I have frozen them and they are just as good when they are thawed and fried later.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Just what I wanted to know.
Thanks!
My new FAVORITE!!! And that tarter sauce is like no other!!!
Thank you.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Cathy!
This is such a tasty recipe. I made the salmon cakes and the tartar sauce and there was so much flavor!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
I made these the other night for my very picky eater husband and he absolutely loved them! He said they were the best salmon patties he has ever had! The homemade tartar is amazing..no more store bought in this family!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
I made this recipe and it is delicious. I always try to follow the recipe precisely before I give my opinion. It is a great way to have salmon. Your instructions are always very easy to follow. Love your posts and I watch your videos.
Nan
I’m so happy you’re enjoying our recipes! Thank you so much for the fantastic review and your encouraging words.
Lovely recipe. Didn’t have garlic salt so I used a fresh clove of garlic grated into the onion pepper mixture during the last minute of cooking. Also sprinkled some panko crumbs on the ice cream scoop for some extra nice browning.
Nice to know that, Mike. I hope you’ll love all the other recipes that you will try!
Natasha, very impressed, last minute lunch idea, I used garlic olive oil and put them in a skillet. Thank you
You’re welcome! I’m happy you enjoyed that!
OH EM GEE! I attempted to make this for the first time ever and I am beyond amazed! It’s sooo easy and delicious 😋 you can’t beat fresh salmon cakes!!
Thank you so much!!
Hi Janay, I’m happy to know that you loved the recipe! Yay, thank you so much for sharing that with us.
Neighbor gave us 2 year old frozen salmon and suggested patties out of it. Never made patties before, found your recipe and absolutely loved them. Will make them again Going to try yogurt in place of Mayo for weight watchers
That’s great to hear, Rose. Thank you for sharing that with us! Please let us know how it goes using yogurt.
The best salmon cakes I have ever made. Thank you for this amazing recipe.
You’re so welcome, Carol. Thank you for your awesome review!
Can you make/forms these ahead of time (ie. morning), store in the fridge and cook them later in the day? Trying to get ahead by doing some prep!
Hi Janice, yes, these can be made ahead, just refrigerate until ready to cook.
Excellent recipe. Next time I will try with a bit less bread crumbs, maybe 3/4 cup.
I also garnished with some tzatziki sauce on top when serving. Gave it a really nice tang.
This recipe is a winner!
Hi Mike, sounds like a great plan! Thanks for sharing that with us.
Great except for the fact that at no point did the recipe remind you to add salt. 🙁 These would have been fantastic had they been properly salted.
Hi Rae, we used garlic salt twice in the recipe which is equal parts salt and garlic powder and it should have been ample seasoning, but you can add more to taste.
Without a doubt THE BEST salmon cakes ever!!! I’ve tried many recipes, but this is the bomb!!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Vicky!
Wow! I just made the salmon cakes and they were the best I ever tasted. I eat a lot of salmon and I always cook too much on purpose. I make all kinds of dishes with the leftover salmon. Salmon patties is one of my favorites and your recipe is the best…by far. Thank you.
Hello Jason, I am very glad to read your comments and feedback. Thank you so much for sharing them with us.
I made these last night. Awesome recipe. It takes less than an hour, including clean-up.
I did NOT use parsley or make the tartar sauce. Subbed with a bit of green onion and bleu cheese dressing. I used foil to line pan, didn’t have any parchment paper.
I made six larger patties, which formed easily and stayed together well.
Awesome tasting, moist inside…crunchy outside. The red bell adds a bit of sweetness.
Hello there, thank you for sharing your experience making this recipe. I’m happy to know that you loved it!