This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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
Best salmon patty recipe I have found and the Tatar sauce rocks as well.
So glad to hear that! I appreciate the review.
Best recipe ever!! We use it all the time. With Wild Alaskan Salmon!!
#wildalaskan #wac
So glad you enjoy this recipe, Samantha! 🙂
Tried this for the first time last night. Made these additions: added more worcestershire sauce, some lemon juice and since I have a ton of kale and chives I chopped them finely and added it the patties.
Sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing these additions with us.
Natasha! I love, love, love these. I’ve made them many times and they never disappoint. I may even be known to have leftovers for breakfast!
I know it’s not nice to say I love your recipe but I changed it – but… I had to swap out the mayo and swapped in Greek yogurt (I just can’t do mayo) and it works just fine.
And – here’s a twist – the other night I had a couple left and was planning on finishing them up but I also wanted some tomato soup – guess what: dipping bites of the salmon cakes in tomato soup is excellent! So good that I’m making more tonight. (And it may be a little more calorie friendly than tartar sauce).
Last comment – I would love to see your husband make “how I make our videos” videos – I would be the first to subscribe.
Thanks for the recipes and best wishes for continued success.
Hello Mary Beth, great to hear from you and thanks for sharing! Nice to know that you enjoyed it that way too, thanks for the review and suggestion!
I can’t wait to make these with leftover salmon i have from dinner last night. I’ve made so many of your recipes. Everything always delicious. One of my favorite food blogs!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Andi!
I made these burger size and served for lunch on a bun with the tartar sauce and shredded iceberg lettuce. Fantastic! Thank you for the recipe!!!!
I lovvvve celery and will add some next time.
You’re welcome, Liz! I’m so glad you loved this recipe!
Just made these, and they are delicious! Served them with a sriracha aoili sauce. Yum, thank you Natasha.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Lisa!
This recipe was perfect! My family loved them! I usually improvise while following a recipe but this one I followed to a T and I am so glad I did. I don’t even like salmon cakes, but I really liked these a lot. I cooked them in an iron skillet and they came out crispy on the outside and didn’t fall apart. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Hi Tish, thanks for sharing that with us! I’m glad you followed the recipe as it is and loed the result!
We had to improvise when cooking, and found that adding some mashed up hard boiled eggs with the salmon added a nice flavor.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Grace! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Oh my goodness! Really good recipe! I didn’t even have all of the ingredients (bell pepper) and they were so delicious. Definitely will make this recipe again. Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Mary Ann!
I found “salmon trimmings” at the store today at a fraction of the price of the whole filets (1lb/$4). I spread the small pieces out on parchment and cooked for 8min and carried on with the recipe. I meant to follow the recipe exactly the first time but realized at home that I was missing red pepper and parsley so I used dill and some carrot I grated very finely with a rasp. Not sure what difference that made but they were delicious. I’ve tried other recipies in the past and they tasted ok but always fell apart. This is the perfect consistency and they look photo worthy. Can the extras be frozen? I’m solo and made 9 generous patties but 3/meal is plenty for me. I’d rather freeze the extras for 2 other meals instead of eating them several meals in a row before they go “off”.
Hi Jenny, yes, these can be made ahead, and frozen until ready to cook. I would cook the salmon to form the patties and then freeze them before cooking the patties. We keep them in an airtight container separated by parchment paper.
Here is what one of my other readers said, “I always freeze them after cooking (initially frying them to a golden color so when I defrost and reheat in the frying pan they do not get too brown). I wrap each patty individually in saran wrap and then put into a freezer bag. I usually take them out of the freezer in the morning of the day I intend on cooking them.” I hope that helps.
WOW!!! This is the BEST recipe for leftover salmon ever!!!! My husband said these were the best “seafood” cakes he’s ever had! No overpowering fishy/salmon flavor at all. Made the tartar sauce too, but they were so good on their own! Thanks for another outstanding recipe Natasha!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, B.G.!
I used canned salmon instead of making it fresh and they still turned out great! Even my toddler will eat these and I feel good giving him something nutritious!
Nice to know that your toddler loves this recipe too!
Not sure how this recipe is making 13-14 cakes… I got 7. Make if you make them super small as apps… but for a dinner portion… you’ll get about 6-8. I love this recipe though.
Hi Steven, maybe you were able to make bigger patties but glad you enjoyed it!
Wow! This is a keeper! Flavors were amazing!
Thank you!
You’re very welcome!
Awesome, I used leftover salmon from day before. Instead of Mayo I used the leftover remoulade. I also coated in panko and fried like chicken. Super crispy, moist, and delicious!
Thank you
Sounds so good! Thank you for your review, good to know that the substitution that you used worked well.
Simple, fast, easy and absolutely DELICIOUS!! Definitely a keeper. Thank you so much for sharing Natasha.
You’re welcome, Gloria. I’m happy to hear that you loved this recipe!
I just finished making these with the leftover salmon I had from last nights cook. They came out nice, and tasty. I substituted the half raw pepper for a already roasted pepper from a jar. Also, I didn’t have panko so I used regular bread crumb. After pan searing them I through in the toaster oven at 350 convection for 20 min. It really crisped them up. We ate them with fresh lemon.
Thank you for sharing, Jonathan. So happy you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for the excellent review.
Delish! And best of all my 2 year olds like them. Quick and easy. I had some pre Cooked Salmon from Trader Joe’s which made this extra quick.
Thanks for your good comments and feedback, glad you enjoyed it!
I made these for dinner tonight. I didn’t have red pepper. I substituted banana pepper. No fresh parsley so I used half the amount of dried and added it while cooking the onions. In our house garlic is a must so I added 4 cloves to the pan halfway through cooking the onion and pepper. I cooked some of the cakes in cast iron as the recipe called for and half in the air fryer at 400° for 12 minutes. We can’t decide which ones we liked better. There was a subtle difference in taste. They were both delicious!
I’m glad you liked the recipe with the substitutions that you used. Thank you for sharing that with us!
These are delicious! I made them for dinner along with rice pilaf and a salad. They are also good for breakfast with grits. Thanks so much!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Diane!