Recipe: Wild Salmon Cakes with Dill Yogurt Sauce
These salmon cakes are SO delicious! They’re hearty and nourishing yet light and refreshing! They’re the perfect way to enjoy wild salmon (whether you’re a salmon lover or not)!
They are gluten free and can easily be made dairy free if you use coconut yogurt for the dill sauce!
A few recipe notes:
- Do your best to use WILD salmon not farmed salmon as it’s much better for the planet and you!
- The recipe calls for bread crumbs: I recommend using gluten free panko for best results. You could also use regular panko if you are not gluten intolerant
- The recipe calls for avocado mayo. I recommend using Chosen Foods Avocado Mayo
- I love enjoying these salmon cakes with yam fries!
- These cakes are so versatile: you can serve these more “burger style” on a lettuce bun, eat them with a fork in knife (I love having with kale caesar salad) or make them into “mini cakes” to enjoy as an appie. The sky is the limit!
Ingredients:
serving size: 6 burgers
For the Wild Salmon Cakes:
- 450g wild sockeye salmon
- 1/4 cup avocado mayo
- 1 Tbsp. dijon mustard
- 1 egg
- 1 and 1/4 cup gluten free bread crumbs (gf panko works best)
- 1 medium red onion (or 1/2 a large one)
- 1 large carrot
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3/4 tsp. sea salt (plus a pinch for the salmon filets)
- 1/2 tsp. cumin, paprika, and chilli powder
- Fresh black pepper
- Juice of 1 and 1/2 lemons
- 1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped
- A few pieces of lettuce for a “lettuce bun” (romaine, butter, or iceberg work well), additional dill for garnish, and tomato (optional)
For the Dill Yogurt Sauce:
- 1/2 cup unsweetened full fat yogurt of choice (I like coconut yogurt or full fat greek yogurt)
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped dill
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 1 clove garlic, minced
Instructions:
- Pre-heat oven to 400F
- Remove salmon from fridge and place on a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Squeeze the juice of half a lemon on to the salmon along with a pinch of sea salt and a crack of fresh black pepper
- Place in the oven and bake for 8- 9 minutes (depending on the thickness of your filets). You want the salmon to be flakey but not dry!! It will be going back in the oven so it’s best to undercook than over cook it.
- In the mean time, chop the onion, celery and carrots as finely as possible. And mince the garlic.
- Add olive oil to a pan and heat on medium high. Add the chopped veg and saute until everything has softened and become nice and caramelized. Add the spices at the 5ish minute mark into the saute process. It will likely take around 10-12 minutes on medium heat for the veggies to be cooked down – the longer you can cook them – the better! Add more oil if needed.
- Add the egg to a large bowl. Scramble well with a fork. Next add the mayo and dijon. After this add the cooked onion mixture. Then add the lemon juice followed by the salmon. After this add the dill and bread crumbs. Save adding the breadcrumbs towards the end otherwise they will absorb all the moisture from the mayo / egg and your cakes might turn out too dry.
- Mix all contents of the bowl until well combined. You should be able to form a cake with your hand that sticks together fairly well. If it feels too wet, add another Tbsp. or 2 of bread crumbs. It hopefully should be good as is though 🙂
- Form into cakes with your hands and then place on a baking sheet with fresh parchment.
- Place in the oven and bake for 14- 16 minutes before flipping. You do NOT want to try to flip too soon or they will fall a part! If you flip one and it falls a part, wait a few more minutes to flip the rest. Once flipped, cook for another 6 minutes or until both sides are golden brown. If they are becoming too brown on the outsides you can lower your oven to 375.
- As the cakes are baking, make the dill yogurt sauce by placing all ingredients into a bowl and mixing until combined. Taste test and adjust to your liking.
- When the salmon cakes are finished, remove from oven. Serve on a “lettuce bun” with cucumber, fresh dill and anything else your heart desires.
