I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post. I am not a doctor; please consult your practitioner before changing your supplement or healthcare regimen. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Salmon Patties are a great way to enjoy clean healthy protein that’s high in calcium and convenient. This is my Granny’s recipe, with some updates, and perfect for a variety of wellness diets, with 3 variations. Bake or fry, you choose.
This Salmon Patties recipe is Low FODMAP, so: gentle to digest and great for most Gluten-free and grain-free diets. This version is egg-free, Paleo, AIP, Whole30, Keto, GAPS and made with canned salmon.
Baked or fried, you choose, these Salmon Patties go back to my Granny! She made the original recipe for us dozens of times during my childhood.
They were and are truly healthy comfort food. Rich in calcium (from using canned salmon that contains tiny bones), good eaten cold or hot, they’re as versatile a snack as they are a meal.
Two versions: baked or fried
I give two variations of the recipe below — baked or fried.
Baked salmon patties provide an easier prep and make the patties a bit stronger, sturdier.
Fried patties are more like gourmet salmon cakes, soft inside, crispy outside and more indulgent tasting. I bake ours if we’re bringing them along to a picnic and plan to eat them cold. Or to stock the fridge with easy snacks or lunch food.
I fry them if we’re eating them fresh and hot, for dinner.
Variations and Serving suggestions for Salmon Patties
I give three variations to the actual recipe below: one Middle Eastern, one Thai-ish, and the third version is the most like my Granny’s made with compliant mayo.
How to eat and serve them
I love Salmon Patties best just eaten plain, by themselves, which is how we did it growing up. My Granny brought them over to our house, as a food love gift, all fried up on a plate, and we just dug in: we ate them room temp, cold, or reheated, hot.
But here are some specific serving ideas that make a meal!:
- Eat them like a burger ~ on a bun or with your favorite grain-free fixings: avocado, lettuce, sauteed or raw onions. (For non AIP: Serve them with homemade aioli, cheese or mustard.)
- Make them bite-size to serve as appetizer finger food with creamy dipping sauce.
- Use them as a healthy snack or quick meal: eat them out of hand as casual, easy protein — but with some mezza-like sides: sliced cucumbers, olives, fresh fruit.
- Enjoy like fish and chips with cassava fries!
- Make a big green salad, Salade Nicoise or pasta salad (AIP or Keto), and put them on top or to one side.
Why canned salmon for Salmon Patties
When you go to buy canned salmon, make sure the packaging says, “with bones”, or with bones and skin included.
The bones are very tiny and for the most part not noticeable in the finished recipe. But we choose this option because the bones provide calcium our bodies can easily assimilate and use. And there aren’t that many great sources for dietary calcium.
Low FODMAP ingredients
This recipe for Salmon Patties is indeed Low FODMAP. Here are some specifics depending on the version of the recipe you choose:
- The peanut butter version of the recipe is compliant as peanut butter is classed as low FODMAP within serving sizes of less than 140g.
- Tahini is low FODMAP up to 20 grams per person.
- Tiger nuts are low FODMAP in servings up to ⅛ cup.
- Canned pumpkin is allowable at 1/3 to 2/3 of a cup, depending on the source.
- Both carrots and parsnips are low FODMAP.
For more information on FODMAPS, see the AIP version here, the Keto version here, or the GAPS version here.
Salmon Patties (Low FODMAP, Paleo, AIP, Keto, Whole30, GAPS)
Equipment
- frying pan or large baking sheet
Ingredients
Choose from 3 versions of the recipe. For AIP or nut/seed-free: Use the recipe closest to my Granny’s (mayonnaise and bread crumbs, but ours is free of breadcrumbs, nuts, seeds and legumes), made with compliant mayo or homemade aioli. For the other two options, use the combination of tahini and dill OR peanut butter and basil (or tiger nut butter for AIP). All versions are great. The PB version is the subtly Thai version, but it's also just delicious and not super Asian in flavor. The tahini-dill variation is more traditional, a Middle Eastern ingredient combo. I also like to eat the peanut butter version before it is cooked, fresh from the bowl!
- 1 tall (large 14-ounce) can salmon wild, bones included
- ½ cup carrot grated, or parsnips; omit for Keto
- ¼ cup tahini or peanut butter; use tiger nut butter for AIP, OR ⅓ cup compliant mayo or aioli
- ¼ cup pumpkin canned (fine for Keto), or smashed cooked parsnips
- ¼ cup avocado oil for frying, or other preferred fat such as duck fat or ghee (AIP re-intro only)
- 2 teaspoons gelatin
- 1 teaspoon dried dill or basil: use dill with tahini and basil with peanut butter; your choice for mayo version
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Drain water from canned salmon. Place fish in mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients, except the frying oil. Using the tines of a fork, smash and mix together thoroughly the ingredients.
- Decide: to bake or to fry? To bake, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a scoop or 2 spoons, measure out 1 or 2-ounce mounds. With three wetted fingers*, press each mound into a flat patty. Bake until browned slightly all over, and especially around the edges, about 20 minutes.
- To fry, cook patties in two batches, in a 6" skillet, dividing the fat in half, 2 T. for each batch. Or use a large skillet and all the fat for one big batch. (The patties are best cooked in a generous amount of fat.)
- Heat fat in pan over medium-high heat until fully melted, about 30 seconds. Add mounds of salmon, about 1 to 2 ounces each, and press down slightly to flatten each one, using the back of your spatula. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes on the first side, until crispy and golden brown. Reduce heat during this time, as needed, to medium or low, to prevent burning or smoking. Flip patties using some care; (they are more fragile when fried but using an offset metal spatula and the small patty size makes it quite doable. "Dig deep" with the spatula if they stick a bit). Cook 5 to 8 additional minutes on second side and serve.
- Refrigerate any leftovers for easy, quick nourishment.
Notes
Nutrition
Pin Salmon Patties here:
Jessica from SimplyHealthyHome says
I love your recipe. It’s totally different from what we normally do so we’ll have to try it.
Megan says
So glad, Jessica! Thanks.
naturalfitfoodie says
Dare I say that there’s nothing humble about these salmon patties? Yumm yumm! Thank you for this egg-free recipe and the wonderful serving suggestions.
Megan says
LOL, thanks! 🙂 Glad that the egg-free aspect is a bonus for you!
linda spiker says
I need to make these!
Megan says
Hope you love them, Linda! 🙂
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
These sound so good! I love salmon patties. Your version is so lovely. So nice to have the gelatin as a sub for eggs too. And those fried one … oh my! Yes please!
Megan says
I know, the fried ones, right? 🙂
Renee Kohley says
This is a great recipe! Canned salmon is the only source of fish/salmon I have where I live – it is just too unsafe to eat fish from Lake Michigan and we don’t live by the ocean. I’ll grab some cans and try this! Thank you!
Megan says
Oh that’s interesting, Renee. I didn’t know about Lake Michigan. I’m so glad this provides a helpful option for canned salmon!
Tash @ HolisticHealthHerbalist says
I love salmon everything! These patties sound sooooo good…I wish I had some salmon right now! Thanks for sharing such a great tip about the gelatin!
Megan says
Thank you, Tash! I’d like some right now myself! 😉
Chloe says
Yum! I love using canned salmon – I can get wild caught Alaskan salmon for such a good price that way! These look delicious – I’ve never seen a nut or seed butter added to salmon patties before. What a great idea!
Megan Stevens says
I agree, Chloe– such an affordable way to buy and eat wild salmon! Thanks!
Susanne says
This looks really good, easy and affordable. I really want to try this.
Megan Stevens says
Thanks, Susanne; indeed, it is all the things you said. 🙂
Dr. Karen Lee says
Glad you mentioned BPA-free canned squash. I wonder if there are BPA-Free canned salmon. This recipe is a great last minute dinner idea when you don’t have fresh salmon. Love the name ‘humble’ too!
Megan Stevens says
Great question, Karen! BPA-Free canned salmon…
Rachel says
If the bones and skin are mashed, I have no issues. Great idea for a recipe!
Megan Stevens says
Good to hear; so glad!! 🙂
Jessica @ redeeming the home says
Gonna ask a newbie question…I’ve never been brave enough to try the canned salmon WITH the bones. What’s the texture like in pattie form? Are they really noticeable? We’re dairy free and I love the idea of extra calcium, but not sure my kids will go for it.
Megan Stevens says
It’s a great question! In my experience it DOES depend on the kid. I find that my boys like these while my daughter LOVES them. I LOVE them; and my husband likes them. He likes them very much but he’s learned over the years. 😉 Re the bones, they are VERY soft so you can smash them as you mix the recipe. There may be the occasional bone left. You could add something crunchy in the mix just to confuse your eaters into happiness!! LOL ~ like sprouted sunflower seeds. I do think the peanut butter version is very family-friendly. If you get the crunchy peanut butter (or make your own crunchy) then any crunch of the very occasional soft bone might be mistaken for a peanut! Also, don’t let your eaters see the process and the bones in the can or as you’re mixing. That should help a lot. I’d love to hear how it goes. Good luck!! 🙂
Misty says
Have you tried freezing these? I want to make a double batch and freeze half for an easy weeknight meal. I’m curious if they’d hold up!
Megan says
Hi Misty, I haven’t done it, but I do believe they will hold up well. Please let us know if you try it. Thanks!
Stacey says
I just tried to make them and they completely fell apart in the pan. Total mush. I followed the recipe as directed but substituted butternut squash for pumpkin and used vegenaise for the mayo. They really smelled good but would not stay together at all. Had to throw it all out. 🙁 All the other comments are good so I don’t know what went wrong.
Megan says
Hi Stacey, so sorry that happened. I think your vegan mayo sub must be the issue. I haven’t trialed the recipe with that, and because it’s totally different than mayo, I can see why it wouldn’t bind in the same way, especially when cooked.
Stacey says
Thanks for your reply. I was wondering if that was the issue, but since your recipe said “compliant mayo” I figured it would be okay. Maybe add a note that says no vegan mayo? For those of us doing AIP, vegan mayo is our compliant mayo. When I was on regular paleo, I used almond flour to bind my patties which worked great, btut now that is not an option for me. Do you think tiger nut flour would work to replace the almond flour, as a binder? Thanks!
Megan says
Hi Stacey, that brand of mayo isn’t compliant with AIP, only homemade recipes with avocado, for example. Also, I should have addressed the subbing of pumpkin for winter squash, because that’s the other binder, and every substitution you make with the binders compromises why the recipe holds together. I’d just point you back to the actual original recipe for success. 🙂