Chef John's Salmon Cakes

I'm using canned salmon for this delicious salmon cakes recipe. Every grocery store carries it, and canned salmon is almost always wild salmon. I'm not going to go into the wild-versus-farmed salmon debate here, but wild is not only more eco-friendly, it tastes better, and is more nutritious. You could use fresh cooked salmon for this recipe if you have leftovers, but since we are mixing this up with eggs and cracker crumbs, fresh salmon just isn't necessary, so why spend the extra cash?

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 25 mins
• Calories: 305 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 (14.75 ounce) can red salmon, skin and bone removed, drained and flaked
• 1 tablespoon chopped capers
• 12 saltine crackers
• 1 tablespoon bread crumbs, or as needed

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Stir salmon, eggs, lemon juice, capers, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl until well-combined.

Step 2

Crush saltine crackers with your hands into the salmon mixture and mix well. Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate, 30 minutes to overnight.

Step 3

Dust a plate with half the bread crumbs. Divide salmon mixture into 4 portions and shape into patties; place onto prepared plate and sprinkle remaining bread crumbs atop the salmon patties.

Step 4

Melt butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook patties in hot oil until cooked and heated through, about 5 minutes per side.