Leftover or canned salmon made into these crispy cakes creates a whole new meal with tons of flavor made extra delicious thanks to a super simple, creamy roasted red pepper sauce.
I have very vivid food memories of my childhood and I’ve shared so many of them with all of you here on the blog, with more to come. But one of the challenges I’ve struggled with over the past year or so is the fact that I’m not creating those same types of memories for my daughter.
Think about it. Most cooks rotate 10-20 favorite meals for dinner time. Some drop in and some drop out of the menu line-up, but mostly, our favorite recipes go on repeat.
Not when you’re a food blogger.
As a food blogger and recipe creator, I’m most often preparing something different to test or try or develop, all in the name of food fodder for this here bloggity blog. And if I’m not taking advantage of spending my money for dinner on a multi-purpose blog post, I feel like I’m creating an extra expense of time and money in missing an opportunity to do so. I mean, what better time to try out something new than when you have friends and family so you have a crowd to share it with aka pawn it off on?
But lately, what I’ve been longing for are some of my favorite stand-by dinners of the past. The ones I have hand-written in my dog-eared, bursting at the binding recipe book. These are the dinners I had as a kid, or as a young cook I made over and over again to share with the ones I love. I crave these recipes not just for their taste but to share my favorite food memories cravings with my daughter, and hopefully influence her future foodie memories.
About the Recipe
This is one of the recipes I’ve kept in my line-up for years. If you’ve been to our house for dinner, it’s highly likely that we’ve made you this dish. And if you’ve been to our house for dinner and we haven’t, well then, it’s high time we did. It’s one you won’t soon forget.
The best part is it can be used as one of those meal prep situations by cooking a salmon on Sunday or Monday from recipes like this roasted salmon recipe or this sheet pan salmon recipe to enjoy for dinner one night, then use the leftovers for these salmon cakes. It’s a familiar meal prepared in a whole new way. Just another reason I love my salmon recipes, because depending on how many you have at the table, they’ll likely yield leftovers. I’ve never used canned salmon but if you look for a quality brand, it will likely work well.
Of course you can cook the salmon especially for this dish. And it’s worth doing so because these salmon cakes ARE that good. And because the creamy roasted red bell pepper sauce drizzled on top makes them even better.
The red pepper cream sauce couldn’t be easier to prepare. It’s simply roasted red bell peppers steeped in cream with a dash of cayenne and blended until smooth. Now don’t get all freaked out in the fact that we use REAL cream in this recipe. If you wanted to cut a few calories you could certainly use half and half but you’ll be missing out on the a lot of the thickener that whipping cream provides.
The secret is to use this sauce as a condiment, a drizzled addition and flavoring, to try and avoid drowning the whole dish in its lush deliciousness of red pepper cream. Unless you are my husband. And then you just go for it.
I usually roast my own peppers for this sauce but it is totally acceptable to use a quality jarred version.
We especially like it served on extra broad egg noodles. At least that’s our favorite food memory. You, of course, are welcome and encouraged to create your own.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
- For the Salmon Cakes
- 4 green onions, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup Italian parsley, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh dill. chopped
- 3 cups fine fresh bread crumbs from about 10 ounces of bread (I prefer french bread), divided
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2½ cups flaked cooked salmon (about 15 ounces)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup vegetable oil for sautéeing
- For the Red Bell Pepper Cream Sauce
- 4 red bell peppers or 2 15 ounce jars of roasted red bell peppers
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- Kosher salt and cayenne pepper
- For the Salmon Cakes
- Add the green onions, parsley and dill to the bowl of a food processor and process until fine. Add 1½ cups bread crumbs, eggs, melted butter, mayonnaise, mustard and lemon juice. Pulse on and off until well mixed. Add the chunks of salmon and season with kosher salt and black pepper and pulse on and off until gently combined and mixture begins to hold together. Be careful not to over process. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes up to overnight. Shape into patties ⅜' thick. Dip the patties into the remaining bread crumbs, and pat to coat all of the sides completely then set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil to medium or so that the oil sizzles when a bread crumb is dropped into it. Sauté the patties for 2 minutes or until golden brown on each side turning once. Place the patties on a plate lined with paper towels and cover to keep warm. Serve with egg noodles and red bell pepper cream sauce.
- For the Red Bell Pepper Cream Sauce
- Roast the whole peppers over medium high flame, turning often, until charred. Please in a plastic bag, seal and allow to steam in the bag for about 10-15 minutes or until the skin peels off easily. Remove the skin, stem and seeds and coarsely chop the bell peppers. In a medium pot over medium heat, add the bell peppers and the cream and bring almost to a boil. Reduce the heat to a medium and cook until the cream has reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Purée with a hand held blender, in a blender or in food processor (be sure the top is vented to allow steam to escape so it doesn't blow off the lid) until smooth. Season with kosher salt and a few shakes of cayenne pepper to taste. Keep over low heat before serving.
Slammin’ with More Salmon
Leftover salmon is a meal planner’s dream. It’s healthful thanks to a load of heart-healthy omega-3’s, it’s not too fishy for those non-fish lovers and it has plenty of substance to carry an entire leftover meal. Here’s a few more recipe ideas to make now when you’re slinging leftover salmon.
Salmon Fried Rice | Simply Recipes
Salmon Egg and Bagel Benedict | FoodieCrush
Leftover Salmon Pasta | Frugal Feeding
Salmon Chowder | FoodieCrush
Salmon Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa | Diethood
Salmon Quiche | Frugal Mom Eh!
Superfood Kale Salad with Lightened-Up Poppyseed Dressing | FoodieCrush
Lemon Herb Salmon Burgers | Pinch of Yum
Thank you for stopping by, now get in the kitchen and make something good!
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I’ve been craving salmon something fierce, so I am super excited to try your recipes.But I am writing now to thank you for supplying so many fine pictures! Too often people forget how important pics are ~ they really entice while at the same time show others how the food should look. Which after all, is going to lend to taste!
Yes please, what a killer looking meal! I have a feeing that red pepper cream sauce goes well with almost anything too (except maybe chocolate!).
Oops, I meant feeling. Clearing my morning coffee hasn’t kicked in yet! 😉
I adore red pepper sauce! Beautiful addition to these salmon cakes. Pinned!
Now a days I follow your every recipe & I become inspired. This red pepper cream sauce just awesome looks. Besides, I want to taste the salmon cake now. Soo yummy both combination.
It’s definitely a double-edged sword being a food blogger when it comes to dinner. I love having new things to try every night, but I also get sad when I don’t get to have my tried and true favorites more often! This looks delicious, and I can totally see why it’s a favorite!
Oh… This looks soooo Yummy. My Father (who has passed on now) used to make Salmon Patties from the can. I’m not quite sure how much Flour, Salt, & Pepper he used, or the Ratio of Flour per Can. I believe he used an Egg/Eggs also. All I know is that they were sooo Good. I could eat 6 or 7 easily. I wish I had of gotten his very easy Recipe. My Mother hated Salmon Patties cooked as she did not like them, & especially when he would cook them in the house. He Pan Fried Them….
This Salmon cake looks so delicious. I never eat it before but I heard this name before. I search many times for its recipe but don’t get perfect and full recipe. Now i found it. I will try it on my upcoming birthday. I have a question about it. is it fatty? I am really happy to find this recipe.
Salmon for president! But seriously. SO GOOD!
It is really amazing how you can transform such a simple dish into this majestic dish.
I’m coming over for dinner, THX, BYE.
Bring it BABY! Thanks Lee.
Its yummy….Surely will try….
i don’t usually like eating fish but oh man this looks delicious i will give it a chance
Hi Alex, this is probably one of the best ways for the fish-averse to try fish. Glad to hear you’re trying it.
These all look so good!
thanks for recipes, look so good
Hmm, yummy, tasty and elegant. thank you Heidi
In no situation EVER should you put the salmon in the food processor, just mix it in with the dry ingredients. The recipe turned out well but if I had put the salmon in the food processor it would have been mush. Just saying it’s like crab cakes and just think if you put that in the fp. Gross.