Easy to make salmon fishcakes flavoured with fresh dill, spring onions and olives.
A delicious and economical family supper, packed with protein.
We usually eat fish a couple of times a week, but I must admit that I do tend to stick to the same tried and tested recipes. We eat quite a bit of tinned tuna, but I was feeling adventurous and decided to mix things up a bit by using some tinned salmon – crazy, right?! It’s years since I had it, and most of my childhood memories of it were how my grandma used to make it – mashed with minced onion and vinegar. I felt sure I could do better than that!
Fishcakes to the rescue
After a little thought I decided to make salmon fishcakes, which I’m happy to say were easy to make and a big hit all round. Salmon patties usually use breadcrumbs or potato to bind but I wanted to make these carb-free to make it easy for DH (who is diabetic) to eat as much as he wanted.
Skin and bones
Tinned salmon is a bit more fiddly than tinned tuna, as it’s necessary to remove the bones and skin from the fish after taking it out of the can. That said, it only takes a few moments and the flavour of the fish is lovely, so definitely worth the effort.
Delicious flavours
I added more delicious and complementary flavours by using dill, spring onions (scallions), and chopped olives. When I described these salmon fishcakes to my Mum, she told me that she’d done something similar a few days before, with regular onions and capers – great minds think alike! I think there are many variations of the ‘additions’ that would be really yummy in these.
Ingredients for salmon fishcakes
To make basic salmon fishcakes you only need a few simple ingredients. To make these extra tasty ones with olives, dill and spring onions (scallions), you will need:
- canned salmon – with bones and skin removed
- spring onions (scallions)
- olives – I used both black and green but you can use just one or the other if you prefer
- ground almonds – I use these instead of breadcrumbs so the fishcakes are gluten-free and have extra protein – win-win!
- eggs – to bind the ingredients together
- fresh dill – or you can use parsley or the herbs of your choice
- black pepper – to season
Salmon fishcakes – enjoy hot or cold
The mixture made four salmon fishcakes, and as I had the spare one cold for my lunch the next day, I can definitively report that these are lovely both hot and cold. A squeeze of lemon elevates them to something fabulous. We enjoyed them with vegetables and salad, but I’m sure they’d be great in a bun with lettuce and mayonnaise. Maybe a slice or two of tomato. Yum!
It’s good to ring the changes once in a while. I’ll have to see what other fishes come in tins…
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📖 Recipe
Salmon fishcakes with dill and olives
Ingredients
- 2 small tins pink salmon (213g / 7½ oz each)
- 3 spring onions (scallions)
- 6 green olives
- 6 black olives
- 50 g ground almonds
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- Pinch ground black pepper
- Olive oil for frying
Instructions
- Tip the salmon into a bowl and use your fingers and a fork to remove as much of the skin and bones as possible. Mash the salmon flesh with a fork.
- Trim and thinly slice the spring onions (scallions). Chop the green and black olives.
- Add the spring onions and olives to the salmon with the ground almonds, eggs, dill and pepper. Mix everything together very thoroughly.
- Dampen your hands and shape the mixture into four patties.
- Heat a few mm (approx. ⅛ inch) depth of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the salmon patties for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden and crispy and cooked through. Drain on absorbent paper, then serve.
Nutrition
More tinned fish recipes
If you’d like more recipes using tinned fish, how about this broccoli, tomato and salmon pasta bake, these tuna ‘meatballs’, or this delicious tuna puttanesca pasta.
Cheryl
I don’t like olives or capers, any idea what I could use instead? Thanks!
Helen
You can just leave them out, but I do like something a bit salty and tangy with the salmon. You could try chopped cornichons or something like that? I hope you like them!
Lucy @ BakingQueen74
Delicious Helen, I must try these! I too have a tin of salmon lurking that would be ideal for me to finally use up using your recipe. #cookblogshare
Helen
Thanks Lucy. There seems to be a lot of lurking salmon about!
lovelyappetite
I never eat enough fish, but my favourite is salmon and I do love fishcakes! This has inspired me to go try some tinned salmon and give these a go… Thanks !
hijackedbytwins
Oooh Helen these fishcakes look so good! I love fish and try to have it as often as we can and these are a great meal that I know my family would love. They are going onto my to try list! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Helen
Thanks! Yes, we eat a lot of fish too – quick, easy, tasty and good for you. What’s not to love?!
Christine
These sound delicious, easy & quick for a week night, I dislike olives so could I sub capers?
Btw your post arrives in my junk mail!
Helen
I’m sure capers would be yummy too! If you add the email address to your contacts then hopefully future mail will come to your inbox ?
Ella
Can I substitute the ground almonds with matzo meal?
Helen
Yes, but you may not need as much as its a bit more absorbent. Add a little bit at a time and see. I’d also give the mixture 10 minutes or so before frying so the matza meal can swell. Let me know how you get on! Helen x.
Katherine Hackworthy
I like that these are with ground almonds! And I adore dill and olives together.
Helen
Thanks Katherine. I quite often substitute ground almonds for breadcrumbs – they work surprisingly well, and mean that DH can eat without worry.
HedgeComber
This is so funny, I have had a tin of salmon in my cupboard for about 2 months now. Whenever I go to grab a tin of tuna, I put the salmon back on the pile having zero inspiration for what to do with it! So thank you 🙂
Janie x
Helen
Happy to help 🙂
Sarah Trivuncic, Maison Cupcake
I love a good fishcake and been thinking I need to up my calcium intake with some tinned salmon – the small bones are edible and mush up easily although I agree take the big bits out!
Helen
I’d never thought of it as a source of calcium – brilliant! Yet another reason to eat these 🙂