A classic recipe for old fashioned Southern Salmon Patties (or Salmon Croquettes) using canned salmon and pantry ingredients pan fried until golden brown and delicious!
JUMP TO RECIPEWhen you can feed a family of five on a $4 can of salmon, you are officially winning at life.
It's no hardship for me to eat salmon patties. I love them. Growing up we usually had them with rice and stewed tomato gravy.
And I like to serve mine with grits too! I like to smoosh them up in the grits and douse it all with hot sauce.
Yeah, I’m country.
The old school way to make salmon patties is to use a little yellow mustard. I imagine that's because recipes like this came from hard times and people living in hard times don't usually have fresh lemons laying around the house. The vinegar in the mustard works the same as the lemons – which you would typically pair with fish.
Ever wonder why that is? Remember learning about acids and bases in chemistry? They balance (or neutralize) each other. The citric acid in lemon juice functions the same with the amines in fish, neutralizing that “unpleasantly fishy” smell and taste.
The recipe isn't rocket science and everyone makes theirs a little differently. Mama’s from Maryland so I've got a little Old Bay in my blood and I use it frequently with fish. You don’t have to use Old Bay – salt and pepper will do the trick just fine.
If you don’t have any Old Bay but want a similar flavor, you can add a little celery seed and paprika with the salt and pepper and that’ll get you close.
This is just a good base recipe. Feel free to jazz it up however you like! And if you decide to eat yours with some grits and hot sauce, think of me!
Recipe for Salmon Patties
Southern Salmon Patties
Ingredients
- 1 15-oz. can salmon, drained
- 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning*
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
- Vegetable oil
Instructions
- Remove skin and bones from salmon if desired.
- Combine salmon, mustard, egg, onion, Old Bay, salt and pepper then stir with a fork until combined.
- Add bread crumbs then stir to incorporate.
- Shape into six patties.
- Add just enough vegetable oil to a large skillet to coat the bottom well then heat over medium heat.
- Pan-fry salmon patties 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Notes
- If you don't have any Old Bay, use a combination of celery salt and paprika.
- These can be baked or cooked in an air-fryer as well (though they’re not quite as good). Spray patties with cooking spray then bake at 400 degrees until browned.
Yum! I'm trying these soon. Chad thinks I'm so weird for ordering them every time we go to the 'Thicket'
ReplyDeleteLizard’s Thicket has the best!!
DeleteI wish my husband would learn to like salmon patties.
ReplyDelete~ giggle ~
DeleteMy husband never liked them. For many years, when I wanted to go out to eat, I would just have a can of salmon sitting on the counter when he got home for work as if that was the supper plan. I think I used that same can for years until we moved!
DeleteMy husband never liked them. For many years, when I wanted to go out to eat, I would just have a can of salmon sitting on the counter when he got home for work as if that was the supper plan. I think I used that same can for years until we moved!
DeleteOkay... this is genius!
DeleteYou.Are.Awesome! Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteWe never used mustard or old bay, just salt, pepper, onion, egg and flour to bind. I like 'em crunchy so after I make patties I dip them in a little corn meal. Keeps them from being mushy too. LOVE these, with blackeye peas & yellow rice and fresh sliced tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteOOOOO Never thought of coating them after, I usually just mix the flour and meal in together Cool!
DeleteAdd a bit of crushed corn flakes ro the corn meal for extra crunch!
DeleteCoat them with crushed potato chips also is good.
DeleteI have a similar recipe but you make a white sauce and add to the salmon mixture.
ReplyDeleteUsing Ritz or some other cracker instead of breadcrumbs is a nice change. Love salmon patties!
ReplyDeleteIBe sure to drain the salmon; then add 2to 4 T Carnation milk with the other ingredients......very good.
ReplyDeleteOK< I am the "anonymous" who adds the Carnation !!
ReplyDeleteHaha!
DeleteI like mine with grits too my mother used to make them for breakfast with I was growing up. Jim Dandy is my favorite grits make them with cream and water lots of butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rita
ReplyDeleteI make them with chopped onion and celery, orange zest and the rest of your ingredients. My friends love them.
ReplyDeleteLove salmon patties with a side of macaroni and tomatoes and fried okra.
ReplyDeleteI love them with macaroni & tomatoes and sauted spinach.
DeleteCan salmon is from USA, use red or pink, not chum. I use flour, not bread crumbs, and coat them in a little yellow corn meal for crunch. Hey- here in the south we use corn meal a lot! Can't keep these around for 2 meals, everyone munches on them and they're gone.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried the mustard and Old Bay either, just the flour, egg, salt and onion; then we serve them with a creamy dill sauce and they are delicious - one of our favorite meals!
ReplyDeleteDo you make the dill sauce from scratch???
DeleteDo you have a recipe for the stewed tomato gravy?? My mom made this when I was a child she passed away too early in my life and I never got the recipes. Brings good memories to heart. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThat's what we often had with salmon patties too! I've not made it in years but you're not the first person to ask so I might just have to whip some up this weekend!
DeleteI use tuna instead of salmon, everyone loves it!
ReplyDeleteTuna patties don't taste the same as salmon, but I love them, actually I like texture even more than salmon and yep, no skin and bone to deal with! Holly
DeleteI use fresh trout that I can. Very good!
DeleteI can't stomach the canned salmon cleaning process, but isn't there salmon in those pouches that has the skin and bones removed nowadays? I'd make this recipe if so, and rejoice to be eating one of my favorites from childhood.
ReplyDeleteHow much of the can is left over after you remove the junk, would you say? Two-thirds, maybe? I could compare ounces and make sure I got enough if this would save me from cleaning the canned salmon.
My family has always just taken a fork and mashed the bones and skin. Bones are so soft they fall apart. Mixed together with the flaked salmon, no one would ever know that it's all in there. I didn't know anyone bothered picking all that out until a co-worker mentioned it. She's mashing it all together now. Much less time consuming.
DeleteMy family has always just ate the skin and little BONES, very removed them or mashed them. They are soft and very edible, add a little crunch that all my kids enjoy. It's cool because they can "eat bones!"
DeleteI ALWAYS, ALWAYS, remove as much of the bones as possible. It is just a personal preference and they are so few that it doesn't require that you alter the other ingredients. You can use the pouches, you just have to alter the number of packs to your personal preferences. This is a recipe you just can't go wrong with. Sometimes I buy salad shrimp, toss with dill, a little garlic powder, and make shrimp stuffed salmon patties.
DeleteI've used 2 pouches of the family sized pouches and 2 or 3 cans of the skinless, boneless cans and end up with several left over so we have it two days. I LOVE Salmon patties! I used to hate it when mama made it though. She never took off the skin or bones and didn't make her's crispy at all. I make cream peas/lady peas/Crowder peas, mac n cheese, corn muffins, greens and fried apples have to have it like that LOL I worked for an older lady who owned a southern tea room and she taught me how to make them and that is what she always had on the menu on Fridays. Bernie's Tea Room in Lawrenceburg, TN. She's passed on now, was the hardest working woman I have ever known. Raised her children by herself and worked running her own place until she was in her 80s, even served some of her regulars on certain days out of her home for a few years after she closed. She was such a great woman.
DeleteTry dill instead of old bay and no filler no egg just mayo and onion then salt pepper and dill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI go crazy! for Salmon patties, they are wicked yummy. My Mother-out-law introduced me to them back when I was married, pretty yummy stuff!
ReplyDeleteJennifer in New Hampshire!!
WOW! Not sure where you're buying canned salmon, but it is $6.00 a can here in Arizona..............
ReplyDeleteWow, crazy. I go for mackerel or salmon, whichever is under $2, or cheaper, at the time I'm shopping. West Virginia/Maryland
DeleteI bought a 15 oz can of Alaska Wild Salmon at the 99 cent store for 99 cents! wish Id gone back for more. Our markets sell them for three or four dollars...in California
DeleteI make it the same way just without the old bay. And I make a yummy sauce with cream of mushroom soup and a few handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese, creamy cheesy goodness!!!! Yummy!!
ReplyDeleteDo you drain the salmon?
ReplyDeleteI'd like to know also.
DeleteOk, Missy, you mentioned you used to eat this with stewed tomato gravy and there is no recipe. This sounds really good, can you please share? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOooooo I remember stewed tomato gravy too. Please let us know if you add the recipe for that. I'm still learning the southern cooking from my summers with my grandparents (northern girl here).
ReplyDeleteI'm putting together a book of old recipes from my grandparents and great-grandparents for my cousins and I found a recipe a lot like this, just in loaf form. I wasn't planning on including it because I had never heard of such a thing! But if the comments are any indication, maybe I should give it a chance...
ReplyDeleteHow big of a can of salmon? These look sooooo yummy!
ReplyDeleteClean the canned salmon? That skin is very, very good for your heart and the bones you're tossing into the trash are an excellent source of calcium for bones and teeth. Yes, there are issues with canned fish, but unless you're pregnant, feel free to enjoy this once in a while just the way it's found in your pantry.
ReplyDeleteI use crumbled gold fish crackers instead of bread crumbs and season with Lawry's Seasoning salt (sometimes mix in some shredded cheese too). Yummy!
ReplyDeleteMy ex mother-in-law puts dill relish in hers. No mustard or Old Bay, but the relish gives them an interesting tang.
ReplyDeleteMy mama used to make a Salmon Gravy. Best I can remember she put the canned salmon in a skillet, added flour, stirred it till flour was cooked, then added lots of milk. She stirred it till it was thick. Checking on seasonings thruout . We would ladle it over hot home made biscuits. Very good. Does anyone have a recipe for this? I do love Salmon Patties and most anything relating to salmon.
ReplyDeleteMy mom did that, too. All 5 kids and Daddy adored the gravy over hot biscuits. I wish I had her recipe. I am going to try and make it from memory (same way as your mom did) and figure it out from trial and error. However, I am going to try it with fresh salmon first. Then canned and see if there is a great deal of difference.
DeleteThe salmon gravy/sauce is made almost like regular gravy. Use butter to saute salmon. Remove salmon. Add your flour, salt and pepper. Gently stir till smooth. slowly add and stir milk into this till thickness desired. Check seasoning and add more if desired. I also like to make the patties, then use the drippings for sauce/gravy. Pour small amount over patties, but not over potatoes. I tried this several years ago, just on a fluke, and loved it. I like green beans stewed in tomatoes or bread torn and stewed in tomatoes for a side. Any form of potatoes go with salmon patties. So does salad or baked beans. Most of this is fattening (not green beans and stewed tomatoes).
Deletethe juice,skin and the bones are all fine and dandy to eat,its all in your preference.
ReplyDeleteMade this for dinner, family enjoyed it, thanks !
ReplyDeletemy husband loves seafood but i do not. i just used canned chicken and the same seasonings to make me chicken patties and make his with salmon.
ReplyDeleteMy son like this! I will try one for him!
ReplyDeleteI use instant stuffing mix in place of bread crumbs and 1 egg instead of two plus a dollop of mayo to help hold together. (probably takes the place of mustard or lemon since I use Duke's and it has a natural tang to it) If I use cornbread stuffing mix I dust it with corn meal before frying. I also use Bearnaise sauce on top. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteI just made salmon patties Tuesday eve for supper. Served them with creamed peas. I grew up eating both and still love them both to this day. Growing up I ate my salmon patty (yes, with so many mouths to feed, I only got one) between two slices of white bread spread with mustard, so it would 'stick to my ribs' as mom would say.
ReplyDeleteDo you make your own dill sauce or have a go to recipe for it?
ReplyDelete