Featured comment
I made these salmon burgers and was shocked by how good they were! Who knew you could make canned salmon so gourmet. 🙂
Watch How To Make Salmon Burgers
These Easy Salmon Burgers Are Just So Extremely Good.
We’re talking crispy outsides, flaky insides, and a perfect golden color, not to mention lots of nutrition, THANK YOU SALMON.
They are also easy to make and require (usually) minimal, if not zero, grocery shopping, assuming you keep a decently stocked pantry. I love, love, love these crispy pan-fried little guys.
And as if the salmon burgers weren’t good enough already to eat on their own (which, um, they are), I need you to make this slaw to serve your salmon burgers in/on/around. It is nothing fancy – just a shredded cabbage, yogurt, herbs, garlic, and vinegar situation, but paired with the salmon burgers? The crispy-salty-tangy combo is an ON-POINT combo.
I love these. You love these. We all love these. Burger on!
Ingredients For These Salmon Burgers
This recipe is a pantry staple dream! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Salmon (canned, or pre-cooked)
- Eggs
- Breadcrumbs
- Spices
- Lemon juice
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Herbs
I really love to have these salmon burgers with a little fresh dill for the herbs for a big flavor punch. BUT you can also use 1) freeze-dried dill, which I keep in my spice collection year-round, and 2) any other fresh herb! I made a version of these with parsley and cilantro when I didn’t have any dill, and mwah. They were still totally delicious.
Dill would still be my first choice, but as with all my favorite recipes, you can play with that a little bit.
What Kind Of Salmon Is Best? (Canned Vs. Fresh)
And now for the big question. Do you use canned salmon? Subtext: is it gross?
Answer: Yes, I use canned salmon, and NO, it most certainly is not gross in these salmon burgers if you are buying the right stuff.
Fresh salmon that you’ve already cooked would also work if canned salmon is too weird for you (see our how-to guide to cooking salmon). But I’d like to take a moment to assure you that it is very possible to find non-gross canned salmon if you do a little searching and are willing to spend a little extra for higher quality. I really like Wild Planet canned salmon. It is caught in Alaska, and Wild Planet prioritizes sustainability and conservation of marine ecosystems with all their products. Not sponsored, just a superfan. You can also buy it here on Amazon (affiliate link). And because it’s canned, you can just keep it in your pantry and have it at the ready whenever you need a little salmon burger happiness.
God bless pantry meals.
How You’ll Make These Salmon Burgers Happen
What I love about this recipe is that it’s not just pantry-friendly, but also omg-it’s-5pm-and-I-need-dinner-now friendly. Here’s what you’re going to do.
- Mix all your salmon burger ingredients in a bowl and form the mixture into patties (this should make 3-4!).
- Sear the salmon patties in a hot skillet with oil until brown and crispy on each side. (You could even grill them, too!)
- Toss your slaw ingredients together in a bowl.
- Serve your delicious salmon burgers on top of a bed of crunchy slaw!
Ta da! You’re done.
What To Serve with These Salmon Burgers
As made abundantly clear, I love these on top of this slaw for a fresh little high-protein lunch situation, but as always, you have options!
- Make the slaw part even easier and grab your favorite salad kit from the store! (See: these Spicy Salmon Burgers too).
- Plop these on a bun to make it a true burger (maybe even topped with the slaw!? or just some yogurt, avocado, mayo, lettuce, tomato, whatever).
- Serve it as a main protein alongside some potatoes or rice, veggies, or a simple salad.
Salmon Burgers: Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! But this recipe is meant to be made with cooked salmon. Just just be sure to cook and flake your salmon before mixing it all up. Don’t know how to cook salmon? We’ve got you covered!
Yup! I would probably mix and form them into patties, and then freeze. When ready to cook, you should be able to just put them right from frozen into a pan! Just let them cook a little longer so they’re hot all the way through.
These will keep for about 3 days in the fridge, and 3 months in the freezer.
Since the only raw ingredient we’re working with is egg (thank you, cooked salmon!), you should make sure these are cooked to at least 160 degrees in the middle.
Easy! Swap in the breadcrumbs for GF breadcrumbs or almond flour.
Use mayonnaise instead of greek yogurt, or try a different sauce/vinaigrette! Highly recommend this 5 Minute Sunshine Sauce, Jalapeño Ranch, or Basil Sauce.
Sure thing! Just make sure your grill grates are nice and hot and well-oiled.
Looking For More Dinner Ideas?
Check out our collection of 30+ top dinner recipes!
Print
Salmon Burgers with Slaw
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 3–4 burgers 1x
Description
These salmon burgers are THE YUMMIEST! and made with just five ingredients. The best for a quick + easy high protein lunch or dinner.
Ingredients
Salmon Burgers
- 12–14 ounces cooked salmon (canned is great! – see notes)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, like chives, parsley, or dill
- a squeeze of lemon juice
- olive oil for pan-frying
Cabbage Slaw
- 1 head green cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2–3 tablespoons white distilled vinegar (more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs like chives, parsley, and dill
- a drizzle of olive oil
Instructions
- For the salmon: Flake the salmon apart. Mix all burger ingredients together and form into 3 large or 4 medium patties. Heat olive oil over medium heat, ideally in a nonstick skillet. Fry the burgers for a few minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy. Place on a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt.
- For the slaw: Mix all slaw ingredients together. Taste and adjust.
- Serve: Serve up those hot salmon burgers on a bed of creamy slaw. I top mine with a dollop of extra yogurt and a swizzle of oil and more herbs. Can’t stop me.
Notes
Breadcrumbs are important here. Panko gives a really nice texture whereas whole wheat breadcrumbs would be a good choice if you want to skip the refined grains. If you use a seasoned breadcrumb mix, reduce the amount of salt in the burgers by about 1/2.
For the salmon, you could use leftover steamed, poached, grilled, baked, whatever kinda salmon. If you don’t have any cooked salmon handy, use canned boneless skinless salmon! That’s what I usually do. I would recommend looking for a brand of canned salmon that is caught in the US. I really, really like Wild Planet for quality canned boneless skinless salmon. You can read more about their sourcing/fishing methods here.
If you happen to have a jar of Sunshine Sauce in your fridge, use that to make the slaw! Just mix cabbage with yogurt, add some Sunshine Sauce, and polish it off with a little dill. Super yummy.
The burgers will keep pretty well in the fridge (~3 days) or freezer (~3 months). When you’re ready to eat, pop them in a nonstick skillet to reheat because it will retain crispiness! The slaw, however, is best eaten right away. It probably has one day max in the fridge once it’s been mixed up.
Gluten Free: We tried three different GF options – almond flour, crushed Chex cereal, and GF oats. All three turned out to be great substitutes, but we liked the smooth texture and flavor of the almond flour version the best. Almond meal would work just as well too.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Fry
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: salmon burgers, seafood burger, dill recipe, seafood recipe, canned salmon
More Favorite Burger Recipes
- Spicy Salmon Burgers (a close cousin to this recipe, but with a kick!)
- Smash Burgers with House Sauce (the only summer burger recipe you need)
- Chipotle Quinoa Burgers (filling, healthy, vegetarian, and so good!)
- The Ultimate Wild Rice Burgers (a deliciously fun still-hearty burger)
- Spicy Cauliflower Burgers (crispy and delicious and nutrition-packed!)
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our best sugar free recipes page. Check it out!
I could eat this sauce with a spoon, it’s that good. I may have even dipped potato chips in it and it’s like a supercharged summer salt and vinegar chip. 100/10.
delicious Thank you
This burger is great, I was bold and used the trader joes skin and bones included can (14oz) as it has more protein and calcium and omega-3s (but you do have to get over some of the weirdness, at least I did!) and it was great, the recipe came out wonderfully! I did find them very salt so did about 2/3 tsp salt and swapped white breadcrumbs for whole wheat. Great recipe to prep and use for lunches. Recommend!
I love the look of this recipe. You know what would be so helpful here….a cup measurement for the cabbage. The dressing ratio is so important so it would be good to have that additional info besides one head of cabbage. Thanks
As someone who isn’t crazy about eating fish in general, I guve this recipe 5 stars! (may 10!)
I found the COMBO of the slaw & salmon patty TOGETHER in a bite to be delicious! And the slaw, as usual, improves in taste as it sits. It was even better the next day IMO.
Thank you for giving me a way to add salmon to my diet w/o having to suffer thru the texture aversion I have w/ fish filet meat!
I recently found your website & am excited to try LOTS of your recipes—many of your recipes are easy to convert to DF/GF versions. Really appreciate your creativity combined w/ simplicity!😊
Love these! Delicious! (Can’t even tell it’s canned salmon!)
These were so good! My 8 year old liked them so much he had two. Will definitely be adding these to my rotation (and keeping canned salmon in the pantry)!
First time to try canned salmon – won’t be my last!! This made a great dinner, and I’m so looking forward to the leftovers! I added some pepper and celery seed to the slaw. So good! Thanks for introducing me to salmon in a can!
These were so easy and had the best flavors! I ended up making homemade buns to do full on burger style and they were to die for. Thank you as always, Lindsay!
Is the per serving sodium correct? It seems high for the ingredients listed in the recipe. An entire can of salmon has 1850 mg. Just curious.
Has anyone tried this with canned tuna?
They sound delicious. I can’t wait to try them.Have you tried making the burgers with canned tuna? I think it might be good.
Thanks
Yes, that works well too!
Is it correct that each serving (1 salmon patty) has 1507.7mg sodium? Yikes.
Could you use canned tuna instead if that is all you have on hand? Thanks in advance!
That would be great, too!
These were so good and easy! My husband bought some canned salmon awhile ago, and I was like what am I going to do with that?! I had never used canned salmon and then this recipe popped up in my email. He and our 7 year old daughter gobbled them up and asked for them for dinner the next day. I didn’t have any more salmon, but I did have canned tuna and I can say they came out equally as good. Will be putting this into the dinner rotation! Thanks!
Have you made these in the air fryer instead of frying in oil?
This is our favorite Salmon Burger recipe, and we’ve tried a lot. I replace the Panko with crushed pork rinds, and omit the salt. Out of this world. Been known to make these on the weekend, and immediately freeze to have at the ready on those nights you really don’t want to cook lol
Game changer! I was skeptical about canned Salmon . If I see a salmon burger on the menu , I usually order it! Wow! Easy enough for a quick lunch, tasty enough to serve not red meat eating guests . Gray way to get your healthy protein in, too . I happened to have red cabbage, a brioche bun and whipped up an old bay mayo . What a treat. Thank you !
Wow!
Really good recipe. I was too lazy to make my own cabbage salad so I bought a dill pickle cabbage salad mix as a side. It was delicious together. I will make again.
Hello. Do you think these could be cooked on a bbq or would they fall apart ? Thanks !
These work best in a pan since they’re pretty tender!
All week from my husband: “Ugh are sure about this one, let’s have something else”
Me: “Aw are you sure? It sounds like it could be really nice and different!”
Husband: “OK OK, yeah let’s give it a go”
As we got closer and closer to D Day: “How about pizza, or anything else, this sounds weird”
Me: “Trust the process, she makes great stuff, everyone seems to love it!” With a promise of back up pizza if it wasn’t a hit lol
Husband: “yeah true true, that millionaire gnocchi was pretty awesome”
After dinner: “Wow this was so good!!”
Thanks for another amazing recipe!
I tried to hide the can from my husband while making these because I knew he’d throw a fit. He tried them anyways and asked if I can make them tomorrow too. They are SO good and fresh. I used Wild Planet as recommended from Target and it’s the only one I’ll ever buy. Make this tonight, it’s so so good!
Good basic recipe – but way too much salt. I added a jalapeno and small onion, finely chopped. Tasty but salty!
A staple in our house when no one can be bothered! We actually prefer this with tinned over fresh.