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Made these last night and loved them! The herbs and lemon gave them an amazing flavor. Definitely adding this recipe to the rotation. Thank you!
Katherine
Today’s post is sponsored by DeLallo! And, um, just in case you hadn’t noticed, Pinch of Yum ♡’s DeLallo.
Salmon burgers! WHO AM I!
This is totally not something I would normally think to make, because 1) 90% of what I eat right now is Magic Green Sauce, soooo there’s that, and 2) I’m just not creative enough to think to make a BURGER out of SALMON.
When I think burger, I think Juicy Lucy or some variation of it from The Nook, The Blue Door, Matt’s Bar… basically the greasiest, grungiest, most awesome burger places in the world that all happen to be in my non-pretentious little Minnesota corner of the world. If you haven’t booked your flight to partake in these famed cheese-stuffed burgers yet, please get your priorities straight.
Okay, but enough. Today we’re going pinkies up and swapping the cheese bomb burger for a light and fresh salmon burger atop a beautifully sweet, crunchy, herb-fresh salad. I feel like I should be wearing a big straw hat and sipping on a Perrier with a slice of lemon as I tell you about this meal.
That’s just the salmon burger vibe.
So like I said, this would never be something I’d be all that inclined to come up with on my own, but lucky for me (and you!), I went to California a few months ago and got together with a bunch of genius food bloggers who actually scraped together our salmon leftovers from dinner to make salmon burgers the next day at lunch. Say whaaaat? I was in shock and awe at the deliciousness of salmon in burger form.
One of the bloggers who was there, Gina from the amazing Skinnytaste, went home and wrote up the recipe for the salmon burgers and I knew as soon as I saw it that I had to had to had to try it on my own.
Of course, I couldn’t not give the salmon burgers a really summery feel with lemon and herbs, and in keeping in line with the salmon burger fancy healthy vibe, I had to eat it on a pear, gorgonzola, and almond spinach salad topped with an herb-loaded dressing. HI THERE YUMMY.
You guys, I’m about to blow your mind. We actually have DeLallo to thank for the easy salad prep. Those dried pears, gorgonzola crumbles, and toasted almonds are already packed up and ready for us in this Bold DeLallo SaladSavors® dealio which can be found in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store. I can’t even tell you how often I use these – mostly for last minute friends-are-coming-over dinners when all I need to do is toss them with some spinach and a little vinaigrette. Yes please.
Who even knew that life could be so awesome?!
This meal is a lot of wonderful things to me, so let me just go ahead and count the ways.
- healthy
- fresh
- easy
- sophisticated without being too sophisticated
- classy
- pretty
- light
- flavorful
- feel-good
- summery
- DINNER ALL WEEK
So now I’m a person who makes salmon burgers. I think that means that I get to be all those things on the list, too? Er, no. Weird.
Summer is HERE! June, I love you.
It’s time to get your lemon herb salmon burgers onnnn.
Lemon Herb Salmon Burgers
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Lemon Herb Salmon Burgers – a healthy, fresh recipe that is a MUST for salmon lovers! A light burger atop a beautifully sweet, crunchy, herb-fresh salad.
Ingredients
For the Salmon Burgers
- 1 shallot
- 1/2 cup fresh herbs (basil and parsley are great)
- 16 ounces wild caught raw salmon, skin removed
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 egg + 1 egg white
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoning mix (I used a seafood seasoning that had marjoram, chives, and onion)
- a big squeeze of lemon juice – about a tablespoon
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons minced herbs and shallot (reserved from burgers)
- 1/4 cup oil
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1–2 tablespoons lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon honey
For the Salad:
- Bold DeLallo SaladSavors®
- 2–3 cups baby spinach
Instructions
- Mince the shallot and herbs. Set aside two tablespoons of the shallot/herbs for the dressing. Saute the remaining shallot and herbs in a little olive oil over medium high heat for a few minutes to remove the bite (not totally necessarily, but it helps the flavor in my opinion).
- Pulse the salmon 2-3 times briefly in a food processor until well chopped and a little bit sticky. Stir together with the quinoa, eggs, seasoning, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and the shallots and herbs from step one. Shape the mixture into four patties.
- Heat a small drizzle of oil in skillet over medium high heat. Fry the patties one at a time (unless you have a huge griddle that can fit more), flipping once after 3-4 minutes. The patties should be golden brown on the outside and fully cooked on the inside.
- Place all the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake until combined (don’t forget the reserved shallot and herbs from step one). Set a little bit aside and toss the rest with the salad ingredients.
- Serve burgers over salad! Mix the reserved dressing with a little bit of greek yogurt or mayonnaise for a herb-dip-type-sauce and serve it over the salmon burgers. And feel fresh and healthy.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: lemon herb salmon burgers, salmon burger recipe, easy salmon burgers
Nutrition information is for the salmon burgers and does not include the salad.
Thank you to DeLallo for helping me rock the salmon burger recipe!
I can’t wait to try these! Instead of frying them, can they be cooked in the oven? If so, can you share the temperature and time please? Much appreciated!!!
We haven’t baked these before so it’s hard for us to give a time and temp, but if you give it a try let us know!
I was excited to make these but not a single one of them actually stuck together. Turned into more of a cooked quinoa scramble.
Which specific seafood seasoning do you use? Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
Trying them in my gourmet store !
Looking for really healthy alternatives for dinner for my clients . Thanks for the inspiration. I hope they are a hit !
HappinessIscatering.com
❤️Christine
can these be frozen and reheated or refrigerated and re heated?
In case it is perhaps maybe not homade this really is a superb recipe and also also your sauce it’s not the same! I have been shifting the recipe in your home and made an Asian model having a hot broccoli slaw to consume top!
Tried the recipe last night and my wife and I really enjoyed it. Never made a salmon burger with fresh salmon before.
One comment..recipe suggests adding “a little” yogurt or mayonnaise to dressing for a dip like sauce. Added close to 3-4 tablespoons before got it to a “dip” like consistency.
It’s tasty. I will try to cook it. Thanks your review.
Was going to try this but I dislike quinoa. What would be your suggestion for a sub? I was thinking maybe farro or even steel cut oats. You are essentially using it as a binder, correct?
Yep! I think another grain like farro could work.
I was so excited to try this recipe! Made the patties last night from frozen wild salmon. It could be that I didn’t dry it well enough after defrosting , because after mixing it with all other ingredients, the mixture was super wet and sticky and I knew it would fall apart during cooking. I had to add at least half cup of breadcrumbs. Too much moisture and added breadcrumbs made the patties kind of bland. Want to try this again, any advice, except fresh salmon or super dry defrosted one?
Hi Tasha! Unfortunately I think the culprit was the frozen salmon – those will have so much more moisture than fresh.
Is there anything that I can substitute for the quinoa. Trying to stay Whole 30 compliant
So not fair! My salivating is getting in/on my keyboard.
Salmon is one of the foods I can eat that is supposedly gout-safe.
I won’t lie — saying I’ll make one of your recipes is a pipe dream – and so I will save myself by just saying these will eye candy — for now.
Thanks for the recipe! Will sure try it with my boyfriend
Made these last night and loved them! The herbs and lemon gave them an amazing flavor. Definitely adding this recipe to the rotation. Thank you!
Glad to hear that, Katherine!
I am looking for some salmon recipes to add to our regular menu. This one looks delicious and will have to try it! Thanks for the recipe!
Great! Hope you like it! 🙂
Hi! These look great:) I was wondering if I would be able to freeze them for later use?
Hi, Casey! We have never tried freezing these – but I think it would work fine! Give it a try and let us know how it goes. 🙂
This looks perfect! I can’t wait to try it 😀
Awesome, Shay! Enjoy. 🙂
I made these yesterday! I didn’t have a shallot, so I used an onion and a clove of garlic instead. Very yummy, but a little dry. Any suggestions for keeping it moist?
Good question, Olivia! I would suggest serving (or drowning..) these with the yummy dressing that is listed on the recipe! However if the burgers themselves are a little dry, try adding a few drizzles of olive oil to the mixture to see if that helps. You could also try covering your frying pan while the burgers are cooking in order to retain some of the moisture. Hope that helps! 🙂
These look so yummy!! I’m buying my first ever food processor today (AHHH) and I think these will be my first creation, yummy!
That’s great, Sophie! Enjoy!
I would like to make your salmon burgers but I have someone with a quinoa allergy. What would you recommend for a substitution for quinoa? I would like to use barley but wondering if something like millet would be better.
Hi, Carolyn! You could certainly try using another grain in place of quinoa, but my suggestion would actually be to use breadcrumbs. The quinoa in this recipe acts as a binder, so without it your burgers may fall apart easily. Many other salmon burger recipes use breadcrumbs as a binder, so I think that would work fine in this recipe. Hope that helps!
These were awesome. I actually ended up making the salad that Skinnytaste used for her salmon burgers (apologies to the esteemed scholars at DeLallo; I looked but my store doesn’t carry them). My burgers were a little fall-apart-y, but since they were served on a salad it didn’t matter. Afterwards I wasn’t even mad that I had to walk back to the store after the cashier left the salmon out of my bag!
That’s great to hear, Jeff! So glad you enjoyed these!
The meal is delicious I will try on my own thanks Lindsay!
Hope you enjoy them, Paul! 🙂
Thanks for the great recipe! Made these last night with our salmon we catch every year in Door County, WI. Never tried salmon burgers with anything other than canned before. They were so much better! One note – I was too busy to get quinoa started so I used some already cooked brown and wild rice, ground it up to quinoa size – and it worked just fine.
The sauce was great, with the added mayo, bit of sour cream, and some sweet relish – made a great tartar sauce. 🙂
Sounds like you made some great modifications, Betsy! And with salmon that you caught yourself? Yum! 🙂
Hi, Lindsay!
I made these over the weekend with not enough quinoa on hand, so it was a little bit of a messy endeavor. Going to try again tonight, now that I’ve restocked on quinoa! But just want to confirm my understanding that we’re to use 1 cup of quinoa once it’s cooked, rather than cooking 1 cup of quinoa (with the usual 2 parts water) and then using all of what is made. Yes?
Hi, Christianne! Your understanding is correct – you should be using 1 cup of already cooked quinoa. Hope they stay together better for you this time around! 🙂
Thank you for the reply! Just in time for me to start dinner. 🙂
What would you recommend instead of parsley? I can’t wait to make this!
Hi, Jaclyn! If you don’t have or don’t like parsley, I would recommend cilantro. However, I’m a huge cilantro fan! 🙂 I think you’d be safe using almost any fresh herbs that you like.
These burgers look great and sound like a great healthy alternative! Sometimes you have nutrition facts for your recipes and I was wondering if you had any information for this one? Thanks!
Great question, Grace. Lindsay is working on getting the nutrition facts published, so check back!