Baked salmon cakes are perfect for an appetizer, dinner or side dish for a weeknight dinner or hosting. They’re a versatile food that are decadent, flavorful and rich. I love making these salmon cakes because you just need to get everything together in a bowl and then bake them and you have a great bite ready. The salmon cakes also happen to be paleo and Whole30 approved so they’ll be a great option for everyone!

Baked Salmon Cakes Ingredients

Salmon: Salmon is of course the main ingredient of the salmon cakes. I like to use Wild Planet wild caught canned salmon for this recipe because its sustainably caught and its only ingredients are salmon and salt. You can also use a baked salmon filet in replacement for the canned salmon.

Onion & Garlic: The onion and garlic are used to add lots of flavor to the salmon cakes, definitely don’t skip this part. Simmer the onion and garlic with ghee on a skillet to caramelize and add it to the mix, it’s a flavor explosion!

Spices: The spices you’ll need for this recipe are salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, celery salt and parsley. Optionally you could use ~2 tablespoons of seafood seasoning mix as a replacement for the spices if you have that on hand.

Coconut Aminos: If you haven’t used coconut aminos before, it’s a replacement for soy sauce that is more often gluten-free and is soy free. You can absolutely use soy sauce if you don’t have coconut aminos.

Dijon Mustard: Dijon mustard is used to add flavor to the salmon cakes and also helps the ingredients stick together while baking. You can also use regular yellow mustard if you don’t have any djion mustard on hand, or even a little bit of paleo mayo.

Eggs: Two beaten eggs are a key addition to this recipe in order for the salmon cakes to bake properly and stick together. The benefit of beating the eggs beforehand is that they will be more evenly dispersed.

Almond Flour: Almond flour is used as a replacement for breadcrumbs which are typically used in salmon cake or crab cake recipes. I don’t have any flour replacements other than breadcrumbs since I haven’t tested other flours, but if you’re searching for a different paleo option I recommend using a smaller amount of tapioca flour.

BAKED SALMON CAKES

Recipe by Jenn Lueke

5.0 from 3 votes

Servings

–

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

2 tablespoons ghee or avocado oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
14 ounces canned salmon or baked salmon filet
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon celery salt
2 tablespoons parsley
3 tablespoons coconut aminos or reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup almond flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F nd line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Heat the ghee in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the chopped onion and garlic. Cook until aromatic and browning, about 5 minutes. Remove from the hear and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Add the salmon, all of the spices, coconut aminos, dijon mustard, beaten eggs and almond flour to the bowl and use clean hands to fully incorporate the mix. It should be wet but firm enough to shape.
Use a large cookie scoop or clean hands to form the salmon cakes into even circles and place them on the sheet pan. The mix should make about 8 large or 16 small salmon cakes.
Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the outsides are browned, then remove from oven and cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

You can also use fully cooked de-skinned salmon filets equal to ~14oz in replacement of the canned salmon.
Storage: Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days.
Reheat: Bake or air fry at 350F until warm, 5 to 10 minutes.