These Spicy Salmon Cornmeal Cakes are made with just a few simple ingredients and are great for a quick, healthy dinner. Enjoy the leftovers over a salad for lunch!
This post was originally published in February 2011. Photos and text updated April 2017.
Hi Friends!
I originally shared this recipe six years ago (WHAT?!) on the blog! It’s been a favorite of mine ever since and I continue to make them a couple times a year. It’s one of my go-to recipes when I have nothing to make because I always seem to have salmon in the freezer and cornmeal in the pantry.
The first time I made them, I was experimenting with whether the cakes would stick together if I used yogurt and left out the egg (because I was out of them). Turns out they did! Since then I’ve made them with hummus instead of yogurt as well and that works equally well.
I bake these in the oven because it’s hands off and easy…just put them on parchment paper and flip them once during baking. I most recently made these earlier this week and served them over cauliflower rice. I bought the pre-made kind you can just pop in the microwave and mixed it with a little butter, some garlic powder and some peas.
These salmon cakes are great for food prep because they actually taste better the second day. You could also cook the salmon ahead of time and make the cakes the night of. They’re good hot or cold and I love topping them with salsa or guacamole. Here’s how you make them:
PrintSpicy Salmon Cornmeal Cakes
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 16 minutes
- Total Time: 21 minutes
- Yield: makes 8-10 cakes 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound salmon fillets, cooked
- 1/4 cup red pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- 2–3 tsp sriracha (optional)
- 1/3 cup cornmeal
- 1/3 cup plain yogurt or hummus
Instructions
Place salmon in a large bowl and flake into pieces. Add peppers, onions, garlic, Old Bay and sriracha and stir to combine.
Add peppers, onions, garlic, Old Bay and sriracha and stir to combine.
Add cornmeal and stir well.
Add yogurt or hummus and mix until well combined.
Form into 8-10 small cakes, squeezing firmly to ensure they stick together.
Bake at 400 degrees for 16 minutes, flipping once.
Notes
Serve with a dipping sauce like yogurt mixed with thai chili sauce, guacamole or salsa.
I’ve noticed that the hummus makes these slightly drier than the yogurt, but I always top them with a dipping sauce that takes care of that. Be sure to squeeze these together very tightly when forming the cakes and don’t make them too big or they’ll be hard to flip.
[clickToTweet tweet=”These Spicy Salmon Cornmeal Cakes are perfect for a quick lunch or dinner. ” quote=”These Spicy Salmon Cornmeal Cakes are perfect for a quick lunch or dinner.”]
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
Get my free Table Talk email series where I share bite-sized nutrition information about carbs, protein, and fat, plus bonus information about snacks and sugar!
I’ll have to try this out for the next house party!
Although I’m not a “fish eater” I do love crabcakes! There’s a hole in the wall bar near my house that has the best crab cake sandwich. I definitely want to try to make them on my own!
Gotta love the power of Greek yogurt! It really is a miracle ingredient.
i love ANY kind of seafood! 🙂 i’ve only had crabcakes in a restaurant once that i can remember though – momo’s in st. louis for my birthday this year! mmm, so good!
So, I have a bunch of left over smoked salmon that I do not want to go bad because well, it is delicious. Do you think this recipe could work with that? It would probably be a little drier…maybe…any suggestions?
hmm!! i don’t have much experience with smoked salmon but i would think it’d be fine. you might need to all more yogurt, or even an egg to help it stick together and stay moist. you could also use paprika in place of the old bay if you wanted to compliment the smokey taste more. i say give it a try! let me know how it turns out 🙂
How fabulous! And I was actually planning on making over my crab cakes with some extra kick next week! Great minds think alike 😉 Love the addition of cornmeal and chobani- just fabulous
thanks!!! enjoy your crab cakes!
I love that purple flower- I’m just a-waitin’ for springtime 🙂
pretty isn’t it?! i miss spring 🙁
If I made more than we can eat. Would you suggest to freeze the patties uncook or cook them then freeze? Thank you!
Hi Janet- Since the salmon is already cooked when you form it into patties, I would just freeze the extra patties and then when you want to cook them, put them in the pan for a little bit and then finish warming them up in the oven!
This looks wonderful…………..looking forward to giving it a try. Thanks!
Love this!
What a yummy treat … will have to try it out this weekend!
always looking for new ways to eat more salmon..and these look delish!
These look fantastic! I love anything salmon…and anything that’s easy to make!