Golden Salmon Cakes

These special-occasion salmon cakes are baked in the oven. Each cake is an upscale serving of luxury. I serve this with oven fries and asparagus & cucumber salad.

All nutrition facts are AI generated and approximate.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs olive oil (1 Tbs for sautéing vegetables, 1 Tbs to drizzle on cakes before baking)
• ½ onion, minced
• 1 jalapeño, minced
• ½ stalk celery, minced
• 5 large pimento-stuffed green olives, chopped
• 12 oz fresh salmon, coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ¾ cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

Directions

1. Sauté onion, jalapeño, and celery over medium heat in 1 Tbs olive oil until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Move the mixture to a large bowl and let cool to room temperature.
3. Stir in salmon, olives, mayonnaise, ¼ cup of the panko, garlic, mustard, and Old Bay.
4. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the mixture for 1 to 2 hours to firm up.
5. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
6. Using a ½ cup measuring cup, portion the mixture into 4 balls.
7. Roll each ball in the remaining ½ cup panko. Transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and drizzle with the remaining 1 Tbs olive oil.
8. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve with tartar sauce on the side.

Spicy olive tartar sauce

• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 16 small green olives, chopped
• 1 Tbs olive brine
• 3 tsp prepared horseradish
• 1 Tbs fresh dill, chopped (or dried dill to taste)

Mix ingredients and refrigerate 30 minutes. If you are in a hurry, you can still serve right away—it is just better once the ingredients have had a chance to hang out for a while.

Notes

• Cool the vegetables: Let the sautéed onion, jalapeño, and celery come to room temperature before mixing so they don’t start cooking the salmon or thinning the mayo.
• Chill to firm: The 1–2 hour refrigeration is what lets the mixture hold together into cakes—don’t skip it.
• Coarse-chop the salmon: Leaving the fresh salmon in rough pieces keeps the cakes meaty rather than pasty.
• Panko coating: Rolling each cake in panko before baking builds the golden, crunchy crust.
• Tartar ahead: The spicy olive tartar sauce is best made 30 minutes early so the flavors meld.

Why This Works

• Chill for structure: Refrigerating firms the mayo and hydrates the panko so the cakes keep their shape in the oven instead of spreading.
• Hot oven crust: Baking at 450°F with an oil drizzle crisps the panko to a fried-like golden shell without deep-frying.
• Mayo binder: Mayonnaise and a little panko hold the salmon together while keeping the interior moist and rich.
• Layered seasoning: Old Bay, olives, garlic, and jalapeño give each bite briny, spicy depth that makes the cakes feel upscale.