To be honest, I never made salmon patties before I created this recipe, at least not that I can remember. But one day I just had a strong craving for them and this recipe popped into my head, which is weird because how do you crave something you haven’t tasted before?
I may not have had it much in patty form but I have enjoyed salmon many times. When I first started AIP, my salmon intake went waaay up. It is such an amazing protein that is easy to digest and has a fantastic omega 3:6 ratio, meaning it’s anti-inflammatory! If you’re not eating much salmon now, you should really consider incorporating this superfood into your healing diet.
I’ve always done the same things with it though. Either I bake a salmon fillet with just a sprinkle of sea salt in the oven OR I marinate it beforehand like in my teriyaki salmon recipe OR I eat a can of wild salmon over a salad. So it is about time I do something different with this superfood, don’t ya think?
Bonus: this recipe is incredibly quick and easy! Gosh I heart simple meals <3
What you need to make these salmon cakes:
Can of wild salmon: Now you could use any can of wild salmon, but I really do prefer to use skinless, boneless salmon for this recipe. However, the bones and skin of salmon are suuuper nutritious so if you don’t mind a bit of crunch in your salmon patties, go for it!
White sweet potato: These aren’t usually available where I live. So when we visited Toronto a few weeks ago, I made sure to stock up. They are similar to the orange variety except they are a bit starchier and a little less sweet. I have only tried this recipe with white sweet potato so I’m not 100% sure how these would turn out with orange sweet potatoes.
Green onion: I loooove the flavour of green onion. Plus salmon and green onion is such a good combo!
Tapioca: When developing this recipe, I initally made it without tapioca, thinking the sweet potato would be enough to bind the patties, but nope it needed just a little extra to hold them together, enter: tapioca!
Coconut oil: You’ll need a little coconut oil in the patty mixture but also some for frying. You could use ghee, if tolerated. Bet it would taste amazing!
Salt: I either use Redmond Real Salt or Himalayan Pink Salt, which actually contain minerals, unlike iodized table salt.
Yield: 4 patties
Sweet Potato Salmon Patties (AIP/Paleo/Whole30)
5 minutes
8 minutes
13 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 can of wild salmon (boneless and skinless 150g)
- 1/2 cup cooked white sweet potato, mashed*
- 2 tbsp green onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Coconut oil for frying
Instructions
- Drain liquid from can of salmon.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together salmon, mashed sweet potato, green onion, coconut oil, and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together tapioca starch and water until the starch dissolves. Add to salmon mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Form mixture into 4 patties.
- Add coconut oil (I usually use 1/2 tbsp to 1 tbsp) to frying pan and heat overmed heat. Once oil is hot add patties.
- Brown on each side (approx 2-4 minutes per side).
- Enjoy!
Notes
*If I don’t have any cooked sweet potato on hand, I bake one in the microwave. First prick the sweet potato then microwave on high for 3-4 minutes or until tender and able to mash.
Yum!!! These look perfect for my kids lunchboxes.
They are convenient for lunches! Hope they enjoy!
Hi, what size is the can of salmon please?
Hi Marika,
I used Raincoast Trading Salmon, which is 150g.
thank you!
marika,
What size can of salmon please?
Hi Kallie,
I used Raincoast Trading Salmon, which is 150g.
thank you
Do you add the whole tablespoon of coconut oil to the patties? How much do you use for frying?
Hi Karen,
Yes add the whole tablespoon to the patty mixture and then you’ll need additional oil for frying. I usually use 1/2 tablespoon – 1 tablespoon in the frying pan. Thanks for asking this, I’ll update the recipe! 🙂
Guessing salt goes in salmon/potato mixture!
Yes! Just updated the recipe, thanks for asking 🙂
Could I sub arrowroot flour/starch for the tapioca? That’s what I have on hand
Hi Nikki,
Arrowroot should work as well!
I made this recipe last week as one of my first AIP meals and it was delicious!! I didn’t have any tapioca starch, but it still turned out delicious! I’m planning on making these again in a few days (w/ tapioca starch this time!). Thanks for such a delicious recipe!
YAY! SO happy to hear you enjoyed your first AIP meal, thanks for sharing this with me! I looove that this recipe is easy and quick. Sometimes we just need that with all the cooking involved with AIP. 😀
I make a similar salmon patty recipe but instead of frying, I bake in the oven for about 30 minutes because I just don’t like to fry (all the grease freaks me out). They are drier but I use some AIP mayo and it’s delish. I will try to bake these too. Thanks!
That sounds delish! I will have to try baking next time!
Mine were very tasty but soft; almost too soft to turn. Is that how they are supposed to be? I made a quadruple batch because I love leftovers. Maybe too much water? I am just not sure.
Hi Donetta,
They will be soft not firm but should stick together enough to turn over. I’ve always been able to flip them without having them fall apart. I would definitely stick to making one batch at a time. You could always add a bit more tapioca starch if you feel it needs more help holding together. Hope this helps!
I’ve been making these nearly weekly since starting AIP and they’re so delicious. I’ve been able to make a double batch with no issues – yay leftovers! Thanks for this great recipe.
Aw so happy you love it, thank you so much for sharing! They are one of my faves 🙂
2nd time I’ve made these. Love them!!
Oh yay!!! Thanks for your comment Debra, made my day 🙂
I love your recipes. I want to print them but there are adds and even a picture of the prepared recipe that I can not remove. They are a waste of ink for me.
Hi Cheryl,
So glad to hear you enjoy my recipes! 😀 You can always copy and paste the recipes into a word document. This will eliminate the ads and recipe image. Hope this helps!
Yes, that is what I did, thank you. This salmon patty recipe worked out well for me. My husband loves them and he did not like salmon before. Score!
Wow! Score for sure 😀
I cannot get them to stay together when flipping. I tried different oil, i.e ghee, I tried them on a stainless steel vs cast iron and I tried adding more tapioca/water.
hmmm I wonder what’s happening then. Do they stick to the pan? If so, add more oil to the pan. Also I’m not sure if you’re doubling the recipe or not, but I would stick to the single recipe. Hope this helps!
I used to have that problem but have tried various things. I cut back on the water a bit and also when I put them in the pan I use a 1/3 cup measure. That way they are small enough to turn easily.
Thanks Donetta! Those are great tips!
Could I use orange sweet potato with this? Or would the texture be too different? Thanks!
Works just fine with orange sweet potato!
These are dynamite!! So sooooo delicious, and very nutritious. Since going on AIP diet the past 11 months, I’ve consistently struggled to find a source of calcium to meet my RDA. I normally HATE canned fish and the idea of eating bones in canned salmon disgusted me, so I looked up recipes that would allow me to heat it up. Made this with bone in, skin on salmon and the white sweet potato and my goodness!!! They were gone in two minutes! The only mistake I made was sharing with the hubby and not making more- 2 of them didn’t exactly fill me up and they started so good I want more. Do you usually eat all four of these on your own? 🤤 now I need to figure out how often I can safely eat these because I could easily make this my daily breakfast! Especially missing eggs, oatmeal and all the other old stuff I used to have… THANK YOU for posting this!!
You may want to consider updating the recipe to encourage people to try it with bone and skin included. Literally couldn’t detect bone at all and it helps with the calcium intake 🙂