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THIS is the salmon burgers recipe you need! It’s easy to make and comes out tender with savory flavor. We love serving it with creamy remoulade sauce for an over-the-top delicious meal!
Here’s a fun and tasty dinner idea that’s calling your name: salmon burgers! These burgers are so deliciously satisfying, we’re kicking ourselves this hasn’t been part of our dinnertime repertoire until now.
Each bite is hearty and juicy, and if you top it with this creamy homemade remoulade sauce, it takes it to rockstar status. This is a great way to feel like you’re eating red meat, without the meat! It’s every bit as satisfying, we think. Our entire family gives it 5 stars!
The keys to great salmon burgers
Salmon burgers are a great healthy alterative to red meat. Or if you’re like us, they’re great for a pescatarian diet! We’d resigned ourselves to veggie burgers forever, until this salmon burger came along. Here’s what to know about making this salmon burger recipe:
- You’ll use raw salmon. No need to pre-cook it! You can use any type of salmon, though of course the better the salmon the better the flavor. Want to use canned salmon? Make these salmon cakes instead.
- A food processor is handy, but a knife works too! Whiz it up to get the right texture, or you can use a knife to finely chop.
- Refrigerate before cooking. Firming the burgers for 15 minutes does wonders for the texture.
- Pan fry for 5 minutes per side. Then it’s a quick pan fry in healthy olive oil. It comes out lightly crispy on the outside and browned to perfection.
Tips for buying salmon
Because you’re adding seasoning and shaping it into patties, you don’t need the most expensive, beautiful fillet for these salmon burgers. You can get away with slightly lower quality salmon in a burger! But like any recipe, the better the raw ingredients the better the flavor. Here’s what we’d recommend for this recipe:
- Fresh salmon is usually best (vs frozen). We generally find the best salmon fresh from our local seafood counter. However, you can sometimes find quality frozen salmon.
- Buy wild caught salmon. Fish that is wild caught in your country is usually a sustainable choice. There are also quality options in well-regulated farms; see Seafood Watch Consumer Guide.
- Or, try with canned salmon. You can also use 16 ounces canned salmon as a substitute for these salmon burgers. Canned salmon is economical and shelf-stable, making it a versatile ingredient for quick and easy dinners. (You can also use canned to make salmon cakes or salmon croquettes.)
Salmon burger sauce ideas
Once you’ve cooked up your salmon burger, pair it with a tasty and delicious sauce for maximum deliciousness! We usually use a traditional remoulade sauce, but a few more salmon burger sauce ideas to try are:
- Remoulade sauce, a traditional French and Cajun mayo-based sauce (our top pick!)
- Tartar sauce, a common seafood sauce
- Lemon dill sauce, for a Mediterranean spin
- Creamy cilantro sauce, a zingy dairy-free option
- Cilantro lime ranch, a creamy cilantro-based ranch
- Dill sauce or Cucumber sauce, Greek-yogurt based Mediterranean sauces
- Horseradish sauce, creamy with a spicy bite!
- Spicy mayo, mayo with zing
- Special burger sauce, all your favorite condiments in one
Salmon burger toppings
Once you pick a sauce, you can customize your salmon burger toppings to go with the theme. There are so many great ideas, so we’ve got a separate list going! Here’s what we used, and a few more ideas:
- Go simple with red onion, tomato and lettuce
- Try guacamole and pico de gallo
- Opt for spicy mayo and sauteed shiitakes
- For more ideas, read about our top salmon burger toppings.
Notes about panko
Storing leftovers
Salmon burgers are easy to make ahead and store well! Store them refrigerated up to 2 days, or wrap in plastic wrap or other wrapping, place them in a container, and freeze up to 3 months. Allow to defrost in the refrigerator the night before cooking.
What to serve with a salmon burger
Want to make it a meal? Here’s what we’d serve with these tasty salmon burgers to make them a meal. You can also omit the bun and serve the salmon burgers over greens, or on a plate alongside vegetable sides or fries!
- Potato wedges or fries: Keep it simple with sweet potato wedges, potato wedges, or frozen fries.
- Green salad: Go for a salad recipe like arugula salad, chopped salad, goat cheese salad, Caesar salad, or kale salad.
- Vegetables: Opt for colorful easy succotash or sauteed vegetables.
- Beans: Try white beans or borlotti beans.
- Coleslaw: Opt for creamy coleslaw or apple slaw.
- Veggie or grain salad: This celery salad with apples is irresistibly crunchy, or try quinoa salad.
Dietary notes
This salmon burgers recipe is pescatarian and dairy-free. For gluten free, use gluten-free panko or breadcrumbs (or oats or crushed gluten-free crackers). Use a gluten-free bun, or serve without a bun over greens.
Salmon Burgers
Here’s the salmon burgers recipe you need! They’re easy and have the best flavor: each bite is perfection slathered with remoulade sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes (+15 minutes chill)
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 burgers 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Seafood
Ingredients
- 1 pound salmon*, skin and bones removed
- ½ cup fresh parsley or cilantro
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup panko or coarse breadcrumbs (gluten free if desired)**
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- Olive oil, for cooking
- ½ cup Remoulade Sauce or other sauce
- 4 buns (optional)
- Salmon burger toppings like red onion, tomato, lettuce
Instructions
- Remove the salmon skin and cut the raw salmon into chunks. Add it to a food processor* with parsley or cilantro, capers, onion powder and kosher salt. Pulse 8 to 10 times until roughly chopped; be careful not to over-process. (Alternatively, chop everything with a large chef’s knife until it has a uniformly roughly chopped texture.) Remove blade and stir in the panko, Dijon mustard and mayonnaise (you can do this in either the bowl of the food processor or transfer to a bowl).
- Form the dough into 4 burger shapes that are about ¾ inch thick. Refrigerate 15 to 30 minutes to firm up the texture (or up to 24 hours; if you refrigerate more than 1 hour, allow to stand at 15 minutes before cooking). While the burgers rest, make the Remoulade Sauce.
- When ready to cook, you can pan fry or grill: Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add the burgers and cook for 4 to 5 minutes total, until browned on each side and the inside registers 130 degrees Fahrenheit on a food thermometer. Or, grill the burgers on medium high heat for 5 to 8 minutes until cooked through.
- Serve on a bun garnished lettuce, tomato, red onion, and remoulade or another salmon burger sauce. Make ahead and storage: Store refrigerated up to 2 days, or wrap in freezer safe wrapping and freeze up to 3 months. Allow to defrost in the refrigerator the night before cooking.
Notes
*You can also use 16 ounces canned salmon as a substitute. If so, you can omit the food processor step: simply finely chop all the vegetables and add them to a bowl with the salmon and other ingredients.
**If all you can find is regular breadcrumbs, use ½ cup since they are much finer ground than panko.
More favorite salmon recipes
Salmon is one of our top choices when it comes to fish and seafood! Here are a few more salmon recipes to enjoy:
- Go for tasty salmon tacos with creamy green avocado sauce.
- Fire up the oven for crunchy pistachio crusted salmon or pecan crusted salmon.
- Mix up zingy lemon garlic salmon with lemon butter sauce, or make fan favorite lemon dill salmon or salmon with capers
- Grab your skillet for Cajun salmon, blackened salmon or pan seared salmon
Truly is the best salmon burger recipe ever!!!! My entire family loves it- even my picky daughter.
Thank you!
I have been looking for a great fresh salmon burger for some time. These were so easy and delicious that I will be making them again and again – especially now that it’s Alaska salmon season. I didn’t have cornichons or green onions on hand, so instead of the remoulade sauce I made your spicy mayo recipe with vegan mayo. Soooo good! Thank you, Sonja & Alex!
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed.
Loved these. My kids did too. Have u ever made the Patties and frozen them for use later. Our salmon comes frozen. I worry about refreezing it but would love to take these up to our cabin pre made
Great question! You can make the burgers in advance — must make sure to cook them too! Then freeze the cooked burgers wrapped in plastic. Let them defrost in the fridge overnight, then you can reheat them lightly in a skillet. Good luck!
Love the salmon burgers (hubby did too). You guys rock! Can’t wait to eat the two I froze.
Hi! Have you ever done these in an air fryer? Thanks!
We haven’t tried it, but I bet it’d work well.