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Best Ever Gluten-Free Salmon Cakes

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The recipe for these Best Ever Gluten-Free Salmon Cakes comes from one of my very dear friends, Jennifer. She’s both a longtime gluten-free friend and longtime member of my support group.

These Best Ever Gluten-Free Salmon Cakes are naturally gluten free, grain free, dairy free, nut free, and "more free" but they're still absolutely delicious! Hemp seeds are the "secret ingredient" that makes these salmon cakes so special and I do mean special! [from GlutenFreeEasily.com]

Jennifer first made these salmon cakes for our holiday support group meeting several years ago. (I talked about them when I shared my Popover recipe; you can see them on the far right in the photo of the full table below.) We all absolutely fell in love with these salmon cakes!

So when Jennifer asked what she should bring to our holiday tea event earlier this month, I immediately said, “Bring your salmon cakes!” I wanted to be sure that we had more than sweets to enjoy, and like I said, her salmon cakes are the best.

I have a recipe for Chipotle Salmon Corn Cakes here on gfe and they’re excellent, but still not as good as Jennifer’s Salmon Cakes. So I made that request and Jennifer honored it and we were all so happy.

We were so happy, in fact, that I didn’t think to snap any photos until there were only four somewhat battered salmon cakes remaining on the platter, and these are truly just hurried snapshots of those. My apologies for that.

And, yes, that’s the lovely and wonderful Jennifer shown below. She’s wearing a fascinator from my historic hat collection for our tea event, and, of course, eating one of her salmon cakes!

gluten free, grain free, dairy free, salmon cakes, hemp seed, healthy

Best Gluten-Free Salmon Cakes’ Recipe Creator Jennifer

Gluten-Free “Nutty” Salmon Cakes Make Their First Appearance

home for the holidays, gluten free, holidays, gfeYou’ll want to make these salmon cakes and see for yourself on all. They are pretty, healthy, and incredibly good, like addictively good. There were not very many of us at our tea event but still, Jennifer’s salmon cakes went quickly!

These salmon cakes require only four-ingredients and are so easy to prepare, but make such an excellent quick meal. Those factors are appreciated any time, but especially during the hectic holiday season.

You can make your salmon cakes larger and serve them on a gluten-free bun if you like (my Brazilian Un-Cheese Rolls would be a good choice) or you could serve them with some Dijon mustard and a serving of veggies on the side.

The key ingredient is the hemp seeds. (This is the brand I use.) Hemp seeds seem very expensive, but they are another whole food product that actually goes a long way for me so when you consider cost per serving, they’re reasonable.

That’s not even considering their nutritional benefits. I’m willing to pay more for ingredients that pack a healthier punch!

If you’ve never used hemp seeds before, here are just a few of their benefits:

Hemp seed is a high protein seed. It contains all nine of the essential amino acids, and both kinds of omegas.

It’s a nut-free way to get that crunchy texture and yummy nutty taste in recipes.

Hemp seed does not contain phytic acid that is present in such foods as tree nuts which makes foods less digestible. Therefore, hemp seed is considered pretty digestible.

Kimi from The Nourishing Gourmet did an excellent post on the nutritional value of hemp seeds a while back. Melissa of Gluten Free for Good also addresses hemp seeds/protein in her Hemp Protein Smoothie post.

Both articles are worth a read, and you’ll find the answer to that other question that you might be wondering about and that I didn’t answer. Think bell bottoms, Janis Joplin, etc., as Melissa addresses in her post and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

These Best Ever Gluten-Free Salmon Cakes are naturally gluten free, grain free, dairy free, nut free, and "more free" but they're still absolutely delicious! Hemp seeds are the "secret ingredient" that makes these salmon cakes so special and I do mean special! [from GlutenFreeEasily.com]

Best Gluten-Free Salmon Patties with Jar of Dijon–Unfancy in Presentation, but Elegantly Good

These Best Ever Gluten-Free Salmon Cakes are naturally gluten free, grain free, dairy free, nut free, and "more free" but they're still absolutely delicious! Hemp seeds are the "secret ingredient" that makes these salmon cakes so special and I do mean special! [from GlutenFreeEasily.com]
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The Best Ever Gluten-Free Salmon Cakes (Grain Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free and More)

These Best Ever Gluten-Free Salmon Cakes are naturally gluten free, grain free, dairy free, nut free, and "more free" but they're still absolutely delicious! Hemp seeds are the "secret ingredient" that makes these salmon cakes so special.

Ingredients

  • 1 large can wild-caught salmon, about 15 ounces, drained
  • 1 large lovey egg* (see notes) 
  • 1/2 cup onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup hemp seeds
  • Coconut oil (or oil of choice for frying; coconut oil is best for flavor)

Instructions

  1. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.
  2. Shape mixture into five or six patties, about 2 ½ inches in diameter.
  3. Heat oil to medium to medium-high temperature.
  4. Add salmon cakes. Fry about 6 minutes on each side, “til crispy." Watch carefully though so you don’t overcook the salmon cakes; reduce heat if needed. Ideally, you want the salmon cakes to be crispy and to stay together, but you only want to flip them once.
  5. Serve with Dijon mustard, if desired.

Notes

Jennifer say "lovey egg is not a typo!” She means an egg that’s given with love from a well-loved, free-roaming chicken like hers are.

Originally published December 19, 2012; updated June 6, 2018.

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Comments

    • Oh, my goodness, seriously, Cheryl? It’s a great way to get in some yummy salmon. You could even use leftover fresh-cooked salmon I believe. 🙂

      Shirley

      Reply

    • Hi Lizzie–While I’m not sure anything could *replace* the hemp seeds in this, some other ideas might be sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. Perhaps some favorite nuts (finely chopped), like pecans and macadamias, if you can consume nuts. Jennifer just responded to another reader’s same query on FB and said that she used to use oats, so certified gluten-free oats would also be an option for those who eat grains and are good with gluten-free oats. Not sure how all these options would taste in comparison, but they’d probably still be good! 🙂 Please report back if you try any of them.

      Shirley

      Reply

      • I went ahead and used up some Flax seeds I had. Only about 1/4 cup. This was my first time making Salmon cakes, so wasn’t sure how moist/dry the mixture should be. Not sure if it was the Flax or that my hen has been laying smallish eggs – but it seemed right to add another egg. They tasted wonderful. Will definitely have another go at them when I have some hemp seed on hand. Thanks for the great (and oh so easy) recipe!

        Reply

        • Lizzie B–Thanks so much for reporting back! I did think of flax seeds, but using a smaller amount of them was a good idea. Smallish eggs would definitely require a third egg, so good call on that. So glad you enjoyed them so much! I’m looking forward to hearing what you think when you use hemp seeds. 😉

          Shirley

          Reply

  4. I just want to give Jennifer a big fat hug…and you too! Just seeing her sweet face made me bust out laughing as I remembered our yoga session.. Oh. How I wish I was with you gals chowing down on those!! They sound absolutely AMAZING!!! I miss you both! XOXOX

    Reply

    • Oh, Kim, you are too sweet (and generous) with your hugs! Yes, that yoga session was the best. 🙂 And so are these salmon cakes. I know you’d love them. 😉

      Missing you, too! Merry Christmas to you all!! xoxo,
      Shirley

      Reply

    • Oh, gosh, how did I not reply to your comment, Debi? Oh, yeah, I was on vacation. 😉 Glad I saw it now. It was such a fun weekend. Jennifer is the bomb. We’ll get her to make these next time. 🙂

      xo,
      Shirley

      Reply

      • Vacation comes first! Besides, gmail decided to put the response notification in my spam folder, which I just happened to check! That would be awesome if she could. 😀

        Reply

        • Oooh, I hate it when gmail does that! Gmail is really very good, but every now and then … Anyway, I’m sure she’ll be delighted to make them for us. This time we might have our whole menu planned before the event. 😉

          xo,
          Shirley

          Reply

    • Hi Amanda–Welcome to gfe! 🙂 So glad these salmon cakes worked for you with flax. Seems like I need to update the recipe to include that option. 😉

      Happy New Year!
      Shirley

      Reply

    • Iris–You will have to meet Jennifer one day (maybe at the gfe retreat this year??). She is phenomenal. Then you will understand and be able to hear her say “lovey egg”! 😉 My pleasure to link up. I just have to remember to do so each week!

      Shirley

      Reply

    • Hi Tara–Welcome to gfe! So glad you love this recipe from my friend Jennifer … I do, too! 🙂 You must have made it with fresh salmon before if you haven’t used the canned version yet. I bet that was awesome! A large can is about 15 ounces. I’ll add that info to the recipe.

      Shirley

      Reply

  9. Can’t eat eggs. What about flax & chia seed meal for substitute for eggs? Use more 2x the amount of chia > flax small amount mustard flour! Jod Master Herbalist

    Reply

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