Fish cakes rank right up there with meatballs in my book: Comforting. Easy. Tasty without pretension.
Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook fancy food, too. But you can’t do that every day. Some days are for trout cakes. Specifically, those days after you catch lots of trout. Or kokanee. Or salmon, or whatever.
I use trout or kokanee because I like the play of mild, slightly oily trout with all the herbs. Salmon is just as good, especially a pink or chum salmon. But bluefish, mackerel, or another oily fish would work, too. And I won’t get mad at you if make this with bass, catfish, crappie, etc.
While it’s not specifically necessary, I find that the best fish cakes are made with “spoon meat,” which is meat scraped off the carcass of fish before they are cooked. You can get quite a lot of meat off carcasses this way — more than a pound on a big chinook salmon. The fish will cook perfectly well in the pan. Of course, you can also use leftover fish, too.
What separates this trout cake recipe from my salmon patties or my other fish cake recipe is herbs. Lots of herbs. They are a great counterpoint to the fish, and brighten things up quite a lot. A squeeze of lemon is all you need on them.
I like eating these as-is, or with a green salad. Any leftover cakes can be reheated gently in a pan or a 300°F oven and used as a great sandwich filling with some lettuce, tomato and mayo.
These trout cakes freeze well, too. Cook them first, then freeze, tightly wrapped, for up to 6 months.
Trout Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 pound trout meat, skinless and boneless
- 1 cup minced onion
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped chives
- 1/4 cup chopped tarragon or dill
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions
- Cook the minced onion with the butter in a small pan over medium heat until translucent, but not browned. Remove from the pan and let cool.
- Chop the trout meat with a knife into bits. You can chop very roughly and then pulse a couple times in a food processor, but you want the trout in little pieces, not as a paste.
- Mix all the remaining ingredients (except the frying oil) together in a large bowl. Form cakes with your hands. I like them about the width of my palm. You will need to wash your hands a couple times to remove debris; this helps you make cleaner, nicer cakes.
- Let the cakes sit in the fridge for 20 minutes or so -- this lets the breadcrumbs absorb moisture, which helps your cakes hold together.
- Heat the frying oil in a large, wide pan over medium-high heat. Fry as many cakes as will fit in one layer without touching. Cook them until each side is golden brown, about 4 to 6 minutes per side. Serve hot.
Great recipe. We precooked the trout with some Old Bay seasoning and then it flaked easily to mix with the other ingredients. It passed the test with our 3 kids exclaiming how much they liked it!
Can you freeze these cakes ?
Tina: I never have, but I am betting yes. If I were to, I would freeze them uncooked on a baking sheet and then, when frozen, put into a freezer bag.
Have made these a few times for family and friends and everyone goes crazy for them. Ty for the recipe.
I used a rainbow and a brown trout, along with some leftover crawfish, and it turned out amazing. It was my first time making any sort of fish cakes, that paired with extracting the crawfish meat the total time was longer than what Hank has posted, but it was worth it
I enjoy sharing fish and game with family and friends. These trout cakes as well as all of your recipes I’ve used have outdone any others I’ve attempted. No need for extended internet searching for “ the best recipe for” whatever. Your site is all that’s necessary.
Great recipe! I made them with trout and they were delicious. Thanks for the recipe and your post. I enjoyed reading your ideas.
Turns mediocre stocked trout into a delicacy.
Great recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! We live near a lake stocked with lovely rainbows and I catch a lot of them. I’ve cooked them a dozen different ways. These trout cakes are such a great spin and have become a favorite. Harkens back to my youth when we would eat cakes made with canned salmon, only so much better! I serve it old school with mashed potatoes and peas. Plus we make a lovely sauce with ketchup, sour cream, some chipotle, lemon and a dash of whatever else comes to mind. The resulting meal is true comfort food, and even “non fish eaters” usually like it. Oh, and they came out perfectly the first time I made them, and have every other time as well. Well done!
Thanks for the recipe. I’m just wanted to clarify, is the fish meat cooked or raw as you make them into patties ? Thanks
David: it works either way.
I knew that it would be good from the start, but not that good. I used fresh trout that I caught few hours ago, and man it was spectacular. Every time I catch trout from now on, I will use this recipe.
Our neighbor is an avid fisherman, and very generous with his catch. This was a great way to change it up. Delicious recipe; even pleased the picky eaters.
so. damn. good.
Just caught some nice Kokanee, made the cakes up turned out great, will have to make more next Thanks Hank
Wow, even the kids and non fish lovers liked this. I will be using this for lots of different kinds of fish, thanks
Made these tonight. Wish I could post a pic! EXCELLENT!!!!!
This is such a great recipe! Thank you! We are inhaling them!
This is recipe is basically the same as how I modified your fishcake with wild rice recipe! I did that one with pike as how you did but without the rice and I added a bunch of blanched and shredded kale. OMG it was fantastic served on a bun with some lettuce, red onion, and a spicy mayo.
Holy cow, Hank!
i have some fresh caught lingcod and regular cod in the fridge–can i use either of these?