Double-salmon fishcakes with dill sauce
Serves: 4
Prep time: 45 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Stuart West
Double-salmon fishcakes with dill sauce
Smoked salmon trimmings are much cheaper than the traditional slices and elevate these simple fishcakes. The salmon poaching milk is used to make a deliciously creamy dill sauce
Serves: 4
Prep time: 45 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
584Kcal
Fat
36gr
Saturates
11gr
Carbs
36gr
Sugars
6gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
27gr
Salt
1.3gr
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Senior Food Producer. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Senior Food Producer. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Ingredients
- 1 x 240g pack salmon fillets
- 400ml milk
- 350g floury potatoes, cut into chunks (or 300g leftover mash)
- zest of ½ lemon
- 1 x 100g pack smoked salmon trimmings
- 3 spring onions, finely sliced
- 4 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil, for frying
To coat
- 30g plain flour
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 70g dried breadcrumbs, blitzed until fine
For the dill sauce
- 25g butter
- 25g plain flour
- 1 tbsp lemon juice, plus wedges to serve (use the zested lemon from above)
- 1 x 20g pack dill, finely chopped
Step by step
Get ahead
Prep to the end of step 4 up to 24 hours ahead and chill, or freeze. You can fry the fishcakes straight from frozen, but then cook them for an extra 10-15 minutes in the oven, until piping hot in the centre.
- Put the salmon fillets in a medium saucepan and pour over the milk to almost cover. Bring up to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Take off the heat and leave to stand, covered, for 10 minutes to gently cook the fish. Lift the salmon from the milk with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate to cool. Reserve the poaching milk for the sauce.
- Meanwhile, if you’re not using leftover mash, add the potatoes to a large saucepan, cover with cold salted water, bring to the boil and cook for 16-18 minutes or until tender but not breaking up. Drain in a colander and leave to steam dry for 5 minutes before mashing until smooth.
- Stir in the lemon zest, smoked salmon trimmings and spring onions, then season to taste. Flake the salmon fillets into big chunks over the mash (discarding the skin) and gently mix to combine, taking care not to break up the fish too much. Leave the mixture to cool.
- Put the flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs into three separate bowls. Shape the fish mixture into 4 patties, about 2cm thick. Coat the fishcakes in flour, then dip in the beaten egg and finally coat in the breadcrumbs, pressing firmly and evenly onto all sides. Ideally, chill for 30 minutes to firm up. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the fishcakes for 3-4 minutes on each side, then use tongs to stand them on their sides, turning to brown the edges. Transfer to a baking tray and cook in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, for the dill sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Slowly add the poaching milk (you should have about 350ml), stirring constantly. Bring up to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes until thickened and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and dill. Season to taste.
- Spoon the dill sauce over the fishcakes and serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over.
