Delicious Salmon Burgers are easy to make with fresh salmon! Grillable and flavorful with the best texture, these healthy burgers are rich in Omega-3s and are the perfect summer meal! (Video)
These amazing salmon burgers are on the menu weekly here at our house! Surprisingly simple to put together, they are made with hand-chopped raw salmon, which makes for effortless prep and the lightest texture. Dijon, shallots, lemon, and fresh dill enhance the flavor perfectly. They grill up quickly- just 6 minutes on the grill (or feel free to pan-sear), and dinner is served! Our homemade Dilly Tartar Sauce just takes it all over the top!
Using canned salmon? Try these delicious Salmon Patties!
Table of Contents
Salmon Burger Ingredients
Salmon Burger Recipe Notes
- Raw Salmon filet– skin removed. Look for wild coho salmon, sockeye salmon, king salmon or Copper River Salmon.
- Dijon mustard– gives a zesty balance.
- Shallots– or red onion works too.
- Parsley and dill– yes to fresh herbs! You could do all dill but the combo is really nice.
- Panko bread crumbs– we recommend not substituting panko is more airy than regular bread crumbs. It gives the burgers a really light texture.
- Egg– this binds and adds to the tender lightness of the burgers.
- Lemon juice & lemon zest– lemon is such a happy compliment to salmon.
- Dilly Tartar Sauce– do make this! It brings the burger up to an extra blissful experience!
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How To Make Salmon Burgers
STEP ONE– Hand chop the salmon into 1/4″ pieces.
STEP TWO- Mix salmon with dijon, shallot, parsley, bread crumbs, egg, and lemon zest in a bowl.
STEP THREE- With a gentle hand, not pressing or mushing too much, form the salmon mixture into 4- 6 ounce patties, about 1 inch thick(note these are big burgers! If you prefer a smaller patty, make 6- 4 ounce burger). Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
STEP FOUR- Preheat grill to 450F. Brush the grill with oil and cook the salmon burgers for 3 minutes with the lid closed, flip and cook 3 minutes more. Internal temperature should be 130F degrees for best texture.
Alternatively, pan-sear the salmon burgers in a grill pan or skillet lightly coated with olive oil on the stovetop, or bake them in your air fryer!
STEP FIVE– For the tartar sauce: Whisk together mayo, dijon, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cayenne, capers, pickles and fresh dill.
Salmon Burger Toppings
- Buns (You can also turn this into a Burger Bowl, and skip the bun!
- Tomatoes– fresh summer tomatoes, thinly sliced.
- Avocado– sliced
- Pickled onions – or use thinly sliced raw onion.
- Tartar Sauce – make our homemade version!
- Lettuce– use your favorite greens- arugula, romaine, baby spinach, shredded iceberg lettuce, etc.
- Other ideas: Top with a crunchy slaw ( fennel-cucumber slaw or cabbage slaw) or a cucumber salad- like this Creamy Cucumber Salad.
Leftover cooked salmon burgers will keep up to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container and can be reheated in the oven. Or wrap tightly and place in the freeze for up to 3 months.
What To Serve With Salmon Burgers
Salmon burgers are delicious with green salads and healthy slaws. Or make our favorite French fries! Upgrade your burger with homemade dill pickles and buns!
FAqs
You could use a grill pan or skillet on the stove or pan-sear them.
Testing the internal temperature is the best way to ensure the burgers do not overcook. 130F degrees leave them moist, light, and cooked through.
The texture of the salmon burger is lighter and even when chopping by hand, it is easier and quicker than you may think (especially when you factor in the time it takes to clean the processor!). If you decide to use a processor, just pulse a few times. You want to avoid making it into a paste.
These burgers are designed for raw salmon-the texture is so good! Canned salmon is best for croquettes or patties.
These salmon burgers have panko in them. You can use gluten-free panko!
Place cooked and cooled salmon burgers in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Freeze, then wrap. When reheating, thaw overnight in the fridge, then bake at 350F in the oven, or pan-sear.
More Recipes You May Enjoy
- The BEST Veggie Burger
- Healthy, Delicious Bison Burger
- Chimichurri Poblano Turkey Burger!
- Portobello Mushroom Burger
We think these are the best salmon burgers and hope you enjoy them!
Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.
Watch How to Make Salmon Burgers (Video)
Salmon Burger Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Total Time: 21 minutes
- Yield: 4 x 6 oz patties 1x
- Category: dinner idea, fish recipe
- Method: grilled, pan-seared
- Cuisine: American
Description
Healthy delicious Salmon Burgers are easy to make with fresh salmon! Grillable and flavorful with the best texture. A perfect summer meal bursting with delicious flavor and healthy omega-3s!
Ingredients
Salmon Burger
- 1 1/2 pounds wild salmon, skinned and boneless (if using frozen salmon, make sure it is completely thawed before using)
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup shallot or red onion, finely diced
- 1/3 cup combined fresh parsley and fresh dill, chopped
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (plain) or use GF panko *see notes
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
Dill Tartar Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayo (or use 1/2 mayo and 1/2 Greek yogurt for a lighter version-my preference)
- 1 teaspoon dijon
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 or 2 pinches cayenne
- 1 tablespoon capers, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons dill pickles, diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill, roughly chopped
To Serve
- 4 burger buns
- tomato slices
- pickled onions
- avocado or cucumber
- lettuce or sprouts
- tartar sauce
Instructions
- For the Burgers: With a sharp knife, hand chop the salmon into 1/4″ pieces. Mix chopped salmon with dijon, shallot, parsley, bread crumbs, egg, lemon juice and lemon zest in a bowl. With a gentle hand, not pressing or mushing too much, form into 4- 6 ounce patties, an inch thick (note these are big burgers! If you prefer a smaller patty, make 6- 4 ounce burger). Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat grill to 450F degrees. Brush with oil and cook the salmon burgers for 3 minutes with the lid closed, flip and cook 3 minutes more on the other side. Internal temp should be 130F degrees when done. (Alternatively, pan-sear in a grill pan or oiled skillet on the stove).
- For the Tartar Sauce: Whisk together mayo, dijon, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cayenne, capers, pickles and fresh dill.
- Assemble with your favorite buns and toppings. We like tomato slices, avocado, lettuce or sprouts, red onion, cucumber and slathered with lots of Dilly Tartar Sauce.
Notes
TIP: The texture of the salmon burger is lighter and more even when chopping by hand, it is easier and quicker than you may think (especially when you factor in the time it takes to clean the processor!). If you decide to use a processor, just pulse a few times. You want to avoid making it into a paste, which greatly affects the texture.
Storage: Cooked burgers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days, and reheated in a 350F oven. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
Panko: Use unseasoned panko. Gluten-free is just fine! Seasoned breadcrumbs seem to add an unsavory bitter taste. You can use regular bread crumbs, they are just not quite as light as the panko, make sure they are dry and finely ground.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 burger
- Calories: 222
- Sugar: 1.5 g
- Sodium: 393 mg
- Fat: 6.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 11.5 g
- Fiber: 1.1 g
- Protein: 28.2 g
- Cholesterol: 109.3 mg
I love this recipe and I usually pan-sear them. I’m thinking about air frying them but wondered what temp and time you recommend.
Glad you are enjoying! Not having tried them in the air-fryer, my guess is 400F for about 8-10 minutes-depending on how thick you make them. Test internal temp, should be around 130.
We bring home 100-200 lbs of wild salmon from Alaska every summer so I am always looking for more wonderful ways to serve it. These salmon burgers are absolutely delicious!!! My husband loves them on buns. I prefer them alongside or in top of a lemony Greek salad. The sauce is also yummy. Another winner from Sylvia!
Great to hear Robin and yay for all that healthy fish in your diet!
Made these with the salmon my husband caught in Alaska this year. We were blown away by how delicious they were. I’ve never had its equal and we’ve eaten a LOT of salmon burgers. Don’t leave anything out the flavor is so fresh and light. As much as I love a good old fashioned beef cheese burger- the salmon burgers won’t leave you with a gut bomb!
Yay! Great to hear. You are so lucky to have such a good source for salmon. 🙂
Delicious! I will make this again and again.
Awesome Lynda!
This is truly our favorite salmon recipe! I leave the shallots out because of an allergy, and they are still fabulous.
Great to hear Rachel!
So good, and a kid favorite. We will make this one again.
Yay! Total win when the kids like it!
Made these Salmon Burgers as my wife has high colestral she loved them and so did I, will definitely make them again and may adapt the tartar sauce to use 0% fat Greek yogurt and low fat mayo to eliminate the saturated fats. Very easy to make and will be on the menu regularly
Great glad to hear you enjoyed! I bet that will work nicely for the tartar sauce.
What a delicious way to enjoy fresh salmon! The panko and herbs make this super tasty and grilling adds extra flavour. As usual, all recipe instructions were clear and easy to follow. The tartar sauce is yummy!
So happy you enjoyed Anna!
These were wonderful – so much so that my husband is still talking about them 2 days later! I’m not wild about fresh dill (the pickles in the recipe are OK with me) and I didn’t want to spend $2 for a bunch of parsley so I substituted fresh basil from the garden for both the dill and parsley. It worked wonderfully. Will definitely make these again!
Oh, and I doubled the amount of sauce – that, too, was a big hit.
Sounds so yummy Mary! Love it!
Wow! it’s so incredibly tasty. Easy to put together and love the sauce! Thank you for anther yummy recipe!
Glad you enjoyed these!
Made these last night. The flavor is amazing, better than a restaurant! Will make the sauce next time! Grilled them on our griddle. Put on grilled brioche buns. Will make them slightly smaller next time. 6oz is a big burger!
So glad you enjoyed Claudia! They are big…I will note that in the recipe. I think you could easily make 6 burgers!
I made this burger today and it was very delicious! I also followed your sourdough bun recipe. Thank you so much!!!
Great to hear Nune!
These were amazing. Made the tartar sauce. Delish!
Happy to hear this Maryellen!
Love your recipes – thanks for them! I am having the challenge of being off eggs for a year – do you know if flax meal will work here?? Also curious as to why seasoned (like toasted with garlic for example) bread crumbs didn’t work? I’m not a fan of panko, handy tho’ it may be! Thanks!
Hi Beverly! I haven’t tested this with flax eggs yet so can’t say at this point. As for the seasoned panko, sometimes the seasonings can overpower things, so in this case we wanted the salmon flavor to shine through. Feel free to use if that is all you have!