Salmon Burgers

Plus I'm screaming at the results of the latest UC Davis Avocado Oil study.

Salmon Burgers, recipe and photo by me, Anna Vocino

TL;DR

• What it is: Salmon Burgers are an easy weeknight summer meal that only takes a few minutes of active prepping and cooking.

• Why you’ll love it: Delicious flavor components bring the salmon to life, and are the centerpiece to a summer meal, but they’re secretly easy to put together (and not at all fishy tasting).

• How to make it: Make a burger mix, heat up the pan (or grill), and fry up these salmon burgers lickety-split.

I hear y’all murmuring about the Costco Salmon Burger patties in the low carb community. So I trot on over to read the ingredient list and see that they’re gluten free (yay), but have potato powder (boo) and seed oils (extra boo). So while the nutritional panel of Costco salmon burgers might show only 2 grams of carbs, I think it’s more important to focus on the ingredient list, and if you can make some from scratch, I encourage you to take the deep sea plunge on this salmon burgers recipe I wrote for Eat Happy Too.

You are welcome to spark up the grill for this particular salmon burger recipe, but I’ve made it even easier in my instructions so you can turn on a pan, fry up the delish patties, and have dinner on the table quickly.

And while you can use canned salmon (which would cook quicker because canned salmon is pre-cooked), my recipe calls for fresh salmon, which you cut up into bits to incorporate into your burger mix, like ground meat. Make sure you use a sharp knife as cutting up raw salmon steaks into pieces is a lot easier with a good tool. You should be sharpening your knives regularly anyway, which I trust that you’re already doing, right? Right?

Save your salmon skins and fry them in the pan when you are done frying up the burgers for a crispy treat.

As for mayo…sigh…I have some bad news to share.

Recently UC Davis did a study on products claiming to contain avocado oil. If you’ve followed my work for any amount of time, you probably already know where this is going…

I have loved Chosen Foods Classic Avocado Oil Mayo for a few years now, and have told hundreds of thousands of people that it’s the only store-bought mayo I use (truth).

Well…my beloved Chosen Foods mayo was shown to not be “compositionally consistent with authentic oil.”

WTAF. To say I am crestfallen is an understatement. What exactly is in there? Was it a faulty test? Why does it say 100% avocado oil on the label if there isn’t authentic avocado oil contained within?

I have a bajillion questions and will be investigating further, but it’s leading me to a conclusion that I need to figure out how to scale own mayo recipe over at Eat Happy Kitchen. I mean, I’ve done it with sauces, spices, and cheese bites, so why not mayo?

So there goes the next 18 months of my life while I figure that out. If I can find a manufacturing partner who can make a clean mayo that’s also delicious, I will let you know as soon as I know.

Until then, I also recommend making my One Minute Mayo recipe.

Now let’s get some salmon burgers on the table (and into our bellies)…

XOXO

Anna

Salmon Burgers Annavocino Ehk

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SALMON BURGERS

(Yields 4-5 Burgers)

• 1/2 cup almond flour

• Zest of 1 lemon, minced

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise, divided

• 1 egg

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill

• 1/4 onion, minced

• 1 pound wild caught salmon, skin removed and flesh chopped into small pieces

• Salt and pepper

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• Juice of 1/2 lemon

• Butter lettuce leaves

• Sliced avocado

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, lemon zest, 1/4 cup of mayonnaise, egg, dill, and onion. Fold in the salmon pieces and mix until combined. Season will with salt and pepper and fold the seasoning into the burger mix. Divide and press into 1/2” thick burger patties, then lay the burger patties on a large plate or baking sheet and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

Heat the olive oil to medium high heat in a large sauté pan or cast iron pan. Gently place the salmon burger patties in the pan to retain their shape and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, until cooked through. Remove the patties to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

Whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and the lemon juice. Serve the salmon burgers wrapped in butter lettuce leaves garnished with a dollop of lemon-mayo and avocado slices.

*Recipe originally published in Eat Happy Too, then revised and updated for Substack newsletter subscribers at annavocino.substack.com.