Tuna (or Salmon) Patties

[doreen T]

Tired of bacon and eggs for breakfast? Bored with sliced chicken breast on salad greens for lunch? Limited budget?
Try:Tuna (or Salmon) Patties

1 can tuna or salmon (6 - 7 oz/ 170 - 200g)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp each butter and olive oil for frying
optionals:
minced green onion (scallion), celery, bell pepper etc
fresh or dried herbs - dillweed, parsley, fennel etc

*******************************

Mash the fish, then stir in the beaten egg and desired seasonings.
Heat fat in skillet over medium to medium-high till bubbly. Drop the fish-egg mixture from a large spoon to make mounds ... press them flat with the back of the spoon. Use a large pancake lifter to gently turn the patties over when golden brown underneath. Brown the other side, then serve hot ... or cold.
for the whole recipe:

Tuna patties (using water-pack light tuna): 431 cal, 31g fat, 1g carb, 34g prot.

Salmon patties (using sockeye red salmon): 622 cal, 50g fat, 1g carb, 40g prot.

** Note** .. the nutrient counts may vary depending on the type of fish used, and if seasonings are added.
These are awesome with the low carb "HomeFries / Hash Browns" recipe I posted in the Breakfast Ideas section, in the Kitchen forum ( click here (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4437) ). Those are made with radishes, and so good, they taste BETTER than the potato version.

For garnishing, I like to use flavoured mayonnaise ... Add some chopped capers, olives or dill pickle, dijon mustard or prepared horseradish to a couple Tbsp mayo. :yum:

Enjoy! :)

Doreen

[doreen T]

The fish-egg mixture is very soft, unlike ground meat which you can shape with your hands. The secret for keeping the patties from falling apart is to use lots of fat. Resist the urge to only put a dot of oil in the pan. Truthfully, using olive oil alone will work fine ... I just happen to like the taste of butter. However, using butter alone increases the risk of burning.

I made tuna patties one time with an egg plus 2 Tbsp mayonnaise, and one can of tuna (plus seasonings) ... it was more like a batter, but they fried up nicely, good flavour and moistness. Soft in the middle and crisp on the outside. :yum:

Doreen

[Debi Warne]

this really sounds good and no filler to hold it together.

Can't wait to try it!

[DWRolfe]

I'm so silly sometimes...
...I never would have thought to try these cold. I'm sure they would be delish. I like lots of foods cold, and you're right Doreen, this would be a nice way to shake up the morning menu.

Thanks!

Donald :daze:

[alto]

Thank you for posting this, Doreen! I just made them for lunch -- not sure about them cold, but hot, they were wonderful! (I added a bit of celery.)

Anything is better with butter. :)

Just curious -- why sockeye salmon? (I'm ignorant of kinds of salmon. I've only bought filets -- it's the only fish I'm brave enough to cook -- and I have a choice between Icelandic and something else. I get the Icelandic :) )

[tamarian]

Just tried them for breakfast :thup:, they're really good! :yum:

Wa'il

[doreen T]

Originally posted by alto
Just curious -- why sockeye salmon? (I'm ignorant of kinds of salmon. I've only bought filets -- it's the only fish I'm brave enough to cook -- and I have a choice between Icelandic and something else. I get the Icelandic :) ) Any type of canned salmon or tuna will do, whatever you have in your cupboard is fine :thup: I only used those as examples for the nutrient counts ... and because it's what I used ;)

You make a good point .. I'll go back and add a *note* that the counts may vary depending on type of fish used. The carb count may also vary a bit too, depending on the seasonings used.

Alto, I still remember my Home Ec. classes in highschool, and the whole chapter on different types of fish. At home we had tuna, and we had salmon, there were no "types". My mother was ready to throw me out of the house because I was coming home from school with my textbook open, pointing out that we should've been eating different types! :lol:

Check out this article from allRecipes.com for a quick and easy read about the different varieties of salmon (http://www.allrecipes.com/cb/ref/salmon/default.asp). :read:

Doreen

[doreen T]

A new twist ...

It was one of those days where I kept going back and forth from pantry to fridge, peering in at the contents, hoping beyond hope that something would leap out and prepare itself for me. Well, since THAT wasn't about to happen, I decided on tuna patties. But alas, I only had a dinky little 3 oz (90g) can. Oh well, mix it up anyway, I'll eat anything :p Hmmm .. the tuna and egg mixture was pretty soupy looking. So I had this brilliant idea to add some grated cheese .. so I added about 1½ oz (45g) grated swiss ... well, then it was too dry ... So , I added a Tbsp mayonnaise. Perfect. Fried 'em up ... they're delicious. I will be making this again.

I strongly recommend that you use a non-stick pan! And definitely keep the heat down to medium .. the cheese browns quickly.

carbs = 1.5g

enjoy! :)

Doreen

[Atrsy]

I made salmon croquettes with salmon, egg, mayo, mustard, Mrs. Dash, and my secret ingredient--crushed pork rind for a binder. This way I could shape them with my hands.

Tastey too!

Carol

[coyote]

Thanks for the recipe Doreen. I made some this morning. I used a Little Essence (thank you Emeril) and some fresh garlic. BAAMMM
They were great. It's just awesome to have these great LC recipes. It helps to have so many that are good in order to prevent boredom.

Thanks again :) :spin:

[Kaki]

I love salmon and tuna and forgot about making them into patties. Haven't had salmon patties in years. Man, another item to add to my grocery list <grin>!! These are wonderful cold too so they would make a great take along lunch for work.

Karin

[Isabel]

I am going to have tuna patties for breakfast tomorrow and buy a can of salmon next time I'm in the store.

Great idea. It reallly IS great to have lots of yummy lc recipes: helps keep me on the path

[Lolabug]

I used to make salmon and tuna patties with leftover mashed potato. I wonder what they would be like with the faux mashed potato instead? I'll have to make a triple batch because last time my friend (who is not on l/c) and I ate ALL of the faux mashed spuds up!

I'll let you know.

Alena.

[chysmith]

Doreen this was so good! :yum: I had run out of ideas for dinner as the meat I pulled out of the freezer wasn't good anymore. I browsed through the recipies, and hey, I had all the ingredients and it sounded delicious! Scott did up some seasoning for me (I'm terrible at that stuff) and we sprinkled some Essence on top while cooking. Very very good!

[S_Hysmith]

I had to fix them for breakfast this morning. Well, lunch. :rolleyes: I didn't exactly roll out of bed early...

For seasoning I added small (1/8 - 1/4 t.) amounts of thyme, marjoram, celery seed, savory and parsley. A little bit of black pepper as well. (Same seasonings I did for Caitlin's batch last night.)

I did use a bit more Essence, because I wanted a slightly "blackened" flavor on the crunchy outside.

Topped it off with a caper and dill mayo (1 tablespoon capers, drained and a couple good pinches of dill, in about 3 tablespoons of mayo), and it was delicious!

[bebe123]

Thanks for the recipe! I added an egg and parmesean cheese to the mix and man were they good. Definitely will be haiving these again! I topped mine with a dollop of wasabi mayo and it was perfect!!
Thanx again!! :wave:

[Pamlyn]

Looks awsome Doreen, going to try for lunch!!

[robo-robyn]

i make these too (with variations each time, it seems), but i make them on the George Foreman Grill - b/c they're so soft the grill is perfect for them. fast too!
robyn

[suzanneM]

this was incredible, thank you so much!

all i did was take a tiny can of starkist, about half a beaten egg, some dill relish, ground black pepper, red pepper, and parmesan. fried it up with a bit of tobasco on the top (can you tell i like it HOT? am a firm believer in hot peppers)...

just even experimenting it was incredible. totally cured the fried food craving i was having. and it was fast and easy too!

i'm an east coast girl, chesapeake bay area. i have missed CRAB CAKES pretty badly.

this weekend i'm going to try and make crab cakes with a pepper hollandaise sauce using this base! i figure some ground pork rinds in it for that bread-y taste...

will post back if it's a success. if not, i still have a new favourite meal.

works well for me too... my appetite has dropped so low i'm happy with a salad a day and am worrying about how to get in more protein!

[suzanneM]

just tried this with canned crabmeat but i didn't get a very nice patty out of it. used just a bit of crushed pork rinds but perhaps not enough. will experiement. i think the crab meat was too fine - the bits just kept floating away from the 'patty'.

but the plain old canned tuna version came out much nicer.

[ouch]

these sound great...but can they be cooked in bacon fat/grease instead of olive oil? I'm cheap...I have bacon fat at home, but I'm out of oil, and don't have the money for groceries till Friday!!

:)
O

[triatrim]

I haven't tried it yet but in Korea they use firm tofu, drained and squeezed through a cheesecloth, as binder for these types of patties. It works remarkably well, and even for those who don't like tofu you won't really taste it. Hope it helps. :)

[doreen T]

Originally posted by triatrim
I haven't tried it yet but in Korea they use firm tofu, drained and squeezed through a cheesecloth, as binder for these types of patties. It works remarkably well, and even for those who don't like tofu you won't really taste it. Hope it helps. :) Yummm, yes ... drained and crumbled tofu would be great. :thup: In fact, freezing blocks of firm tofu, then draining, squeezing and crumbling will yield a very spongy bread-like crumb that absorbs and holds together very well when mixed with an egg.


Doreen

[skeeweeaka]

Sounds like an excellent recipe...can't wait to try it!

[cmallory]

That sounds awesome! I will definantly have to try it!

[mainecyn]

these sound great! I love tuna patties, have at least a dozen cans of tuna in the cupboard and no new ideas, so thank you!

[LcBANdita]

going to try this...def using bacon grease though... i see someone tried this with the george foreman, i want to try that too, but i dunno if it'll be crispy like you all suggest.

[LisaAC]

I never had much luck with crackers, so before I ever tried low carb, I merely mixed my salmon with egg. It binded it well. Today, that's how I make mine, just with egg, salt and pepper. I'll have to try adding herbs and onions too as it sounds great.