Grilled Salmon Burgers
Looking to mix up the summer grilling routine? How about some tasty Grilled Salmon Burgers?
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You might recall that Laura picked up a mini-cookware set for Robbie when she went on a recent work trip. Well that cookware set has been a huge success! It started as just a source for ‘music,’ as Robbie would bang the pots and pans together. I’ve heard of banging pots and pans on New Year’s Eve to chase away evil spirits, but on a random Wednesday afternoon? Well, I think it’s safe to say that Robbie has scared the living daylights out of any evil spirits by now!
But this past week, Robbie learned a whole new skill with his cookware. He learned to flip food…and even catch it in the pan on occasion. Seriously, though. He puts his stuffed eggplant or baguette in his little 2″ metal skillet, and then he flips it up into the air. The catching part is still a work in progress, but it’s a start. Heck, I can’t even flip real food…and I use a 9″ skillet! At this rate, the little guy will be making dinner for us before too long…although I suspect we might be looking at a Swiss cheese + eggplant + sausage recipe. I’ll have to work with him on flavor combinations next!
This past week, our grocery store had frozen wild salmon filets on a BOGO sale. That’s a solid deal! One of our favorite salmon recipes is just this simple Herbed Lemon Salmon, and I was planning on making that sometime this week. But then Laura suggested grilling up the salmon instead since it’s summer. She didn’t have to tell me twice! But then I remembered making salmon burgers way back when we lived in Atlanta. And I remembered them being pretty darned tasty. So I dug out the recipe and played around with it a bit…and then that night we had these Grilled Salmon Burgers for dinner. Delicious!
One of the keys to salmon burgers is to only put about half of the salmon filets in the food processor. The other half gets finely chopped, but not processed until smooth. This way, the salmon burgers still have some texture. (I’m big on texture when it comes to food…call me crazy.) Another tip here is hot sauce. Seriously. Hot sauce is a secret ingredient when it comes to salmon burgers. I made one batch with hot sauce, and one batch without…and you can tell a difference! The Grilled Salmon Burgers with the hot sauce had a much better depth of flavor. They weren’t spicy as you might expect (unless you go overboard and add a ton of hot sauce), but the flavor was perfect!
Unfortunately, I recently mowed my backyard so I didn’t have any fresh arugula. (You might recall that our arugula went rogue a few years ago, and now it grows wild all over our backyard. Not kidding one bit.) But I did buy a huge pack of baby arugula from the store, and I topped these Grilled Salmon Burgers with a bit of arugula and a sliced tomato. Nice, fresh summer meal right there!
Have you ever made grilled salmon burgers? More importantly, can you flip your food in a skillet…and still catch it?
Grilled Salmon Burgers
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs boneless skinless salmon
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup red onion diced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
- ¾ cup Panko-style bread crumbs
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp hot sauce
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- hamburger buns I used focaccia-style buns
- {For topping} Tartar sauce arugula, tomato
Instructions
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
- Cut salmon into ¼” pieces. Put ~⅓ of the salmon into a food processor along with the Dijon mustard and mayonnaise. Process until smooth.
- Add remaining salmon along with the onion and parsley; pulse several times until well combined. (Tip: Do not process until smooth as we did in step 1.)
- Transfer the mixture into a large bowl. Add bread crumbs, lemon juice, hot sauce, salt and pepper; stir until well combined. Shape mixture into 5-6 patties. (Note: The mixture will be wet and somewhat sticky. Wetting your hands with water before shaping each patty will help. Just go with it!)
- Place patties on grill and cook for 4-5 minutes. Flip and continue cooking for 2-3 more minutes, or until fully cooked. (Note: If necessary, take a peek to make sure burgers are fully done…try not to overcook!)
- Serve with arugula, tartar sauce and sliced tomatoes.
Hi David. I half two wild salmon fillets in my freezer and I’ve been looking for a good salmon burger recipe. Thank you! Years ago I made salmon patties using canned salmon that I pan fried, but these burgers sound way better. I have tried to flip food with a skillet and it’s not worth the clean up time. A spatula is my friend.
Perfect timing then, Dorothy! I love how our food agendas often fall in line together. 🙂 And I’m totally with ya on the flipping food in a skillet. It’s so impressive when someone can do it, though. On our recent cruise, the omelet chef could do an impressive flip, and he executed without fail dozens of times every morning. But I had to stop and wonder how many times he dropped an omelet before he mastered that technique. Hah! Enjoy these burgers, my friend!
I’ve been working on tossing food in a skillet since I was, like, 8 but I’ve never managed to pull it off! Some day I’ll get there! These burgers sound awesome. I almost always have access to amazing wild salmon since my dad loves to fish so I’ll have to try this recipe. Hope you had a great birthday, David! Have a great week!
I keep telling myself the same thing, Kelsie. One day I’ll learn how to flip food and look like an awesome chef. In the meantime, the dogs keep getting “treats” whenever I pull that stunt. Haha! Oh man, your Dad catches wild salmon? Why am I not friends with your Dad yet?? And thank you so much for the birthday wishes, my friend! 🙂
Awwww- how adorable! Maybe one day he’ll have a food blog too 🙂 !! I don’t really make salmon burgers, but this has given me reason to! And hot sauce you say? Sounds delicious to me cause you know I love spicy stuff. Healthy and quick to make – can’t beat that on a Monday 😉 Have a great week, David!
Haha! Can you imagine that? Dad and son both having food blogs? I think that would be enough to send Laura to the loony bin! (As if one food blogger in the house hasn’t already sent her to the edge…haha!) Do give salmon burgers a shot sometime. You know me. I love a good beef burger. But sometimes it’s nice to mix it up on the grill! Hope your week is off to an excellent start, Dawn! 🙂
Oh I see, I see. I have a feeling that that little dude is gradually becoming your competitor in the kitchen. Who knows, perhaps tomorrow you’ll fight for the best spot to shoot the food, and in a couple of years he’ll start his own blog. Also, there’s a chance (hope) that he would get rid of all arugula and other stuff in your garden and plant all possible kinds of lavender. How cool would that be, eh?! In a meanwhile, waiting for another food blogger to grow, let’s enjoy these fabulous salmon burgers. They are seriously good, David! If you send me a few, I promise to eat it all (even the bun haha).
Hey, there will be no competition in this kitchen! If Robbie wants to make us dinner, I will gladly sit back and put my feet up while he cooks away. (Of course, I might need to keep an eye on what he’s cooking…just to make sure he doesn’t use any lavender or anything crazy. Hah!) Wait? Promises to get rid of that arugula in my yard?? Done! That stuff seriously has taken over my yard. It’s insane! And the strong peppery smell nearly knocks me over when I mow it. Either way, hope your week is off to a great start so far, Ben!
I totally remember Laura buying a mini-cookware set for Robbie. Of course, he loves his cooking set he sees you in the kitchen all the time now he gets to do what Daddy does. Omg, he learned how to flip food? I bet he’s a better food flipper than I am. Your salmon burger looks juicy delicious and oh so good. I’ve never been a big burger person but I do love fish based burgers. I had a shrimp burger in Florida a few years ago that changed my life. Have a great week David.
You know, you might be onto something there, Mary! Robbie does like to copy us, and we didn’t even realize (until recently) how much he actually sees/pays attention to what we’re doing. So maybe he really is copying me! Except the flipping food thing is new. Dad can’t do that to save his life! I know you’re not a huge beef eater, but this salmon burger is totally amazing, Mary. Give it a shot sometime!! And I hope you had an amazing weekend, my friend. Thanks!
I just bought some salmon and wasn’t quite sold on the regular grilled fillet. I may have to try putting it into the processor! Thanks for the recipe!
You should totally turn that salmon into burger form, Laura! It really is delicious! And it’s a fun way to mix up the summer grilling routine, too. 🙂
This looks and sounds like a seriously tasty recipe David! I love the addition of the hot sauce. I’ve actually been meaning to try out my own recipe for salmon burgers for a while now, but I think I would have difficulty beating this! Nice one! 🙂
Hey, I’d love to hear what you come up with in terms of salmon burgers, Neil! This one is mighty tasty, but there’s always room for twists. The challenge with turning salmon into burgers is keeping it from drying out, and that’s where the mayo, mustard and hot sauce come in. But you could totally play around there…like I wonder if you could use Greek yogurt instead of mayo? Either way, thanks so much for the kind words, my friend!
I am still working on my food flipping. The salmon burgers sound delicious. I don’t think I have ever had salmon on the grill, I need to try this.
Haha…you and me both, Dawn! One day I’ll finally get that food flipping down. But not today. I kinda want to eat my dinner tonight instead of clean it up off the floor. 🙂 And do give these salmon burgers a shot…they’re mighty tasty!
I can see the kids love to help their dad while cooking. Isn’t it sweet? That’s how they learn early to to spend time with family. I love burgers of all types and these sound really divine. With bean burgers too I follow the same process of grinding. Half the beans fully grind and remaining, half grind (since chopping would be hard to do)
Haha! I don’t know if Robbie cooking with his stuffed food counts as helping yet…but the day is coming when he’ll be my little sous chef! 🙂 Good tip about doing the same half-grinding process with black bean burgers. I’ll have to remember that next time I make a batch of those. Thanks so much, Balvinder!
YES YES YES (that´s a triple yes) to this recipe! I am defo making these sometime soon.. maybe even for friends. They look amazing David!
Haha! I’ll take a triple yes. 🙂 These burgers really did turn out well, and it’s nice to mix up the summer grilling with some wild salmon occasionally. Thanks so much, Johlene!
well no, I can’t toss food in the skillet..I wish I was able to do it though. I have missed so many of your wonderful recipes David, these burgers look perfect for summer. Hope you have been well 🙂
Haha…you and me both, Manali! But I’m too afraid I’ll dump my dinner on the floor, so I just skip the whole fancy flipping thing. Not Robbie, though! That kid will flip anything. The problem is that it’s only a 50-50 chance that the stuffed food makes it back into his skillet. 🙂 Thanks so much for the comment, my friend! Hang in there!
To answer your question, No and No! Although I can manage to flip an egg successfully! Little Robby is going to be quite the chef! I need to try a salmon burger. These look so scrumptious. Love cooking outside during the summer time.
Hey, if you can flip an egg successfully, then you are on the right path, Kathy! Next time, add some diced bell peppers in there and see how the flipping goes. 🙂 But, yes, I am right there with ya about cooking outside during this time of the year. Summer is way too short up here in the north, so we have to make every bit count, right? Thanks so much, my friend!
I think my favorite part of this post is that you mowed the grass and hence had no arugula. However, the delectable salmon burgers are a close second.
Haha…if only you could see our yard, Jeff. It’s ready to be mowed again, and I’ve got little crops of arugula all over the place. But the problem is it’s “older arugula” so it’s really peppery…almost too peppery to eat. Stupid arugula…
I am so excited that you posted this, David! We’ve been buying salmon burgers from our fish monger and they’ve been amazing and I was just saying that we should try making our own. And BAM, here you are with a recipe! Thank you, my friend!
Haha! It was like we were sharing the same thoughts with these salmon burgers. 🙂 I gotta say that these turned out really well, too. I look for any occasion to pull out the grill during these summer months! Thanks so much, Marissa!
Awww… David, looks like you have a Spiced Jr in the works! I can flip my food (and by flip, I mean throw it up in the air) as for catching it…hmmm…working on that…guess I need to take classes from Robbie?
Not sure how I missed this recipe – I LOVE salmon burgers – I, too, like texture and never thought to add half to the food processor and flake half in – I’ve always just flaked it all… next time thou I must try this method as your burgers look so even – and LOVE that hot sauce in there – I usually add my heat in the form of kashmir chilli powder!
Haha! You and I both need to sign up for flipping classes with Robbie. Of course, he’s not trying to eat the food he flips…so if it ends up on the floor, he just picks it up and puts it back in. 🙂 So the half-processor trick on these salmon burgers is a really good one to file away in the back of your mind! I don’t like when salmon burgers are too ‘smooth,’ and this trick totally prevents that from happening. Also, I’ve never tried kashmir chili powder. Putting it on my list of things to try at some point! Thanks for the tip, my friend!