Try a spinach feta salmon burger as a tasty, relatively healthy alternative to a traditional burger that’s also really quick to make. Juicy, flavorful, so good.
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When I made the miso tuna burgers that I shared last month, I was pretty happy with how they turned out. However I then kicked myself for not looking ahead enough at the theme for today’s Fish Friday Foodies. We’re talking fish and seafood burgers so they would have been a perfect fit. But, never one to step back from a challenge, I decided to get thinking on another.
A few crazier ideas went through my mind before I saw something at Wholefoods that I knew I wanted to copy. While I didn’t try the original so I can’t say if they are a copycat, but I do know these were really good.
This spinach feta salmon burger is a tasty, healthy alternative to your traditional burger, but with many of the same qualities – they are moist, have plenty of flavor and are a pretty simple set of ingredients. They take no time to make and cook and are perfect for grilling, or frying if you prefer.
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned that salmon is easily the fish we get the most as we all like it, my toddler included, and we are lucky to have a ready good-quality source in the fishmonger only a couple blocks away. While we often have it as a whole fillet, we also sometimes have salmon cakes like the mildly-Thai salmon cakes I shared before.
It wasn’t such a leap to then use salmon as a base for this spinach feta salmon burger, though being a burger, I changed up how I made them to be that bit less chunky but also even quicker to make.
How to make a spinach feta salmon burger
All you do is:
- put the chunks of fish and the spinach in the food processor and blend. Don’t over-process – you want relatively small chunks and combined but not mush.
- Then add the crumbled cheese, lemon juice and pepper and mix through.
- Form in to patties and you’re ready to go. Don’t be put off by the fact these are a bit soft with not having any breadcrumbs in there – they will firm up in no time as they cook.
You can see how they come together in the short video:
You really don’t need breadcrumbs in these, in my mind, and in fact I think they’d be a distraction from the lovely mellow flavors in there and probably make them less juicy. Although I suspect the Wholefoods ones had breadcrumbs. Either way, I like them without and find they work fine both on the grill or feel free to cook them in a skillet/frying pan on the stove.
I’ve served them with a simple but tasty avocado cream on either burger buns or, as I did here, English or Portuguese muffins for a little bit of a change.
OK I’ll be honest: that’s what they had at the fish shop and I didn’t feel like walking to the main supermarket. But they worked really well, so I’m going with it. Feel free to use what you prefer bread-wise.
So whip up a spinach feta salmon burger or two in no time and enjoy all the lovely mellow flavors yourself. Juicy, a lot better for you than many burger options and pretty too, you know you want to give them a try.
Try these other ways to change up your burger:
- Lamb burgers with tomato salsa and feta sauce
- Maple turkey burgers with cheddar, apple and bacon
- Asparagus parmesan burger with parmesan chips
- Plus get many more grilling ideas, sides etc in the summer recipes archives.
Spinach feta salmon burger
Ingredients
Burgers
- 1 lb salmon
- 2 oz spinach 55g, 1 packed cup (roughly chopped if large leaf, fine as-is if baby)
- 2 oz feta 55g, crumbled
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- pepper
Sauce
- 1/2 avocado
- 4 tbsp sour cream
- 4 tsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic , crushed/minced
To serve
- 3 whole wheat burger buns or plain, as you prefer, can also use muffins (3-6 depending on how serving)
Instructions
- Remove the skin from the salmon and ensure there are no bones. Cut into chunks, approx 2in cubes. Put the salmon and the spinach into the food processor and process until combined and broken up but not mush.
- Transfer to a bowl, if easier, and add the crumbled feta, lemon juice and a generous grinding of pepper. Mix until the cheese is well spread through the mix then divide into 6 and form into burgers. They will be relatively soft - if you want and have time you can lay on a tray to firm up in the fridge for a little time before cooking.
- Cook either on the grill or in a skillet/frying pan with a little oil for approx 3min each side until gently browned and cooked through. Note they will cook quicker than a solid piece of fillet.
- While they are cooking, make the sauce - mash the avocado and mix with the sour cream, lemon juice and garlic.
- Toast the buns/muffins if you like then spread on a thin layer of the avocado cream before topping with the burger. You can serve open or as a regular burger 'sandwich' as you prefer.
Video
Nutrition
See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline’s Cooking Amazon store.
Click the link below for all the other fish and seafood burger ideas being shared today:
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