This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
If you’re lucky enough to have leftover cooked fish like cod, halibut, or salmon, fish cakes are a great way to enjoy it! These Cod Fish Cakes are crispy on the outside and tender and flavorful in the center. Fancy enough for date night or a dinner party, but easy enough for a weeknight.
Baked cod fillets are a staple in my kitchen for busy evenings. When I make extra, I know I’ve got the makings of these fish cakes ready to go. What I really appreciate is that you can combine the ingredients the day before you plan to pan fry them. You can even combine the ingredients the day before you plan to pan fry them. The extra time in the refrigerator just melds the flavors and makes the patties easier to form.
“They were so delicious! I followed the instructions exactly and they came out moist and perfectly cooked – even with GF breadcrumbs! My husband and I politely shared the leftovers for breakfast the next morning. It was tough to share 😉 but we managed.”
tracy p.
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Cod Fish Cakes
- Panko Breadcrumbs: These create the crispiest exterior. Regular breadcrumbs will work, but the texture won’t be quite the same.
- Cooked Fish: Leftover cod is perfect, but any firm white fish works great. I’ve had good results with salmon too.
- Sour Cream: Full fat gives the best flavor and texture. It’s one place I don’t like to compromise.
- Eggs: Large or extra-large – both work well to bind the ingredients together.
- Celery: The tender, crispy inner ribs add just the right amount of crunch without overpowering.
- Capers: I prefer the tiny non-pareil capers as they distribute more evenly throughout the mixture.
- Green Onion: These add a mild, fresh flavor. Fresh chives are a great alternative.
- Olive Oil: For pan-frying, a good quality olive oil works best. You can also use a neutral oil like avocado oil for a higher smoke point and neutral flavor.
- Fresh Lemon Wedges for serving (optional): A squeeze of lemon brightens up the flavors beautifully.
- Salt and Black Pepper: I like to use kosher salt or fine sea salt here and freshly ground pepper.
7 Tips for Perfect Fish Cakes
The fish cake mixture will look and feel very wet, but don’t worry I have a few tips to ensure that they stay together.
- Use forks to flake your leftover fish into small pieces. Smaller flakes hold together better when forming the cakes.
- Have a clean plate or baking sheet lined with parchment paper ready before you form your fish cakes. This makes transferring them easier.
- Be gentle when forming the cakes and take care to coat all sides thoroughly with panko breadcrumbs before transferring to the prepared sheet or plate.
- When you transfer the fish cakes to the skillet, make sure the oil is hot and that each cake has space all around for even browning.
- Before flipping, press down gently on the top and sides to set their form. Then flip carefully. If a fragment falls off, simply press it back into the cake with your spatula.
- Chilling the formed cakes for 15-30 minutes before cooking can help them hold together even better.
- Remember, even if they’re not perfectly shaped, they’ll still taste delicious!
What goes with fish cakes?
- You can make these cod cakes the main dish along with a simple Arugula Salad, Caesar Salad, or a Delicata Squash Salad with more complex flavors and textures.
- Or with a vegetable side like Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower and steamed rice, Italian Roasted Potatoes, Mashed Red Potatoes or Twice Baked Potatoes.
- Or serve them as appetizers along with spicy, Louisiana-style Remoulade Sauce or French Remoulade Sauce (like tartar sauce, but better) for dipping.
On busy weeknights when I want a light meal that I can put together in a few minutes, I often bake cod fillets (like this Parmesan Baked Cod or Baked Halibut). And I almost always bake extra to make these fish cakes the next day (or the day after).
Cod is such a versatile fish, you can sear it, bake it, grill it, or add it to chowders or curries. And if you end up with leftover cooked fish, this easy fish cake recipe is the perfect way to use them. Leftover halibut or salmon (like this Slow Roasted Salmon) also work well in this recipe.
How to Make Cod Fish Cakes
Flake cooked fish into small pieces in a large bowl. Stir in sour cream, eggs, celery, capers, green onions, salt, and pepper.
Form fish mixture into 8 equal patties and coat each on all sides with panko breadcrumbs.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Fry fish cakes in two batches, until crisp and golden brown on both sides. (Keep first batch warm in a 250˚F oven on a platter while you cook the second batch.) Serve hot with lemon wedges.
Cod Fish Cakes
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 pound cooked cod or other firm white fish like halibut
- 1/4 cup whole milk sour cream
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 rib celery very finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons chopped capers
- 1 minced green onion or fresh chives
- large pinch of kosher salt
- several grinds black pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil for frying, divided
- fresh lemon wedges optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven-safe serving platter in 250˚F oven.
- Set out one large, clean plate or platter and one medium plate. Pour panko breadcrumbs onto medium plate.
- Place cooked fish into a large bowl and flake into small pieces with a fork. Add sour cream, egg, celery, capers, green onion, salt, and pepper; stir to combine. Scoop out 1/8 of the mixture and use your hands to gently pack into a patty. Place on plate with panko crumbs and gently coat all sides with crumbs; transfer to platter. Repeat with remaining mixture.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Place 4 fish cakes in skillet and cook until crumbs are crisp and golden brown, pressing down gently with spatula to compress; about 5 minutes per side (turn gently). Transfer cooked fish cakes to warm platter. Repeat process with remaining oil and fish cakes.
- Serve fish cakes hot with lemon wedges if desired.
Notes
- You can make the fish cake mixture up to one day before you plan to form and pan fry the fish cakes.
- This recipe works well with cod and halibut, but is also great for leftover salmon.
- If you’d like a dipping sauce, I recommend either this spicy, Louisiana-style Remoulade sauce or French Remoulade Sauce, which is closer to tartar sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Mmmmm…I could legit eat these for breakfast Marissa! How good would they be with a poached egg on top? Crispy and delicious! Love ’em!
Sounds great to me, Dawn! 🙂 Thank you.
So delicious! Fish cakes are definitely a favourite of mine – and these look so delightfully crispy and flavoursome!
Thanks so much, Alexandra!
I eat a lot of fish, so I always seem to have leftover something or other in my fridge. Now I know what to do with that leftover fish – make these delicious cakes!! These look phenomenal, Marissa!! Perfect with a salad for a light meal, and I’m thinking add a poached egg on top for breakfast this weekend! Yaaaasss! Pinned!
Thank you, Cheyanne! Love the poached egg idea!
I’m trying very hard to get more fish into our diets. These cod fish cakes look like the perfect way to do that! So crispy!
Love to hear that, Katherine!
These look so good Marissa. And I happen to love cod! Perfect for those Fridays during the Lenten season.
Thank you, Mary Ann! I hope you’ll give them a try!
I’ll be trying your recipe tomorrow with fresh caught Red Drum. Your pic makes them look really good. I will b grilling the Druze on the half shell and the use that for my patties. I’ll post a pic…if 🤓they turn out. Thanks for sharing🙂
Sounds like a great meal, Kim! I hope you love the fish cakes and I’d love to see a photo!
Love!!! Used tilapia and oregano cos I did not have capers.
So glad you enjoyed these, Melizza!
Hubby went deep sea fishing a few weeks ago and we froze everything he brought back. I panfried up a big batch and…what to do with the leftovers? I found your website, it looked like something that would work, and it did! I didn’t change a thing. Well, OK, I left out the capers. And I subbed crunched up corn flakes for the panko. But nothing else, I promise, lol. Thanks for a keeper of a recipe!
Love it! So glad you and your husband enjoyed these, MJ! 🙂
My husband bought home a 29” 9 lb lake trout and said “cook this”. Guts out but everything else intact I squeezed it onto the bbq stuffed with lemon, onions and herbs. I was overwhelmed and needless to say, we barely made a dent that meal. However today I found this site and made these amazing fish cakes as well as froze the rest to make them again and again. They were delicious although somewhat difficult to keep together. Thanks for this recipe!
Hi Natalie! That is one big fish!! I’m so glad that you both enjoyed this recipe and will get to keep enjoying it… Thanks so much for coming back to let me know. 🙂
When I did a search for recipes using leftover halibut this one came up. It was a perfect and delicious way to use up yesterday’s fish. I served it with wasabi mayonnaise and it was a big hit. Thanks for he recipe!
So glad you enjoyed these, Laura! Thank you for coming back to let me know!
Just made this with halibut and it was delicious. We were craving a sauce or dip with them. Any suggestions? Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed these, Jill! I love spicy, Louisiana style Remoulade Sauce or French Remoulade Sauce (similar to tartar sauce) for dipping.
Probably would have been better with the proper ingredients, but still pretty darn good. Didn’t have any Panko crumbs so shredded s bunch of chickpea chips in the Nutribullet. No capers, bread and butter pickles, no sour cream, Greek Yogurt, added a touch of Worcestershire sauce, and boy was it good.
So glad you enjoyed, Nannce!
Hi Marissa,
OK, so I used cod that was cooked in lime, dill and butter, and I mixed the Panko into the fish mixture (didn’t read the recipe correctly, duh), and I used minced green onion. Delicious!!!! A keeper recipe, for sure. I’m thinking of using some celery salt for the celery flavor, and some chopped water chestnuts for the crunch- the celery was a little hard in texture. My husband ate his with a creamy coleslaw instead of his desired tartar sauce, and loved them.
Much better than fishcakes made with mashed potatoes! Thanks!
So glad you and your husband enjoyed these, Roberta! And love that you’re adding your own twists!
I served tartar sauce and sriracha with these
My family loves this recipe. They request it whenever there is left over fish.
That’s wonderful to hear, Sandra! Thank you!
Fish cakes are so good-and made out of fresh halibut-so much the better! I suffer from awful seasickness.But maybe it is worth it to have fresh halibut? Can’t wait to see all you will do with it!
So nice, Abbe! Thank you…
Love this idea, we do it with salmon, too. The crispy edges from a pan sear all panko encrusted. Love the caper addition in here, too. Just noticed the sidebar book, when did you guys do that? How did I miss it your book?
Oh yeah, I must try these with salmon. We wrote the book a few years ago and did a second edition recently…working on one for Paris next. Lots of good walking tours. 🙂 Have a great weekend, friend!