Have you ever been totally winging a recipe, only for it to turn out being fire?! It doesn’t happen often to me, but there are times when I am either lazy or strapped for time and so I whip together an “everything but the kitchen sink” meal using whatever ingredients are on hand.

I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and saw a recipe posted for tuna cakes. It was getting close to dinner time, and although I didn’t have tuna on hand, I did have canned wild Alaskan salmon, and I was craving seafood.

Using this Insta recipe as inspiration, I began to see what was available in the house that I could use for a low-carb, high fat, moderate protein dinner. And I mean very low carb. There’s not even any almond or coconut flour in this version because I decided to grind up some baked pork skins from Epic and use those as the “filler” for the most amazing keto salmon cakes!

I had never thought to use pork rinds in salmon cakes as a flour substitute but it worked so well that I may use this method all the time. I started by doing this first, grinding them up using a food processor. I used about 20 pieces and it turned out to be just the right amount.

Next, I drained the salmon and mixed it together in a bowl with the eggs, mayo, herbs, spices, pork rinds and lime juice.

This is what the consistency should look like once mixed:

While I was mixing my ingredients, I also heated up the skillet, adding some ghee while it warmed up. Once at a medium-high heat, spoon the mixture into the pan, making patties about the size of your fist. Should get 7-8 cakes total.

Let cook for 3-4 minutes then flip and cook the other side for 3-4 minutes, or until light/medium brown on both sides!

Let cool and enjoy! The full recipe and directions are below as well as nutrition info. I’m still dreaming about these weeks after first making them.

The Recipe

This recipe makes 7-8 cakes, depending on the size.

Ingredients

• 2 0.6oz cans of wild Alaskan salmon (preferably no salt added and already skinned/boneless to make it easier for you) …. I get mine for cheap at Trader Joe’s
• 3 organic/cage free eggs
• 10-20 pieces of baked pork skins from Epic (could use any brand, but I like these because they’re not fried and they are sustainably sourced, grass-fed and antibiotic free)
• 4 tablespoons mayo (Sir Kensington’s or Primal Kitchen are my favorite brands)
• Ghee (or preferred oil for heating/cooking in the pan)
• 1/4 cup organic cilantro
• Juice of 1/2 an organic lime
• 2 pinches of cumin
• Dash of turmeric (optional)

Directions

• Start by grinding the pork rinds in the food processor
• Open your cans of salmon, drain
• Add salmon, eggs, mayo, lime juice, cilantro, spices and pork rinds to a mixing bowl
• Mix until evenly combined
• Heat up a skillet on medium/high heat with some ghee (we use a stainless steel electric heat controlled skillet because it gives an even browning)
• Spoon the mixture into the pan once heated to form small/medium sized patties. You will likely have to two batches. I can fit 3-4 in our pan comfortably.
• Let cook 3-4 minutes per side, then flip and repeat for another 3-4 minutes.
• Let cool, and eat as is, or top a salad with them for some extra greens.

Nutrition Information

This makes about two servings. Below is the nutrition information for one serving (3-4 cakes).