Eats
Recipe File: Shrimp Cakes
Even folks who don’t prefer salty, fishy, savory things to sweets (me!) love seafood cakes. Crab cakes are the gold standard, but salmon, haddock, shrimp, and clams all make very fine cakes, and are cheaper too. Shrimp has been calling my name lately, so I came up with these. They’re so good I made them 3 times in June.
A minimum of bread crumbs in the mixture and no breaded coating—that’s right, no dredging—makes these light, moist, and quick to prepare! This version makes cakes using ½ cup of mixture each—just right for a dinner portion with salad. It goes like this …
Ingredients
1 pound raw, peeled, and deveined shrimp (thawed from frozen is fine), coarsely chopped
1 egg, beaten
½ cup plain yogurt, sour cream, or mayo (a combination is fine)
4 scallions, trimmed and sliced (white and light green parts will go into the mixture, set aside the green for garnish)
1 small jalapeno, minced (include the inner white ribs and seeds only if you like it hot!)
1 cup corn kernels (thawed from frozen is fine)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup coarse bread crumbs (if you have time, homemade makes these extra special)
neutral oil for frying (grapeseed, canola, light olive oil, sunflower seed oil, peanut oil all work)
Preparation
Combine the shrimp with all the other ingredients (except the oil) and mix gently till completely combined.
Wet your hands with water and form each cake from a half cup of the mixture patted to 1/2 inch thickness, placing them on a plate or baking sheet as you go. (At this point you could cover and refrigerate them until you’re ready to cook—even overnight would be fine.)
In a wide skillet heat ¼ inch of neutral oil over medium heat until the surface is slightly rippling. Sauté the shrimp cakes until nicely brown and cooked through. I timed this carefully and cooked mine for 4 minutes per side.
Serve immediately with a leafy salad. You could show off and garnish with pea tendrils and radishes like I did here.
I found that leftover shrimp cakes re-heat beautifully in the oven at 325°F for 8–10 minutes without drying out at all. So if you’re looking for an entrée you can prepare ahead, this one is a winner.
Yields 6 cakes.
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These sound perfect Sarah!
I made this and it was truly delicious
These sound so good! I am definitely going to try these very soon!
Oh Sarah! These just doubled my shopping list!!! Can’t wait to try these.
Yummy. Love your details in the recipe. I am making tonight!!!!
These look wonderful and I plan to make them soon.
sounds delish!
Looks like just the thing for my brother and his family coming over this weekend, thanks Sarah!
I love fish cakes. I had not thought to add corn to them and it sounds delicious, definitely putting this into our rotation this summer.
Seeing the Trader Joe’s mayonnaise made me sad though, we are in a Trader Joe’s desert. Fortunately, unlike so many unique Trader Joe’s products, other brands of mayonnaise are available elsewhere, even in Illinois where Trader Joe’s refuses to tread beyond Chicagoland.
Thank you for the great idea. Yay shrimp cakes! I think I’ll try these in the air fryer and avoid the oil. Maybe no corn, but add minced celery. Hm, the corn and jalapeno does sound nice together but it seems like it would overpower the shrimp. I guess I just have to try these!
Yummm!
For those who don’t like frying, I spray crabcakes etc with cooking spray and put in my air fryer in a single layer. they come out crispy. with small “helpful” grandsons I am wary of pans of hot oil..
great idea shelley…
These sound delicious! Thank you for adding an easily printable recipe complete with a link!
Sounds yummy! And since I’m tired of my standards, a great idea for today’s dinner. I think I have everything on hand too, which makes life easier.
I am not fond of shrimp, but this recipe sounds like the fish cakes I make with any leftover fish – with the addition of corn and jalapeños. I’ll give it shrimp-free try. Thanks!
I’ve saved this for making a new favorite this weekend
Yum, Sarah! I can’t wait to try these. x
Thank you…..Can’t wait to try this!
I made these tonight…my husband couldn’t stop raving about them!!
These turned out great! Thanks, Sarah!
I don’t know what happened. I rarely have a cooking disaster but I did with these! They would not hold together before, during or after cooking.Half became a really delicious shrimp hash. I baked the other half fairly successfully. They will be another meal.
I have several theories. It could be all of these or maybe someone can see what it might have been.
– I never cook in that much oil. I tried to follow directions so they would brown and not stick. They were swimming in the oil. Too much maybe?
– The shrimp were frozen. I probably should have drained them better after thawing and dried with a paper towel?
– Maybe my idea of a coarse chop for the shrimp was too coarse?
– I made bread crumbs by food processing bread but didn’t dry in the oven. Mistake?
Thanks for any advice. I will make them again because they were very tasty. I might just bake them but any advice would be welcome.