Salmon croquettes: Gluten and dairy-free recipe

Eating gluten-free and dairy-free can be a real challenge. One of my new go-to meals is salmon croquettes. Don’t they sound fancy? Don’t be put off: they are easy to create, and you may well have the ingredients already on hand. The standard recipe for croquettes calls for bread crumbs, but this uses mashed potato as a binder.

Ingredients

1 can salmon, 7-8 ounces. (You can substitute canned tuna, but I personally do not like tuna. Also, salmon has the omega 3 fatty acids and less mercury.)

2 medium potatoes (russets work best, but any variety will do). Or the equivalent in leftover mashed potatoes.

2 eggs

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Optional: your preferred sauce. Depending on my mood I might use tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, or a dash of sriracha.

Directions

1. Cut the potatoes into chunks and steam or boil them until soft. This takes 30-45 minutes on the stovetop, depending on your method. I prefer to use a steamer basket in a pot with about an inch of water and the lid on top. This takes a little longer, but it preserves the vitamins better (so I am told). Skip this step if you are using leftover mashed potatoes, obviously.
2. Mash the potato chunks in a medium sized bowl with a fork.
3. Add the salmon (drained), eggs, and salt and pepper. Stir gently until well blended.
4. Add a splash of olive oil to a skillet on medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add 3-4 large dollops of the croquette mixture, being sure to leave about an inch between each of them.
5. Cook for five minutes, or until bottoms are browned.
6. Carefully flip each one, and mash it slightly so that they are all about the same thickness – somewhere around ½ inch to 1 inch. Cook another five minutes, or until the bottoms are browned and the croquettes are heated through.
7. Transfer to a plate. If you need to hold them until the rest are finished, put the plate in an oven set to 200 degrees.

Image courtesy of Flickr/fortinbras