Not your mama’s salmon patties! These babies are loaded with southwestern coastal flavors combining sriracha salmon with summer veggies and spices, fried to a mouthwatering golden brown with melty pepper-jack cheese, stacked with spiced fried tomatillos, fresh avocado slices, sriracha butter sauce, southwestern crema, black olives, and sprinkled with queso fresco! All piled onto a lettuce-lined southwestern-style muffin. OH. Yeah. Does life get any better?

 

I recently hooked up with Kita Robert’s (of Girl Carnivore) new Burger of the Month Club, and I’m already having a blast!

This new burger club includes bloggers from around the world who are sent a list of 4 secret ingredients to incorporate into a burger each month! Cool challenge, right?!!

And my first one, a slider, starts out with a “bun” made from my Easy Southwestern Corn Muffins!

 

 

 

 

For the month of July, the secret ingredients were Old Bay® Seasoning, salmon, corn, and tomatillos!

 

 

 

 

 

So those free pouches of salmon that my hubby won from Chicken of the Sea per a Facebook contest sure came in handy!!

*Note that I used two of the small pouches plus one of the large ones, because I wanted to make sure that I made plenty. I added a large one after taking this photo, but you’ll see the whole amount below.

And it was a last-minute, good call, because they were AWESOME. Best salmon patties I’ve ever, ever had!! My hubby flipped over them, too!

Two of them were devoured all on their own almost immediately! I had to guard the rest so that we’d have enough for the sliders!!

 

 

 

 

So. Let’s get going on this.

If you’ve never tried tomatillos, don’t be afraid of them. They’re just like green tomatoes with a sweet-tart flavor that’s absolutely wonderful!

Just peel off the outer, paper-like covering, and treat them the same way as you would a tomato, and set them aside.

 

Whip up my EZ PZ southwestern-style “crema”, and pop it into the fridge to *chill out.

*Spices need to meld and soften or they can make sauces taste harsh and gritty.

 

 

 

 

Then, in a good-sized bowl, add one small and one large pouch of regular salmon, and one small pouch of sriracha salmon for an extra kick of flavor!

 

 

 

 

 

Add in all of the goodies, and stir with a fork to combine, breaking up the large pieces of salmon.

Then fold in the rest of the ingredients.

 

 

This mixture isn’t a pretty sight before frying into patties, I know. But believe me when I say, afterwards, it’s GORGEOUS.

Just add scoops into a large, oiled frying pan, mash them down just a little to flatten a bit,….

 

 

 

 

 

…and fry them on each side until they’re so beautiful that they’re begging for their own selfie!

*Fry over medium-low heat, so that the insides get done, too.

 

 

 

 

I topped the first batch with cheese after removing them from the pan, so that the cheese wouldn’t completely melt away while I was frying up the second batch.

 

 

 

 

So, while your first batch is being held in a warm oven, you can top the second batch with cheese while they’re still in the pan and finishing, and they’ll all be perfectly melted at the same time.

 

 

 

 

And DO add cheese! I don’t know what small-minded person ever made that stupid-silly, strict culinary “rule” saying that fish and cheese don’t go together, but I’m guessing that it must’ve been someone who had never had a tuna melt before.

 

 

 

I can’t even TELL you how delicious these salmon patties were!!!

Mild, not fishy at ALL, loaded with goodies, nicely spiced, just flipping awesome!

 

 

So while your salmon patties are hanging out in the oven, make your fried tomatillos!

 

 

 

 

Slice them thickly, then double-coat them in my spiced corn meal and beaten egg.

 

 

 

 

I fried them over medium heat, so that they wouldn’t end up mush before browning,

 

 

 

…and that worked out perfectly!

 

 

 

 

*Make sure that you really coat them well, both sides and edges, because you’ll lose just a little of the crumbs.

 

 

 

 

But don’t worry! They end up VERY well coated.

 

 

 

 

Crispy on the outside….

 

 

 

 

…and just-tender on the inside!!

 

 

 

So. Are you ready to put this bad baby together now?

Let’s do this!!

 

Slice open a corn muffin…

 

 

 

 

 

…and top with a little lettuce and a cheese-topped salmon patty.

 

 

 

 

Then add a fried green tomatillo….

 

 

 

 

….a few slices of fresh avocado….

 

 

….some of my homemade “garlic & herb sriracha butter buffalo sauce” (*COMING SOON), or whatever kind of buffalo, salsa, or hot sauce that you’d like….

 

 

 

 

 

….then a few spoonfuls of my southwestern crema, crumbled queso fresco, and a few black olive slices.

 

 

 

 

Then place on your top half of your muffin, and DIG. IN.

No. Take a BIG bite!!

 

 

 

 

 

These babies ROCKED.

Honestly, THE best salmon patties I’ve ever made or tasted! And shown off in these Pacific Southwest Slammin’ Salmon Sliders recipe, could not have done them more proudly!

 

We do hope that you try these, and enjoy them as much as we did! So fun to make, and even more fun to eat!

 

 

*If you liked this burger, be sure to check back frequently to see what next month’s “secret ingredient burger” will be, as well as all of the other burgers and cheese burgers I’ve made!!

Pacific Southwest Slammin' Salmon Sliders

Print

Ingredients

Southwestern Crema:

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 tsp. Old Bay® Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. key lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. hot sauce
• 1/2 Tbl. finely chopped fresh parsley (or cilantro if that's your thing)

For Salmon Burger:

• 1 regular and 1 sriracha salmon pouch (2.5 oz. each), PLUS 1 (5 oz.) regular salmon pouch (I used Chicken of the Sea®)
• 1/4 cup of fresh, frozen, or (drained) canned corn
• 1 small sweet red cubanelle pepper, finely diced (about 2 Tbl.)
• 1/2 of a (4.5 oz. can) chopped green chilies
• 1 1/2 Tbl. finely chopped red onion
• 2 rounded Tbl. crumbled queso fresco
• 1/4 tsp. each: garlic powder, chipotle powder, smoked sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. Old Bay® Seasoning
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 heavy mayo
• 3/4 cup Indian Head Stone Ground Corn Meal
• pepper jack cheese slices (or co-jack cheese for a milder flavor)
• (1/3 cup oil for frying)

For Fried Tomatillos:

• 3 - 4 tomatillos, sliced into thirds (slices with be thick)
• 1/2 cup corn meal
• 1/2 tsp. each: Old Bay® Seasoning, garlic powder, chipotle powder, sweet smoked paprika, & cumin
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 beaten eggs

Optional Toppings:

• my Sriracha Garlic & Herb Butter, or your favorite hot sauce
• shredded lettuce or cabbage, or baby spinach leaves
• fresh avocado slices
• crumbled queso fresco
• sliced black olives
• pickled jalapeño rings

Instructions

In small bowl, stir together Southwestern Crema ingredients, cover, chill.

In medium bowl, add all 3 pouches of salmon, plus corn, peppers, chilies, onion, queso, and seasonings. Toss with a fork to mix, twisting fork to break up large salmon pieces. Add egg, mayo and 3/4 cup cornmeal. Stir to combine. *Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Add enough oil to frying pan to coat bottom, and heat over medium heat until hot. Preheat oven to 250º. Place a cooling rack over a baking sheet.

With an ice cream scoop, scoop out a full level scoop of salmon mixture and add to pan. With back of scoop, mash down a little. Make more patties adding to pan without overcrowding. Fry for 3 - 4 minutes, turning down heat to medium-low, until deep browned on bottom but not burnt. Carefully turn over and fry other side. Top with (optional) cheese slices during last minute. When done, remove to paper towels, then immediately move to cooling rack and place into low oven to keep warm. Depending on size, you should get 8 - 10 patties.

In shallow bowl add dry ingredients for tomatillos and stir to mix. Beat eggs in small-medium bowl. Slice tomatillos and coat with cornmeal mixture on all sides, dip into egg coating all sides, then back into cornmeal mixture. Place onto a plate. When all are coated, add to same frying pan, wiped out, with new oil, reheated over medium heat. Fry until deep golden on each side, and place onto paper towel-lined plate, then onto rack with salmon patties. Pop back into oven.

Prep topping ingredients. Slice muffins in half and place lettuce on the bottom. Top with a salmon patty, followed by fried tomatillos, avocado slices, drizzle with Sriracha Butter or hot sauce, top with a little Southwestern Crema, crumbled queso fresco, and garnish with black olive slices and pickled jalapeño rings if desired. Place on top muffin half and enjoy!