Fish Patties – Рыбные Котлеты

  • 43 comments
  • November 11, 2013
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Fish patties are a budget friendly way to make seafood patties that are just as delicious and satisfying. You can use lots of different types of fish and the patties turn out so juicy and scrumptious.

Fish Patties

These delicious Fish Patties are a great way to include fish on your menu in a creative way. They are really flavorful and juicy, with tender chunks of fish. I think they just melt in your mouth.

If you’ve got any Slavic blood running through your veins, you’re most likely familiar with kotleti, and seafood kotleti are a classic variation. In our Belarusian household Fish Kotleti were often on the menu. We still love making them today. They are a great option for a quick weeknight dinner. You can also make a large batch, since they reheat very well, and you won’t have to cook the next day.

For all the people that are nervous about seafood, don’t worry, these fish patties don’t taste “fishy” at all. Whenever I serve these to family and friends, I get a very enthusiastic response. Even people who don’t usually like fish have been known to enjoy these. 

Ingredients:

  • fish (any kind that you like, cod, haddock, grouper, halibut, tilapia, salmon, etc.)
    • You can use just about any fish that you like. For this recipe, I like to use white fish and cod is one of my absolute favorites.
  • butter or oil, for sauteing the veggies
  • onion
  • celery stalk
    • Not only do the sauteed veggies (onion and celery) make the fish more juicy, but they add so much additional flavor to the patties.
  • panko bread crumbs
  • egg
  • mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
  • dijon mustard, it pais so nicely with seafood
  • salt, ground black pepper
  • fresh herbs (parsley, dill, chives) minced
  • all purpose flour, for dredging the patties
  • oil, for pan frying (avocado oil or light olive oil)
Ingredients For Fish Patties

How To Make Fish Patties

  1. Place the fish in a food processor and pulse a few times until the fish is cut up into small pieces. 
    • The fish should not be mushy and pureed, rather have a coarse texture, and be flaky. You can also put it through a meat grinder or cut it into really small pieces.
  2. Mince the celery and the onion.
  3. Saute the veggies. Heat the butter or oil in a skillet, add the onion and celery, season with salt and pepper and saute them in the skillet for 5-7 minutes, until softened. Set aside to cool slightly.
  4. Make the batter for the fish patties. Add the celery, onion, breadcrumbs, egg, mayonnaise, mustard, 3/4 – 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and herbs to the fish. Mix to combine.
  5. Now, shape the fish patties. Place the flour into a shallow bowl. Form small patties from the fish mixture, dredge them in the flour and set aside.
  6. Cook the fish patties.
    • Set a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of oil and heat until shimmering.
    • Sauté the fish patties until they are golden brown, approximately 4 to 5 minutes a side.
    • Cook in batches, wiping out the skillet clean and adding fresh oil each time, until all the patties are cooked.
How to make Fish Patties

Serving the Fish Patties

Serve hot. If you are reheating the fish patties, place them in a skillet on low heat, with about 1/2 Tablespoon of water. Cook on low heat, covered, until the fish patties are heated all the way through.

My favorite side dishes are mashed potatoes or Long Grain White Rice and a Cauliflower Tomato Salad, or a this beautiful Tropical Purple Cabbage Slaw.

Fish Patties
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Fish Patties

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★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

Fish patties are a great way to include fish on your menu in a creative way. They are really flavorful and juicy, with tender chunks of fish.

  • Author: Olga’s Flavor Factory
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 50 mins
  • Yield: 12–14 patties 1x
  • Category: Entree

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 lbs fish (any kind that you like, cod, haddock, grouper, halibut, tilapia, salmon, etc.)
  • 1/2 Tablespoon butter or oil, for sauteing the onion and celery
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 1 celery stalk, minced
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
  • 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
  • salt, ground black pepper
  • fresh herbs (parsley, dill, chives) minced
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour, for dredging the patties
  • oil, for pan frying (avocado oil or light olive oil)

Instructions

  1. Place the fish in a food processor and pulse a few times until the fish is cut up into small pieces. The fish should not be mushy and pureed, rather have a coarse texture, and be flaky. You can also put it through a meat grinder or cut it into really small pieces.
  2. You can use just about any fish that you like. For this recipe, I like to use white fish and cod is one of my favorites.
  3. Mince the celery and the onion. Heat the butter or oil in a skillet, add the onion and celery, season with salt and pepper and saute them in the skillet for 5-7 minutes, until softened. Set aside to cool slightly.
  4. Add the celery, onion, breadcrumbs, egg, mayonnaise, mustard, 3/4 – 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and herbs to the fish. Mix to combine.
  5. Place the flour into a shallow bowl. Form small patties from the fish mixture, dredge them in the flour and set aside. I usually get about 14 patties.
  6. Set a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of oil and heat until shimmering. Sauté the fish patties until they are golden brown, approximately 4 to 5 minutes a side. Cook in batches, wiping out the skillet clean and adding fresh oil each time, until all the patties are cooked.
  7. Serve hot. If you are reheating the fish patties, place them in a skillet on low heat, with about 1/2 Tablespoon of water. Cook on low heat, covered, until the fish patties are heated all the way through.

Keywords: fish patties, fish patties with cod, easy fish recipe

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43 Comments

  • Tina

    I’m a fish lover and these look fantastic!! :)) the only question I have is about celery…do you really taste it? I’m not a big fan of celery but I do use it when I make soup. I would assume that the taste of it in katleti is very mild (since its cooked) right?
    thanks again for your blog. Its amazing 🙂

  • Lyuda

    Saw your post right before I went grocery shopping, and decided to make it for dinner. My family loved it, and yes kids did too.
    I do wish there was some kind of sauce to go with this dish.
    I will definatly be making these again.
    Thanks so much, and God Bless!

    • olgak7

      That was quick, Lyuda!
      I prefer to eat mine with some freshly squeezed lemon juice, but you can make a quick Homemade Tartar Sauce with mayo, lemon juice, dijon mustard, minced dill pickles, capers, minced shallot or scallion, white wine vinegar, fresh herbs, salt, pepper and sugar. Enjoy!

    • Frank

      Remoulade sauce, you can make it or buy it. It’s THE sauce flavor you’re looking for.

      ★★★★★

  • Valentin Goncharenko

    Olga these fish patties are absolutely delicious!! Perfectly fluffy and so full of flavor! Fantastic post! Love the photos you and Serge take! Keep up the wonderful work!!

    • olgak7

      Probably, if you cook them first. They are very delicate, so don’t freeze the fish patties before cooking them. Although, in my opinion, these are so quick to prepare, I wouldn’t bother freezing them.

  • Natasha (@NatashasKitchen)

    These fish patties look mouth watering, and I like that they don’t take much time to prepare either :).

  • Julia

    I made these today, and they turned out really great. I couldn’t stop eating them. 😉

    I omitted the celery, added dill instead of parsley, and didn’t dip them in flour before frying, and they came out really delicious. Definitely a keeper in my recipe book.

    • olgak7

      That’s awesome, Julia! I’m so glad you liked the fish patties. I like dill with seafood too and I usually like to add it, but this particular time I didn’t have any on hand. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

  • Tanush

    simple and delicious!! I used swai fish, honey mustard (thats all I had) and omitted the celery (didnt have any on hand) with dill.. lol.. still tasted great! Thank you.

    • olgak7

      I’m glad you enjoyed it:). The best way to cook is to make good use of whatever you have on hand, Tanush. I’m always doing that myself.

  • Maria

    Hi! I made the patties today, with 3.5lb of tilapia. I used baguette instead of bread, dried parsley (didn’t have fresh herbs.. ) and added some garlic (1 clove per lb fish) and more spices for fish. I baked a half and fried another half. My friend told me to put the patties on the baking sheet, cover with foil and bake for 30min at 350F with the foil and 15min without. The only mistake was not to grease the foil I put in the baking sheet. The patties stuck to the foil.. My husband prefer them baked. Very tasty, kids eat it good. Thank you!

  • Evelyn

    This Looks really good. I have been looking for a good fishcake recipe! However, I am on a gluten free diet… Can I substitute the bread with gluten free cracker crumbs? Would you suggest soaking it in the milk the same way as the bread? Also where I live there aren’t lots of fish available, is frozen acceptable? I’ve tried other fishcake recipes with frozen fish and they make the mixture wayyy too wet because they were frozen. All of your recipes look so delicious!! I tried the meatball soup and it was really good!! Love how I don’t need to use broth, just water and it tastes good.

    • olgak7

      Hi Evelyn,
      I’m sure you can use gluten free alternatives instead of the bread, but I don’t have any experience cooking with it, so I don’t know if you need to soak them in the milk or not.
      You can certainly use frozen fish; that is what I use most of the time for this recipe anyway. Make sure to dry the fish thoroughly before using it though.

  • Olesea

    Let me tell you first Olga thank you thank you than you ;-)) this is the best recipe of fish patties i ever tried, i made some today and not only me but my hubby and kidos are in love.

  • Victoria Lopez

    Ok I just made these for my husband and my 3 year old son who loves anything fish….. well, they are not home right now and I’m terrified that I might eat them all before anyone gets home. So delicious. I love your blog and have used many of your recipes and they ate always fantastic.

  • Emily Puckett

    Made the Fish kotleti with cod tonight for my family. Absolutely delicious! Thanks for recipe!
    -EWP in KY

  • Lori Kurochkina

    Hi Olga! If I was to use dry herbs instead of fresh, how much would you recommend to start with? I am new at learning how to judge where to start on “to taste” with herbs. So if you were making it for your family, how much would you add? 🙂

    • olgak7

      Spices and herbs are very much a matter of taste preference, Lori. Some people like to use only a small amount and others like using a ton. In most cases, I use double the amount of herbs when I use fresh herbs than dry herbs. I very much prefer using fresh herbs whenever possible, but if I use dry herbs, and sometimes I use both, I will only use half as much.

  • Rita Teresa Silva Camilo

    I made these today with salmon and I loved them. I skipped the mustard as hubby is not a fan, and I wish I had some fresh herbs on hand, but the patties were still very tasty. Thank you for this delicious recipe 😍

  • Victoria

    I have a weekly fish CSA, and I often get bored when we get Rockfish. I was happy to find this recipe. It was relatively quick and I made a yogurt-herb sauce to pair with it. Super delicious, my partner really liked it and will definitely make again.

    ★★★★★

  • Frank

    I’m making these again tonight and can vouch for the quality of the recipe and the result. Make them a few times and you won’t need the directions anymore. A great thing is when using any of the mild white fishes they are as tasty as crab cakes for far less expense.

    ★★★★★

    • olgak7

      Thanks for taking the time to write, Frank. So glad you enjoy the Fish Patties and you’re absolutely right that they are such a delicious budget friendly option for crab cakes:).

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