Easy Paleo Salmon Burgers

If you’re in need of some healthy resetting after Thanksgiving, these easy paleo salmon burgers are going to be the PERFECT addition to your weekly meal prep.

As much as I love the holiday treats, there’s no denying I just don’t feel my best when I’m indulging in the extra sugar and carbohydrate-heavy holiday foods my body isn’t used to. I was SO ready to get back into the kitchen after the Thanksgiving holiday to incorporate the simple, nutrient-dense foods that make me feel my best, and these paleo salmon burgers were the perfect solution.

Salmon is a MAJOR superfood – both for the astaxanthin content (a powerful antioxidant that gives salmon its pink color) and for the bioavailable omega-3s (EPA & DHA) which are support important for brain health and major fighters of inflammation.

There’s no official recommended allowance for EPA and DHA specifically, but most health organizations recommend 250-500mg combined per day, and a serving of Atlantic salmon provides ~1200mg DHA and ~400mg EPA.

And while salmon is a major nutritional powerhouse, wild-caught salmon can definitely be EXPENSIVE.

These burgers are the perfect way to incorporate wild-caught salmon into your diet on a budget – canned wild-caught salmon is MUCH more affordable than fresh wild-caught salmon that can easily run $10/pound. You can usually find canned wild-caught salmon for around ~$4/can, which includes multiple servings. I love and trust the brands Safe Catch (they test each batch for mercury, which is not a huge issue with salmon*, but still great) and Wild Planet.

WHAT YOU NEED

• 1 can wild-caught salmon (drained to remove water)
• 1 tbsp almond flour
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 egg (ideally pasture-raised)
• 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tbsp avocado-oil mayo
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• Generous squeeze of lemon juice
• Few sprigs of fresh dill – thinly chopped
• *Salt – I used salted canned salmon – add 1/4 – 1/2 tsp salt if using unsalted salmon!

HOW TO MAKE THEM

Combine all ingredients (whisk egg separately first) and mix thoroughly. Shape into patties, and add to a pan on medium heat with avocado oil. Cook 1-2 minutes each side (covered) or until golden brown.

Makes 3 medium-sized burgers – serve on your fav gluten-free buns, lettuce wraps, or add to a salad! I love topping mine with a little extra Primal Kitchen mayo and fresh dill

A note on seafood and mercury:

While mamas-to-be should be extra cautious, most of us probably don’t need to be as worried about mercury in seafood as we think. That is, assuming we’re getting enough selenium in our diet, and the fish we eat has more selenium than mercury. Mercury harms our bodies by binding to selenium, which is a crucial nutrient involved in selenonzyme function which is crucial to brain health. So keeping high enough levels of selenium (to balance out the selenium the mercury can bind too) is the key. Most common fish (salmon, tuna, halibut) naturally contain more selenium than mercury (swordfish is an exception). This article has a super handy chart that shows the mercury-selenium balance for different fish. For those being extra cautious, especially with tuna, SafeCatch has incredible quality standards and tests all tuna for mercury.