You Won't Miss the Beef With These Seafood Burgers & Patties

These seafood burgers are so good that you'll no longer wonder "Where's the beef?"

Fish and seafood are typically considered elegant foods that are best for delicate presentations. Unfortunately, that doesn't translate to family friendly, or to an easy weeknight meal that makes great day-after leftovers!

When seafood is formed into burger and patty forms, the results give a casual vibe to ingredients like shrimp, salmon, and tilapia—ingredients that you may have considered outside of your cooking repertoire if you aren't the fancy-presentation type. You'll love these patties on a bun for a simple meal, and you can either serve them that way or on a bed of greens for a more adult presentation. Since they're all baked instead of fried, cooking time is hands-off and leaves you free to do other things.

Each of these recipes can be made or prepped a day ahead without issue. Let's get cooking!

Crunchy Breaded Tilapia Burger

If a McFish sandwich were better for you, this is what it would be like. Crispy without being fried, and very mild in flavor, a breaded tilapia burger can be a weeknight staple for families—even after Lent.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked tilapia, broken down into flakes with a fork
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (use almond flour for a gluten free paleo version)
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 cup cornmeal mixed with
• 1 teaspoon dill weed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, for breading

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients except breading together in a large mixing bowl
3. Form and press mixture into four patties, and dredge each patty in cornmeal mix on both sides
4. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until browned

Creole Shrimp Patty

With flavors like Old Bay seasoning and garlic, this patty can use cooked shrimp of any size—that means you're not relegated to using only the most expensive shrimp, but can opt for smaller and cheaper sizes without sacrificing taste!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked shrimp, minced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, minced
• 1/2 cup scallions, minced (green and white parts are both fine)
• 1/4 cup whole wheat, white, or gluten free flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons brown mustard
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1 teaspoon Cajun spice blend
• 1 teaspoon  Louisiana hot sauce

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl
3. Form and press mixture into four patties
4. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

Chimichurri Salmon Burger

Salmon is already a popular fish, but becomes even more so when paired with an easy-to-make fresh herb chimichurri sauce. The sauce is used to flavor the burger when putting it together before cooking, and will taste best if you also drizzle it over the final product. Having it both raw and cooked doubles up on flavors, with no extra work!

Burger Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked salmon (you can use canned in a pinch!), broken down into flakes with a fork
• 1/3 cup chimichurri sauce (recipe below)
• 2 tablespoon shallots, minced
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons cornmeal

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl
3. Form and press mixture into four patties
4. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown

Chimichurri Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups fresh herbs: use a mix of parsley, cilantro, dill, basil, and/or oregano
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper

Instructions:

Remove stems from herbs and blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor until a fairly smooth consistency is reached.

Potato-Tilapia Cakes

If you happen to have mashed potatoes on hand, this recipe will be even simpler; it's ideal for a night when you've made fish fillets and potatoes the day prior. If not, it can still be put together fairly quickly—just bake or steam the fish while the potatoes boil so that everything is ready to put together at the same time.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup potatoes, chopped and boiled in water until soft
• 1 cup cooked tilapia, broken down into flakes with a fork
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoon chives, chopped
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon dill weed
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Mash cooked potatoes with milk in a large mixing bowl, then add remaining ingredients; mix all ingredients together
3. Form and press mixture into four patties
4. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown

Tartar Sauce, The Quintessential Topper

Call it a burger, a patty, or a cake, your fish goes hand-in-hand with tartar sauce. If you have some on-hand, great! If not, it's easy (and delicious) to make your own.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons sweet or dill pickles, chopped, or pickle relish
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl until well combined.