These cod and sweet potato fish cakes are a fun comfort food dinner the whole family will love! Made with frozen cod and pantry staples, these are an easy fish dinner for a busy weeknight.

If you love a fish dinner as my family does, then you may like to see my baked cod with pesto and honey ginger baked cod. Both tasty recipes for a healthy dinner!
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Healthy comfort food - there's just *something* about sweet potato fish cakes that feels so cosy, and these are so tasty and moreish.
- Pantry and freezer staples - this recipe uses ingredients that most of us have to hand.
- Enjoy year-round - whether it is with a salad in the summer, or vegetables and starches in the colder months, these cod fishcakes are so versatile.
Ingredients
Using pantry and freezer staples, these cod and sweet potato fish cakes require a relatively short list of ingredients. You will need:
- Cod - we use frozen cod in these fish cakes, which most of us have 'on standby' as my mum says!
- Sweet potato - as well as being delicious, this binds the fish cakes together.
- Onion - for some extra flavour.
- Flour - just a touch of regular plain flour to bind.
- Egg yolk - also to help bind, but gives a little protein too.
- Parsley and thyme - these flavour the fish cakes.
- Extra virgin olive oil - to fry the fish cakes
- Salt and pepper - to season.
Make sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients and their quantities!
Step by step instructions
Step 1
Bake the fish for 25-30 minutes until thoroughly cooked through.
Step 2
Boil or steam the sweet potatoes so that they are soft when pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool for a few minutes and then mash with the back of a fork or potato masher.
Step 3
Fry the onion with the thyme until softened. Once the fish is ready, add it to a large bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes. Flake the fish. Add the sweet potato, onion and thyme mix, parsley, egg yolk, flour, salt and pepper to the bowl and stir to combine.
Step 4
Pour olive oil into a large frying pan. Take a small handful of the fish mixture and turn it into patties using your hands. Add to the pan. Repeat for the rest of the fish mixture. Fry until the fish cakes have cooked through and hold together. Be careful flipping so they don’t break up!
Fish and a low histamine diet
Fish and a low histamine diet can be a little tricky until you figure out how to make it work for you. Fresh fish builds histamine very quickly. Frozen fish though rates as 0 on the Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI) food list for histamine. However, as SIGHI advise, it is best to not have any long-term storage, and to thaw quickly and use immediately. As a highly perishable food, it's a freezer to oven situation!
More fish recipes to enjoy:
Baked cod with a pistachio herb crust
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Cod and sweet potato fish cakes
Ingredients
- 2 cod fillets frozen weight approx. 200g
- 2 small sweet potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
- ½ small white onion finely diced
- 1 egg yolk
- small handful fresh parsley finely diced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 5 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- pinch pink himalayan salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C. Once at temperature bake the fish for 25-30 minutes until cooked through.
- Boil or steam the sweet potatoes so that they are soft when pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool for a few minutes and then mash with the back of a fork or potato masher.
- Fry the onion with the thyme for 4-5 minutes until softened.
- Once the fish is ready, add it to a large bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes. Flake the fish. Add the sweet potato, onion and thyme mix, parsley, egg yolk, flour, salt and pepper to the bowl and stir to combine.
- Pour in 4-5 tbsps of olive oil to a large frying pan. Once heated, take a small handful of the fish mixture and turn it into patties using your hands. Add to the pan. Repeat for the rest of the fish mixture. Cook for 5-6 minutes until the fish cakes have cooked through and hold together. Be careful flipping so they don't break up!
- Serve immediately with a side salad or vegetables and enjoy!
Notes
- To make a fish cake, take a small handful of the fish mixture and roll between your hands to form a ball. Add to the frying pan and then flatten with a spatula to form a patty.
- For baking the fish I tend to use an oven-safe aluminium dish and then cover with a piece of aluminium foil. Discard any excess liquid after cooking.
- Make sure the fish cakes are sufficiently cooked on one side before trying to flip them! Too soon and they could break up . . . But also keep an eye on them so they don't burn!
- Egg yolk rates as low histamine on the SIGHI list (scoring 0), but some people are not able to tolerate it. Please be mindful of your own sensitivities.
Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI) food list for histamine
All ingredients score 0 on the SIGHI list with the exception of:- black pepper, which scores 2. This is optional.
- flour isn't rated on SIGHI, but wheat scores 1.
Lee says
Great recipe. I did not fry mine but baked them in the oven until brown and they were delicious. (I'm on a low fat diet due to gallbladder and liver issues)
throughthefibrofog says
So glad you liked them Lee! I hadn't thought to bake them, but will have to try it that way as well.