These sweet potato and ginger fish cakes are a real comfort food treat for adult and kids alike. Easy to make, and mostly with pantry staples, the ginger and turmeric give a nice hum of heat. Perfect for a weekend lunch or dinner.
If you love fish dinners as much as my family does, perhaps you would also like to see my baked cod with pesto, and for a bit of summer fun, my cod with mango salsa. Both use frozen fish for a tasty but simple weeknight dinner!
This recipe is a perfect family dinner, and is made without eggs or dairy so is suitable for those dietary requirements. It is also a gluten free recipe.
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
- The best comfort food: the combination of flaky fish and sweet potato always feels like a comfort food dinner to me!
- Full of flavour: the hint of ginger provides a nice spiciness to the fish cakes.
- Uses frozen fish: no need to worry about using fresh fish, you simply need to go to the freezer for this recipe!
🦀 Ingredients
While those familiar with my recipes here will know that I already have a recipe for sweet potato fish cakes, I wanted to do another version as I know many people prefer not to eat dairy or eggs. This recipe has neither, and the main ingredients are:
Frozen cod: you only need to head to the freezer for this recipe!
Sweet potato - the creaminess of sweet potato goes perfectly with the fish, and makes these fish cakes the best colour! I had to reduce the saturation in these photos as they were naturally almost neon. The sweet potato also holds the fish cakes together.
Broccoli - for some greens, and to sneak some extra vegetables in too.
Ginger - for a nice background hum of heat. I don't make these too strong but you can always add more if you like. If you don't have fresh ginger then I have also used dried ginger powder and they turned out great.
Turmeric - with a lot of reputed health benefits, the turmeric gives extra flavour and contributes to the colour too! I like the Simply Organic ground turmeric root.
🍽 Sauce options
Fish dishes usually have tartare sauce on the side. With lots of vinegar, gherkins and spices, tartate sauce wouldn't be the best option on a low histamine diet.
Instead, I use tahini sauce which is my go-to for most dishes. It's easy to make and has a lovely creamy taste and texture.
🔪 Step by step instructions
Making these ginger fish cakes is very simple, with just a few steps:
Step 1
Bake your cod fillets until thoroughly cooked through and white throughout. It should take 25-30 minutes.
Step 2
Boil or steam the sweet potato until softened, and then combine with the fish (flake once cool enough to handle) and other ingredients in a bowl.
Step 3
Form the mixture into patties and then pan fry to make your fish cakes.
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Don't be tempted to skip the step of baking the fish first. As we are using frozen fish, it needs to be full cooked through as the pan fry won't be sufficient.
- Adjust the amounts of ginger and turmeric to your preference. These quantities are for a background hum of heat, rather than a 'spicy' flavour.
- Wet your hands before forming the mixture into patties to make it easier (and less sticky!).
📋 Frequently asked questions
Yes, definitely don't skip this step! This recipe uses frozen fish and it needs to be thoroughly cooked, and simply frying won't do that.
The sweet potato should hold the fish cakes together as it quite a 'sticky' ingredient. But it's part of the fun if they are a little flaky, no?
Yes, feel free to add more ginger and turmeric to up the flavour to taste preference!
🍽 More tasty fish dishes
Baked cod with a pistachio crust
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📖 Recipe
Sweet Potato and Ginger Fish Cakes
Ingredients
- 2 cod fillets frozen (approx. 200g)
- 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
- ½ cup broccoli
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ cm piece of fresh ginger grated, or ½ teaspoon dried ginger powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Tahini dressing
- 2 tablespoon tahini
- 1 tablespoon water
- pinch sweet paprika
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 390F. Once at temperature place the cod fillets in an oven proof dish and cover loosely with foil. Add the broccoli to a separate dish and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the fish is thoroughly cooked.
- Boil (or steam) the sweet potato for 8-10 minutes until softened. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes. Once the fish is ready, add to the bowl along with the herbs and spices. Flake the fish with your hands. Tear the broccoli into small pieces and add to the bowl. Stir thoroughly.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan. Wet your hands and form the mixture into small fish cakes. Transfer to the pan. Pat down if necessary to form the patty shape. Allow to fry for 8-10 minutes, flipping (carefully!) a couple of times.
- Make the tahini dressing by combining the tahini and water. Stir well until it forms a thick creamy sauce. Add more tahini if too thin, more water if too thick for your preference. Sprinkle with a little sweet paprika.
- Plate up your fish cakes, with a salad or vegetables of choice and the sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- Don't be tempted to skip the step of baking the fish first. As we are using frozen fish, it needs to be full cooked through as the pan fry won't be sufficient.
- Adjust the amounts of ginger and turmeric to your preference. These quantities are for a background hum of heat, rather than a 'spicy' flavour.
- Wet your hands before forming the mixture into patties to make it easier (and less sticky!).
- Please note that nutritional information is offered as a courtesy. It is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- cod - scores 0 if frozen, but please see the SIGHI list for more information.
- ginger - scores 1.
- sesame (for the tahini) - scores 1. It is also a potential allergen.
- black pepper - scores 2. This is optional.
Katie Clark says
I'm making this for myself tonight, using crab because I don't need to worry about the MCAS. My family is having lasagne and while I can make it GF and DF, this sounded better.
Carrie Kellenberger says
I should left a comment on this recipe when I forwarded it to my hubs last week. We love fish cakes and crab cakes, and he's certainly the expert in our relationship. Terrific recipe, Claire. I'm looking forward to him making this for me! 🙂
throughthefibrofog says
Thanks Carrie! Hope you both like the recipe. Enjoy your dinner together! 🙂