Japapeño Popper Fish Cakes
These jalapeño popper fish cakes are stuffed with cream cheese, served with a creamy yogurt sauce, and are a perfect Game Day appetizer!Makes approximately 16 large fish cakes, or more smaller fish cakes.
Servings: 16 people
Calories: 53kcal
Ingredients
Japapeño Popper Fish Cakes:
- 8 ounces canned sardines (2 cans), packed with pickled jalapeños, oil drained + reserved King Oscar sardines recommended
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup plain yogurt (whole milk or Greek)
- 1 egg
- 3 ounces cream cheese, cut into ~16 cubes
Yogurt Sauce:
- 1 cup plain yogurt (whole milk or Greek)
- 1 lemon or lime, zested + juiced
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add sardines + jalapeños, breadcrumbs, yogurt, and the egg into the basin of a food processor. Blend until smooth.
- Use a 1 ½ TB scoop (or another small scoop) to scoop the batter into balls.Note: If the mixture is too wet to scoop, stir in some more breadcrumbs until it's easier to work with.
- Chill the fish cakes for about 10 minutes.
- While the fish cakes chill, mix together the yogurt, zest, and citrus juice.
- After they're chilled, use your thumb to push a dent into each fish cake. Add a cube of cream cheese, and then use your hands to roll the fish cake back around the cheese.
- Broil the fish cakes for about 5 minutes, or until golden. Serve with the yogurt sauce on the side.
- Leftovers:Leftover fish cakes can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days. Reheat under the broiler before serving.Make Ahead: Make the stuffed fish cakes up to 1 day ahead, but wait until you're ready to serve before broiling. Make the yogurt sauce up to 3 days ahead.
Notes
Make with Unflavored Sardines: Use sardines packed in olive oil, and add ⅛ cup pickled jalapeños to the fish cake mixture.
Nutrition
Calories: 53kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 205mg | Potassium: 63mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 110IU | Vitamin C: 3.7mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 0.3mg