Chicken Cakes with Remoulade Sauce
These Chicken Cakes with Remoulade Sauce are a budget-friendly twist on classic crab cakes, made with tender chicken instead of seafood. Packed with sweet bell peppers, fresh garlic, and green onions, they’re perfectly seasoned for a savory, satisfying bite. A crispy panko coating adds the ideal crunch, while the creamy remoulade brings everything together. Easy to make and full of flavor, this family-friendly dinner is a delicious, affordable alternative to traditional crab cakes that even the pickiest eaters will love.
Easy Chicken Cakes Remoulade Sauce Recipe
I first made these chicken cakes out of pure necessity, one of those nights when the pantry had to do all the heavy lifting. I didn’t have any crab on hand, but the solution was sitting right there like it always is: chicken. The result was a happy surprise. These savory cakes are light, tender, and packed with comforting flavor that both kids and adults will happily dig into.
For evenly sized cakes that cook at the same rate, an ice cream scoop is your best friend. It keeps things uniform without any guesswork. This recipe is also a great option if you’re avoiding shellfish, and it’s easy on the budget too, proof that simple ingredients can still deliver big flavor.
Key ingredients you’ll need to make homemade Chicken Cakes: (Scroll own for full printable recipe card and quantities.)
- Chicken – Fully cooked chicken either canned or homemade leftover chicken. these chicken cakes were made using canned chicken.
- Bell Peppers – A combination or red bell pepper and green bell pepper add color and flavor.
- Onion – Green onions for a mild onion flavor.
- Spices – Salt, black pepper and garlic plus Creole seasoning or Cajun seasoning.
- Mayo – Mayonnaise adds a tender creamy texture.
- Citrus – A splash of lemon juice adds acidic notes.
- Mustard – Dijon mustard expands the flavor profile.
- Fresh Herbs – Fresh parsley and tarragon add a fresh flavor.
- Breadcrumbs – Panko breadcrumbs form the crunchy coating.
- Remoulade Sauce – Mayonnaise, chili sauce i.e. Heinz or similar, fresh lemon juice for brightness and acidity, minced green onion, capers, dry tarragon, Creole or Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder and a few drops of hot sauce.
How to Make Chicken Cakes and Remoulade Sauce Recipe
- Heat Oil – Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.
- Saute Vegetables – Add the diced peppers and green onions to the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté over medium-high heat until beginning to brown. Add the minced garlic cooking for one minute then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Make the Chicken Mixture – Combine chicken, lemon juice, Dijon, mayonnaise, garlic, tarragon, chopped parsley, creole/old bay seasoning and 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs.
- Combine with Veggies – Mix in the sauteed vegetables. Stir together then add the beaten egg, mix well.
- Breadcrumb Coating – Pour the remaining panko breadcrumbs onto a plate. Using a 4 oz ice cream scoop divide the chicken. Coat with bread crumbs using additional crumbs as needed. Flatten to your desired thickness gently turning to coat the chicken cake on all sides.
- Chill Chicken Cakes Mixture – Place in a single layer on a sheet pan or platter and chill for 30 minutes.
- Prepare Pan – Heat a few drizzles of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cook – Fry chicken cakes per the cooking time in the recipe until golden brown. Fry in batches adding more oil, as needed.
- Serve – Make the remoulade sauce, then serve with hot chicken patties.
Kitchen Equipment to Make Chicken Cakes and Remoulade Recipe
- Large skillet.
- Large bowl, medium bowl and shallow bowl or plate.
- Measuring cups and measuring spoons.
- Sheet pan.
- Turning spatula and whisk.
- Ice cream scoop to divide the chicken cakes mixture.
Recipe Variations, Tips and Substitutions
- Chicken – I use a premium canned chicken for this recipe that I purchased at Costco and it works like a charm. That said, emphasis is on “premium.” All canned chicken products aren’t equal and won’t yield such delicious results. Rule of thumb, if it’s a brand you already enjoy, then you’ll be good to go.
- Spices – You can use Old Bay seasoning in place of Creole seasoning or Cajun seasoning.
- Homemade Chicken – You can use fully cooked poached chicken or leftover chicken, too. Chop it rather finely so the chicken cakes will hold together.
- Use a Scoop for Even Portions – To keep the cakes uniform in size, I use a 4 ounce ice cream scoop to make these chicken cakes dinner size. Another fun option is to use a smaller 1 1/ 2 tablespoon ice cream scoop, so that you could serve these as a two-bite appetizer.
- Alternate Breading – You can use crushed saltine crackers, fresh breadcrumbs or dried breadcrumbs in place of panko breadcrumbs for the filling and exterior coating.
Storage and Leftovers
- Make-Ahead Tip – You can assemble these chicken cakes in advance and place them onto a parchment paper lined sheet pan and into the freezer. Once they’ve frozen solid package them in a freezer safe container and store them for up to 3 months. Thaw the chicken cakes in the refrigerator and fry per the recipe.
- Leftovers – Store leftover cooked Chicken Cakes in an airtight container or wrapped in aluminum foil in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Reheating – You can reheat in an air fryer, in a nonstick skillet on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- Freezer – Freeze leftover for up to 2 months, Thaw in the fridge and reheat just before serving.
More Easy Chicken Recipes to Make
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Crescent Pie is easy to make for a busy day meal.
- Sweet and sticky Air Fryer Barbecue Chicken Kabobs.
- Classic Buttermilk Fried Chicken is tender on the inside with a crispy breading.
- Crispy Oven Fried Parmesan Chicken is the easy way to make chicken Parmesan.
- Lemon Rosemary Roast Chicken is a complete meal in a pan.
- These crispy Air Fryer Chicken Breast taste very similar to Chick-fil-A.
- Juicy Baked Chicken Breasts for any day of the week.
- Honey Bourbon Chicken Pops from Food Network.
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Helpful Kitchen Items:
Chicken Cakes with Remoulade Sauce
Crispy chicken cakes made with tender chicken, bell peppers, and green onions, served with a creamy remoulade sauce. A quick, budget-friendly meal ready in just 30 minutes.
Servings: 8 chicken cakes
Calories: 240kcal
Ingredients
- Chicken Cakes:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil plus add’l for frying
- 1/4 cup red pepper finely diced
- 1/4 cup yellow pepper finely diced
- 1/4 cup green onions finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced [more or less to your taste]
- 1/2 tsp each salt and black pepper (or to taste)
- 2 12 oz cans fully cooked white meat chicken, drained well OR 3 cups poached chicken, chopped
- 2 large eggs slightly beaten
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp Italian parsley chopped
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 tsp creole or old bay seasoning
- 1 tsp dried tarragon
- 2 cup panko breadcrumbs divided
- Remoulade sauce (optional) see below
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the diced peppers and green onions to the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Saute over medium-high heat until beginning to brown. Add the minced garlic cooking for one minute then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
- To a large bowl add chicken, lemon juice, Dijon, mayonnaise, garlic, tarragon, chopped parsley, creole/old bay seasoning and 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs.
- Mix in the sauteed vegetables. Mix making sure chicken is thoroughly blended with the other ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. Add beaten egg, mix well.
- Pour the remaining panko breadcrumbs onto a plate. Using a 4 oz ice cream scoop divide the chicken. Coat with bread crumbs using additional crumbs as needed. Flatten to your desired thickness gently turning to coat the chicken cake on all sides.
- Place in a single layer on a sheet pan or platter and chill for 30 minutes.
- Cook: Remove from the refrigerator. Heat a few drizzles of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Fry chicken cakes for 3-4 minutes on each side depending on the thickness. Fry in batches adding more oil, as needed. Serve hot with the remoulade sauce.
- Remoulade Sauce: Place all of the ingredients for the remoulade sauce in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Chill in a mason jar or airtight container until serving.
- Optional Remoulade Sauce Ingredients: (2/3 cup)1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup chili sauce (i.e. Heinz or similar), 2 tsp lemon juice, 2 tsp green onion minced, 1 tsp capers chopped, 1 tsp dry tarragon, 1/2 tsp creole or old bay seasoning, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, few drops of hot sauce.
Notes
- Chicken – I use a premium canned chicken for this recipe that I purchased at Costco and it works like a charm. That said, emphasis is on “premium.” All canned chicken products aren’t equal and won’t yield such delicious results. Rule of thumb, if it’s a brand you already enjoy, then you’ll be good to go.
- Spices – You can use Old Bay seasoning in place of Creole seasoning or Cajun seasoning.
- Homemade Chicken – You can use fully cooked poached chicken or leftover chicken, too. Chop it rather finely so the chicken cakes will hold together.
- Use a Scoop for Even Portions – To keep the cakes uniform in size, I use a 4 ounce ice cream scoop to make these chicken cakes dinner size. Another fun option is to use a smaller 1 1/ 2 tablespoon ice cream scoop, so that you could serve these as a two-bite appetizer.
- Alternate Breading – You can use crushed saltine crackers, fresh breadcrumbs or dried breadcrumbs in place of panko breadcrumbs for the filling and exterior coating.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cake | Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 420mg | Potassium: 106mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 329IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @melissassk or tag #melissassk!
Absolutely amazing. How do you come up with something that good. Made it for my GF and she loved it. Thanks a lot! Are there any other recipes that you have that are like crab cakes? Maybe pork cakes? Thanks.
Hi Lucas, what a nice thing you did for your girlfriend! Thanks for the request, I’ll add more crab cake-like recipes to my “to do” list. Thanks so much for visiting!
I made this and my family loved it!!!! Thank you so much for the alternative to fish!!!! Picky eaters over here
Awesome, I’m so happy your family enjoyed this!
I made these tonight and they were a HIT! My kids are already asking when we’ll make them again! We’ll be adding these to our weekly menu 🙂
Hi Christa, I’m so happy your family loved these, thanks!
We totally loved these! Very delicious, didn’t have to add or change anything and I had everything in my pantry/fridge already. This will be on the regular rotation.
I’m so happy you loved these, thanks so much!
We are Marylanders that moves south. The one thing we miss most is a good crab cake. Hubby says these are better than any “crab cake” he’s ever had down here and said he thinks you could pass these off as a crab cake to non Marylanders. Very impressed. Have you ever made batches and froze them after baking? Trying to find a way to have easier accessible in a pinch.
Hi Hillary, I’m delighted you loved these as much as we do. You can prepare them in advance and freeze, sure. From frozen, place onto a baking sheet, brush with butter and bake at 325°F for 20-25 minutes. You may need to increase to broil to crisp. If thawed in the fridge overnight, cook in a skillet with oil or butter until golden per the recipe.
My family loved this. I used a rotisserie chicken, very good meal. I think these would be good as a slider.
Thanks so much and yes, they would make a delicious slider.
Do you think it would work with ground chicken?
The chicken used in these is already cooked. I’ve never tested it with ground chicken.
I’m looking for easy weeknight dinners, do you think they would hold up if made the night before and refrigerated?
Yes, you can.
Family loved these. My husband and sons love spicy food, however one son will not eat crab cakes (which I love) so…compromise and what a great substitute. Flavorful and the remoulade sauce is excellent too ! I’ve use this sauce when serving fish tacos too.
I’m so happy you all enjoyed this one, thanks!
Prepared recipe and as I was a bit off on ingredients needed for remoulade sauce, I improvised. (Sriracha, ketchup & Chinese chili paste- 1/3 of each for total 1/4 cup needed.) leaving out the capers as my husband doesn’t care for them. It was spot on, as the chicken cakes were. I used GF panko crumbs (made from ground pork rinds) and although my son swears he doesn’t like any meat, he never noticed. In fact he went back for seconds. Served with cream spinach, Ramen rice noodles dressed in Tahini and Sesame oil along with a few other “leftovers”. Random combination, but it all worked and they want this added to our growing list of GF, chicken recipes !
Great gluten free tips, I’m delighted you all loved these!
These were wonderful! My 1.5 year old gobbled them up and we really enjoyed them too. The flavours were spot on! Thanks for a great recipe!!
Wonderful, thank you!
Have you tried freezing before frying? Trying to make these for Father’s Day! They were AMAZONG when I made them last week 🙂
Hi Paige, I’m glad you liked these! I haven’t tested them frozen but, my thought is they should freeze well.
Have you tried freezing them? Was it successful?
Fabulous recipe! I am making 1/2 a batch tonight and will freeze the other 1/2 for next week. I’ll report back as several people have asked.
Hi Melissa: First let me say that I made these last night and Y.U.M. I was counting down until lunch time to eat them as left overs too. I had one question. I put all of my ingredients into my stand mixer and when I compare my finished product to yours, I think I might have mixed to long. DID YOU HAND MIX THESE TO KEEP THE CANNED CHICKEN SLIGHTLY CHOPPED/SMALL CHUNKS? Mine resulted in more pate consistency.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Hi Leslie, yes ma’am I hand mix these for sure. While I totally get why you used your mixer (I love mine, too) it does change the texture of the chicken. Try that next time, you may like the texture better.
I made these tonight. I didn’t have green onion or any peppers so I skipped the whole 1st step. All I had was traditional breadcrumbs so that is what I used. It was one of those ‘use what you have” nights. In spite of mutilating your recipe, it was still good! My hubby is picky and my 11 year old even pickier. They gave their stamp of approval and cleaned their plates!
Glad it worked for you!
Made these last night…they were delicious! Definitely will be making these again!
Glad you enjoyed these,thanks!
Melissa – my husband and I just can’t get enough of these wonderful cakes. Thanks for sharing!
That makes me happy we love them, too. Thanks so much for visiting!
Has any one tried using air fryer with these? Wondering how they come out. Love the original recipe.
Great question Mary, more and more people are cooking with air fryers. Maybe someone with one will weigh in.
Will regular bread crumbs work? I don’t have any planko.
I mean panko.
Sure, you can use regular breadcrumbs, if you prefer.
Awesome recipe, I am celiac and substituted the pano with glutino bread crumbs and worked like a charm! Will make again!
Great adaptation thanks for sharing that tip!
What do you mean when you say ‘chili sauce’? Like Sriacha?
In this case I’m referring to Heinz chili sauce. You can use sriracha if you like to add a bit of kick but, in tiny amounts or to your taste.
Yum! Can you think of an egg substitute? We have an egg allergy.
Perhaps Vegan mayonnaise and additional crumbs? The eggs serve as the binder in these crab cakes.