Jamie Oliver Tin-raid Fishcakes

Jamie Oliver’s tin-raid fishcakes are quick store-cupboard fishcakes made from tinned tuna, tinned potatoes and sweetcorn, bound with soaked bread, Cheddar and mustard. They fry in 7 minutes, and the whole batch serves 4 in 20.

The “tin-raid” is the whole idea in Simply Jamie (2024). Everything comes from a tin or the bread bin, so there’s no peeling and no boiling. Canned new potatoes and wrung-out bread stand in for fresh mash, which is what turns a normally fiddly job into a 20-minute one.

The step that makes or breaks them is the binding. You soak the bread, then squeeze it as hard as you can before scrunching it through the mix. Get that bread properly dry and dust the patties liberally with flour, or they’ll slump and break the moment they hit the pan.

Jamie Oliver Tin-raid Fishcakes

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Dinner, LunchCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

13

minutes

Cooking time

7

minutes

Calories

383

kcal

Total time

20

minutes

Jamie’s 20-minute store-cupboard fishcakes from Simply Jamie: tinned tuna, potatoes and sweetcorn held together with soaked bread and Cheddar, fried crisp and golden.

Ingredients

• 100g (3½ oz) bread

• 1 x 567g tin of peeled new potatoes

• 30g (1 oz) Cheddar cheese

• 1 lemon

• 1 large free-range egg

• 1 heaped teaspoon English mustard

• 1 x 400g tin of tuna in spring water, from sustainable sources

• 1 x 200g tin of sweetcorn

• plain flour, for dusting

• olive oil

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Directions

• Soak the bread:Hold the bread under cold running water until completely sodden, then squeeze as hard as you can to remove the excess water.
• Build the mix:Tear the bread into a large bowl. Drain and add the potatoes, scrunching as you go, then coarsely grate in the cheese and finely grate in the lemon zest. Add the egg and mustard, season with sea salt and black pepper, and mix well.
• Shape:Drain the tuna and sweetcorn and fold them through. Divide into 8 equal balls, dust liberally with flour, and shape into patties. Make some smaller ones for younger kids if you like.
• Fry:Put a large non-stick pan on medium heat and add a thin layer of oil once hot. Fry the fishcakes in batches for 7 minutes, turning halfway, until golden and crispy. Drain on kitchen paper.
• Serve:Serve with a big seasonal salad and lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Notes

• Note (air fryer): Flatten the fishcakes to 2cm thick, spritz generously with oil, and cook in a single layer at 200°C, in batches if needed, for 12 minutes until golden and crispy, turning halfway.

FAQs

Why soak the bread and squeeze it out?

The wet, wrung-out bread is the binder that holds everything together. Soaked and squeezed, it breaks down into a soft paste that grips the tuna and potato, doing the job a thick breadcrumb coating or extra egg would in other recipes. It’s why these need no crumb crust.

The squeeze is the important bit. If the bread is still soggy, the whole mix turns wet and the cakes won’t hold. Wring it out like a cloth until barely any water comes out, then tear it straight into the bowl.

My fishcakes fell apart in the pan. What went wrong?

Almost always too much moisture. Drain the tuna, sweetcorn and potatoes really well, and squeeze that bread hard, because every bit of extra water loosens the mix. Then dust the shaped patties liberally with flour, which forms a dry crust that sets fast in the oil.

The other culprit is flipping too soon. Leave each side to fry undisturbed for its few minutes until a golden crust forms, then turn once. Poking and early flipping is what tears them, so let the pan do the work.

Can I use salmon or another tinned fish instead of tuna?

Yes, tinned salmon works straight in, drained well, and Jamie has a whole separate salmon fishcake recipe built around it. Tinned mackerel or sardines work too, though they’re stronger, so use a little less. Keep whatever you choose sustainably sourced.

If you’d rather a fresh fish dinner another night, Jamie’s zesty salmon tacos use fillets and lots of citrus for something lighter. These fishcakes are the thrifty, use-up-the-cupboard option by comparison.

How is this different from Jamie’s other fishcakes?

His older salmon fishcakes use 600g of fresh potatoes, boiled and mashed, plus peas and chives, and take about an hour and a half. It’s a proper cook-from-scratch job. This tin-raid version is the fast rework of the same idea.

Swapping fresh potatoes for a tin and mash for soaked bread is what cuts the time to 20 minutes. You lose a little of the fluffy texture but gain a weeknight dinner with nothing to peel or boil. Different tools for different evenings.

Can I make them in the air fryer, ahead of time, or freeze them?

The air fryer works well. Flatten them to 2cm, spritz generously with oil, and cook at 200°C for 12 minutes, turning halfway, as in the note above. They come out crisp with less oil than frying.

To get ahead, shape and flour the patties, then chill them covered for a few hours so they firm up. They freeze raw too: open-freeze the floured patties on a tray, then bag them. Cook from frozen, adding a couple of minutes.

What do I serve them with, and are they good for kids?

Jamie serves them simply, with a big seasonal salad and lemon wedges to cut the richness. Some sweet chilli sauce, tartare or a dollop of yoghurt on the side all suit them. They make a full meal without much else.

They’re genuinely kid-friendly: mild, cheesy and boneless, and Jamie suggests shaping smaller ones for little hands. For another cheap store-cupboard dinner in the same spirit, his harissa butter beans work off the same tin-raid logic, and there’s more on the Jamie Oliver recipes page.