Fresh salmon gets the full bright-herb treatment here — lime zest, grated ginger, cilantro, and green onion folded into hand-crafted patties that are seared until deeply golden and served in crisp butter lettuce wraps. The technique of pulsing two-thirds of the salmon in a food processor while hand-chopping the rest is the secret to patties that actually hold together with real, satisfying texture instead of turning into a mushy cake. Grain-free by nature, this recipe skips bread, binders, and any flour-based filler entirely, so there's nothing to swap out and no label-reading required. The creamy avocado sauce — mashed with lime juice and fresh cilantro — does double duty as both a condiment and a cooling contrast to the seared, slightly caramelized exterior of the fish. Butter lettuce leaves stand in for buns beautifully, keeping things light while still giving you that handheld burger experience. This is the kind of weeknight dinner that feels like something you'd order at a coastal restaurant, except it comes together in your own skillet with clean, simple ingredients.
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Make the avocado sauce: combine the avocado, lime juice, cilantro, sea salt, and water in a small bowl and mash with a fork until smooth and spoonable, adding water 1 tbsp at a time until the sauce is thin enough to drizzle. Set aside.
Place about two-thirds of the salmon chunks in a food processor and pulse 6–8 times until coarsely chopped — the mixture should hold together when pressed but still have visible texture, not a smooth paste. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
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