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This garlic butter salmon pasta is quick, easy, and uses only a handful of ingredients. Perfect for dinner on a busy weeknight!
Try my Tomato Spinach Salmon Pasta or Maple Glazed Salmon next.
I’ve made this pasta a couple of times now, and I love how fast it comes together. If you’re looking for a simple sauce for salmon, butter and garlic make a fabulous combo. I will always stand by that. 😛 Add in the pasta and you’ve got yourself one tasty meal.
The sauce is easily made while the pasta is cooking. I suggest waiting until the water’s boiling before starting the sauce because it doesn’t take much time at all.
If you’re looking for another super quick weeknight pasta, try my popular tuna garlic pasta.
The chicken broth reduces a lot and adds a delicious savory flavor to this dish. This isn’t really a super “saucy” pasta per se, but it’s perfectly buttery, and the lemon juice adds a bit of freshness. The olive oil stops the butter from burning while you’re searing the salmon.
A couple notes on the salmon:
- I used a piece of fresh sockeye salmon that weighed around half a pound. Anything around that quantity will work. You can buy either skin-on or skin-off salmon. The skin is fine to eat, but some people don’t like it. If you buy a piece with the skin on but don’t want to eat it, I suggest peeling the skin off on the step where you’ve taken the salmon out of the pan – it should peel off easily.
- You could use leftover salmon (like from grilling or if you happen to have cooked salmon on hand), but I suggest cooking it for even less time. Just let it warm through.
You can use any kind of pasta in this recipe. I’ve made it with penne and spaghetti, and it’s good either way.
More salmon pasta recipes to try:
- Salmon Pesto Pasta
- Lemon Dill Salmon Pasta
- Salmon Pasta with a Creamy Garlic Sauce
- Creamy Lemon and Fresh Tomato Salmon Pasta
- Cajun Salmon Pasta
I hope you’ll give this easy salmon recipe a try!
Questions? Let me know in the comments below.
Garlic Butter Salmon Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound fresh salmon
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Flour for dredging
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- Optional garnish: fresh parsley, red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese
- 4 ounces uncooked pasta
Instructions
- Boil a salted pot of water for your pasta. Cook it al dente according to package directions. I suggest starting the sauce once the water's boiling.
- Sprinkle the salmon with salt & pepper and coat it in the flour.
- Add the oil and butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the salmon and cook it for 2 minutes/side, then take the fish out of the pan and set it aside (if you bought salmon with skin and don't want to eat it, you can easily peel the skin off at this point if you wish).
- Add the chicken broth, garlic, and lemon juice to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for about a minute.
- Add the salmon back into the pan and break it up with your spoon into bite-size pieces. Cook it for a few more minutes until it's cooked through and the sauce has reduced a fair bit.
- Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet (you can add a little pasta water if you wish). Toss it & serve immediately with parsley, red pepper flakes, and parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Hi – just made this – YUMMY !!!
I subbed Panko bread cumbs and lime juice (it’s all I had) and I added 4 scallions…
perfect.
thank you
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I added broccoli – loved it!
Wonderful! Thanks for taking the time to comment, Nancy!
Fabulous! I stumbled upon this today and had everything in the house. I added a little Lawny’s salt to my personal taste. The parmesan and fresh parsley really sets it off. I added a crack of Himalayan salt to finish. Mmmmmm.
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Just made this and it was delicious. Thank you for posting it!
You’re welcome! 🙂
Would vegetable broth work ok?
Yes!
It was excellent and so easy. Using red peppe flakes and good parmesan cheese with fresh pepper made it very flavorful
So glad you enjoyed it!
This was amazing! My wife and son loved it!
So glad to hear it!
Can you use canned salmon for this recipe?
Hi Laurie! It’ll taste different, but you could definitely give it a try.
Wondering if I could grill or used leftover grilled salmon in this recipe and how the process for the sauce changes!
I would cook the salmon as little as possible, basically, since it’s already cooked. Just add it in towards the end. Let me know!
I’ve just tried this – followed the recipe exactly – and it tastes amazing! Thank you!!!
Wonderful! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Do you think tuna would also work?
I think you could definitely give it a try!
Hey! I’m from Italy but I live in Uruguay since 1980.
I think that your recipes are very delicious, but I also think that tune is a little dray to use in these recipe. Bye!