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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!
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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I tried this recipe for my first time today. I didn’t change anything and it is delicious. Your suggestion to not start the sauce until the water boils is very helpful. I especially like that I had all of the ingredients which are in most kitchens. Highly recommend .
I’m so glad you found the recipe easy to follow and enjoyed it! Thank you!
This recipe is a refreshing and yummy change to the typical cream sauce recipes-delightful! We used up some salmon that was less than perfect (i.e. dark, fishy-tasting bloodlines). The flavor of the sauce nicely covered and complemented our fish. My husband loves it, too, and we can’t wait to have it again with some better quality salmon. (I followed the recipe exactly.)
I’m so pleased you enjoyed it!! 🙂 That’s great… I hope you enjoy it with a better piece of fish next time. 🙂
Loved this! I have issues with milk but the Parmesan was just enough. Skipped the read crumbs and used olive oil instead of butter cause I was starving! It was delicious! Thank you for sharing ❤️
Jackie
I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂
Can this be made ahead and then reheated?
Hi! It’s not ideal to be reheated (salmon can dry out and the sauce may reduce too much), but if you do try, I’d do it slowly on a low heat.
Up up up, good
Loved this tonight! The butter/oil after cooking the salmon was a little brown so I cooked/melted some fresh butter and oil (around half) in another pan before adding the rest of the sauce ingredients. I liked keeping the salmon separate as didn’t want to overcook it and it gave me a chance to cook the sauce down a bit. Stirred through a little black pepper and pecorino cheese before serving. Can’t believe there’s no cream in it. Tasted far nicer than our usual creamy salmon pasta recipe!
Delicious! Thanks!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! 🙂 You’re welcome, Jo!
I made this using Alaskan salmon fillet and vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. Awesome to the chicken broth because I am celebrating lent and cannot eat any type of meat. But God damn is the best recipe I’ve had in a long time. And normally I hate it with a passion, but because it’s meant I had to eat some sort of protein and this recipe did not disappoint. Folks definitely try this out for yourself. And I still used day old cooked penne pasta. I can only imagine how much better it would taste with fresh pasta. And definitely add the pepper flakes because it gives it a bit of a spicy zest.
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it!! 🙂
Delicious!!! I added dill and white wine! Yummy!!!!
Great!! Thank you.
I added heavy cream to the chicken broth and it was delicious 👌. Will be making it again
Wonderful! 🙂 So happy to hear that!
Just made it, added piccolo tomatoes to pan when I seared the salmon, it was delicious.
Best salmon and pasta recipe I’ve had in a while and the beauty is in its simplicity.
That’s great!! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Love the addition of the tomatoes.