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This 30-minute salmon pasta with a creamy garlic sauce is quick and makes an easy and impressive meal! It has restaurant flair that you can duplicate in your own kitchen.
You could also try this Creamy Garlic Salmon or Boursin Salmon next.
Why you’ll love it
This is one of those dishes that tastes like a lot of effort was put in, but it’s actually simple enough to make without a lot of fuss when you’re starving after a long day at work. Quickly pan searing salmon makes it extra tasty! And the best part is that you can finish off the bottle of wine while you’re cooking this. Just kidding. Sort of.
You’ll savor every single bite of this irresistible restaurant-quality salmon pasta. The delicious creamy sauce is loaded with garlic, and this easy pasta is going to be your new favorite date night meal.
What you’ll need
- Pasta – You can use any kind of pasta for this dish. I’d recommend a longer one like fettuccine, linguine, or spaghetti, but any kind you have in your pantry will work.
- Salmon – I prefer skinless, but if you can’t find it, you can easily remove it during the cooking process
- Onion powder – to infuse more flavor directly onto the fish
- Olive oil and butter – for pan searing
- Flour – to thicken the sauce
- Garlic – we’re generous, but add more if you’re a garlic afficionado
- White wine – for an elegant touch. Use a dry white wine like sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio.
- Heavy cream – for a touch of richness
- Lemon juice – it brightens up the sauce and is a signature pairing with salmon
- Parmesan – grating your own parmesan cheese is key for texture of the sauce since it melts better than the bagged kind
- Parsley – a pop of freshness
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Mince the garlic with one squeeze of a garlic press. You don’t even have to peel the cloves first.
- Parmesan is so much better when grated from a block with a zester like this Microplane, and a simple wire whisk is useful for making the quick roux.
- I like to toss the pasta easily with a pair of cooking tongs and store uncooked pasta in an airtight spaghetti keeper.
How to make creamy salmon pasta
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
While the pasta is boiling, pan sear the seasoned salmon in olive oil and butter. Transfer the salmon to a plate. Add flour to the skillet to make a quick roux, followed by the garlic and white wine. Whisk in the cream and lemon juice.
Stir in the parmesan, and then add the salmon back to the skillet, breaking it up with a spoon. Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet along with the fresh parsley. Enjoy immediately!
Pro tips
- The sauce is fairly lemony, so if you’re on the fence about how much to add, halve the amount of lemon. You can then always squeeze more in when you’ve given it a taste if you think it needs more. I love the stuff, so I usually add even more than I suggest in recipes when I’m cooking for myself, but it’s totally up to you.
- This pasta serves 2-4 people, but you can make it with less pasta to make it even richer for two people. Or up the salmon to 3/4 pounds.
- You can easily double (or triple) this recipe for when you have guests over!
Substitutions and variations
- I don’t recommend substituting the heavy cream for anything else. The sauce may break because of the acidity from the lemon juice.
- If you’re unable to use the wine, simply swap it out for chicken broth and a touch of Dijon mustard.
Leftovers and storage
- Leftovers of this salmon pasta will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. However, it’s best eaten right away.
- Reheat on your stove over low heat slowly so the sauce doesn’t separate, and you can add a splash of cream if necessary.
- Recipes with cream generally don’t freeze well, so I don’t recommend doing that.
If you made this lemon salmon pasta with a creamy garlic sauce, leave a star rating and review. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!
Salmon Pasta with a Creamy Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked spaghetti or other pasta
- 1/2 pound fresh salmon see note
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
- 3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
- Juice from 1/2 medium lemon (about 1 tbsp)
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Boil a large salted pot of water for your pasta and cook it al dente according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, season the salmon with the onion powder and some salt & pepper.
- Add the olive oil and butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once it's hot, cook the salmon for a couple of minutes on each side. Transfer the salmon to a plate and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the flour to the skillet and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring nearly constantly.
- Whisk in the garlic and wine (let it bubble for 20 seconds or so), followed by the cream and lemon juice.
- Once the sauce is smooth, whisk in the parmesan.
- Add the salmon back in the pan and break it up with your spoon so it's in bite-size pieces. Gently mix it in with the sauce. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes or so until the sauce is thickened and the salmon is cooked through.
- Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet, along with about 1 tablespoon of the water you cooked the pasta in (or more if you want to thin the sauce) as well as the parsley. Gently toss the sauce and pasta. Serve immediately with extra parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
- If you can’t buy skinless salmon, you can easily peel off the salmon skin just before you add the salmon back into the pan. Or keep it on if you don’t mind it.
- The sauce is fairly lemony, so if you’re not into that, halve the amount of lemon, then add more in once you’ve tasted it if it’s not lemony enough for you.
- Serves 2-4. If you want a really decadent meal for two people, make less pasta (then each person gets more sauce and salmon). For 4 people, I recommend serving this with a side salad or some garlic bread and/or increase the salmon to 3/4 pounds or so.
- This recipe can also be found on page 31 of the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe was originally published on June 13, 2016. It’s been tweaked to be even easier, tastier, and has new photos!
Thanks for this terrific recipe! Tried it with a slight reduction in cream (about 1/2 cup) and thought it was delicious, as did my family.
Excellent! So glad you guys liked it, Fred!
So glad to have found this, looks delicious!! What are your thoughts on substituting the heavy cream with 2% milk and maybe a little RF cream cheese? I’d like to try bringing the fat content down just a bit but I’m not much of a cook and i don’t want to ruin what looks to be an amazing dish!
Hi Stacy, I think that you could probably do that, but I can’t say for sure how it’ll work out. The milk worries me a bit because it won’t quite thicken up the same as the cream does. I suppose mixing it with the cream cheese will help thicken the sauce up overall. The cream cheese will likely make the sauce a little more tangy. If you do try it, let me know how it worked out. 🙂
Hello! I don’t have white wine on hand right now, any suggestions on what I can sub for it or is it absolutely necessary?? Thanks!
Never mind! I se you’ve answered this already!!
Do you think I could substitute heavy cream for soy milk?
I think you may end up with a slightly thinner sauce (not sure how it would alter the taste exactly), but I don’t see why you couldn’t try. I’ve done a bit of research, and I read that sometimes using soy milk can yield unpredictable results, so I would keep that in mind. I’m curious how it goes – let me know! 🙂
Made this last night! Was DELICIOUS!
Excellent! So glad you liked it.
Can I use milk instead of heavy cream??
You could try, but the sauce will end up less rich and thick. You may need to add more flour to thicken it up.
Just prepared dish substituted pasta with Whole wheat pasta and kept the pasta water as my thickening agent instead of flour added sautéed spinach and Roma tomatoes ????
That’s great! Sounds delicious! 🙂
do you by chance know any nutrition facts for this meal? Thank you!
Nope, sorry. You could try plugging the ingredients into an online calculator but I’m not sure how accurate those are.
These are incredibly delicious and way easier to make than I could have imagined! Awesome recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it!!
This sounds great – I love cooking salmon so that one side is super crisp along the bottom as it makes for a great textural contract with in the final dish
This really does look fancy and elegant! Definitely a great dish when having guests over because creamy sauce + seafood looks and sounds fancy!
Thank you! That’s what I figured, even tho it’s just so simple 🙂
Love it Natasha!
Thanks Debs 🙂
This dish is delicious just tried it
So happy to hear it!
I was surprised to see this recipe called “decadent!” This is traditional Sicilian peasant food, an age-old recipe. There are a few exceptions– we never thicken with flour, peas are an important part of the recipe, and white wine is optional. Thanks for introducing non-Sicilians to a beloved standard! Do try it with the peas and without the wine! Buon Appetito!
I love the sound of the traditional dish! Yes, many people in North America consider anything with a cream sauce to be decadent, so I described it as such. 🙂
This is just about the yummiest thing ever!
So pleased to hear it!