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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!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! This was the first time I used white wine in a dish, and also first time I pan seared salmon, I impressed myself. The meal is so tasty, I used extra parmezan and extra cream and wine and wish I had used more garlic as 3 cloves wasn’t quite enough as I could barely taste it. Overall I would say 10/10 for an exceptionally tasty and easy meal to prepare (even though it took me 2 hours to make!). Thank you for sharing this incredible recipe. I have saved 2 portions for my mom & dad and can’t wait to hear their response after tasting it. ❤️
Oh that’s so nice to hear!! I’m really glad you enjoyed it, Peter!! I’m a garlic lover myself and typically add more than recipes call for too lol. Hope your parents love it! Thanks for your kind review!
Absolutely delicious & so easy to make
Thanks so much! Glad you liked it!
So good. Made this with trout tonight (shhh – and told the kids it was salmon!). Everyone enjoyed it. Will make extra sauce next time. The whole family is excited for this to be on the regular meal plan rotation. 👍 Thank you!!!
That’s so nice to hear!! I need to try it with trout haha. 🙂 Glad everyone enjoyed it!
Perfect weeknight or anytime dish. Delicious!! Thank you again 🙂
You’re very welcome, Maria! 🙂
Hi, I was hoping you could tell me what the measurements are equivalent to in grams and ml please
just google it ……..
Absolutely delicious and will now be a firm favourite 💕on our menu
Fantastic!! 🙂 Appreciate your review!
Delish! Didn’t have heavy cream (we don’t tend to keep it on hand), but had a lot of cashews, so I did sub the heavy cream for a vegan alternative.
1 cup cashews + 1 cup boiling water, let sit for 30 min then blended until smooth. Was probably a little thicker than the heavy cream, but worked really well!
So glad it worked out, Ash!! 🙂
Another great recipe and so easy . Made this tonight and it was a big hit with my hubby . I added prawns just towards the end . I’m no chef but your recipes are so easy to follow. Thank you Natasha for your wonderful recipes 😋
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that… especially that you find my recipes easy to follow, since that is my goal always! 🙂
Can I use canned salmon?
Yes… it will basically just need to be warmed through, though, so I’d add it in towards the end. Be sure to drain it well.
I made it tonight for dinner. It was really easy and simple to make. I do think it very lemony I would recommend using less than the provided amount. I added small shrimp and used Linguini. I also didn’t have freshly grated Parmesean so I used the shaker Parmesean, mine had a little Romano cheese mixed in. I’ll definitely make it again with a few minor changes.
Happy you enjoyed the pasta, Dora!
Yum! I made this today and will definitely make again. It was a breeze to make and didn’t take long because I had a partially cooked piece of salmon left over from Sunday.
I used veggie broth instead of dry white wine and at the end added capers and dried dill. Because I had an open box I used farfalle for the pasta – it perfectly held on to the creamy sauce and capers
Excellent! Glad you enjoyed it, Vicki!