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This Cajun salmon pasta recipe is fast and flavorful. Cajun spices, sun-dried tomatoes, cream, and garlic make this dish irresistible!
It’s no secret that I love salmon pasta. This one has a slightly spicy (but not too spicy) twist, and it’s just as easy to make as my popular creamy garlic salmon pasta or my creamy tomato salmon pasta.
This is a quick recipe that takes about as long to cook the sauce as it takes to boil the water for the pasta.
This recipe is written for two people, but it’s easily doubled if needed.
I used spaghetti in this recipe, but any pasta is fine.
How to make Cajun salmon pasta
- Coat salmon in salt & pepper and flour;
- Sear the salmon on both sides in a hot skillet for 2 minutes/side;
- Take the fish out of the pan and set aside;
- Add the Dijon mustard, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes to the pan, followed by the cream, Cajun seasoning, and lemon juice;
- Add the salmon back into the pan and cook for a few more minutes. I also like to add some fresh basil (not necessary but very tasty).
Recipe tip: I bought one piece of fresh salmon that weighed around 1/2 a pound. Anything around there works, really. You can buy either skin-on or skin-off salmon. The skin is fine to eat, but some people don’t like to. 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 come off easily.
Love Cajun flavors? You may also like my Cajun shrimp pasta, homemade remoulade sauce, my Cajun sausage pasta, or my one pot Cajun chicken pasta.
Questions about this recipe? Let me know in the comments below.
More salmon pasta recipes to try:
Cajun Salmon Pasta
Ingredients
- 4 ounces uncooked pasta
- 1/2 pound fresh salmon
- Flour for dredging
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- Fresh basil, torn to taste (optional)
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese to taste (optional)
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil a large, salted pot of water for the pasta. Cook it al dente according to package directions. When the pasta is about 10 minutes away from being done, start the sauce.
- Lightly season the salmon with salt & pepper and then coat it in flour.
- Add the oil and butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the salmon for 2 minutes/side.
- Take the fish out of the pan and set it aside. Reduce the stove's heat to medium.
- Add the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and Dijon mustard to the pan. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
- Add the cream, lemon juice, and Cajun seasoning to the pan. Stir until the sauce is smooth.
- Add the salmon back into the pan and break it up using your spoon. Let it cook for a few more minutes until it's cooked through and the sauce has thickened up a bit. Add some fresh basil in the last minute or two of cooking if using.
- Drain the pasta and toss it with the sauce. Serve with freshly grated parmesan if desired.
Notes
- I used sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil and drained the oil before adding them to the pan.
- You can stretch this to 4 people if you double the pasta and serve the dish with a side.
- 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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Made this for dinner tonight and it was gorgeous! The only thing I would suggest is chopping or cutting up the tomatoes and read the notes about draining them before cooking as I missed it at first. Thanks for sharing a lovely recipe 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Made this! OMG! We loved it!! Thanks for sharing!!
You’re very welcome. 😀
I have some fresh crab meat in the refrigerator that I need to get rid of, can I add some to this recipe?
I don’t see why not 🙂
Had last night and loved it.
Fantastic! 🙂
Good recipe just added shirmp and crab omg t HG tanks for the recipe
You’re welcome! 🙂
Excellent recipe. I am not usually one to follow a “recipe” so of course I tweaked it a bit but for the most part this was a great recipe on it’s own. I used Wild Alaska Cod for the fish because it’s what I had in the freezer. I put the cajun seasoning directly on the fish, and cooked it to be like a blackened fish. In addition to the sun dried tomatoes, I added chopped artichokes, excellent! Thanks for sharing the receipe.
I can relate… I am always tweaking too haha. So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Made this for my fiancé and we both loved it! I doubled the recipe and we ended up eating the whole thing in one sitting after going back for seconds. Fantastic recipe. Only thing I’d do next time is add more sun dried tomatoes!
I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂
Have you tried this with canned salmon? Would that work? […] has me getting creative with non-perishable staples! I have boneless, skinless wild Alaskan sockeye.
Hi! I think you could give it a try. It won’t taste quite the same, but I don’t think it’ll be bad either. (I edited your comment because bloggers are being told not to use buzzwords associated with current events because it may impact search engine rankings).
Hi sds delicious!
I bought sundried tomato pesto that i may try with this dish! What do you think??
Hi Joan! You could definitely add in a spoonful or two. Just watch how much salt you add since it could be quite salty, and Cajun seasoning often contains some salt.
Please can you advise me?. I want to try the Cajun Salmon Pasta, can I use Sun Dried Tomato Paste instead of Sun Dried Tomatoes, or can you suggest an alternative please.
Thanking you in advance of your reply
Hi Jill! You could leave them out if you wanted. They just add a bit of flavor and texture. I haven’t ever used sun dried tomato paste, so I’m not entirely sure how concentrated it is or how much to use. You’d probably end up with a more tomato-y sauce if you used it (I imagine it’s like tomato paste and pretty concentrated).