This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This 20-minute garlic butter salmon pasta recipe is super easy to make and uses only a handful of ingredients. It’s perfect for dinner on a busy weeknight!
Try my Garlic Butter Chicken Bites or Easy Canned Tuna Pasta next.
Why you’ll love it
Butter, garlic, a little chicken broth, and lemon juice are really all you need to make a fabulous sauce for this easy salmon pasta recipe. It’s basic yet bright, and each bite has perfectly flaky pan seared salmon that’s tossed in that buttery, velvety sauce!
Regular readers know I’m a big fan of salmon, and it doesn’t need a whole lot of dressing up to shine in this easy salmon pasta. There’s lots of savory flavor, and I bet you have most of the ingredients in stock in your kitchen on the regular for this quick and simple meal.
What you’ll need
- Pasta – use your preferred shape. I like penne or spaghetti!
- Salmon – you can buy either skin-on or skin-off fresh salmon
- Flour – for dredging and getting an irresistible crust on the fish
- Olive oil and butter – for pan frying and the base of the sauce
- Chicken broth – another layer of flavor
- Lemon juice – a pop of freshness and acidity for balance
- Garlic – savory goodness
Pro tip
Salmon 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 in the step when you’ve taken the salmon out of the pan — it should peel off easily.
How to make garlic butter salmon pasta
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Cook the pasta until al dente. Season the salmon with salt & pepper, then dredge in the flour. Heat up the oil and butter in a skillet, then add in the salmon. Cook it for a couple of minutes on both sides, then transfer it to a plate. Add in the broth, garlic, and lemon.
Reduce the heat, and let it simmer for a bit. Return the salmon, and break it apart with a spoon. Let it cook through. Toss with the drained pasta. Garnish with the optional toppings of fresh parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, parmesan, etc. if desired.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Two great cast iron skillet options are my Le Creuset and this budget-friendly Lodge one.
- I love my garlic press! No sticky garlic fingers here.
- This is my butter dish. It has convenient measurement markings right on it.
Substitutions and variations
- 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.
- Throw in some additional herbs from the garden for extra fresh flavor.
- I highly recommend reading through the comments section below to see readers’ creative twists for inspiration — there’s some good stuff there!
Leftovers and storage
- I’m one to eat seafood sooner rather than later, but this pasta will keep in the fridge for a couple of days in a tightly covered container.
- Warm it up on the stove in a saucepan over a low heat, adding a bit of broth/lemon juice for moisture if needed.
- Freezing leftover salmon pasta isn’t recommended because the texture of the fish is liable to change.
If you made this simple salmon pasta recipe, please leave a star rating and review below! I’d love to see your photos on Instagram as well.
Garlic Butter Salmon Pasta
Ingredients
- 4 ounces uncooked pasta
- 1/2 pound fresh salmon
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Flour for dredging
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup chicken broth or veg broth
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- Optional garnish: fresh parsley, red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese
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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on May 8, 2019. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
I tried it and it was delicious. Due to my gluten allergy, I used gluten-free pasta. I also added spinach, mushrooms, sweet/hot roasted red peppers as well. Yummy.
Thank you for sharing.
You’re very welcome!
Thanks for the recipe. I air fried my salmon and then air fried some asparagus to add to the pasta bowl. Delilah!
You’re very welcome!
Great recipe. The first time we tried it, we followed the recipe exactly. The subsequent times, we also added a pound of slices mushrooms which we cooked after the salmon step. The original version was great too.
Love that! Thanks, Ben! 😀
I don’t normally like salmon and will only eat if to be polite but this was amazing! I added a bit of onion and some capers and topped it with some parmesan cheese. I did use a little of the pasta cooking liquid to thin the butter sauce. It was so good that I ate all the leftovers for lunch next day.
That’s awesome!!! 😀 Thanks for letting me know!
This recipe was super simple and the result was delicious. I only had spaghetti in the pantry so that’s what I used. Replaced the chicken stock with beef bone broth and added a splash of Worcestershire sauce and the meal was superbly divine. Carrots and broccoli on the side and the meal was perfect! Can’t wait to make this again. I used 2 chunky slabs of salmon for it too so there was plenty to go around and still, there was nothing left because it was delicious!!!!
I’m thrilled to hear that, Lillian!! 😀 Thanks so much for your review!
The salmon was good, but I thought it was pretty boring. Sorry. I even tried the parsley and parmesan cheese on top. That helped some, but still kinda boring. Thanks for the recipe anyway.
I made the salmon by itself in cast iron and chunked it into the already-prepared penne+sauce.
that was my only deviation to your great recipe besides more garlic.
this is delicious and I made enough for the next couple work days. thank you! 5 stars.
uncomplicated is usually the best way to go.
Glad you enjoyed it, Brent! Thanks for your review!
Excellent. I added spinach. It was so nice not to have a slab of salmon. Thank you.
Yay!! I’m thrilled you enjoyed it, Gail!
I’ve made this recipe many times, sometimes with an 8 oz can of tomato’s and always with a sweet onion. Once in awhile I’ll make with the butter and like one of your comments I use baby spinach at the end after adding the pasta, one thing I always add is the pasta water in case the sauce is tight, which it always is. Save some of your pasta water, it has the starch from the pasta and it pulls everything together.
Thrilled you like this recipe and make it your own, Matteo! 🙂 Thanks for your comment!
i tried this with canned salmon and the flavors were very good, i did make one mistake which is, because the canned salmon is already cooked, i skipped the cooking on high heat part first and just put it in at the end. the problem is that that means i skipped the only opportunity to add any crunch to it at all so the end result was very mushy. i think next time i won’t skip that step and instead i will put the salmon back in at the very end, maybe even after the pasta so it doesn’t cook too long. alternately one could add some vegetables to vary up the texture somewhat.