Salt & Lavender

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Salmon Pasta with a Creamy Garlic Sauce

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This salmon pasta with a creamy garlic sauce is quick and delicious and makes an easy and elegant meal. Ready in 20 minutes!

This salmon pasta with a creamy garlic sauce is quick and delicious and makes an easy and elegant meal. Ready in 20 minutes!
Photos updated 8/17

This is one of those dishes that tastes like some effort was put in,Β but it’s actually easy enough to make without gnawing your arm off when you’re starving after a long day at work.

And the best part is that you can finish off the bottle of wine while you’re cooking this. Just kidding. Sort of.

This creamy garlic salmon pasta dish is a good option for a date night in, or you can easily double (or triple) the recipe if you have guests to feed without adding a lot of extra work. I used fettuccine, but feel free to use your favorite pasta or whatever’s in the cupboard.

This salmon pasta with a creamy garlic sauce is quick and delicious and makes an easy and elegant meal. Ready in 20 minutes!

Quickly searing the salmon makes it extra tasty. Piping hot pasta, butter, white wine, cream, and parmesan cheese = decadence in a bowl.

There’s no fancy ingredients in here… but you’ll get restaurant-quality results for a fraction of the price.

This salmon pasta with a creamy garlic sauce is quick and delicious and makes an easy and elegant meal. Ready in 20 minutes!

Only 20 minutes to pasta perfection – what could be better?!

How to make creamy salmon pasta

This salmon pasta is very easy to make; you start by seasoning the salmon and then quickly searing it on both sides. Take it out of the pan while you add the sauce ingredients, make the sauce, add the fish back in, and finish cooking it. Voila!

Pro tip: 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. πŸ™‚

This salmon pasta with a creamy garlic sauce is quick and delicious and makes an easy and elegant meal. Ready in 20 minutes!

Will you try making this lemony salmon pasta with a creamy garlic sauce?

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!

This salmon pasta with a creamy garlic sauce is quick and delicious and makes an easy and elegant meal. Ready in 20 minutes!
4.79 from 19 votes
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Salmon Pasta with a Creamy Garlic Sauce

An easy to make and elegant salmon pasta dish.

Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword creamy salmon pasta, salmon pasta
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 2
Author Salt & Lavender

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces fettuccine or other pasta uncooked
  • 1/2 pound fresh salmon (skinless if possible)
  • Onion powder to taste
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • Juice from 1/2 medium lemon (about 1 tbsp)
  • 3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped

Instructions

  1. Boil a large salted pot of water for your pasta. Cook using package directions until it's al dente.
  2. Grate parmesan and set aside. Season the salmon lightly with onion powder and salt & pepper on both sides.
  3. Add the olive oil and butter to a skillet on medium high heat. Once it's hot, add the salmon. Cook salmon for a couple of minutes on each side.
  4. Take the salmon out of the pan and set aside. Add the white wine, lemon juice, cream, garlic, and parmesan, and scrape the bottom of the pan so the brown bits get incorporated into the sauce.
  5. Slowly add the flour to the sauce, while stirring, to avoid any lumps.
  6. Add the salmon back in the pan and break it up with your cooking spoon so it's in bite-size chunks. Gently mix it in with the sauce. Cook for an additional five minutes or so until the sauce is thickened and salmon is cooked through.
  7. Drain pasta and add it to the skillet, along with 1 tablespoon of the water you cooked the pasta in. Gently mix the sauce and pasta. Serve immediately with parsley and extra parmesan cheese if desired.

Recipe Notes

  • If you can't buy skinless salmon, you can easily remove the salmon from the skin just before you add the salmon back into the pan (step 6), or use a sharp knife to remove the skin prior to seasoning it. Or keep it on if you don't mind it.
  • This recipe is easily doubled. I used one piece of fish when making this recipe for two people.
  • 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.Β 

Like this recipe? You may also like my creamy lemon and fresh tomato salmon pasta.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Persephone says

    June 15, 2016 at 9:09 AM

    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

    Reply

    • Natasha says

      January 25, 2017 at 5:13 PM

      Nope, sorry. You could try plugging the ingredients into an online calculator but I’m not sure how accurate those are.

      Reply

  6. Cecily Barney-Macon says

    February 21, 2017 at 5:35 PM

    Just prepared dish substituted pasta with Whole wheat pasta and kept the pasta water as my thickening agent instead of flour added sautΓ©ed spinach and Roma tomatoes ????

    Reply

    • Natasha says

      April 19, 2017 at 11:13 AM

      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! πŸ™‚

      Reply

  9. Stacy says

    May 18, 2017 at 9:00 AM

    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!

    Reply

    • Natasha says

      May 18, 2017 at 10:08 AM

      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. πŸ™‚

      Reply

  10. Fred in DC says

    July 6, 2017 at 5:50 PM


    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.

    Reply

  11. Yoyce says

    July 25, 2017 at 9:34 PM


    Hello I been wanting to find out how to make the Pasta taste so delicious just like the restaurants , I just made a slight changed on the heavy cream and substituted it for BertollI Alfredo Sauce and it tasted awesome…
    Thanks so much for sharing this recipe

    Reply

  12. Ron says

    August 12, 2017 at 11:41 AM


    I made this today, too much lemon juice!!!!! tuned out too sour πŸ™
    also, the 4 ounces (114grams) fettuccine is not enough for 2 persons.
    Very disappointed.

    Reply

    • Natasha says

      August 12, 2017 at 2:48 PM

      I’m sorry to hear that. 2 dry/uncooked ounces per person is the suggested serving size for pasta, so that’s what I base my recipes on.

      Reply

  15. Carol B. says

    November 11, 2017 at 12:07 PM

    I made this last night and my husband and I loved it! I used about 1.3 lbs of salmon and about 8oz of pasta. I used about 1/3 cup of half and half and about 1/2 cup of pasta water when putting together the sauce (in lieu of the cream). I used about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. It was DELICIOUS and it reheated for lunch really well πŸ™‚

    Reply

  16. Dawn says

    December 1, 2017 at 10:38 AM

    That recipe is delicious. I’ve been looking for one similar to this for a couple of years. Would you mind if I post it in my blog, giving you credit and adding your link?

    Reply

    • Natasha says

      December 1, 2017 at 10:48 AM

      Thanks, Dawn! Glad you liked it. Thanks for asking, but I do not allow re-posting of my recipes in full. There’s a few reasons for that, including the fact that if my recipe is posted in full somewhere, there’s zero incentive for someone to click over to my blog. Also, Google penalizes duplicate content. I’m ok if you make alterations and write the recipe out using your own words, though (and post your own photos) then cite me as “adapted from” and link back to me. If you’d like to include one of my photos and then a link back to my recipe, that’s fine too, and direct readers to my recipe for the ingredients and directions.

      Reply

    • Natasha says

      February 20, 2018 at 8:20 AM

      Hi Sam! I think it should be ok if you simply omit it. Otherwise, I’d use chicken broth in its place. Hope you enjoy the recipe! πŸ™‚

      Reply

  20. Don says

    April 16, 2018 at 6:09 PM

    A slight suggestion and modification. Before cooking the salmon, brush on a slight glaze of olive oil. Then sprinkle on your preferred seasoning. Let it sit. It will stick better to the fish. After a few minutes, before putting it in the pan add just a light covering of brown sugar to both sides. Lightly smooth it in with a baking brush. It will phase out any fishy taste of the salmon and add an extra pop and flavor to the dish. Don’t use butter yet. Cook in the pan with just thin film of olive oil. The secret to salmon is cooking it on low heat. All the juices will flow back into the fish and taste immeasurably better. After it is brown, take the salmon out of the pan and proceed with the rest of the recipe. When eating you will taste all the seasoning and the sweetness in the salmon with the sauce.

    Reply

    • Gwyn says

      February 17, 2019 at 3:47 AM


      Hi Don I made this as is only my salmon was skin on. I seared the skin side so I had some lovely crackle to munch on while cooking the meal :). Due to personal preference I would never add brown sugar to this as I love the taste of salmon and love the tangy lemon cream flavour. Each to their own πŸ™‚

      Reply

  21. Sharon says

    May 16, 2018 at 10:51 AM


    Hi I tried this recipe last week .. I was really hungry and I used canned salmon!!! It was epic … I’m doin again today but adding shrimp instead 😘🀫🀭

    Reply

  22. Tom Kennedy says

    May 16, 2018 at 4:12 PM

    This was a lovely recipe, and I love salmon prepared just about anyway but I found with a little less lemon juice and a dash of dill it was spectacular.

    Reply

  23. Ron says

    September 2, 2018 at 8:06 AM

    Thanks all. LMAO, I call myself an “amazing cook” and who knew?
    Guess what’s for dinner tonight? I’m a friend of Bill so the no wine option was great.

    Reply

  25. Mollie Morris says

    September 24, 2018 at 6:42 AM


    Hello! Your recipe looks delicious and reminds me of Fettuccini Greta Garbo in the Fiddlehead Restaurant Cookbook. Their recipe uses a hard smoked Salmon instead of fresh. This is a nice alternative! πŸ™‚

    Reply

  31. Gwyn says

    February 17, 2019 at 3:51 AM


    This was super good! Thank you. I am following the Plant Paradox system so used sorghum pasta (yum) and left out the flour. I steamed some asparagus in a sieve with the pasta and served it on the side. Really lovely flavour. I used salmon with skin on and seared the skin, removed it and ate it while the pasta was cooking :). So good for you!

    Reply

  33. Renee Waddler says

    March 10, 2019 at 1:15 PM

    I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this recipe & so does my boyfriend! I’ve made it twice & am going to make it again today. Thanks so much for for sharing your talent with us 😁

    Reply

  35. Olga says

    March 16, 2019 at 3:37 AM


    Natasha, this looks tasty! These are absolutely mouth watering! It will quickly disappear in our house, very tasty and flavorful!

    Reply

  36. Katerine says

    April 8, 2019 at 5:47 PM

    This was so easy and tasty! The only thing I made different was to add a leek and some frozen peas and it was yummy. Boyfriend loved it too!

    Reply

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