My creamy lemon and fresh tomato salmon pasta is an easy and fresh (yet decadent!) pasta dish that's ready in only 20 minutes.
My creamy garlic salmon pasta has done really well (I hope I didn't just jinx it!), and I wanted to do something similar in this tomato salmon pasta.
Although salmon is versatile and I like to prepare it several different ways, enjoying it with pasta and a creamy sauce is probably my all-time favorite way of cooking it.
Salmon pasta is so quick and easy and typically tastes like it's more complicated to make than it is!
I love seafood pasta. When I'm anywhere near a coast, I order copious amounts of it since normally I'm landlocked and don't usually have access to the best seafood. It's not like you can't get seafood here, but it's just not the same as being right there. You can find pretty good salmon here, so that's my go-to when I'm craving something from the ocean. Something about seafood pasta hits the spot for me.
The lemon and tomato make this a comforting yet light and fresh meal. A little bit of Dijon mustard is my not-so-secret ingredient (you'll see it a lot if you read this blog often) for adding more depth of flavor.
Aaaand of course garlic is in here because it's basically my lifeblood. 😉
Love creamy salmon recipes? You'll probably like my creamy Tuscan salmon or my creamy salmon piccata.
Recipe notes & tips:
- You can buy salmon with the skin on or already taken off. If you bought salmon with the skin on and don't want to eat it, you can simply peel it off after you've done the searing step... it's really easy to do that.
- I love my Microplane zester/grater to zest the lemon and grate parmesan cheese.
- I used spaghetti for this creamy salmon pasta recipe, but feel free to sub with any pasta you choose.
I hope you enjoy this easy salmon pasta recipe as much as I did! I really need to make it again soon.
That lemon-tomato-cream sauce is the best, really.
More salmon pasta recipes you may like:
Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about this fresh salmon pasta recipe!
Creamy Lemon and Fresh Tomato Salmon Pasta
Ingredients
- 4 ounces uncooked spaghetti (or other pasta)
- 1/2 pound fresh salmon
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning or to taste
- Salt & pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 2 medium tomatoes chopped
- 3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
- Juice and zest of 1/2 medium lemon (about 1 tbsp juice)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Chopped parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Boil a salted pot of water and cook pasta al dente according to package directions.
- Sprinkle both sides of the salmon with Italian seasoning and salt & pepper, to taste.
- Add oil and butter to a skillet on medium heat. Sear salmon for 3 minutes/side. Remove salmon from pan and set aside.
- Add the tomato, cream, lemon juice and zest, garlic, and Dijon mustard. Stir until smooth and cook for 2 minutes, then stir in the parmesan.
- Add the salmon back into the pan, and use a spoon to break it up into smaller pieces. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through. Season with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Once the pasta is cooked, toss it with the sauce. Serve with parsley and some extra grated parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
- I don't recommend subbing the cream with half-and-half or milk because the sauce is likely to curdle due to the amount of citrus in this recipe.
Jean says
Fantastic yummy recipe. I substituted fresh salsa I made instead of tomatoes and butternut squash noodles instead of pasta. Great recipe. A keeper for sure. P
Natasha says
Love those twists!
Lisa Curwin Brown says
Very Good! I had extra salmon so more meaty and had made fresh carrot pasta. Definitely a keeper recipe. Used Coffee Cream (18%) as the cream portion. Otherwise no changes and it was truly amazing.
Natasha says
I'm so pleased you enjoyed it, Lisa! 🙂
Gloria b says
This was really, really good
Natasha says
Thank you!! 🙂
Conrad Clayton says
Can you substitute either low fat creme frais or yogurt for the cream in this recipe?
Natasha says
You could give it a try, but it won't taste quite the same, and there's always a chance lower fat products won't work well or will curdle.
NF says
This recipe is amazing, Was looking for A yummy recipe to use my moms fresh tomatoes from her garden, this was the ticket! I used smoked salmon instead of fresh, which added to the richness of the cream sauce. Since I did not need to sear the salmon I sautéed a little onion and garlic in the butter then added tomatoes, fresh basil, cream and other ingredients.
All the flavors in this recipe were amazing together, the lemon, cream tomato and salmon. I 100% recommend it !
Thank you for sharing ur recipe Natasha
Natasha says
I'm so glad you were able to tweak it and enjoyed it. You're very welcome!! 😀
Ivana says
I have made this recipe hundreds of times since discovering it! My family and die, including a picky eater old, absolutely love it!
Thank you very much it is so tasty and so versatile, sometimes I use canned tomatoes, sometimes escape pod an ingredient sometimes are use a different mustard it’s a really delicious recipe- awesome x
Natasha says
Fantastic!! That makes me so happy!
Cathy Fields says
Absolutely delicious! We served it with garlic bread and roasted asparagus. 👅
Natasha says
Great!!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I want some garlic bread now lol.
Paul Lockyer says
Very nice balance of acid (from the lemon and to a lesser extent, the tomatoes), and creaminess. I made it with linguine which was perfect for the sauce to stick to. This is a keeper.
Natasha says
So pleased you enjoyed it, Paul! 🙂
Aleksandra says
I was reading through the comments to see if anyone had made this recipe lactose free and stumbled upon a negative review…. I have no idea how anyone with tastebuds could have a single bad word to say about this recipe !! It is amazing and whenever I want to make a quick and easy mouthwatering dish, this is what I come to ♥️
Natasha says
Aww thank you so much!! 🙂 I'm glad you like it!
Hungry mama says
I made it with leftover salmon and used plain yogurt since I didn’t have cream. I turned out wonderful! My two year old ate four bowls of it. Thanks for this recipe! Yum!
Natasha says
Fantastic! So glad it worked out! 🙂
Conrad Clayton says
Hi, wish I'd scrolled down before posting my query about alternatives to the cream.
Thanks.
Natasha says
It's all good! 🙂
sharon says
I added some mushrooms. This was delicious! Thank you
Natasha says
Great!! So pleased you enjoyed it.
Lynn says
I am somewhat of a foodie and knew this would be awesome from looking at the preparation...and it was!!! Simply delicious dish. I added some peas to give a little green pop to the dish. We make this dish often and love it every time!!!
Natasha says
Yay!! so happy you enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to write a review. 😀
Lori Millsap says
Delicious, quick & easy! Thank you 🤩
I don't usually post or rate as I'm typically rushing around & forget. Today our neighbor gave us a bag full of tomatoes from their garden. We have lemons on our tree and leftover salmon. This was perfect! I followed your recipe (loosely measuring because I was lazy) & it was delicious.
Natasha says
Fantastic!! So happy you enjoyed it, Lori. Thanks for taking the time to write me a review. 🙂
Lynda says
I had some cooked salmon and grape tomatoes to use up and this recipe came up when I searched those two ingredients in Google. So happy that I tried it as it was absolutely delicious! This dish is a keeper and will go into my meal plan rotation. I plan on trying your salmon piccata recipe the next time I buy some more salmon.
Natasha says
Wonderful!! I'm so glad you liked it. Hope you enjoy the piccata too! 🙂
Larissa faria says
Love you’re website and how easy it is to follow the recipes. When my boyfriend and I are stuck and don’t know what to eat I always go on your blog.
My boyfriend is lactose free so we usually sub it into a creamer from so delicious that is lactose free . Do you think I would have an issue with it?
Natasha says
That's awesome! I'm so glad you are a regular reader... I really appreciate that. I think that could work, I also heard that Silk makes a dairy-free whipping cream you could try.
Sara says
This is so incredibly delicious. I make it all the time, for myself, for guests, for anyone. It’s lemon-y, garlic-y, salmon-y perfection! 🙌🏽
Natasha says
Aww thank you so much!! 😀
OGRamsay says
Made this exactly as posted and it sucked. Terrible recipe
Natasha says
Is that right? Can you articulate why or are you just going to be rude about it? The majority of the reviews are positive, so I'd love to hear what went wrong.
NMcDonald says
I made this last night and it was delicious!
Natasha says
Fantastic!! Thank you!
Amanda Rush says
This is incredibly tasty! Restaurant quality. Def a keeper.
Natasha says
I'm so happy to hear that, Amanda! Thanks for commenting! XO
Danielle says
I am in love with this recipe and didn't even make it yet! Love your website!
Natasha says
Thank you, Danielle! 🙂
Natasha says
Cooked this tonight for my fussy family and we all loved it! Highly recommend 😊 I added some baby spinach to give a bit of colour and doubled the quantity it was perfect!
Natasha says
Yay!! Great!