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A quick and flavorful weeknight dinner! This easy creamy salmon pasta recipe is ready for the table in just 20 minutes. You’ll love the tender fish that’s tossed with penne, mushrooms, and peas in a simple garlic cream sauce. It’s a restaurant-quality meal that’s fancy enough for entertaining but fast enough for busy evenings.
Table of Contents
- Salmon Pasta with a Garlic Cream Sauce
- Ingredients for Creamy Salmon Pasta
- How to Make Salmon Pasta with Cream Sauce
- What to Serve with Creamy Salmon Pasta
- Salmon Pasta Storage Tips
- Salmon Pasta Recipe Variations
- Tips for the Best Salmon Pasta Recipe
- More Easy Salmon Recipes to Try
- Salmon Pasta with Garlic Cream Sauce Recipe
Salmon Pasta with a Garlic Cream Sauce
You can’t beat an easy salmon pasta that comes together in less than 30 minutes. Add a creamy sauce and plenty of veggies, and you’ve got a meal that makes Mom and the kids happy! Best of all, this dish is very flexible and can be adjusted to accommodate the ingredients in your kitchen. Instead of penne pasta, try angel hair or rotini. Prefer asparagus instead of peas or mushrooms? That will work, too! Just don’t forget the crusty baguette or garlic bread on the side. It’s a must!
This creamy pasta recipe calls for fresh salmon, which I typically purchase in a 1-lb. fillet. You’ll need to remove the skin from the fish before dicing the salmon into bite-sized cubes. You can purchase frozen salmon and just thaw it in the refrigerator overnight, or even use leftover salmon from a previous meal. Grilled salmon would be delicious in this recipe, too!
Ingredients for Creamy Salmon Pasta
This easy salmon pasta recipe comes together with simple ingredients you can easily find at your local grocery store. Be sure to check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact ingredient measurements, as well as handy ingredient variations.
- Pasta: I used penne pasta, but any shape will work. Pick a shape that holds on to the sauce well, so every bite is coated with the creamy garlic sauce.
- Salmon: you can use either fresh or frozen salmon, leftover salmon, smoked salmon — whatever type of salmon you have on hand!
- All-purpose flour: helps to thicken the creamy garlic sauce.
- Butter: emulsifies the pasta sauce.
- Garlic & onions: aromatics that help flavor the dish.
- Mushrooms & frozen peas: vegetables that add freshness and body to the salmon pasta dish.
- White wine: to flavor the sauce — a dry wine works best. Remember, buy wine that’s cheap enough to cook with and good enough to drink!
- Heavy cream: to thicken the sauce.
- Salt, pepper, and fresh parsley: to enhance the flavors & garnish for serving.
How to Make Salmon Pasta with Cream Sauce
The rich, garlicky white wine cream sauce comes together in one skillet in about the same amount of time as it takes to boil your noodles. Toss everything together at the end, and dinner is served! Here is an overview of the main steps to make creamy salmon pasta with mushrooms and peas. As always, the complete directions are in the recipe card below.
- Cook the pasta until al dente, about 8-10 minutes.
- Coat the salmon with flour and sear in a hot skillet with butter until cooked through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Saute the garlic, onions, and mushrooms with seasonings, along with the cooked salmon.
- Add the white wine to deglaze the pan, then add the cream and reduce over medium-low heat.
- Stir in the frozen peas.
- Toss the pasta with the garlic cream sauce and vegetables. Serve & enjoy.
Start by Cooking the Pasta
The first step is to cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water. You want to cook the pasta to al dente — Italian for “to the tooth” — so it’s soft but still has a slight bite to it. This ensures the pasta is perfectly cooked enough to absorb the delicious sauce but not overcooked to the point of being mushy. Depending on the type of pasta or brand you choose, the cooking directions might differ, so always refer to the package directions.
Cook the Salmon & Make the Creamy White Wine Sauce
While the pasta boils, toss the salmon with flour to coat, and sear it in a large skillet with butter over medium-high heat. The cubed salmon will only take a few minutes to sear.
Next, add the garlic, onion, mushrooms, salt, and pepper to the skillet. Saute until the onions and mushrooms are tender, then deglaze the pan with the dry white wine. Stir in the cream, and reduce the garlic cream sauce over medium-low heat, about 4-5 minutes. Finally, stir in the frozen peas and cook until they’re warmed through.
Toss with the Cooked Pasta & Enjoy!
In the same skillet, toss in the cooked pasta and combine everything with the cream sauce. Dish up the creamy salmon pasta, garnish with fresh parsley, and serve!
Creamy Garlic Pasta Sauce Variations
There are many ways you can adjust the creamy garlic sauce used in this recipe. It’s a very simple sauce that’s flavored with mushrooms, garlic, onions, seasonings, and white wine. You can enhance the flavor of the salmon by adding lemon juice or lemon zest to the cream sauce. Add Parmesan cheese and more black pepper for a deeper flavor.
What to Serve with Creamy Salmon Pasta
To make this easy salmon recipe a complete meal, here are some great side dishes to serve alongside it:
- A green salad dressed in Italian Balsamic Vinaigrette or Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette
- Caesar Salad
- Roasted broccoli or asparagus
- 2-Ingredient Italian Sugar Snap Peas
- Amish Green Beans with Brown Butter
- Wedge Salad
- Sauteed Spinach
Don’t forget a nice loaf of artisan No-Knead Bread, a crusty French baguette, or homemade Garlic Bread!
Salmon Pasta Storage Tips
Store leftover salmon pasta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. Reheat gently in a skillet over low heat or in the microwave for about 1 minute. Just be careful that you don’t overcook the fish or pasta.Do not freeze the creamy salmon pasta. The cream-based sauce will “break” when thawed, resulting in an undesirable texture and appearance.
Salmon Pasta Recipe Variations
- Use just about any pasta that you prefer. Angel hair, spaghetti, rigatoni, fusilli, and rotini all go well with salmon. You can even make whole wheat salmon pasta for a healthy twist — just cook the pasta according to the package instructions for the variety that you choose. If you want to use fresh pasta, go for it! Remember that fresh pasta cooks in a fraction of the time of dry pasta.
- Salmon Pesto Pasta: add a dollop of homemade pesto to the cream sauce. It will give the dish a wonderful basil and Parmesan flavor.
- Salmon and Shrimp Pasta: use a combination of salmon and shrimp in this dish. Shrimp cook very quickly, so sear them in the skillet first, remove them from the pan as soon as they turn pink, and then proceed with the recipe. Stir the cooked shrimp back into the dish at the very end so that you don’t wind up with over-cooked shrimp that are tough or chewy.
- Mix up the flavors in the dish by adding your favorite fresh herbs. Good options include chives, fresh basil, thyme, more parsley, or an Italian seasoning blend. My all-purpose seasoning blend is delicious with salmon, so add a dash to the sauce if you like!
- Use different vegetables. If you don’t care for mushrooms or peas, try adding diced tomato, sun-dried tomatoes, or chopped fresh asparagus to the pasta instead. Broccoli or cauliflower would also be great.
- If you don’t want to cook with wine, you can substitute with an equal amount of chicken broth or seafood stock.
Tips for the Best Salmon Pasta Recipe
- Toss the salmon with flour before cooking. This serves two purposes: it helps to get a nice crust and sear on the outside of the fish, and it also helps to thicken the cream sauce.
- Wait to start cooking the sauce once the pasta water is boiling because it comes together very quickly in the skillet. Reserve a cup of the pasta water in case you want to thin the cream sauce later.
- Use a good quality white wine that you would actually like to drink. A crisp, dry white wine is ideal, so look for Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, or even Chardonnay.
- Let the cream come to room temperature before adding it to the hot skillet.
- For a spicy kick, add crushed red pepper flakes or Cajun seasoning to the sauce.
- Garnish the pasta with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and as many fresh herbs as you like! You could also garnish with lemon zest for a fresh, citrusy finish.
More Easy Salmon Recipes to Try
Salmon Pasta with Garlic Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 oz. dry penne pasta
- 16 ounces salmon, skin removed and diced to about ½ inch
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
- 2 tablespoons finely diced onion
- ½ cup sliced fresh mushrooms
- ¼ cup white wine
- ¾ cup heavy cream, at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package instructions. Drain.
- While the pasta boils, prepare the sauce. Toss the salmon in flour.
- Melt butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add salmon and saute for 1 minute. Add garlic, onion, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook until garlic is golden and mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in white wine, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet as you stir.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half. Add cream and reduce to a medium consistency. Stir in frozen peas and cook for 1-2 more minutes, or until heated through. Remove from heat.
- Add cooked pasta to the skillet and toss to coat. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.
Notes
- Toss the salmon with flour before cooking. This serves two purposes: it helps to get a nice crust and sear on the outside of the fish, and it also helps to thicken the cream sauce.
- Start cooking the sauce once the pasta water is boiling, because it comes together very quickly in the skillet.
- Use a good quality white wine that you would actually like to drink. A crisp, dry white wine is ideal, so look for Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinto Gris or even Chardonnay.
- Let the cream come to room temperature before adding it to the hot skillet.
- For a spicy kick, add crushed red pepper flakes to the sauce.
- Garnish the pasta with plenty of freshly-grated Parmesan and as many fresh herbs as you like!
Thank you Blair, this looks great and I can’t wait to try it. It’s so useful that you suggest alternatives in your recipes so they are easy to adjust to suit my family’s likes and dislikes.
I love the new look for the blog!
Thank you, Ruth! I hope you enjoy! 🙂