This easy pasta with salmon in a light lemon cream sauce works great for a quick weeknight dinner. Use leftover salmon to make meal prep even easier.
Don’t you love it when you go out in search of something and then you discover you had it all along? That is what happened with this recipe.
A few weeks ago I had some leftover salmon in the fridge that really needed to be eaten before it spoiled. I had roasted a large fillet earlier in the week for dinner and we had only eaten half of it. The other half was taunting me – challenging me to do something good with it. We had already had several healthy meals that week so I was ready for something more indulgent. I wanted pasta!
I went on-line in search of recipes for pasta with salmon. However, everything I found called for at least 2 cups of cream and lots of butter. Now don’t get me wrong, I like a good cream sauce just as much as the next girl but swim suit season is coming soon and I was not feeling THAT indulgent.
I was about to give up on the endeavor when I remembered that I had a great recipe for shrimp and angel hair pasta in a light cream sauce. Why not replace the shrimp with the salmon and the angel hair with pappardelle to soak up the sauce? With only 1/4 cup cream, I knew I had a winner.
Indulgence without the guilt – gotta love it.
Tips for making lemon pasta with salmon
- Use heavy cream. Although this is a heathly-ish pasta recipe, it is not without some cream. Using the full fat version (it’s only a 1/4 cup) will help the sauce thicken and prevent it from separating.
- Reduce the heat before adding the cream. The sauce should not be at an active simmer when the cream is added. Otherwise, the sauce may separate. Once the cream has been added, use a whisk to stir it in.
- Drain but don’t rinse the pasta. The starch on the pasta will help to thicken the sauce.
- Use freshly grated parmesan cheese. Pre-grated cheese is usually coated in something to prevent clumping (like cellulose powder) which will keep the cheese from melting smoothly.
Lemon Pasta with Salmon
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 pound salmon fillet
- Salt and pepper
- 8–9 ounces pappardelle pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup low sodium vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
- Zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Season salmon fillet with salt and pepper and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Roast salmon in oven for 15-20 minutes or until salmon is cooked through.
- Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain (but do not rinse).
- Wipe out the cooking pot with a paper towel and add the olive oil. Heat oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 30-60 seconds. Add lemon juice and broth; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, whisk in cream, stirring to combine. Add in cheese and lemon zest; cook about 3 minutes to heat through but do not boil; taste and season with salt.
- Add pasta to cream mixture and gently mix to evenly coat noodles. Continue to mix until the sauce thickens slightly and clings to pasta. Break the salmon into large chunks and gently stir into the pasta mixture.
Notes
- You can use left over roasted salmon if you have it. Skip the roasting step (obviously). You can either warm the salmon chunks in the microwave before adding it to the pasta and cream mixture or you can gently warm the salmon chunks in the hot cream sauce before adding in the pasta. Either way, just be gentle with the cooked salmon.
- Do not rinse the pasta when you drain it. The starch on the pasta helps to thicken the sauce.
- Use freshly grated parmesan cheese rather than pre-grated. Pre-grated cheese is usually coated in something to prevent clumping (like cellulose powder) which will keep the cheese from melting smoothly.
Keywords: salmon pasta, salmon lemon pasta, salmon, pasta
You have a beautiful blog! This pasta looks divine, and I love the combination of salmon and lemon.
Thank you so much. Even my kids like this dish.
I made a single serving of this today for dinner, only swapping out the cream for coconut cream, and I loved it! A beautifully simple yet scrumptious recipe, it’ll be one I’ll be sure to make again. Thank you!
So glad to hear that! Great idea with the coconut cream.
This was absolutely delicious – thank you! I had leftover cooked salmon fillets which I crumbled, heated and stirred through. The whole family loved it!
So glad your family loved it, Lorraine. Thank you for coming back to comment.
You must be cooking this gorgeous salmon for the whole family OR you’re starving for salmon. 🙂 It looks great!.
Thank you so much. I hope you get a chance to make it. It really is as tasty as it looks.
Just made this dish for my fiance and I Saturday night. Such a light delicious and satisfying summer meal. Thanks for recipe!
I am so glad you liked it! Thank you so much for coming back to leave a comment.
Help? I made this twice and it curdled.
There are a couple of things to look at that might be causing your sauce to curdle. First, be sure you are using full fat cream and not milk or half and half. Also, make sure the sauce is not too hot and the heat has been reduced to low when you add the cream. Once the cream has been added, don’t let the sauce come to a boil. Finally, use freshly grated parmesan cheese rather than cheese that was packaged pre-grated. I hope that helps.
Thanks a lot. I’ll try that the next time I make it.
I did make it a third time without the lemon juice and it didn’t curdle fine so I could be adding too much. It tasted great curdled and all…just don’t like nice enough to post on Instagram..lol
Thanks again. I love your page. So many great recipes for a novice chef like myself. Makes me look like a gourmet 🙂
I had the same problem so threw it away and started again adding the lemon juice just before adding to the pasta. I used single full fat cream as the recipe says just cream.
★★★
Hi Barbara. I’m so sorry the sauce didn’t work for you. Did any of the tips I noted in my reply to Benny help?
I tried it, it’s my masterpiece of the year <3 thank you very much!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment. It made my day! And thank you for coming back to comment – I really appreciate the feedback.
I don’t cook often but I love Salmon. I tried this dish for me and my wife and it tasted lovely! I was so happy I made it myself. Thank you. I will try your other recipes.
I’m so glad to hear you and your wife enjoyed this, Darren! If you’re looking for other salmon recipes, my salmon guacamole bacon wraps are another tasty and easy recipe I think you might like.
I made this dish last night and the sauce was so delicious. I would like to recommend adding the parmesan a little at a time. I added the entire amount (I doubled the recipe) at once and the cheese didn’t melt properly. Otherwise, I will definitely make this again.
That is a great recommendation! Thanks for the tip and coming back to comment. I’m really happy you liked the recipe.
Well, it used the remaining salmon and it tasted very nice, but sadly it was like soup!
Too much fluid, I suggest altering the amount of broth to perhaps a half a cup, and adding a tablespoon at a time if needed.
I also reduced the broth – to about 2/3 cup and let the pasta finish cooking in the cream/lemon-veg broth mix to thicken it up before adding the cheese and zest. I think your comment helped my dish turn out nicely. Best to you!