This Creamy Salmon Pasta is the perfect recipe for a date night in, or to make any weeknight special! With garlic and spinach, it turns into such a flavorful dish.
I love nothing more than a good seafood pasta on date night. The creamy, garlicky sauce. The flakey salmon. And the oodles of noodles!
It’s just so well-suited for a Valentine’s dinner in, or any night you want to make a special family meal. And while you do need a few different seasonings to make it really flavorful, it’s actually very simple to make!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Salmon: I prefer using skin-on salmon fillets because they stay juicier and also I find I can break them into neater pieces to add to the pasta. If you only have skinless, it works totally fine. You might want to flake the salmon vs breaking into chunks to add to the pasta.
- Spinach: Fresh baby spinach or frozen whole leaf both work. Defrost and fully cook frozen spinach before adding to the pasta. Fresh baby spinach can be added right to the sauce. I do not recommend using frozen chopped spinach.
- Pasta: I know I wrote spaghetti on the photo, but I later realized I actually have Linguine in the photos. Oops! Either works. In fact, any long, thin pasta works great. You can also use a short shape like rotini or penne if that’s all you have. Our favorite is Linguine, but they’re all good.
- White wine: Feel free to use more chicken broth in place of the wine if you want to stay away from alcohol. If you’re curious about a wine suggestion, I recommend a crisp, dry white wine such as a Pinot Grigio or unoaked Chardonnay.
- Heavy cream: If you do not want to use heavy cream, be careful with substitutions. Not all dairy products can withstand the acidity of the wine. Half and half should work fine, so does evaporated milk.
- Seasoning: I add a spinach of ground nutmeg to the sauce, we love it! But it’s absolutely not to everyone’s taste, so I’m adding it as an optional ingredient only.
How to make Creamy Salmon Pasta
1. Start by preparing the pasta, and also season the salmon. Cook it your preferred way (I used the air fryer at 400°F for 10-12 minutes).
2. In a large skillet, cook the sliced garlic in butter for 30-60 seconds. Use medium heat so it doesn’t burn! Burnt garlic tastes bitter and can ruin the entire dish.
Then, stir in the dried parsley and lemon zest. I also added a pinch of nutmeg, which we love, but is not everyone’s cup of tea.
3. Pour the white wine into the skillet, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Simmer a few minutes.
In the meantime, whisk the cornstarch into the chicken broth. Add the chicken broth to the skillet, stirring well. Simmer until the sauce has thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Finish the sauce with the cream. Adjust the seasoning to your taste.
You’ll also want to break the salmon into chunks.
5. If using fresh spinach, wilt in the sauce for a couple of minutes. Toss the pasta in the sauce to coat and heat through.
If using frozen spinach, add the cooked spinach to the pasta now with the salmon. Very gently toss – you do not want to overdo it, or the salmon and spinach will fall into pieces and ruin the look of your dish.
You’ll want to serve this immediately – that’s when it tastes best!
Recipe tips
- You can cook the salmon in the oven, in the air fryer or in a skillet. If using skin-on salmon, always place it skin down. It takes on average 10-15 minutes at 400°F no matter how you cook it. The exact timing will depend on your exact size of salmon fillet.
- Make sure you use medium heat to sauté the garlic and other aromatics. You don’t want to burn them, or the dish will taste bitter.
- It’s important to whisk the cornstarch into the chicken broth until it’s totally combined. Otherwise, you’ll end up with lumpy sauce.
- If the sauce doesn’t thicken enough to your liking, feel free to stir some more cornstarch into a little bit of cool water and add that to the simmering sauce. Never sprinkle cornstarch directly into hot liquids, it will clump up immediately.
Serving ideas
We enjoy an additional vegetable on the side, or a salad.
Some of my favorite vegetables to serve with this are roasted broccoli, sautéed green beans, sautéed zucchini or roasted asparagus.
For salad sides, we love a cucumber tomato avocado salad! But let’s face it, salmon pasta is also pretty great by itself ?
More easy seafood dinners
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Creamy Salmon Pasta
Recipe details
Ingredients
For the salmon
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1.5 pounds salmon fillet
For the sauce
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- ½ cup dry white wine OR more chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch.
- 1 cup chicken broth or more to taste
- ½ cup heavy cream or more to taste
Spinach and salmon
- ½ pound frozen spinach defrosted and cooked; OR ½ pound fresh baby spinach
- 1 (12-oz) box linguine pasta cooked according to package directions; drained
Instructions
- Combine ground paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper and olive oil. Spread over salmon fillets, then cook salmon for 10-15 minutes at 400°F in the oven or in the air fryer; or pan-fry in a little oil in a skillet on the stove.
- For the sauce, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30-60 seconds. Then, add dried parsley and lemon zest and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add white wine (OR more chicken broth), scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 2 minutes.
- Whisk cornstarch into chicken broth. Then, pour chicken broth into skillet with white wine mixture. Stir well, then simmer until thickened to your liking, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir heavy cream into sauce. Simmer on medium heat until heated through. Add more cream (OR chicken broth for lighter sauce) as needed if sauce feels too thick, or if it has reduced too much and there seems too little sauce to coat all of the pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- If using fresh spinach, add to the sauce and allow to wilt for a couple of minutes. Then, toss the pasta in the sauce until coated (you can still add more cream or chicken broth at this point). Break up cooked salmon into pieces and carefully add to the dish. If using frozen and cooked spinach, add it now.
- Serve the pasta immediately.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Salmon: I prefer using skin-on salmon fillets because they stay juicier and also I find I can break them into neater pieces to add to the pasta. If you only have skinless, it works totally fine. You might want to flake the salmon vs breaking into chunks to add to the pasta.
- Spinach: Fresh baby spinach or frozen whole leaf both work. Defrost and fully cook frozen spinach before adding to the pasta. Fresh baby spinach can be added right to the sauce. I do not recommend using frozen chopped spinach.
- Pasta: I know I wrote spaghetti on the photo, but I later realized I actually have Linguine in the photos. Oops! Either works. In fact, any long, thin pasta works great. You can also use a short shape like rotini or penne if that’s all you have. Our favorite is Linguine, but they’re all good.
- White wine: Feel free to use more chicken broth in place of the wine if you want to stay away from alcohol. If you’re curious about a wine suggestion, I recommend a crisp, dry white wine such as a Pinot Grigio or unoaked Chardonnay.
- Heavy cream: If you do not want to use heavy cream, be careful with substitutions. Not all dairy products can withstand the acidity of the wine. Half and half should work fine, so does evaporated milk.
- Seasoning: I add a spinach of ground nutmeg to the sauce, we love it! But it’s absolutely not to everyone’s taste, so I’m adding it as an optional ingredient only.
Recipe tips
- You can cook the salmon in the oven, in the air fryer or in a skillet. If using skin-on salmon, always place it skin down. It takes on average 10-15 minutes at 400°F no matter how you cook it. The exact timing will depend on your exact size of salmon fillet.
- Make sure you use medium heat to sauté the garlic and other aromatics. You don’t want to burn them, or the dish will taste bitter.
- It’s important to whisk the cornstarch into the chicken broth until it’s totally combined. Otherwise, you’ll end up with lumpy sauce.
- If the sauce doesn’t thicken enough to your liking, feel free to stir some more cornstarch into a little bit of cool water and add that to the simmering sauce. Never sprinkle cornstarch directly into hot liquids, it will clump up immediately.
Lisa says
This was delicious!! I was kind of in a salmon rut…making it the same way over and over. When I found this recipe I thought ohhh this sounds interesting. Will definitely make again.