The Best Creamy Salmon Pasta

With over 3.8 million page views since 2018, this simple yet impressive Creamy Salmon Pasta is the most popular recipe on Foxes Love Lemons. Roasted salmon, spinach and capers are tossed with pasta and a creamy white wine sauce for a dish special enough for date night at home.

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“This recipe was delicious! It’s something you would be impressed with if you ordered it at a nice restaurant and it’s quick and easy to make at home. This is now in my favorite recipe collection.”

—Jeri Lynn

The Reviews Speak For Themselves!

This is it! The most popular recipe in the history of Foxes Love Lemons. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re here after Googling “salmon pasta” or “pasta with salmon” or some combination of those words.

Welcome! We hope that this recipe is everything you’re looking for and more. And we hope you’ll stick around for some of our other popular recipes, including Chicken Pizza, Turkey Bacon In The Oven and Rib Rub.

But, are you ready to see what all the fuss about this creamy salmon pasta recipe is about? We’ll let some more of the 1300+ reviews (averaging 4.5 stars) speak for themselves:

“This dish is quick and delicious, only 30 minutes and you are serving. It is also just a little fancy. I have made it many times and have never been disappointed.”

—Judith

“This recipe worked so well, and I say this as a timing challenged person. I would make this again and again, not just with salmon, but with shrimp, scallops or even shredded chicken.”

—Holly

“I totally underestimated how delicious and delicate these flavors would be! Yum! It made me feel so chef-y.”

—Sherie

“This was so easy, fast and delicious! My toddler and myself devoured it. My toddler was able to help me make dinner and we were able to cook everything in under 20 minutes. Winner winner! Thank you for such a great weeknight recipe!”

—Rachel

Salmon Pasta Recipe Ingredients

A full recipe card, including exact ingredient amounts, appears at the bottom of this post.

• salmon – you will need 3/4 pound of salmon for this salmon pasta recipe. Two 6 ounce fillets will work, or one large fillet is fine, too. More on this below!
• linguine – this is our noodle of choice for this pasta with salmon, but we’ve tested it with fettuccine and spaghetti, and they work just as well.
• butter – unsalted butter forms the base of the sauce. If you only have salted butter on hand, just cut back on the added salt later in the recipe.
• garlic – 3 minced garlic cloves add lots of flavor to the sauce. Want to add more? Measure with your heart.
• heavy cream – it’s not creamy salmon pasta without, well, cream! Heavy cream results in the best sauce texture, and if you substitute something else, your sauce may curdle and not turn out properly.
• white wine – something like pinot grigio will add a bright acidity to the cream sauce. If you’d prefer not to use wine, feel free to substitute a bit of chicken broth and a squeeze of lemon juice here.
• lemon zest – adds more bright acidity to the cream sauce!
• spinach – since spinach wilts down to practically nothing when it’s cooked, we use an entire 5 ounce box of baby spinach in this salmon linguine! Want to use kale instead? Go for it, baby.
• capers – the salty, briny flavor of capers can’t be beat, specially when paired with seafood. But if you’re not a fan of capers, it’s fine to leave them out of this recipe for salmon pasta.

How To Buy The Best Fish For Creamy Salmon Pasta

While for recipes like Salmon Sandwiches, we purchase thick, individual fillets of salmon (so, 4 separate (usually center cut) fillets for 4 servings), we love the ease of roasting a larger fillet of salmon for things like salmon and spinach pasta, since we’re just going to break it into chunks anyway.

At the grocery store, butcher, or seafood market, ask them for a fillet of salmon with the skin on, about 3/4 of a pound to a pound (or 2 fillets that equal about that weight).

You can use any variety of salmon you like best for this creamy salmon pasta, whether that’s Atlantic salmon, sockeye salmon, or something else.

Food & Wine’s Guide to Every Type of Salmon You Can Buy will help you learn the differences before you’re ready to make this recipe.

How To Make This Pasta With Salmon Recipe

1. PREP. Get your oven preheated and a big pot of water boiling on the stove. Then, get your salmon into the oven. All you’re doing here is putting the fish on a pan and seasoning it with salt and pepper. Set a timer and forget about it for awhile.

2. PASTA. Salt the pot of boiling water, and then dump the linguine into the pot. Again: set it and forget it (well, maybe give it a stir or two if you remember).

3. SAUCE. Start by cooking some garlic in butter, and then add the cream, white wine, lemon zest, salt and pepper. You’ll cook this mixture about 5 minutes or until it thickens into a, well, sauce!

4. TOSS. Add the spinach and capers to the skillet. Drain the pasta and add to the skillet on top of the spinach, and give everything a good stir until the spinach is wilted.

5. SERVE. By now, your salmon should be done cooking, too! Take that out of the oven, break it into big chunks and put it on top of your pasta.

Can This Be Reheated Or Frozen?

While we love recipes where leftovers can be reheated for lunch the next day, this pasta and salmon recipe is one that is best eaten immediately.

Seafood never reheats that well, and cream sauce tends to break when reheating. We also don’t recommend freezing this pasta with salmon.

So, while this creamy salmon pasta recipe as written below would serve a family of four (or a double date at home!), if you’re serving just two people for date night, we’d recommend cutting the recipe in half.

But, if you have a bit of leftovers and you MUST reheat them, the easiest way to reheat is to microwave at 50% power (this will help prevent the creamy sauce from breaking). We recommend this method for any creamy pasta.

What To Serve With This Recipe For Salmon Pasta

Since we’ve already packed an entire box of spinach into this salmon pasta recipe, you may decide you don’t need a side dish at all.

But, if you’d like another helping of fiber-rich veggies on your plate with your salmon pasta, we suggest either Balsamic Green Beans or Balsamic Asparagus. The tangy vinegar-glazed vegetables are a nice paring with the creamy pasta.

If you’d like a fresh green salad with your pasta, we recommend some simple mixed greens tossed with Citrus Salad Dressing.

Or, if you’re the type that can’t have pasta night without a side of Garlic Bread, pop a batch of that into the oven to serve alongside your pasta with salmon.