Pasta al Salmone (Salmon Pasta)
Pasta al salmone is a creamy, comforting Italian pasta dish made with fresh salmon, aromatic garlic and onion, and a silky cashew cream sauce. Make it for dinner or date night. This easy recipe is dairy free and can easily be made gluten free.
For more Italian pasta dishes, try my Margherita pasta, spaghetti alla nerano, or caprese penne pasta.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this salmon dish:
- Rigatoni or penne pasta – or another short pasta shape.
- Salmon – this dish can be made with fresh or smoked salmon, but I went with fresh for this recipe.
- Olive oil
- Aromatics – yellow onion and garlic to build flavor.
- Cashew cream sauce – olive oil, raw cashews, water, fresh lemon juice, white wine vinegar, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
- Capers – add a salty, briny flavor.
- Fresh parsley – for garnish.
How to Make Pasta al Salmone: Step By Step
Here are some quick visual instructions. The full instructions and ingredient list will be in the printable recipe card below!
- Cook pasta. Cook the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water until al dente according to the package instructions. Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water before draining.
- Prepare the salmon. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season each fillet with seasonings of choice. Cook the salmon for 3-5 minutes on each side or until cooked through to your liking (or depending on the thickness of your fillets). Remove from the pan and flake with a fork.
- Saute the aromatics. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and saute the onion until soft and lightly browned. This could take anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes. Add in the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 more minute. Remove from the heat.
- Make sauce. In a high-speed blender, combine the cashews, water, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add the sauteed onions and garlic, then blend until completely smooth. Season to taste with more salt and pepper as needed.
- Combine. Toss cooked pasta with sauce, capers, and flaked salmon. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Helpful Tips
- Don’t overcook the salmon. It’s done when it flakes easily with a fork.
- Use vegetable broth instead of water for more flavor.
- Cooking wild salmon vs farm raised. Wild sockeye salmon is usually thinner than farm-raised or Atlantic salmon, so plan to cook farm-raised salmon longer and wild salmon shorter to avoid overcooking it.
Quick Tip: You’ll have some leftover sauce, which is great for reheating since it dries up a little once it’s chilled.
Storage
Fridge: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Store any leftover sauce is a separate airtight jar or container.
Reheat gently with a couple tablespoons of the leftover cashew cream.
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make this pasta al salmone recipe using what you already have? Here are some ideas…
- No yellow onion? – you can also use shallot.
- Make it gluten free – use your favorite gluten free pasta.
- Add-ins – lemon zest on top for more lemon flavor, halved cherry tomatoes, red pepper flakes for heat, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pasta al salmone is an Italian dish with a creamy sauce made of white wine, heavy cream, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, and olive oil that gets served over penne pasta and tossed with poached or smoked salmon.
Yes, they’re the same thing. There are many names for this dish such as pasta salmone, penne alla salmone, penne salmone, pennette al salmone, pasta alla salmone, etc, but they’re all the same thing.
Yes, smoked salmon adds another layer of flavor and cuts down on cooking time.
More Italian Cuisine
I hope you love this Pasta al Salmone! If you make this recipe, please leave a comment & a star rating below. Thank you!
Pasta al Salmone (Salmon Pasta)
Ingredients
- 12 ounces rigatoni, penne, or another short pasta shape
- ¾ pound salmon cut into 2 fillets
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divded
- salmon seasonings of choice
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup raw cashews
- ¾ cup water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons diamond crystal kosher salt, to taste start with ¾ teaspoon if using anything else
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2-3 tablespoons capers
- minced fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Cook pasta. Cook the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water until al dente according to the package instructions. Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water before draining.
- Prepare the salmon. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season each fillet with seasonings of choice. Cook the salmon for 3-5 minutes on each side or until cooked through to your liking (or depending on the thickness of your fillets). Remove from the pan and flake with a fork.
- Saute the aromatics. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and saute the onion until soft and lightly browned. This could take anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes. Add in the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 more minute. Remove from the heat.
- Make sauce. In a high-speed blender, combine the cashews, water, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add the sauteed onions and garlic, then blend until completely smooth. Season to taste with more salt and pepper as needed. Thin with some of the reserved pasta water if needed.
- Combine. Toss cooked pasta with sauce, capers, and flaked salmon. Garnish with parsley and serve.