Oven roasted lemon butter salmon tossed through pasta and finished with fresh herbs is a fabulous easy dinner. Baked Lemon Butter Salmon Pasta is a fuss free, restaurant quality meal!
Salmon is my favourite fish, so I’m always looking for new ways to use it in recipes. My “go to” way of cooking salmon is in a skillet with some kind of sauce, or rubbed with a spice mix then grilled on the BBQ or cooked as an easy sheet pan salmon meal. Mmmm…
What I don’t do enough is roasted salmon. So today I want to share a slightly different way of cooking with salmon – roasting it with lemon, butter and garlic, then tossing it through pasta.
This salmon pasta starts with salmon roasted with lemon, butter and garlic. Cook it through so it’s still nice and juicy inside but with a nice bit of browning on the surface.
Then flake the salmon – into fairly big chunks, remembering that the salmon will break up a bit more as you toss it with the pasta.
Add the pasta and toss gently, dispersing the salmon throughout it and most importantly, coating it in all those GORGEOUS ROASTING JUICES!!!!
I like to hit it with some more fresh lemon juice at the end, and also toss through some lovely fresh herbs. I’ve used dill and parsley here, a pretty classic flavor combination with herbs. But this will work with almost any fresh herb – like basil, chives, oregano.
You may have noticed that there is no parmesan on this pasta. That’s because traditionally, parmesan is not used in seafood pasta. I am guessing the history behind this is that parmesan has a fairly strong flavor so it can detract from the delicate flavors of seafood – which make sense.
But that’s never stopped me! So while I haven’t shown parmesan in these photos, you should most definitely feel free to garnish away as much as you want!
Must-Try Pasta Recipes
Did you enjoy this Baked Lemon Butter Salmon Pasta? Be sure to a leave a comment and a rating below!
Baked Lemon Butter Salmon Pasta
Ingredients
For The Salmon
- 1 pound salmon filets skinless and boneless
- 2 cloves garlic finely sliced
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- salt and black pepper
For The Pasta
- ½ pound fettuccine or other pasta of choice, cooked per packet directions
- ¼ cup chopped fresh dill or parsley, combination, or just one of them*
For Serving
- lemon wedges
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 390°F.
- Place salmon in a small baking dish. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
- Top with butter and garlic, drizzle over lemon and olive oil.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until salmon is just cooked through.
- Cool for a few minutes, then flake into large chunks – it will break up more when tossing.
- Add pasta and herbs into the pan. Toss gently to coat pasta with pan juices.
- Add more lemon if desired. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately! Traditionally, seafood pastas are not garnished with parmesan but you can do so if you wish.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
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Does this also work with canned salmon? Fresh salmon is hard to get by here.
I have never tried this recipe with canned salmon but would love to hear how it turns out for you!
This was so easy and very tasty. I did alter the recipe a bit by sauteing some onions, carrots and celery and stirring that in when tossing in the pasta and herbs toward the end. Also, I found that reserving a little water from the pasta and adding it at step number six helped make the dish creamier. I used fresh basil as my herb and it was great in this recipe. I didn’t use parmesan and this dish was perfectly tasty without it. I can imagine adding this to my regular dinner rotation and serving this to company.
if I am using leftover salmon from your garlic butter salmon recipe, do you recommend melting more butter, garlic, lemon and dill to add to the already cooked salmon? I can’t wait to try this. Thanks so much
Hi Lori, if you taste it and it feels like it could use some more flavor you can also add while reheating it. But if using leftover garlic butter salmon it should be fine to just reheat and add to the recipe.
This was just delicious! Simple and flavorful and going into the dinner rotation!
My family loves this recipe! We often grill our salmon during the summer but as soon as it warms up, this is one of my go to dishes!
I love to cook but am busy – running a business, kids, grandkids, husband … I’ve cooked this recipe for guest, friends and family! I love this recipe, it is elegant, easy and DELICIOUS. thank you! M
Delicious and simple! I used an end piece of salmon and it still took about 20 minutes to cook, I ended up having to break it up into smaller pieces to cook through. It didn’t get browned like the picture ethough, so next time I may up the heat a tad. I added a few tablespoons of capers (drained) around the fish as it baked and it added a great flavor to the dish! My daughter devoured it. Will definitely make again
That sounds delicious, Shammah! So glad you both enjoyed it.
Easy to make and loved by whole family! It’s in our regular rotation!
That is so great! Glad to hear this was a hit with everyone.
I made this tonight and it was delicious!! My only alteration was to add 1/4 of a red onion along with the garlic when I was cooking the salmon.
This recipe will is definitely going to become a go-to in our home!!