Get into summer full swing with this light lemon garlic pasta with salmon. Full of fresh, summer flavors!
Here’s one of my favorite light, summery, sunny type pastas. This light lemon garlic pasta with salmon also has the good fortune of being healthy!
It’s all about simplicity and freshness. With fresh basil, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, capers and salmon, you practically have summer on a plate.
And to top it off, for a tiny bit of decadence, we’ll sprinkle some Parmesan loving on it. There’s no cream sauce to carry it so this is all about the goodness and tastiness of high quality olive oil mixed with fresh, awesome flavors.
Shall we?
HOW TO MAKE LIGHT LEMON GARLIC PASTA WITH SALMON (1 MIN):
LIGHT LEMON GARLIC PASTA TIPS AND TRICKS:
Start off by cooking the pasta. I went with rigatoni for this recipe but you can use any kind of pasta you like: spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, pappardelle or other tube-type pastas. If you want it even healthier, sub with whole wheat pasta instead.
While the pasta cooks, season your salmon fillets with salt and pepper to taste and bake it until cooked. You can also pan-sear the salmon for a something crispier, about 3-5 minutes per side, depending on thickness. However you decide to prep your salmon, make sure to flake or cube it into bite-sized pieces so there’s enough to go around once we mix it all up later.
Mince the garlic, chop the basil and get your lemon rind ready while the pasta and salmon cooks. As usual, I’m gonna advocate using a microplane for grating your rind and Parmesan cheese. It’s worth it.
Drain the pasta and mix it all up with some good quality olive oil. You’ll want something high quality because this will be the ‘sauce’ that binds the flavors together, so it has be delicious. I used extra virgin olive oil here. If you don’t know the difference between regular olive oil, virgin olive oil and extra virgin olive oil, here’s a great guide explaining it. Feel free to add more olive oil if you feel the pasta is a bit too dry for your liking and be sure to add some while heating up any leftovers.
Now it’s time to add in some fresh basil to the pasta. If you can’t justify getting fresh basil for just one dish and don’t have any growing in your garden, an alternative is to use lightly dried basil from Gourmet Garden. It looks like this and you should be able to find it in the fresh vegetable aisle in your grocery store. They smell fresher than the usual dried herbs and keep long in the fridge. Throw in some freshly minced garlic with some salt and pepper to taste, then toss the pasta to mix.
Then we add fresh lemon juice, lemon zest and capers to the pasta for some citrus flavor. By now the salmon should be cooked, so flake it then add it to the pasta. Be gentle during the tossing so you don’t end up with salmon shreds.
Baking time of the salmon will vary depending on how thick your fillet is. The standard rule of thumb is to cook for 10 minutes per inch of thickness which is measured from the salmon’s thickest point. If you start getting too much whitish stuff, you’ve cooked it too long.
And you’re ready to serve. Now the fun part begins by plating the pasta and topping it with freshly grated or shaved Parmesan cheese. I prefer shaved cause every now and then I find a Parmesan shaving and it feels like you’ve discovered some treasure. Also, if you happen to like olives, this pasta really goes well with it!
Happy eating!
PS: If you enjoy the pairing of lemon with salmon, try out lemon and parmesan crusted salmon.
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Light Lemon Garlic Pasta with Salmon
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Description
Get into summer full swing with this light lemon garlic pasta with salmon. Full of fresh, summer flavors!
Ingredients
- 16 oz. rigatoni/pasta
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lb. salmon fillet
- Zest of one lemon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons capers
- Parmesan cheese, shaved or grated
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions
- Meanwhile, season salmon with salt and pepper to taste and bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, depending on thickness
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain and toss with garlic, olive oil, basil and season with salt and pepper to taste
- Add lemon juice, zest and capers to the pasta and toss to mix
- Flake the salmon into bite-size pieces
- Gently toss salmon with the pasta
- Dish and serve hot topped with freshly grated or shaved Parmesan cheese
Notes
If the pasta feels too dry when reheating leftovers, add more olive oil after heating it up.
♡ Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com. You can learn more about it here.
114 Comments
Erin
May 15, 2017 at 4:59 PMThis is just what I was looking for, no cream, no sour cream, just nice and light but not wimpy, I have 3 guys to feed.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
May 23, 2017 at 8:31 PMHope it filled them up, Erin!
Cherie Chaney
January 6, 2021 at 5:10 AMYou can double the recipe so that there’s more to love.
Brent and Toni
March 23, 2017 at 11:55 PMHi Farah! We just made your recipe and LOVED IT. So simple yet so delicious. We did add a scandalous lil’ parmesan cheese sprinkle and it was totally outrageous. Thanks!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
March 26, 2017 at 3:05 PMI love it! Living life on the edge 😉
Josie
February 5, 2017 at 2:05 AMWhat a devine summer meal! So fresh and tasty. Loved it!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
March 26, 2017 at 3:03 PMThank you, Josie! I’m happy you liked it 🙂
Ali
December 4, 2016 at 3:05 AMCan I make this recipe with KETCH Canned Pink Salmon? I have tons of this however, don’t know how to use it or cook with it.
The Cooking Jar
December 4, 2016 at 1:29 PMI’m not familiar with the brand so you’ll have to check if it’s cooked or not. If it’s cooked, I would just heat it up and add it to the pasta at the end, if not, cook it over the stove top of whatever cooking instructions they suggest on the can. And if it has skin, remove any skin. Good luck!
Ali
December 9, 2016 at 1:12 AMHey, how much 1/2 lb of salmon in terms of 100g cans of fish?
The Cooking Jar
January 23, 2017 at 4:25 PMSorry for the late reply, Ali. I’ve been playing catch up since Thanksgiving! 1/2 lb. should be 226 grams is what a conversion tells me. So 2 cans for 1/2 lb. The recipe calls for 1 lb though so I would use 4 cans for that. Good luck!
Jan
October 29, 2016 at 9:09 AMFound it on line and I made it last night. “Delicious.” Prepped in the morning and put in little ramekins. Came together in a flash while pasta was cooking. Did precut salmon into pieces and cooked for several minutes on the stove in a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Added calamata sliced olives and white wine to the sauce. It was light and heavenly. The shaved parmasean was a nice touch. Thanks, Farah, this is a keeper and I look forward to making again
especially for small dinner parties. Wish we had leftovers!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
November 10, 2016 at 1:23 PMYou’re welcome Jan. I’m glad I’m not the only one enjoying the shaved Parmesan treasures!
Emma
October 6, 2016 at 2:37 PMDelicious! Made this for the first time tonight and it is fantastically tasty and so simple and healthy too!
The Cooking Jar
October 8, 2016 at 3:07 PMThanks for letting me know, Emma! Every time I revisit this recipe to answer comments, I always feel like making it again. It’s such a light but rewarding meal and I always get excited finding some shaved Parmesan in there 😉
Erica
July 25, 2016 at 12:06 AMSuper yummy. I subbed green and black olive for capers but I had everything else on hand. Thank you!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
July 30, 2016 at 10:25 PMGood call on the sub! Olives work perfectly with this as well 🙂
Charlie
July 24, 2016 at 7:17 AMHi,
Can I make this with frozen salmon? Plan to cook in bulk then freeze, now sure if the basil will survive, should I sub it with pesto?
Thanks,
The Cooking Jar
July 24, 2016 at 2:01 PMYes you can. Just thaw the salmon well before cooking it. The basil most definitely will lose its taste, so a little pesto should work with a caveat. Mixing it all with the pasta will alter the taste a little as opposed to strong, isolated bites with basil. Or you can add fresh basil every time you heat up a meal. Hope this helps!
Mara
July 1, 2016 at 2:47 PMNothing could have been easier, simpler, more delicious and healthy than this great dish which I served hot last night and turned into a salmon pasta salad for lunch today. I am quite inspired by your recipe, Farah, and can’t wait to try variations such as shrimp and chopped fresh tomatoes with your base of lemon, capers, garlic,basil, and olive oil. Thank you so much –
Mara
The Cooking Jar
July 5, 2016 at 1:55 PMThank you for coming back to let me know how you liked it, Mara. I’m always happy to hear a recipe worked out for someone. Shrimp will be wonderful, I can imagine it chilled tossed in lemon, parsley, salt and pepper and maybe some honey to balance out the tartness. Yummy!
Mara
June 30, 2016 at 7:50 PMDear Farah –
I have a bunch of lemons in my fruit bowl, a remaining filet of roast salmon from last night in the fridge, a fresh container of shaved parm, and a hankering for pasta. However, I do not have, and I do not even want, heavy cream, which I thought would be necessary to create a good dish with my ingredients. So I went online, thinking I would not actually find a solution and voila! How lucky I am to find you and your fabulous recipe. I know even before making it that it will be incredible! So I am off the kitchen and send you much sincere gratitude! I’ll check-in with an update tomorrow. Cheers, Mara
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
July 5, 2016 at 1:51 PMHeya Mara! I’ve always associated salmon with something healthy so heavy cream paired with salmon doesn’t work for me. I’m super glad you managed to find a recipe to compliment your leftovers! Now I’m curious about what search words you used to find it. Must have been super long! 😉
Mary Ann Cini
June 14, 2016 at 8:03 AMFull compliments on this recipe Farah. Its simplicity and the flavours make it an absolute winner. you have explained it perfectly well and therefore I find nothing to add to its description. Thank you so much
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
June 23, 2016 at 2:12 PMYou’re very welcome, Mary Ann!
Daniel
May 21, 2016 at 3:13 PMI just made this pasta! It is really good! Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
May 23, 2016 at 4:15 PMThanks for trying it out, Daniel! It’s one of my favorite light pasta recipes 🙂
FoodGeekGraze
August 15, 2015 at 7:47 PMi ate it yesterday. i ate it again today. love love love is officially… loved loved loved.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
August 16, 2015 at 1:04 PMThat’s hilarious. Probably one of the funniest ways someone has told me ‘Made it, ate it, loved it’!
FoodGeekGraze
August 13, 2015 at 1:10 AMfarah, i am not sure if i told you i live in salmon country. i adore the simplicity and yummyness of your construct; i honestly can add capers and lemon to anything and lose my mind over it. i will be making this tomorrow. love love love
The Cooking Jar
August 15, 2015 at 5:05 PMNo, you didn’t but I really love your salmon collection on Pinterest. It gives me so many ideas! Hope you enjoyed this!
Dorothy Dunton
June 20, 2015 at 12:55 PMHi Farah! The minute I saw the title of this dish I thought what a great meal this would be, especially in hot weather! I love adding capers to fish and chicken dishes!
The Cooking Jar
June 22, 2015 at 3:11 PMIt’s really one of my favorite non-creamy pastas, Dorothy. We also like adding in some olives every now and then when we have them!
Carina R Givens
June 16, 2020 at 12:48 PMDelightful and delicious! This is a keeper. I used tri colored trottole pasta and modified with the additions of chopped seeded tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and a little marjoram. Doubles as a salad too! Wonderful recipe.
★★★★★