Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

This Salmon Pasta Alfredo has delectably creamy alfredo sauce with beautiful hot smoked salmon and dill for a seriously easy and tasty dinner.

Pasta Alfredo - This Salmon Pasta Alfredo has delectably creamy alfredo sauce with beautiful hot smoked salmon and dill for a seriously easy and tasty dinner.

Salmon Pasta Alfredo is a classic Italian dish with beautiful creamy flavours. Like a lot of Italian food, it is surprisingly simple to prepare, and has just a few ingredients.

How to make Salmon Alfredo Pasta creamy?

We start by melting our butter and mixing through cream, then we’ll add some grated parmesan. This is our pasta alfredo sauce, simple, delicious and rich. It's so very creamy.

Then we’ll mix some pasta water through it to loosen it, then toss in the cooked pasta and greens.

We’ll top with flaked hot smoked salmon (how wonderful - there’s no need to cook it), and dill sprigs. It’s such an easy dinner you’ll have ready in a jiffy.

Key Salmon Pasta Alfredo Ingredients

Hot Smoked Salmon fillets (like these) are whole fillets of salmon that are cured in salty water and then smoked, so all you need to do to is flake them straight from the packet. They are, quite possibly, (along with BBQ Chicken) one of the simplest "no cook" proteins going.

They're different from traditional smoked salmon (cold smoked salmon) which is served in slices and smoked at a lower temperature and seem fresher or raw.

Alfredo Sauce is made of parmesan (try to use block parmesan and finely grate it yourself), butter and thickened cream (double cream). Yes, it's full of dairy. And double yes, it's DELICIOUS. This is definitely the indulgent recipe in this week's meal plan, but it's absolutely worth it. If you want a lighter version of this dinner, you can try Creamy Salmon and Lemon Pasta with Greens here - this uses Greek yoghurt and lemon instead of cream.

For greens, I used broccolini, asparagus, frozen peas, but you can use any combination of fresh greens or vegetables you have on hand, like zucchini or mushrooms.

Dill is the finishing touch on this dinner, and it's worth including. It has a unique taste that goes so well with Salmon.

Pasta - any short pasta will do here, I used Fiorelli which as a short tube with ruffle on the end, but you can use any penne, rigatoni or fusili or orecchiette.

More Pasta Recipes

If you are looking for some more seafood and pasta dinners, check out our

If you are looking for one pot pasta recipes (where you cook the pasta in with the other ingredients), try our

One Pot Greek Chicken Orzo with Lemon and Mint,
or our Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup
or our Four Cheese Corn Pasta.

Or if you're looking for a fresh pasta with lots of greens try

How to make Salmon Pasta Alfredo

1. Place a large pot of salted water over high heat, and cover with a lid.

Prep broccolini, asparagus, frozen peas, dill and parmesan. Remove salmon fillets from the package.

2. Trim broccolini and asparagus and slice into 2 cm pieces, on an angle. Measure out frozen peas. Roughly chop dill. Remove salmon fillets from the package. Grate parmesan.

1 bunch broccolini
1 bunch asparagus
1 cup frozen peas
⅓ bunch dill
300g hot smoked salmon fillets
160g parmesan

3. Add pasta to boiling water and set a timer for one minute less than indicated on the packet.

350g short pasta

4. Place frying pan on medium heat and add butter. Once bubbling, add cream and reduce to a simmer for 1-2 mins.

60g butter
160 ml thickened cream

5. Reduce heat and stir through grated parmesan until it melts, to make a thick sauce. Remove from heat when smooth.

160g grated parmesan

6. When the timer goes, add broccolini, asparagus and peas to the boiling pasta water. Cook for another minute.

1 bunch broccolini
1 bunch asparagus
1 cup frozen peas

7. Reserve about a mugful of pasta water, then drain pasta. If your child likes plain pasta, serve their portion of pasta and greens now.

Pasta Alfredo - Add drained pasta and greens to the cream. To serve, flake salmon over the pasta and top with dill.

8. Add drained pasta and greens to the cream, add a little pasta water to loosen, and toss through.

To serve kids, flake salmon alongside.

To serve adults, flake salmon over the pasta and top with dill.

300g hot smoked salmon fillets
⅓ bunch dill

Top tip

If you can use freshly grated parmesan (as opposed to ready grated), I’d really recommend using that. You can grate it finely and it doesn’t contain anti-coagulants.

Substitutions for Pasta Alfredo

Alternative proteins - Swap salmon for BBQ (rotisserie) chicken and shred it with a fork.
Vegetarian - You can enjoy this without the salmon for a beautiful vegetarian classic.
Gluten Free - Swap pasta for a gluten free version.
Dairy Free - Create a roux by mixing olive oil with a tablespoon of flour, then add almond milk, vegetable stock and nutritional yeast, and simmer until a thick sauce.

Kid-Friendly Variations

Option to serve plain pasta and sauce on the side.
Serve salmon flakes on the side.
Skip the dill.

Equipment for Salmon Pasta Alfredo

You will need a lidded pot, a stovetop, a deep frying pan.

Recipe