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This Creamy Salmon Pasta is your new midweek winner – a 15 minute meal which is SO full of flavour and just the easiest dish ever. Gluten free spaghetti with salmon flakes and a creamy lemon and garlic sauce. I just LOVE this Salmon Crème Fraîche Pasta recipe.
This Salmon Pasta is the BEST 15 Minute Dinner
- Why choose this recipe? This Creamy Salmon Pasta is SO easy – ready in under 15 minutes with a zesty, garlic, creamy sauce. It’s so good I lick the bowl every time… don’t judge me. You know you’ll do it too.
- Improved Recipe: I first published my Salmon Crème Fraîche Pasta recipe in 2022 but now for 2025 it’s had the ultimate upgrade, with bigger flavours and an even creamier sauce. Plus new photos and step-by-step guide.
- Serving Suggestions: Serve this salmon pasta with gluten free garlic bread for mopping up that sauce, a cheeky side of air fryer chips, or a more angelic pairing with my homemade rocket salad. Or just enjoy it on its own!
Table of Contents
Ingredients and Substitutions
There’s a printable recipe card below for this creamy salmon creme fraiche pasta with the full quantities. But here are the main ingredients and ideas for any swaps.
- Gluten Free Pasta: I like to use spaghetti in this dish but you can use any pasta shape. Rummo and Garofalo are my favourite gluten free pastas and worth the extra pennies.
- Salmon: For a twist on this recipe you could use hot smoked salmon instead, you’d just need to skip the cooking part on the recipe. Just flake it and add it in.
- Butter: I’ve tried with olive oil instead but using butter makes this 1000x better.
- Lemon: Fresh is best but you can also use lemon juice from a bottle.
- Garlic: Use fresh garlic – or go for frozen/a jar of chopped garlic or garlic paste.
- Parmesan Cheese
- Creme Fraiche: You can use full-fat or half-fat creme fraiche, or substitute with a cream cheese if you only have that. Both work well.
How to Make The Best Salmon Pasta
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free salmon pasta is to make.
Get the gluten free pasta cooking while you make the sauce – start by adding the butter to a frying pan and melt on a medium heat.
Once melted, add the salmon fillets (skin side down) and fry for 2-3 minutes for flipping. Fry for another 2-3 minutes until cooked through. Remove the skin (discard) and flake the flesh.
Place the pan back on a low heat and add the garlic. Fry for 1 minute then add the parmesan cheese, creme fraiche, lemon juice and 2 tbsp reserved pasta water.
Simmer for 1-2 minutes to thicken slightly. When the spaghetti is cooked, remove it from the pan using tongs, straight into the frying pan.
Add the salmon flakes, mix together and then serve with a good seasoning of salt and pepper and fresh chopped parsley.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
MAKING AHEAD: This dish is best made fresh and it’s so quick to do so. If you want to get ahead you could cook the salmon first, but the flavour of the dish comes from using the same pan to cook the sauce, so you’ll lose that.
STORING LEFTOVERS: Any leftovers of this salmon pasta can be kept in the fridge and reheated but it’s definitely better fresh. Gluten free pasta can go hard when refrigerated, and break up when reheated, which is why I use the more expensive brands. They tend to reheat a lot better.
TO FREEZE: This salmon pasta isn’t suitable for freezing – it’ll just become mush.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this easy bread pudding recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
This recipe relies heavily on dairy with butter, creme fraiche and parmesan cheese. It would be quite difficult to replicate this dairy free and get the same result.
You could try using a dairy free cream cheese instead of creme fraiche, a vegan margarine instead of butter, and a vegan alternative to parmesan. But I personally have not tested this myself.
Of course – this creamy salmon pasta is a great base for variations. Try adding some juicy king prawns (cook them alongside the salmon) or a pinch of chilli flakes and cayenne pepper for a fiery twist. You can also stir some peas or shredded spinach leaves into the sauce for a pop of green.
More Salmon Recipes
If you like this Creamy Salmon Pasta recipe then make sure you check out these other gluten free salmon recipes too…
- Teriyaki Salmon Noodles
- Salmon Tray Bake
- Creamy Tuscan Salmon
- Broccoli and Salmon Quiche
- Tandoori Salmon Tacos
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Creamy Salmon Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 150 g gluten free spaghetti, (I use Rummo or Garofalo but any supermarket brand will work)
- 2 salmon fillets
- 25 g butter
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 40 g grated parmesan cheese
- 4 tbsp creme fraiche
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh parsley, chopped, to serve
Instructions
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Once boiling, add the gluten free spaghetti and cook as per the pack instructions (usually around 10 minutes). While this is cooking, prepare the rest of the dish.
- Add the butter to a frying pan and melt on a medium heat. Once melted, add the salmon fillets (skin side down) and fry for 2-3 minutes for flipping and frying for another 2-3 minutes until cooked through.
- Remove the salmon from the pan, remove the skin (discard) and flake the flesh.
- Place the pan back on a low heat and add the garlic. Fry for 1 minute then add the parmesan cheese, creme fraiche, lemon juice and 2 tbsp reserved pasta water. Simmer for 1-2 minutes to thicken slightly.
- When the spaghetti is cooked, remove it from the pan using tongs, straight into the frying pan – don't worry about draining it off too much as the starchy water helps the sauce stick to the pasta!
- Add the salmon flakes, mix together and then serve with a good seasoning of salt and pepper and fresh chopped parsley.
Notes
- Top Tip: If the sauce becomes too thick or you want to loosen it a little, add some of the cooking water from the pasta (1 tbsp at-a-time) and mix well.
- Storage: This dish is definitely best made fresh. Leftovers can be kept in the fridge but it’s best eaten at the time of cooking for sure.
- New and Improved Recipe: This recipe was improved in May 2025 but if you miss the original, I’ll post it in the comments at the end of this post. Trust me though, this improved version is SO much better!!
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos of this method if you find it easier to follow a visual guide.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and a little comment if you make this Salmon Pasta recipe and love it. It really helps support my blog and get the recipe out there to more people! Thank you xx
Nutrition
More Gluten Free Pasta Recipes
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I reworked this recipe in May 2025 and I think the new version is 1000 x better than the original! However, if you liked the original and miss it, here it is:
Ingredients
* 250 g gluten free pasta
* 2 fillets of hot smoked salmon
* 1 tsp chopped garlic
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 100 g frozen peas
* Juice of 1 lemon
* 200 g full fat crème fraîche
Instructions
* Boil a pan of salted water and get the gluten free pasta on to cook as per the pack instructions. While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce.
* Remove the skin from the smoked salmon fillets and roughly chop the fish. Set to one side.
* Add the olive oil to a large frying pan and place on a low heat. Add the garlic and fry for 2-3 minutes until it softens.
* Add the frozen peas, lemon juice and crème fraîche to the pan and mix together until combined. Heat for 4-5 minutes, then add the smoked salmon chunks. Stir well.
* Once the pasta has cooked, drain and add to the frying pan. Mix well and serve straight away with a sprinkle of chives on top.
Lovely recipe! I added broccoli 🥦 & green beans & used mascapone instead, really nice & creamy 😋 thankyou
Genuinely haven’t stopped making this since developing the new recipe, I’m obsessed!! Anyone else!? xx
Hi Sarah – hope you don’t mind – being veggie, I’m replacing the salmon with toasted cashew nuts – and serving with your new rocket salad …. lovely summer evening meal for me and my daughter when she comes to visit! 🙂
Lovely recipe! I added broccoli 🥦 & green beans & used mascapone instead, really nice & creamy 😋 thankyou
Made this recipe and added some asparagus. It was delicious.
Neither me or my other half follow a gluten free diet but have tried some of the recipies from Sarah’s website.
Other half isn’t a salmon fan but has said he would eat this again.
Thank you!
Sarah, another winner, this was so quick and easy but also delicious. I had some hot smoked salmon I wanted to use up so used that instead and it was perfect. Thanks so much.
Delicious, will add broccoli or peas next time 😊
Ooo good shout!!