Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta with Lemon & Crème Fraîche

If you’re looking for a quick pasta dinner for two, this creamy smoked salmon pasta is one of those recipes that’s ready ridiculously quickly but still feels a little bit special. It combines smoked salmon with lemon, courgette, spring onions and half-fat crème fraîche, and because it’s made with very thin capellini pasta, you can have the whole thing on the table in around 15 minutes.

This recipe was originally shared with me by Marie from the Tummy2mummy blog, and I can completely see why it works. Smoked salmon and lemon are lovely together anyway, then the crème fraîche and a little pasta water make a simple creamy sauce without needing to start messing about making a separate sauce in another saucepan.

You only need 100g smoked salmon for two portions too, so smoked salmon trimmings are perfect here. Nobody is going to know whether your salmon started life as beautiful neat slices once you’ve torn it into pieces and mixed it through pasta!

Ingredients for creamy smoked salmon pasta

For two portions you will need:

• 200g capellini pasta
• 100g smoked salmon
• 1 fresh lemon
• 1 medium courgette
• 2 spring onions
• 2 tbsp half-fat crème fraîche
• Capers, optional
• 1 tsp coconut oil

You’ll also need to save a little of the pasta cooking water before draining it.

There aren’t many ingredients, which is one of the things I like about this recipe. The smoked salmon, lemon and crème fraîche are doing most of the work flavour-wise, so you don’t need half the contents of the spice cupboard as well.

How to make smoked salmon pasta

Start by using a vegetable peeler to peel the courgette into long, thin ribbons. Finely chop the spring onions and put them to one side with the courgette.

Snap the capellini pasta in half and cook it in a large pan of salted boiling water according to the packet instructions. Capellini is extremely thin and cooks quickly, so keep an eye on it rather than wandering off and forgetting about it.

Before draining the pasta, scoop out a mugful of the cooking water and put it to one side.

While the pasta is cooking, tear the smoked salmon into pieces.

Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil in a frying pan over a low heat and add the salmon.

Grate the lemon zest into the pan, then add the courgette ribbons and chopped spring onions. Stir everything together while the vegetables soften slightly.

Add the capers at this stage if you’re using them.

Once the pasta is cooked, add a splash of the reserved pasta water to the frying pan, then drain the pasta and add it to the salmon and vegetables.

Add the two tablespoons of half-fat crème fraîche and squeeze in the lemon juice. Toss everything together gently so that the crème fraîche and pasta water combine and coat the pasta.

Serve straight away.

If cooking pasta is something you sometimes struggle to judge, my how to cook pasta guide has lots more tips.

Why does pasta water make the sauce creamy?

Before you drain your pasta, don’t forget to save some of the cooking water. It doesn’t look particularly exciting, but it’s really useful in a recipe like this.

The starch in the water helps the crème fraîche and other ingredients come together and coat the pasta rather than leaving you with a blob of crème fraîche sitting in one place.

You don’t need to tip the whole mug in. Start with a splash and add more if you think the sauce needs loosening.

It’s much easier to add a little more than try to retrieve it after you’ve accidentally created smoked salmon pasta soup!

What is capellini pasta?

Capellini is a very thin type of pasta, sometimes called angel hair pasta.

Because it’s so thin, it cooks much faster than ordinary spaghetti, which is one reason this recipe is so quick.

Check your packet rather than relying entirely on a fixed cooking time because brands can vary. You want the pasta cooked rather than mushy, and with capellini there isn’t an enormous window between the two!

Can I use spaghetti instead?

The recipe uses 200g capellini, and that’s what the timings are based around.

You could experiment with spaghetti or linguine, but they’ll generally take longer to cook, so follow the instructions on your packet rather than using the capellini cooking time.

The smoked salmon, courgette and crème fraîche sauce would work with other long pasta shapes, but if you want the really quick dinner this recipe gives you, capellini is ideal.

Why use smoked salmon trimmings?

Smoked salmon trimmings can be much cheaper than buying neat slices of smoked salmon, and they’re absolutely fine for a recipe like this.

You’re tearing the salmon into pieces anyway, so there’s very little point paying extra purely because it looked prettier in the packet.

I’d rather save the beautiful slices for something where they’re actually going to remain beautiful slices!

You need 100g smoked salmon for this recipe, so check the chilled section when you’re shopping and see what’s best value.

What does the lemon do?

You use both the zest and juice of one fresh lemon.

Smoked salmon has quite a distinctive salty, smoky flavour, while crème fraîche gives you the creamy sauce, so the lemon gives the dish some freshness and stops everything feeling too heavy.

Add the zest while the salmon and vegetables are warming in the pan, then squeeze in the juice when you add the crème fraîche at the end.

Millie left a comment on this recipe saying she loved the salmon with the lemon, and I think that’s probably my favourite part of the combination too.

Why add courgette?

The courgette is peeled into long ribbons rather than chopped into chunks, so it mixes really nicely with the thin strands of pasta.

It also cooks quickly, which is important in a dinner that’s only taking around 15 minutes in the first place.

You don’t want to spend ten minutes cooking the pasta and another half an hour waiting for enormous chunks of courgette to soften!

If you’ve somehow ended up with a fridge full of courgettes, my creamy courgette pasta is another easy way of using them.

Do I have to use capers?

No. They’re optional.

Capers have quite a strong salty flavour that works well with smoked salmon and lemon, but they’re definitely one of those ingredients people either love or would quite happily never encounter again.

If you like them, add them. If you don’t, leave them out. Dinner shouldn’t involve forcing yourself to eat capers because a recipe on the internet told you to!

Can I use crème fraîche instead of cream in salmon pasta?

Yes – in fact, this recipe is specifically made with two tablespoons of half-fat crème fraîche.

You don’t need double cream to make a creamy smoked salmon pasta sauce. The crème fraîche combines with a little of the starchy pasta water and lemon juice to coat the pasta.

I haven’t tested direct substitutions for the crème fraîche, so I’d rather stick with the ingredient the recipe was actually made with than give you a long list of alternatives and pretend they’ll all behave identically.

Is this a smoked salmon pasta without cream?

If by cream you mean double or single cream, then yes.

The creamy element here comes from half-fat crème fraîche rather than cream.

It’s worth making that distinction because quite a few smoked salmon pasta recipes use cream, whereas you only need two tablespoons of crème fraîche for this one.

Can I use fresh salmon instead?

This recipe was made with smoked salmon, which has a very different flavour and is already ready to eat.

I wouldn’t simply swap it for raw fresh salmon and follow exactly the same cooking instructions because you’d then need to make sure the salmon was properly cooked.

If you’ve got fresh salmon to use, I’d choose a recipe specifically written for fresh salmon rather than trying to turn this into one.

Can I add prawns?

Smoked salmon and prawns can work together, but this particular recipe hasn’t been tested with prawns.

If that’s the combination you’re after, my prawn spaghetti recipe would be a better starting point.

Is smoked salmon pasta healthy?

This recipe gives you smoked salmon, courgette and spring onions alongside pasta and a small amount of half-fat crème fraîche.

I wouldn’t describe it as healthy simply because we’ve used reduced-fat crème fraîche rather than double cream, though. One ingredient swap doesn’t magically determine whether your whole diet is healthy.

Smoked salmon is an oily fish, but it can also be relatively high in salt, so it’s another good example of why looking at foods in context makes more sense than declaring them universally good or bad.

For me, this is simply a quick pasta dinner with ingredients I enjoy.

If you’re interested in pasta and healthy eating more generally, my guide to whether pasta is healthy might be useful too.

Is this suitable for Slimming World?

There are quite a few people finding this recipe while searching for Slimming World salmon pasta, so I know this is something you’re wondering about.

The recipe uses 200g pasta, 100g smoked salmon, two tablespoons of half-fat crème fraîche and a teaspoon of coconut oil alongside the vegetables and lemon.

If you’re currently following Slimming World, check those exact ingredients against the current plan rather than relying on an old Syn calculation online. Products and plans change, so the current information will always be more useful.

You can also have a browse through my Slimming World pasta recipes for more ideas.

What to serve with creamy smoked salmon pasta

This recipe makes two portions and there’s already courgette and spring onion mixed through the pasta, so you can quite happily serve it exactly as it is.

If you want something alongside it, a simple salad or some green vegetables would work nicely.

And yes, you can have garlic bread if you fancy garlic bread. I’m not going to suggest you replace it with a solitary lettuce leaf simply because you’ve landed on a healthy living blog!

Can I make smoked salmon pasta ahead?

I think this is much better eaten freshly made.

Capellini is very thin and the pasta will continue absorbing moisture from the sauce as it sits, so you’re unlikely to get quite the same texture several hours later.

It’s such a quick recipe anyway that this is one of those meals I’d make when I actually wanted to eat it rather than deliberately preparing it the day before.

How do I store leftovers?

If you do have leftovers, cool them promptly and put them in the fridge in a covered container.

Because the dish contains smoked salmon and crème fraîche, don’t leave it sitting around at room temperature unnecessarily.

The pasta will probably absorb more of the sauce while it’s refrigerated, so expect it to be less creamy the following day.

Can you reheat smoked salmon pasta?

If you’re reheating leftovers, make sure they’re heated thoroughly and only reheat what you’re going to eat.

You may find a small splash of water helps loosen the sauce because the pasta will have absorbed some of the moisture while it was refrigerated.

Personally, though, with a recipe designed for two people and ready so quickly, I’d much rather make the amount we were going to eat and enjoy it fresh.

Can you freeze smoked salmon pasta?

I wouldn’t make this specifically for freezing.

The delicate capellini, courgette ribbons and crème fraîche sauce aren’t ingredients I’d expect to be at their best after freezing and reheating.

If freezer-friendly dinners are what you need, I’d choose a more robust pasta dish instead.

Creamy smoked salmon pasta FAQs

How long does smoked salmon pasta take?

This is a very quick recipe. Capellini cooks in just a few minutes and the salmon and vegetables only need a short time in the frying pan, so you can have dinner ready in around 15 minutes.

Is smoked salmon already cooked?

Smoked salmon sold ready to eat doesn’t need cooking in the same way as a raw salmon fillet. Here you’re gently warming it as part of the pasta dish.

Always check the packaging of the product you’ve bought for its storage and preparation instructions.

Can I use ordinary spaghetti?

You can experiment with spaghetti, but it will probably take longer to cook than capellini. Follow the packet instructions.

What can I use instead of coconut oil?

The tested recipe uses one teaspoon of coconut oil. If you change the cooking fat, remember that this may alter the flavour and nutritional information.

Can I leave out the courgette?

You could experiment without it, but courgette is part of the tested recipe and adds quite a lot of volume to a pasta dish for two.

Can I double the recipe?

The measured recipe makes two portions. You could try scaling the ingredients for more people, although you’ll obviously need a frying pan large enough to toss everything together properly.

More pasta recipes to try

If you like creamy pasta, my creamy courgette pasta uses Quark and Cheddar and is a lovely vegetarian option.

For another seafood pasta, have a look at my prawn spaghetti with garlic mushrooms, or browse all my pasta recipes for sauces, bakes, salads and quick dinner ideas.

I’ve also got my Slimming World pasta recipes if that’s what brought you here in the first place.

This smoked salmon pasta is definitely one I’d choose when I wanted something a little different without spending ages cooking. Lemon, smoked salmon and crème fraîche do most of the hard work for you, which is exactly the sort of arrangement I like from a 15-minute dinner!

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