This easy and delicious Salmon Pesto Pasta is hearty, protein-rich, and full of bright flavors and textures for the ultimate summer pasta dish. Made in about an hour, it’s delicious served warm or cold and the leftovers are even better the next day.
Salmon is such an easy, versatile staple for us — and paired with herby pesto, it’s really next level delicious. Light, yet satisfying and hearty, this vibrant Salmon Pesto Pasta is bright, fresh, and packed with bold flavors and satisfying textures. It comes together easily and is great for making ahead, so it’s perfect for quick summer lunches and dinners, but elevated enough for entertaining.
With flaky salmon, tender pasta, fresh pesto, crunchy roasted pecans, and bright lemon, this Salmon Pesto Pasta is layered with the perfect balance of flavor — each bite just gets better and better. It’s colorful and impressive too, so it’s the ultimate dish that feels fancy, but is actually effortless. Enjoy this all-in-one meal any day of the week — it’s one you can feel good about eating.
If you like this simple, flavorful, recipe full of feel-good ingredients, try some of our other favorites. We love this bright Mediterranean Orzo Salad and this Elote Pasta Salad is always a crowdpleaser.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Bright and Fresh Flavors: With lots of fresh veggies and homemade pesto, this dish is packed with delicious flavors and a zesty lemon kick.
- Perfect Balance of Textures: This pasta has it all — crunchy nuts, tender salmon, crisp veggies and a creamy pesto. It hits every texture and flavor note you’re craving.
- Elevated, Yet Simple: Salmon feels fancy, but this recipe is actually super simple to make. With an easy process and using good quality ingredients with exciting flavors, this pasta is effortless enough for a weekday, but special enough for entertaining.
- Versatile: Serve this warm or chilled, and enjoy it as a main course or part of a larger spread.
Ingredients
- Salmon: Rich and flavorful, use a nice center cut filet.
- Orecchiette: The perfect curved shape, we love this pasta but any small, short-cut works.
- Peas: Use fresh spring peas or frozen, for bright flavor and color.
- Asparagus: Another fresh seasonal ingredient, just be sure to trim the woody ends.
- Parmesan: Savory and nutty, use fresh shavings.
- Butter: For richness.
- Pecans: For a toasty, nutty crunch. Pistachios, walnuts, or pine nuts are delicious options, too.
- Lemon Zest & Juice: Bright and zesty, only fresh lemons will do.
- Pesto: We love using homemade (below), but your favorite store-bought variety will also work.
- Olive Oil: Use a good quality, fruity, extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor.
- Red Pepper Flakes: For a little kick and spice.
For The Pesto:
- Basil Leaves: The key ingredient, use fresh, floral leaves.
- Olive Oil: A high quality, extra virgin olive oil will give the best flavor.
- Garlic Cloves: Sharp and aromatic, essential for flavoring.
- Parmesan: Nutty and savory.
- Pine Nuts: For a rich and toasted flavor.
- Salt & Pepper: Season generously, always.
How To Make Salmon Pesto Pasta
1. Preheat oven to 250°F. Lay herbs on a sheet pan and then place salmon on top. Coat in olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for about 45 min or until salmon is just a little pink inside. Use a fork to flake salmon.
2. Meanwhile, boil salted water and start making pesto. Combine pesto ingredients in a food processor and blend until combined. Season to taste.
3. When pasta has 2 min left, add asparagus and peas to the pasta. Drain and add to a bowl. Alternatively, you could skim veggies off the side and blanch in ice water to stop the cooking and keep them nice and green.
4. In a small skillet, melt butter and add pecans (or other nuts). Cook until golden, about 3 min.
5. Add pasta to a very large bowl and add a nice glug of good olive oil to make sure it doesn’t stick together. Add salmon, pesto, pecans, peas, asparagus and shaved parm. Top with lemon juice, zest, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Don’t Overcook the Salmon: Keep it moist and flaky. Overcooking will cause it to be dry and dense.
- Salt The Pasta Water: Add a generous (and I mean generous!) amount of salt to the water — it’ll feel like a lot, but it should taste like the sea to give the pasta the best flavor.
- Cool Before Adding Pesto: Let the pasta slightly cool before the pesto is added to prevent it from clumping or sticking together. You want the pesto to coat the noodles and incorporate evenly for pesto deliciousness in every bite.
- Toast Pecans: It is so worth it to lightly toast the nuts before adding for maximum flavor. Just be sure to watch them, they toast quickly! And let them cool before mixing in.
- Add Lemon Gradually: Add a little at first, taste and adjust as you go. You can always add more, but you can’t remove it.
Variations & Add-Ins
- Try Another Protein: Salmon is lovely here, but if you want to switch it up, substitute grilled chicken or shrimp for something different.
- Use Different Nuts: Swap the pecans for walnuts or pine nuts for another tasty crunch.
- Add Avocado: Sliced or diced ripe, rich avocados add another layer of creaminess.
- Use Gluten-Free Pasta: There are so many great options available at the grocery store these days, give it a try if you’re gluten-free.
- Make It Extra Herby: Add in fresh herbs like dill, parsley, or even more basil for an extra kick of flavor and brightness.
Storage
Store any leftover pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The faster you eat it, the fresher it’ll taste. Serve it chilled, straight from the fridge, or let it come to room temperature first.
We don’t actually recommend freezing this dish as the texture of the pasta and salmon could change once thawed, and the pesto could brown. Enjoy this pasta fresh!
This is a great make-ahead recipe. Prep each component in advance and assemble when you’re ready to serve, or fully cook and mix together the whole pasta up to a day in advance, store in the fridge, and serve when you’re ready to enjoy.
FAQs
Yes, it won’t have the same flavoring or seasoning as freshly baked, but you can definitely flake in your favorite store-bought canned brand. There are so many varieties available these days.
Sure, store-bought will certainly do the trick, although we love making our own from scratch!
We love small, curved orecchiette since it’s similar in size to the other ingredients, but any short-cut pasta would work. A mezze rigatoni, corkscrew, shell or elbow would be delicious, too.
More Easy Seafood Recipes
- Sea Bass Ceviche
- Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice Bowl
- Scallion Citrus Swordfish in Parchment with Tomatillos
- Mini Salmon and Leek Quiches
Salmon Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 1lb filet of fresh salmon
- 1 box of orecchiette
- 1 cup spring peas
- 1 cup asparagus, end cut and chopped into thirds
- Shaved parmesan
- 3 tbsp butter
- ½ cup pecans* *or pistachios, walnuts, pine nuts—many other nuts would also be great!
- Zest and juice of one lemon
- ⅓ cup pesto (homemade or store bought)
- Olive oil
- Red pepper flakes
For homemade pesto:
- ¾ cup basil leaves
- ¾ cup EVOO
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- sea salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F. Lay herbs on a sheet pan and then place salmon on top. Coat in olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for about 45 min or until salmon is just a little pink inside. Use a fork to flake salmon.
- Meanwhile, boil salted water and start making pesto. Combine pesto ingredients in a food processor and blend until combined. Season to taste.
- When pasta has 2 min left, add asparagus and peas to the pasta. Drain and add to a bowl. Alternatively, you could skim veggies off the side and blanch in ice water to stop the cooking and keep them nice and green.
- In a small skillet, melt butter and add pecans (or other nuts). Cook until golden, about 3 min.
- Add pasta to a very large bowl and add a nice glug of good olive oil to make sure it doesn’t stick together. Add salmon, pesto, pecans, peas, asparagus and shaved parm. Top with lemon juice, zest, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The faster you eat it, the fresher it’ll taste. Serve it chilled, straight from the fridge, or let it come to room temperature first.
- We don’t actually recommend freezing this as the texture of the pasta and salmon could change once thawed, and the pesto could brown. Enjoy this pasta fresh!
- This is a great make-ahead recipe. Prep each component in advance and assemble when you’re ready to serve, or fully mix together the whole pasta up to a day in advance, store in the fridge, and serve when you’re ready.
Made this recipe? Don’t gatekeep! Five stars? Chef’s kiss?
I’d love to hear it! Review or comment below.