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Pasta salad with salmon is fresh, tangy, and loaded with texture. You get tender noodles, flaky salmon, briny capers, and a hit of lemony dressing that pulls it all together. It’s not creamy, not heavy, just bright, herby, and really satisfying. Think picnic food, but smarter.
This is an easy, make-ahead dish. After chilling in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, it absorbs all the wonderful flavors of the vinaigrette.
Here is Why This Salmon Pasta Salad Recipe Works
Fresh, not fishy: Using cooked, chilled salmon keeps the salad clean and buttery.
Lemon-Dijon dressing: The combo of tangy lemon, sharp mustard, and sweet honey balances the saltiness of the capers and richness of the fish.
Herbs do heavy lifting: Dill and chives add a ton of fresh flavor without crowding the dish.
Flexible and make-ahead friendly: Serve it straight from the fridge, and swap in whatever short pasta or herbs you’ve got on hand.
This recipe is a great way to use leftovers from our whole baked salmon or you can add smoked salmon for a smoky flavor.
For more quick salads, my glass noodle salad with shrimp is fast, fresh, and full of contrast, with crisp veggies and a tangy-sweet dressing
Recipe Tips
Cool the pasta completely: Rinse under cold water and drain well. Warm pasta will steam the other ingredients.
Flake the salmon gently: Aim for bite-sized pieces, not mush. Use your hands, not a fork.
Don’t drown the salad: Add dressing gradually, toss, and taste before adding more.
Use fresh lemon juice: Bottled won’t cut it here; the acidity needs to be bright and clean.
Serve slightly chilled: It’s best cool, not ice-cold, so the flavors can shine.
Salmon. Use leftovers from our sheet pan salmon or our baked salmon.
For another light, make-ahead option, try my shrimp pasta salad. It’s just as easy and full of bright, briny flavor.
Substitutions and Variations
Try swapping the vinaigrette for Ranch salad dressing, orange champagne vinaigrette, or preserved lemon vinaigrette.
Swap the salmon for pre-cooked chicken. You can cook frozen chicken in an Instant Pot for a quick preparation.
Use any pasta you have on hand. We love the spelt pasta with this salad but it tastes great with any pasta.
Salmon Pasta Salad
This pasta salad with salmon is the no-fuss, flavor-packed answer to hot-day dinners and next-day lunches. It’s bright, herby, and just rich enough to feel like a real meal.
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Salmon Pasta Salad
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Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 12 ounces dry pasta, I used spelt pasta
- 12 ounces cooked salmon, chilled and flaked
- ½ cup capers, drained
- ½ red onion, diced
- ¼ cup fresh chopped chives
- 4 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
For the Lemon Vinaigrette:
- ½ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions, rinse in cold water to cool, drain well.
- Transfer to a large salad bowl and add salmon, capers, red onion, chives and dill.
- In a small dish whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, honey, salt and pepper. Pour dressing over the salad and toss gently to coat. Garnish with chopped chives or scallion tops over and serve. Alternately, scoop into individual dishes add garnish and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
This looks so good and my son would love this, if I would let him eat pasta all day everyday he would. But to be honest I wouldn’t mind having this everyday.
Thank you, Joan 🙂
This salmon salad looks so good. Must pin it for later.
Hey, Thanks for pinning the recipe Maggie. We would love to hear how you like it after you make it. 🙂
This is making me happy on all sorts of levels, too! So pretty (gorgeous pics!), so nutritious, so packed with great flavors! And I just love that it uses up leftover salmon so it doesn’t go to waste! What a great recipe – definitely pinning this to share!
Thank you, Shelly….and thanks for pinning and sharing! Let us know how you like it:)
Love how you’ve used tangy flavors such as capers, dill and Dijon mustard in your recipe. The flavors must be great!
Thanks, Ginny….Those flavors are awesome in this salad! 🙂
I’m always looking for new and creative recipes with salmon (my favorite fish). Thank you!
You are welcome, Lisa….make it and enjoy!
I love salmon, but I never seem to eat it as much as I like. Love the flavours in this pasta; the lemon vinaigrette sounds wonderful.
Thanks for your nice comments, Marie….and you are right, the flavors are super delish! 🙂
Oh I bet this would be amazing with hot smoked salmon! I do love a good salmon salad, me. 🙂
Oh, yes, Elizabeth….what a great idea! I do believe I will try the hot smoked salmon, thanks….:)
Wow, that looks delicious! And it sounds really healthy, too.
Thank you, Elissa…This is a really great tasting salad. The lemony dressing is the best! 🙂
Yummy! I am having some serious dinner envy right now! This looks delicious and I am going to have to try it ASAP.
Thanks, Luci….This is a great meal/salad….enjoy!
This looks like a great summer pasta. Love the addition of capers – yum!
Thank you…