Healthy Salmon Spinach Pasta

Salmon and spinach with pasta and creamy sauce in white bowl with fork.

This healthy salmon spinach pasta is an easy and delicious way of turning leftover salmon into a speedy and nutritious meal the whole family will enjoy.

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine Low fat

Prep Time 15

Total Time 15

Servings servings

Calories 389kcal

Author Monika Dabrowski

Ingredients

14.11 ounces ready-to-eat salmon see *Notes below
4.59 ounces spinach finely chopped
6.35 ounces pasta enough for 4

For the sauce

3 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons flour
1 cup milk
½ vegetable stock cube
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons cream cheese
Fine sea salt and pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Use salmon leftovers or cook salmon from raw (see **Recipe Notes for instructions).
Start by boiling the pasta al dente (according to packet instructions). Strain, reserve some of the water and set aside. In the meantime prepare the sauce.
In a large pan melt the butter, add the flour and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the milk, stock cube and mustard and whisk until the sauce thickens and starts bubbling. Remove from the heat, add the cream cheese and whisk in until smooth.
Stir in the spinach. Heat up the sauce again if needed but do NOT cook the spinach.
Add the pasta and salmon, season to taste, stir, drizzle over a little olive oil (optional) and/or lemon juice and serve.

Notes

*Salmon: You can use canned salmon instead of fresh if you prefer although I don't think it works as well as cooked salmon which has a softer texture. If you do decide to use this alternative I recommend choosing good quality canned salmon packed in water.
**Preparing the salmon from raw: Season your salmon fillet, drizzle over some oil (or mist with cooking spray) and bake in a preheated oven at 375 F/ 190 C/ gas mark 5 for about 15 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove from the oven, discard the skin (if present), shred and make the recipe.
Spinach: I recommend using baby spinach as it's tastier and has softer leaves than regular, mature spinach.
Pasta: use any.
Cream cheese: use regular or reduced fat, alternatively Skyr or fromage frais/fromage blanc instead if desired.
Do NOT cook the spinach - just stir into the sauce to combine.
To save time make the sauce while you are waiting for the pasta to boil.
Reserve some of the water from cooking the pasta to loosen the sauce if needed.
If your pan is not big enough for the entire dish you can use it to prepare the spinach sauce which you can then spoon over individual portions.
Heat up the salmon before assembling the dish.
Best served immediately. Serve on its own, with a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil (optional), finely chopped smoked salmon or fresh herbs (parsley, tarragon or dill).
If you are planning to enjoy this salmon and spinach pasta over 2 days refrigerate the sauce and pasta separately (otherwise the pasta will become soggy).
Freezing: I recommend freezing this dish without the pasta. It's best to boil the pasta just before serving, heat up the rest of the ingredients and assemble the dish.
Preparation time includes the time needed to cook the pasta.

Nutrition