A fresh, flavorful pasta dish made with blackened salmon, tomato cream sauce, and fresh herbs. Serve this pasta with crusty bread for the perfect weeknight meal!

blackened salmon pasta with tomato cream sauce in a white bowl

If you are growing bored of recycling the same pasta dishes for dinner, this blackened salmon pasta is the perfect dish to shake up pasta night! This blackened salmon pasta makes the perfect weeknight meal because it's loaded with flavor, easy to make, and comes together in under an hour!

And don't worry if you have never blackened fish before! Getting that beautifully charred crust on the fish is way easier than you think. The fish is blackened with a house-made blackening spice blend that has just the right amount of kick. Let's make it, y'all!

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Ingredients You Need To Make This Recipe
How To Make This Recipe
Variations and Substitutions
Tips For the Best Blackened Salmon
Make-Ahead and Storing Instructions
Recommended Tools for This Recipe
More Flavorful Weeknight Dinner Recipes You Will Love!
📖 Recipe

Ingredients You Need To Make This Recipe

Blackening Seasoning

2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ - 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on spice preference)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried thyme

Salmon and Pasta

Linguine pasta. Dried linguine pasta is cooked until al dente for this recipe. You may also use fettucini or spaghetti pasta if you prefer.
Fresh Atlantic salmon. This recipe calls for 1 pound of fresh Atlantic salmon with the skin removed. You can have your butcher remove the skin or you can remove it yourself at home.
Extra-virgin olive oil. The salmon is coated in olive oil first to help the blackening seasoning stick to the fish and give that characteristic crust. The veggies for the pasta sauce are also cooked in olive oil.
Unsalted butter. The salmon is cooked in a skillet with butter to help get a nice crust and added flavor.
1 small yellow onion. Chopped yellow onion adds additional flavor to the tomato sauce.
Cherry tomatoes. Tomatoes are cooked with the onion until they burst for added freshness and flavor in the tomato sauce.
Fresh garlic. Fresh minced garlic adds delicious flavor to the pasta sauce.
Crushed tomatoes. Canned crushed tomatoes are the main ingredient in the pasta sauce and are simmered with the other ingredients to create the flavorful sauce.
Balsamic vinegar. A small amount of balsamic vinegar is added to the tomato sauce for depth and acidity.
Granulated sugar. Sugar is added to the sauce to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.
Heavy cream. Heavy cream is added to the pasta sauce near the end of the cooking time to give the sauce a delicious creaminess.
Fresh basil. Fresh chopped basil is added to the pasta at the end of the cooking time for added freshness and flavor.
Grated parmesan. The parmesan is mixed into the pasta right at the end for a salty bite and added creaminess.

How To Make This Recipe

To a small bowl, add the paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano, and thyme and stir together with a fork until combined. Set the blackening seasoning aside.

Cook the linguine in salted water according to package instructions until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving about a cup of pasta water, run cold water over it to stop the cooking process, and set the pasta aside.

In a Dutch oven or large, deep skillet, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cherry tomatoes and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the onions soften and the tomatoes begin to burst. Add the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.

Pour the crushed tomatoes into the pan and stir to combine. Lower the heat to medium and add the balsamic vinegar, sugar, and half of the blackening seasoning to the tomato sauce. Cook the sauce, stirring occasionally, for about 15-20 minutes to allow the flavors to come together. Add pasta water to the sauce as needed to thin it out. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper to taste if needed.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400°F. Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottom oven-proof skillet. Coat both sides of the salmon with one tablespoon of olive oil and the other half of the blackening seasoning, rubbing it into the fish with your hands.

Transfer the salmon to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until a dark, charred crust forms on the outside. Carefully transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and cook the fish for an additional 5 minutes until cooked through. Set the salmon aside.

salmon with blackening seasoning on a cutting board

Stir the heavy cream into the tomato sauce and cook the sauce for another 2-3 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the cooked pasta, chopped basil, and grated parmesan. Do not add all of the pasta at once as you may not need all of it, depending on the consistency of your sauce. I ended up with about a cup of pasta leftover. Add more pasta if needed to reach desired consistency.

Stir in the chopped basil and grated parmesan. Transfer the pasta to a serving dish and topped with pieces of flaked blackened salmon. You can tear large chunks of salmon with your hands and place them on top of the pasta. Garnish with additional fresh basil if desired. Enjoy!

blackened salmon pasta with tomato cream sauce in a white bowl with gold forks

Variations and Substitutions

Feel free to add additional vegetables to this pasta if you would like. Try this pasta with some of the following additions:

Sliced mushrooms
Baby spinach
Sliced zucchini
Chopped bell peppers

You can also make this dish another type of pasta if you prefer such as:

Spaghetti
Fettuccini
Tagliatelle
Penne
Pappardelle

Tips For the Best Blackened Salmon

Use a cast-iron skillet. Cast iron helps get the best crust on the outside of the salmon.
Make sure your skillet is hot before adding the salmon. You want to sear the fish quickly over high heat so that a nice crust forms.
Do not move the salmon around while cooking. Once you place the salmon in the pan, allow it to cook undisturbed until the crust forms. Moving the fish around the pan will cause the seasonings to slide off and you will not get a good crust.

Make-Ahead and Storing Instructions

You can prepare the tomato cream sauce a day or two ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container. When ready to assemble the pasta, just cook your pasta and blackened salmon and bring everything together. Reheat the sauce in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Leftover blackened salmon pasta can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Blackened Salmon Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce