Easy Smoked Salmon Pasta with Philadelphia

Ready in just 15 minutes, this super easy smoked salmon pasta with Philadelphia is a light yet delicious dinner. With a bit of a punch from the lemon and chives, this salmon pasta is smooth and velvety, all without using heavy cream.

If you've been on my blog before, you know that quick and easy pasta recipes are my jam.

They're just the best when dinner time is approaching fast and you're in absolutely no mood to cook something complicated.

My creamy pasta with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, for example, is ready in just 15 minutes, and it's beyond delicious.

Another quick pasta recipe that's surprisingly tasty even though it only calls for a handful of ingredients is this Boursin pasta recipe with artichokes.

This super easy smoked pasta with Philadelphia is another file from the same playbook.

It's ready in 15 minutes (practically you can make the sauce in the time it takes for the pasta to boil) and you don't need many ingredients to make it.

What's even better, this is a very creamy pasta that doesn't need any heavy cream.

That's because it's made with light Philadelphia cream cheese, which makes it creamy but without all the calories.

Plus, is there a better combination than smoked salmon and cream cheese?

What do you need to make this smoked salmon pasta?

Smoked salmon and Philadelphia cream cheese are the two main ingredients here.

You can use full-fat Philadelphia cheese for an even creamier result if you want.

You'll also need a dash of white wine (optional, but highly recommended because it brings out the flavour of the salmon beautifully), a small red onion (a shallot works great too), and half a bunch of chives.

If you really like chives, you can use cream cheese with chives instead of plain Philadelphia.

Because I really like garlic, I am quite generous with it, and I think that four cloves are just about right for this salmon and Philadelphia pasta. Feel free to use more or less to suit your taste.

I use butter instead of olive oil to fry the onion and garlic because I like how it brings some extra creaminess to the pasta, but you can absolutely substitute the butter with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

How do you make the pasta?

• Boil the pasta 1 minute less than recommended — it will cook more in the sauce.
• While the pasta is boiling, melt the butter in a large pan and fry the onion for 1 minute over medium heat.
• Add the garlic and continue to cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
• Add the smoked salmon to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until it changes colour to a light pink.
• Stir from time to time and break the bigger pieces with your spoon or spatula.

• Pour the white wine over the salmon and cook for 1 minute until the alcohol evaporates.
• Add the Philadelphia cheese to the pan and stir until it melts completely. You may need to add some of pasta water at this point.
• When the cheese is melted, add the lemon juice.
• Transfer the pasta to the pan and stir until it's well covered in sauce. Stir in the chives and season to taste.

Recipe tips & tricks

• You can use any type of short or long pasta for this Philadelphia salmon pasta. I found that it works great with fussili, linguine, and tagliatelle.
• The sauce will look rather watery, but don't worry, that's how it's supposed to be. Once you turn off the heat, the pasta will continue to absorb it and it will be just perfect by the time you tuck in.
• Between the smoked salmon and the saltiness of the pasta water, I found that there's no need to add any extra salt to this pasta. Make sure you taste it first before seasoning.

If you liked this easy smoked salmon pasta with Philadelphia, have a look at some of my other recipes with smoked salmon:

Creamy Smoked Salmon and Rocket Risotto

Smoked Salmon Pizza with Brie and Arugula

Creamy Whisky Pasta with Smoked Salmon

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