Pasta Salad with Salmon and Creamy Cilantro Dressing
on Mar 05, 2017, Updated Aug 13, 2023
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This dish turns lunch into a luncheon.
A way to repurpose leftovers in a wham, bam, thank you ma’am way. Take the poached fish and sauce from dinner, flake the fish, make pasta, toss it all together. Lunch, done and done. That’s what I did, using smaller amounts of all of the components from the original meal. But if you want to make this Pasta Salad with Salmon and Creamy Cilantro Dressing for a group, start from scratch and use these proportions.
And just think of this in general when you have leftover salmon, any kind of salmon either simply cooked or cooked with herbs.
This would be so nice as a simple lunch, but it’s also a great dish to bring to a potluck, or to put out on a Spring buffet.
Can’t get enough of pasta salads?
Here are five more recipes to try:
- Greek Chicken Pasta Salad
- Simplest Tomato, Corn, Basil and Mozzarella Pasta Salad
- Garlicky Garden Pasta Salad
- Whole Grain Penne with Zucchini, Tomato and Feta
- Pasta with Edamame, Mint and Basil Pesto
Pasta Salad with Salmon and Creamy Cilantro Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 pound cavetelli fusilli or elbow macaroni pasta
For the Cilantro Sauce
- 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- ¼ cup minced shallots
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt sour cream, or another ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream half and half, or whole milk
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 4 cups bite-sized cooked salmon pieces see Note
- Fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and salt the water generously. Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain, and rinse with cool water.
- Meanwhile, in a food processor or blender, combine the cilantro leaves, shallots, and Dijon. Puree, add the mayonnaise and yogurt, if using, cream, salt, pepper, and cayenne and puree. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- In a large bowl, combine the pasta, cilantro sauce, and salmon pieces, and toss gently to combine well. Garnish with additional cilantro leaves, if desired, and serve.
Notes
Note:
You can use any kind of cooked salmon, grilled, baked, broiled, orpoached.
