Pasta Salad with Salmon and Creamy Cilantro Dressing
on Mar 05, 2017, Updated Jun 30, 2025
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This pasta salad with salmon is a fresh, protein-packed meal that's perfect for make-ahead lunches, picnics, or light dinners. Easy, satisfying, and full of flavor.
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.
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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
Ingredients
- 1 pound cavetelli, fusilli, or elbow macaroni pasta
- 4 cups bite-sized cooked salmon pieces (see Note)
For the Cilantro Dressing (optional)
- 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- ¼ cup minced shallots
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream, or another 1/4 cup mayonnaise)
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream (or half-and-half, or whole milk)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 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. Flake the salmon into nice bite-sized chunks.
- Make the dressing (see Notes for suggestions). If you are using the Creamy Cilantro Dressing, 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, dressing (whichever one you are choosing), and salmon pieces, and toss gently to combine well. Garnish with additional cilantro leaves, if desired, and serve.
