Salmon Dill Pasta Salad Recipe

Pasta salads provide endless, breezy meals on hot days and are perfect for showing off the best of summer produce and flavors. This recipe for salmon and dill pasta salad — courtesy of recipe developer Julie Kinnaird – is as flavorful as it is easy to prepare. A quick sauce with a Greek yogurt base is flavored with lemon, capers, garlic, and lots of fresh dill before tossing with chunky, curly pasta and luscious hot-smoked salmon. Peppery summer arugula and fresh fennel bulb combine with the dill for a savory-meets-creamy taste and texture in this refreshing salad.

This salad can be made a day in advance, and the flavors will just continue to develop. It is satisfying enough to serve on its own but will pair well with your favorite cookout, picnic, or potluck fare. Purchasing pre-prepared, hot-smoked salmon makes this recipe super easy. However, if you have a smoker, you can also prepare your own. 

For this recipe, choose a dried pasta shape that has some twists and turns to hold the sauce, such as casarecce, cavatappi, fusilli, or gemelli. The twists and ridges allow the sauce to cling, and they also provide a nice-sized bite for the salad. For the sauce, you will need whole milk plain Greek yogurt (low-fat will work but won't have the same rich flavor), fresh arugula, fennel bulb, extra-virgin olive oil, capers in brine, red onion, whole grain mustard, a clove of garlic, a lemon for both the juice and zest, kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper for seasoning, and plenty of fresh dill to give this salad its signature flavor. You will also need about 12 ounces of hot-smoked salmon filet.

Mix together the yogurt, arugula, fennel, 2 tablespoons olive oil, dill, capers, onion, mustard, garlic, lemon zest and juice, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper.

Cover the sauce and place it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Bring a large pot of water and the remaining 1 tablespoon kosher salt to a boil.

Add the pasta and cook until al dente (9–11 minutes, depending on the pasta variety).

Drain the pasta in a colander and rinse under cold running water to stop the cooking.

Transfer the pasta to a large bowl and toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Set aside.

Remove the salmon skin and break the salmon into bite-sized pieces.

Gently mix together the pasta, sauce, and salmon until the pasta is coated.

Serve the pasta salad immediately or chill, covered, until ready to serve.

Not all smoked salmon is the same, and temperature plays a big role in the final product. Smoked salmon can be either cold- or hot-smoked. The process for both methods starts out with curing the salmon using either a dry rub or a wet brine. Kinnaird explains that for cold-smoked salmon, a dry rub containing a lot of salt and often sugar and other seasonings, such as pepper or dill, is coated on the fish to start the cooking process while drawing moisture out of the meat. After this, the fish is smoked at a temperature around 80 F, so it is still considered raw and has a texture similar to sushi-grade salmon. This type of smoked salmon is smooth and melts in your mouth, and it works well as a garnish or topping. 

Hot-smoked salmon is cured with a wet brine prior to being smoked at a temperature between 120 F and 225 F. The internal temperature will average around 140 F, making this a cooked preparation. This style of smoking yields fish that breaks into flaky pieces and has a rich, smoky flavor and a lacquered exterior. It works beautifully for preparations like this pasta salad, as it is firm enough to hold its shape yet still moist and tender. It also adds a punch of smoky flavor to the dish.

Pasta salad can come in so many different flavors and forms, and the key to choosing a pasta shape involves considering the other ingredients. The first thing to avoid is using a fresh pasta for your salad. Fresh pasta is delicious when cooked and immediately served hot, but putting the softer-textured noodles into a salad with a dressing and other juicy ingredients will cause them to break down and become mushy.

Another important consideration is the size and cut of your vegetables, meats, or cheese. Kinnaird likes to match the relative size and shape of her ingredients to the pasta for uniform bites, cutting the veggies or meat to a similar length as the pasta shape. The last important consideration is the salad's sauce or dressing. Ridged or curled pasta shapes allow sauces or dressings to cling to their surface, giving more flavor to the pasta itself and making for a cohesive salad. String pastas like spaghetti or fettuccine can be frustrating to incorporate, as the other ingredients can't adhere and the pasta salad will taste disjointed. Ideally, look for a bronze-cut pasta that will have a bit of texture on the surface and will allow for perfect saucing!