Pan Seared Salmon in Garlic Mascarpone Sauce

by Anna Chwistek

This one-pan creamy salmon is as simple as it is satisfying. An ultra creamy mascarpone sauce made with copious amounts of garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and roasted bell peppers, coupled with pan-seared salmon and jazzed up with parmesan, lemon and basil. It’s tasty, especially with a sprinkle of almonds and chives on top. Super easy, yet seriously delicious. Best served with some type of crusty bread, because that sauce is to die for. 

serving dumplings | Pan Seared Salmon in Garlic Mascarpone Sauce

The sauce is full of wonderful flavors and the salmon is perfectly tender and flaky. The whole dish is anything but boring thanks to the mix of textures you’ll get in every bite. It’s perfect as an easy weeknight meal, but special enough for a dinner date.

The best part is that the whole dish comes together in about 20 minutes from start to finish and only one pan is needed. First we sear the salmon until crisp, make the sauce, then nestle the fillets back into the skillet and simmer briefly just until the flavors melt together. The result is mouthwatering.
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.

serving dumplings | Pan Seared Salmon in Garlic Mascarpone Sauce

RECIPE NOTES

  • you can also use white fish for this recipe. Just adjust the frying time, depending on the thickness of the fish. Some other fish you can substitute with are pollack, hake, halibut or cod
  • add broccoli or spinach
  • serve with any of your favorite veggies or a simple side salad
  • over pasta, zoodles, rice, orzo or with some crusty bread

serving dumplings | Pan Seared Salmon in Garlic Mascarpone Sauce

More salmon, please!

serving dumplings | Pan Seared Salmon in Garlic Mascarpone Sauce

Cooking Video

Salmon in Garlic Mascarpone Sauce

Yield: serves 4

Pan Seared Salmon in Garlic Mascarpone Sauce

Pan Seared Salmon in Garlic Mascarpone Sauce
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 salmon fillets, skin removed
  • 110 g/4 oz sun-dried tomatoes, completely drained, oil reserved for cooking
  • 1 small jar (280 g/10 oz) roasted bell peppers, excess oil drained
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 100 g/4 oz mascarpone, at room temperature
  • 40 g/1.5 oz grated parmesan
  • 3/4 cup/200 ml cream 20% fat, or heavy cream, at room temperature
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • salt + black pepper
  • 20 basil leaves
  • 2 tbsp chopped chives, for serving
  • 4 tbsp chopped almonds, for serving
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes, for serving

Instructions

    1. Get the prep done before you start cooking: pat the salmon fillets dry with a paper towel and season all over with salt, pepper and sweet paprika. Mince the garlic and finely chop the shallot.
    2. Heat 3 tbsp oil from the sun-dried tomatoes in a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. Add to the salmon filets and sear, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
    3. In the same pan, add shallot, cook over low heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon. Add garlic, cook until fragrant, for 1 minute. Add sun-dried tomatoes and roasted bell peppers, cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
    4. Pour in cream. Once the sauce starts to boil, slowly add mascarpone and stir until dissolved. Add parmesan and stir. Then nestle salmon in the sauce. Sprinkle with lemon juice and simmer for 3 more minutes or until the salmon is just cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in the basil leaves and serve.
    5. Top with chopped chives, almonds and red pepper flakes. Delicious!

Notes

Calories Per Serving: 590 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

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© Anna Chwistek
Category: Fish | Seafood
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10 comments

  • Wow! Wow! Wow! This is restaurant worthy. I doubled the sauce and you’ll want to do the same. I’d eat my arm if it had this sauce on it. I used heavy cream, I added fresh spinach in with the tomatoes and peppers, topped it with a sprinkling of slivered almonds. Served with crusty bread. We couldn’t stop eating it. We literally stood at the stove and kept dunking pieces of bread in it. This would be amazing with grilled steak or chicken, any other white fish or shrimp. Oh! And crumbled bacon! Bravo!

    Reply

  • We must’ve done something wrong. Our sauce became very oily and when we put the salmon back in, it took forever to cook. The longer we let it cook, the worse the sauce got. Ended up scrapping it. Any advice? The sauce tasted great until it became oily mush. We’d love to try this again.

    Reply

    • Hi Anna, thank you so much for your feedback. Next time, you can try to completely drain the sun-dried tomatoes, so that there’s no oil left. Also, bring the mascarpone to room temperature. Generally, you warm up the cream, then if the mascarpone you added is cold, the fats in the cheese will solidify, causing it to appear curdled. The best way to avoid this is to make sure everything is at room temperature, and make sure to add the mascarpone very slowly.
      I adjusted the recipe, let me know how it goes. Happy cooking, Anna

      Reply

  • This was so luxurious and delicious! Would also be amazing with grilled chicken breast. I served this with a side of penne to soak up the sauce! It was to die for. I only used 2 Tbsp of olive oil and I used sun dried tomatoes that were not packed in oil. I just moistened them in boiling water for a couple of minutes before adding. This dish was perfection!

    Reply

  • This was the first meal I cooked for my fiancé and we both enjoyed it very much. Followed the recipe as is, and would not change a thing. Creamy and delicious.

    Reply

  • I made a version of this with boneless skinless chicken thighs, served over linguini. Sooo yummy!!

    Reply

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