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Lighter Fettuccine Alfredo with Salmon is a delicious dinner for the entire family made with a creamy sauce of cream cheese, milk, garlic and parmesan cheese mixed with fettuccine pasta and topped with salmon cooked in Mazola® Corn Oil and added peas. A clinical study showed Mazola Corn Oil reduces cholesterol 2x more than extra virgin olive oil. To learn more about this claim, visit Mazola.com.
What to cook the family for dinner tonight? The never ending question for every parent on the planet. A favorite dish in my family is fettuccine alfredo. It is filling, super tasty and can be made quickly! A great addition to any weekly meal plan.
Lighter Swaps
February is National Heart Health Month. This has me thinking about different ways to incorporate better-for-you ingredients to some of my families favorite dishes, like fettuccine alfredo. By simply getting rid of the heavy cream and butter while adding a heart healthy meat and something green, you can turn any dinner into a dish that is more nutritious.
Ingredient Swaps
Heavy Cream
A classic alfredo sauce has a base of heavy cream. Heavy cream is high in fat so my lighter version swaps that heavy cream for milk and broth to create that sauce base and then cream cheese is added for that thick, creamy and smooth texture you would expect from a delicious alfredo sauce.
Butter
Can you make alfredo sauce without butter? Typically butter is a main ingredient in alfredo sauce but you can make a smarter swap with Mazola Corn Oil lowering the saturated fat content. I promise, you will not miss the butter at all in this recipe!
Meat
Since we are talking about heart health this month, salmon is added to this fettuccine alfredo. Salmon is well known to be a heart healthy food and should be consumed regularly due to the fact that it is nutrient dense and rich with omega-3 fatty acids.
Add Green
Peas are full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and so easy to add to many dishes including this Lighter Fettuccine Alfredo with Salmon. If you are not a fan of peas, you could include broccoli, asparagus or spinach instead to add more nutritional value to your meal.
Mazola® Corn Oil
Mazola Corn Oil is an all-purpose, cholesterol free cooking oil that is a smart heart-healthy* choice for your family. *See Mazola.com for more information on the relationship between corn oil and heart health. It has a variety of uses include baking, grilling, sautéing, stir frying, or mixing up a marinade or dressing. The American Heart Association recently issued a new presidential advisory on dietary fats and cardiovascular disease that strongly advised replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat, like corn oil, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 30 percent. Reduce saturated fats and cholesterol in your meals easily with simple swaps, such as substituting butter with Mazola Corn Oil.
Lighter Fettuccine Alfredo with Salmon
Lighter Fettuccine Alfredo with Salmon is creamy and comforting with the perfect amount of garlic and just enough seasoning. Peas and salmon bring a freshness to this dish with color and flavor. It is rare to find a meal tasty and beautiful enough to serve to guests at a dinner party that is also quick and simple enough to put on the family dinner table during the weekday. This is one of those dishes.
Salmon
Picking the right piece of salmon from the grocery store can be confusing at times. There are many different varieties and verbiage on labels that may make you question if you are picking the right fish. Here are some things to look at when purchasing a fish from the grocery store.
Color
The fish should be a vibrant pink opposed to a pale color. However, do pay attention to labeling. Some fish has color added which should be avoided.
Freshness
The salmon should do not appear dried out or have a strong fishy smell. Be cautious of “fresh” labeling because it may not actually be the freshest option. Flash frozen may be the best choice.
Variety
There are many different varieties of salmon from how the fish was raised to the region it is from. Variety is a personal choice. I prefer Pacific salmon or Wild Alaskan salmon. Today I bought Coho which has a vibrant color and is easy to find. You also have options such as farm-raised and wild-caught and that topic is just A LOT to get into so I recommend doing your own research in this area to see what is best for your family.

Lighter Fettuccine Alfredo with Salmon
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Lighter Fettuccine Alfredo with Salmon is a delicious dinner for the entire family made with a creamy sauce of cream cheese, milk, garlic and parmesan cheese mixed with fettuccine pasta and topped with salmon cooked in Mazola® Corn Oil and added peas.
Ingredients
Pan-seared Salmon
- 1 Tablespoon Mazola® Corn Oil
- 16 ounces salmon fillet, skin on
- salt
- ground pepper
Lighter Alfredo Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Mazola® Corn Oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3/4 cup peas, frozen
- 1 cup 1% milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasnoning
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 8 ounce cream cheese block, cubed
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Lighter Fettuccine Alfredo with Salmon
- Lighter alfredo sauce
- Pan-seared salmon
- 16 ounces fettuccine pasta
- fresh parsley garnish, chopped (optional)
- shredded parmesan cheese garnish (optional)
Instructions
Pan-seared Salmon
- De-bone the salmon fillet if needed.
- Heat up a non-stick pan on the stovetop to a medium heat.
- Season salmon fillet with salt and pepper.
- Drizzle 1 Tablespoon Mazola® Corn Oil into the hot pan and place salmon fillet in skin side up.
- Cook for 4 minutes and then flip.
- Cook another 6 minutes covered with a lid.
- Remove from pan and set to the side while sauce cooks.
Lighter Alfredo Sauce
- Use the same pan you cooked the salmon in, just wipe out clean and then place back on stovetop on a medium heat.
- Drizzle 1 Tablespoon Mazola® Corn Oil in pan.
- Add frozen peas and give the pan a shake to cover the peas in the corn oil.
- Add minced garlic and give the pan a few more shakes.
- Immediately add milk and chicken broth and then the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.
- Stir in cream cheese and whisk until sauce is smooth.
- Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese.
Lighter Fettuccine Alfredo with Salmon
- As you begin the salmon and sauce, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box.
- Drain pasta and add to the sauce. Mix together to fully cover pasta in alfredo sauce.
- Tear apart the salmon into large chunks using a fork and add on top of pasta.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and shredded parmesan cheese.
Notes
*a very thin salmon fillet may take short time to cook while a very thick fillet may take a little longer.
- Category: DInner
- Method: Stovetop
Keywords: pasta, fettuccine, alfredo, sauce, dinner, salmon, fish, corn oil
What are some of your favorite family meals that are easy to make? Let me know in the comments below and try Mazola Corn Oil to lighten up dinner!
Check out Mazola for more delicious recipe ideas.
Try this with broccoli florets, asparagus, spinach and or fresh basil…
★★★★
This looks so yummy! Pasta is my favorite. Finding ways to make it a bit lighter is a great idea.
Absolutely! I can’t live without pasta.
What a clever way to enjoy fettuccine alfredo. I’ve had it with chicken and shrimp but never thought about salmon. I like it!
★★★★★
The salmon is a great addition to this pasta!
What a delicious meal! Pinned it 🙂
★★★★★
Thanks Sinea!
This is such a great idea because I actually always find pasta and alfredo sauces so darn heavy! This recipe seems totally up my alley.
Sometimes it can be for sure. This is thick and creamy but not heavy.
This sounds so yummy and I love how you switched ingredients, on the plus side, I prefer salmon over meat
I don’t mind chicken but salmon adds more flavor for sure!
My family would love this! They are all about seafood. I’d have to leave the salmon out of mine–I never got a taste for it, but I love fettuccine alfredo.
It would still be delicious without the salmon and the rest of the family can eat that part!