I can’t recall where I first saw this recipe because I’ve been cooking it for so long. It comes together quite quickly. My husband “found out” that you were supposed to spread the garlic over the chicken after attempting to correct it multiple times. He now counts it among his favorites. It’s really simple to scale up or down this recipe. Just be sure your pan has adequate space if you’re adjusting up. We enjoy potatoes, so I usually add extra of them. Combine with a green salad.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole milk
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 (14.75 ounce) cans salmon, drained and flaked
- 1 (15 ounce) can baby peas, drained
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place milk in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to the boiling point, stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in the flour with a fork, and continue cooking and stirring until slightly thickened. Stir in the peas, and let the mixture heat back up to a simmer while stirring constantly. Mix in the salmon, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking and stirring until thick and heated through. Serve over saltine crackers or toast.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 352 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 15 g |
| Cholesterol | 73 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 39 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 741 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 14 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This is a family dish of my husband. I also halved it since there’s just two of us. I made a rue first and thickened the gravy before adding peas & salmon. Finished it with some butter. Had it with biscuits. It was good. Salmon’s not my favorite fish but the dish comes together quickly, easily, and relatively cheaply.
made it according to the recipe, found it bland and too thick. my guy loved it, but will make it next time with roux and a bit more milk.
Mom made this growing up, it was a family favorite. It was something I fixed for my son’s growing up and they still enjoy it. I put mine over saltines, easy to make as I use one cooking pot.
My wife’s Mother used to make this and I learned how. We love it
I make a rue as others stated. And for a change serve over buttered noodles, I also add more spices.
My grandmother use to make this when we would visit her in Nashua,NH,she passed and I tried to ask the family for the recipie but no one knew how she did it,now I do and it brought back memorys of my childhood.
delicious and simple
This recipe is an awesome way to get kids to eat salmon. I never heard of this recipe til about 5 years ago, my boyfriends mother made it, and when I asked what it was, she replied, “it’s Salmon Pea Wiggle!”. Been in love with it since. I like to make it just so I can say the name lol.
I agree it is best to make a lump free white sauce first. 2T flour, 2T butter (or oil), and 1 cup milk is the basic recipe. Double it for this one. Melt the butter, add the flour, cook briefly (45 sec), add the milk and thicken. Add milk if too thick. Then add canned (or preferably frozen) peas. Heat. Then add the salmon keeping chunks. Heat on the lowest setting. Red salmon is better than Pink. Strangely, fresh caught cooked salmon is not as good as canned!
I grew up loving this recipe, and made it by making a rue first with butter and flour, then adding the milk peas and salmon……eating it over saltines, boiled or mahsed potatoes….brings back warm childhood memories of simpler days…
to all of you that thought this was too “saucy”, well that is what this food is. it’s why its called salmon pea WIGGLE, and not salmon pea casserole! it’s meant to be used like a gravy. this is just like my grandmother made it, very tasty!
I halved this recipe to make 2 good sized servings and served it over sliced potatoes. Also used frozen peas. It was quite tasty, not to mention healthy and quick! It’s like a faster version of tuna (or I guess salmon) casserole. I’ll make this again, thanks for the recipe!
I substituted 2 cans of tuna, saving the juice to use as part of the milk for the gravy. I have made this twice and served it once over biscuits and once over saltines. My 3 and 5 year old sons loved it! I also used frozen peas! Quick and healthy with skim milk too!
Thanks for posting. I hadn’t thought about this recipe in years. My cousin and I used to go into hysterics when we heard her ribald brother’s (10-year-old sense of humor)name for this recipe, much to their mother’s disgust.
I am so happy to have found this recipe. I grew up eating this and I love it. It’s even better over boiled potatoes mashed with a fork.
Maybe I didn’t follow the recipe right but it did not come out the way it should have… it turned out too saucy.
I make a recipe similar to this but I start it by making a roux with butter and flour to thicken the milk. I add the milk slowly and wait for it to thicken. I also use 1-2 cans of East Point Canned Shrimp instead of salmon. The salmon is a bit too much for me. This recipe is classic new england and milk gravy is a bit bland, but for me, add a bit of salt, pour over saltine crackers and this is fantastic comfort food!!!