Easy Salmon Bowl Recipe

These salmon bowls are easy, meal prep friendly, customizable, fresh and abundantly flavourful!

This Salmon Bowl recipe is fresh, hearty and not to mention totally delicious. As an added bonus it is HEALTHY and loaded with vegetables but wonderfully simple to make!  These salmon bowls are loaded with marinated salmon, rice, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, radish, carrot, jalapeno and spicy mayo crema – are you drooling yet?!  This salmon bowl recipe is fabulous for lunches, dinners or meal prep.

Your taste buds will be amazed when consuming this salmon bowl recipe, it consists of delicious layers of juicy, crunchy, creamy textures as well as layers of spicy, zesty, garlicky, citrus, fresh, flavors.

In additional to the flavour factor, these salmon bowls are hands down HEALTHY and easy to make: – just cook your rice (or even sub in ready rice), bake the salmon and chop all your vegetables. They are also customizable – use all or some of the suggested fixings. I also love to make them ahead of time in true meal prep fashion.

These salmon bowls are full of fiber, healthy fats, omegas and a bunch of vitamins and minerals. The salmon itself is a nutritious, protein-packed powerhouse and great source vitamins, minerals and important omega-3 fatty acids and by baking the salmon, it is kept low in fat.

Salmon bowl ingredients and substitutions:

Salmon:  You will need 8-10 oz. salmon fillets for salmon bowls, but you can also mix it up and use chicken or shrimp.

Rice/grain: Use white, brown rice or alternatively you can use cauliflower rice, quinoa, farro, couscous, etc. 

Avocado:  Who doesn’t love a deliciously ripe avocado

Tomato: You can use one sliced tomato or 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes. I love the flavor and texture of the cherry tomatoes so these are my go-to.

Cucumber: You can use ½ a small cucumber, I normally slice it into chips. This defiantly adds a freshness to the dish   

Onion: I would suggest using a small amount of red onion to bring an abundance of flavour into the salmon bowl.

Carrots: You can use baby or regular carrots. I typically julienne mine into long strips. Tip, if you are looking for an extra kick you could also pickle these beforehand.

Radishes: These are one of my favourite add ins. However they do provide a similar flavour to the onion so they are certainly not necessity. This is also another vegetable that you could pickle beforehand to add an extra layer of flavour to the dish.   

Jalapeno:  Is optional, especially with the use of crushed red pepper flakes.

Sesame Seeds:  Adds character to the dish. You can use more or less to taste.

Lime juice:  Who doesn’t love the Zingy taste of lime juice – don’t skip!

What salmon should I use?

I typically recommend wild-caught salmon fillets (because you can taste the difference).  Here’s what to look for:

• Always look for wild caught salmon (preferably Alaskan) and avoid farm-raised Atlantic salmon. Wild caught salmon includes king, coho and sockeye salmon. 
• What Salmon should I avoid? Avoid farm-raised Atlantic salmon as it is fatty, less nutritious (due to its artificial diet), waterier and can bake up mushy. 
• Can I use frozen salmon?  You can certainly use frozen fillets; just take care they are wild caught fillets and you defrost them before baking. 
• What size salmon is best? You can use any salmon that equals 8-10 oz.  – more or less.

How To Make Salmon Bowls

Step 1: Make your grain

Depending on what base grain you decide to use will determine the method for this. I typically use ready rice packets or cauliflower rice. Both of which are only a 90 second microwave job. If you are planning on cooking rice then this will take longer and I follow the instructions on the packet.

Step 2:  Marinate Salmon

• The salmon in this recipe is infused orange juice, lime juice, soy sauce, paprika, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.  
• Tip: If you like you can reserve part of this marinade to drizzle over the completed salmon bowls – double the flavor without double the work!  
• I typically do this first then prep the rest of the ingredients (which takes about 30 minutes) therefore not adding any additional time to the recipe.

Step 3:  Bake Salmon

• I LOVE baking salmon because the hands-off preparation means you can pop it in the oven and forget about it.
• You’ll want to bake your salmon fillets at 415 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.  Of course, thinner salmon will require less time and thicker salmon will require more time.

How do you know when your salmon is done?

• As salmon bakes, it changes from bright pink (raw) to opaque pink. The outside of the salmon should be completely opaque but the center should still be translucent, but not raw.  Cooked salmon will also easily flake with a fork along the muscle fibers.
• The FDA advises salmon should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit, HOWEVER, if you cook your salmon to this temperature it will be overdone because the temperature will continue to rise after baking. I usually cook my salmon to just 130 degrees F and the results are always perfect after a 5-minute rest.

Step 4:  Assemble Salmon Bowls

• Place the rice in the bottom of the bowl.
• Top rice with the salmon, avocado, tomato, cucumber, carrots, radish, onion, jalapeno, and optional sesame seeds.

Step 5:  Get Saucy

• SPICY MAYO! This is my favourite condiment and elevates everything, with an added bonus of only taking minutes to make.
• To make the spicy mayo, simply add non-fat Greek yogurt, lite mayo, lime juice, salt, garlic powder and paprika and siracha sauce to a bowl and mix with a fork. I also add a touch of water to give it a runner consistency.
•  If you are still wondering if it’s worth making for these salmon bowls – the answer YES, always yes!

How Long Do Salmon Bowls Last In The Fridge?

Salmon Bowls will last approximately 3 days in the refrigerator. I recommend storing the cooked/warm components together: salmon and rice, this will allow you to heat them in the microwave without heating the fresh components.

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