Salmon coated in a sweet, salty, and spicy marinade over a bed of fluffy rice with fresh greens like avocado and cucumber on top, this Spicy Salmon Bowl will send your tastebuds dancing. Enjoy it as an easy and quick dinner (just 10 minutes!) or as a meal prepped lunch you’ll look forward to all week long.
Table of Contents
About this Spicy Salmon Rice Bowl Recipe
A hearty buddha bowl is one of my go-to dinners. Why? It’s just so simple to throw everything into one dish dress it up with some tasty sauce and call it good. Well actually, let’s call it GREAT.
Because this Spicy Salmon Bowl is wildly delicious. The way the sriracha, soy sauce, and rice vinegar come together to coat the juicy, salmon bits is just so tasty.
Not to mention, if you’re serving this Spicy Salmon Bowl to guests it is so easy to make it look stunning. The pastel pink salmon against the fresh and bright green creamy avocado and cucumber is eye-catching.
Enjoy this Spicy Salmon Bowl for dinner or a meal prepped lunch you’ll look forward to. With plenty of protein in the salmon, fresh veggies, healthy fats from the avocado and some carbs from the rice, you’ve got yourself quite the nutritious meal.
If you love rice bowls, I think you'll also love this Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowl, this Vegan Rice Bowl, this Homemade California Poke Bowl or this Chile Lime Shrimp Bowl, too!
Featured CommenT
- Jen B.
Recipe Ingredients
- Sockeye Salmon - Sockeye is the darker pink salmon. It’s got much less fat than Atlantic but still plenty flavorful in this bowl. If you've got leftover salmon fillets afterward, make this California Fish Burrito!
- White Rice - The base of our Spicy Salmon bowl serves as a blank canvas to soak up all of the delicious flavor piled on top. I used pre-cooked rice out of convenience, but feel free to cook your own, use brown rice, jasmine rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice or leftover rice you've got in your fridge!
- Sriracha - The salmon gets cooked with some sriracha to give it a spicy glaze.
- Rice Vinegar - Rice vinegar is sweet and contrasts the sriracha well and also adds some extra moisture to the salmon. White vinegar will do if you don't have any.
- Soy Sauce - Saltiness for our salmon and balances out the sweet and the heat that it’s also cooked in.
- Spicy Mayonnaise - The creamy heat is perfect dressing for this Spicy salmon bowl. Add a little (or a lot) on top of the bowls before serving.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make This Spicy Salmon Bowl Recipe
1. First prepare the rice according to the bag instructions. Then, pat the filet of salmon dry with a paper towel and dice into 1” chunks and add to a large bowl. If your salmon has skin you can cook it with the skin on and then remove it (slightly easier, but lose some of the marinade flavor) or you can remove the salmon skin prior to cooking. In a small bowl, whisk together rice wine vinegar, sriracha, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes. Pour over the salmon chunks.
2. Heat a skillet to medium heat, add a splash of sesame oil or olive oil and cook salmon pieces until it reaches an internal temperature of 145°F. Don’t overcook! We don’t want dry salmon. While the salmon is cooking, dice jalapeño, green onion, cucumber (use the vegetable chopper if you have one). Slice avocado.
3. Once the salmon is done cooking, divide the rice between two bowls. Top each bowl with the cooked salmon chunks, and fresh vegetables. Drizzle with spicy mayo sauce or extra sriracha, sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions (optional) and enjoy!
Dietary Considerations
- Dairy free? Use a plant based mayo mixed with some sriracha for a dairy free spicy Mayo.
- Gluten free? Sub coconut aminos or tamari for the soy sauce.
- Vegetarian? Use cubed tofu instead of salmon.
- Low carb? Plate over steamed cauliflower rice instead of white rice.
Pro Tip
Don’t over cook your salmon! There’s a fine line between done and overdone and over done salmon becomes quite tough. Start with a lower cook time and cut into a piece to check it. You can always turn the heat back on.
Recipe FAQs
Store your Spicy Salmon Sushi Bowls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. I suggest adding the avocado just before enjoying to avoid browning.
I used Sockeye Salmon which has the lowest fat content, but there’s a pretty big difference between types of salmon so choose according to your preference. The three most widely available types you can find at your grocery store include King Salmon, Atlantic Salmon, and Sockeye Salmon. King Salmon is highest in Omega 3 fats largest in size. Commercially available Atlantic Salmon is going to be farmed salmon which is mild in flavor and the lightest in color. Sockeye Salmon is lowest in fat and the brightest red color, often described as the “fishiest” flavor.
If you don't want to cook your salmon, you can instead buy sushi grade salmon and marinate with the same marinade for more of a deconstructed sushi bowl with raw fish.
I like this Spicy Salmon bowl with a combination of temperatures. The salmon and rice are hot with all the veggies cold. If you’re making for meal prep or eating it as leftovers, it’s also delicious with everything cold or room temperature. I would shy away from warming the entire thing as the cucumbers and green onion will get soggy.
Serving Suggestions
Change it up your Spicy Salmon Bowl over a bed of Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice for extra flavor and top with some Quick Pickled Onions for a little more zing. This Oriental Coleslaw would be a tasty side dish, too!
More Recipes You'll Love
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & if you really like the recipe consider leaving a comment further down. Thanks for visiting!
Recipe
Spicy Salmon Bowl
Equipment
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- skillet
- Sauce pot
- Whisk
- Rubber Spatula
- Meat Thermometer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- strainer
- vegetable chopper optional
Ingredients
- 1 sockeye salmon filet, 7-8oz
- 1 ¼ cup cooked white rice, ~½ cup dry
- 1 avocado
- ½ small jalapeño
- 2 baby english cucumbers
- ¼ cup chopped green onion
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp lite soy sauce
- pinch red pepper flakes
- spicy mayo, to taste
Instructions
- First prepare the rice according to the bag instructions.
- Then, dice the filet of salmon into 1” chunks. If your salmon has skin you can cook it with the skin on and then remove it (slightly easier, but lose some of the marinade flavor) or you can remove it prior to cooking.
- In a small bowl, whisk together rice wine vinegar, sriracha, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes. Pour over the salmon chunks.
- Heat a skillet to medium heat and cook salmon until it reaches an internal temperature of 145°F.
- While the salmon is cooking, dice jalapeño, green onion, cucumber (use the vegetable chopper if you have one). Slice avocado.
- Once the salmon is done cooking, divide the rice between two bowls. Top each bowl with salmon chunks, and vegetables.
- Drizzle with spicy mayo and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
Looking for this in MyFitnessPal?
If you're using MyFitnessPal, search 'A Paige Of Positivity' and find SPICY SALMON BOWL calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
Courtney Paige says
This is such an easy recipe! We love the flavor of the salmon. SO good!
Sydney Van Acker says
With the salmon cut in pieces, it cooks so fast! This recipe is so easy and quick, perfect for a weeknight din
Jilian Eiken says
Please ignore my presentation that isn’t as beautiful as yours but this was amazing! So easy and quick to make. Definitely will use this for an easy lunch recipe now that I’ve made it!
Jen Boudreau says
These were amazing!! Very easy to make and full of so much flavor. Made them for my sister and husband and they loved it!
Jen Boudreau says
One of my new favorites!! Loved the marinade on the salmon.
Jen Boudreau says
Oops I accidentally commented twice but they were just that good!