These easy Salmon and Rice Bowls have become a filling and delicious staple for both lunch and dinner! They’re quick and easy and truly packed with fresh flavors. If you saw those viral TikTok salmon bowls, I can confirm that this recipe is even better!
Cubed salmon gets a quick marinade in a flavorful mixture of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, honey, and sriracha before being roasted in the oven. The result is tender salmon with slightly crispy edges — perfect for serving over steamed rice with veggies and spicy mayo.
Table of Contents
I have realized that I am truly a bowl dinner girl. Give me your CAVA, your Sweetgreens, your Chipotle, and I am in heaven.
There is just something that I love about an easy, balanced dinner that has protein, starch, veggies, a sauce or two, and some crunchy textures. I truly live for it!
These spicy salmon rice bowls are perfect for balanced dinner or lunch and make great meal prep. The salmon is tender and flavorful and you can easily customize these bowls with your favorite veggies and ingredients.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Super Filling – The combination of high-protein salmon, steamed rice, and toppings like edamame make this a light and fresh tasting meal that will still keep you full for a long time.
Customizable – This is great when you have picky eaters in your life. You can prep several veggies and toppings for these salmon bowls and then add whatever sounds good.
Quick & Easy – Besides a quick marinating time, the salmon cooks up in minutes and then all you have to do is chop up some veggies, whisk up a quick spicy mayo, and dig in!
Tools Needed
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Salmon. Use a nice center cut filet of your favorite salmon for this recipe. Remove the skin and cut into cubes.
- Soy sauce. You can use regular, low sodium, or tamari/coconut aminos for a gluten-free option.
- Honey. I love the hint of sweetness and balance that the honey adds.
- Sriracha. You can use sriracha, chili garlic paste, or sambal here.
- Garlic. I like to grate the garlic on a microplane to avoid pieces that will burn in the oven. You could also use garlic paste.
- Ginger. Fresh grated ginger or ginger paste works here.
- Spicy mayo. You can use store bought, but I love making my own spicy mayo because it’s so much fresher. I’ve shared how to make it in the recipe card below.
- Steamed rice. Use your favorite here! I am partial to jasmine rice and that’s what I use here.
- Toppings. I like Persian or baby cucumbers, avocado, edamame, and nori, but you can swap in all your favorite veggies and toppings.
How to Make Salmon and Rice Bowls
While you can cook this salmon up in a skillet, I love the ease of throwing everything on a baking sheet and cooking the salmon in the oven. Then, just steam some rice and add your favorite veggies and toppings.
- Marinate the salmon. The sweet and spicy marinade gets whisked together in a large bowl before being tossed with the cubed salmon. Set the salmon aside for 20 to 30 minutes to let the marinade works its magic.
- Make the spicy mayo. Japanese Kewpie mayo is the perfect base for this homemade spicy mayo. To the mayo, you’re going to whisk in sriracha, ginger, soy, and sesame oil. This will be the sauce that goes on top of your baked salmon bowls.
- Bake the salmon. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent the salmon from sticking. To crisp up the salmon cubes, I like to broil them for the final minute or two of cooking.
- Assemble the bowls. Divide the steamed rice between bowls, then pile on the baked salmon, vegetables, and toppings. Finish with a drizzle of spicy mayo.
Customizing Your Bowls
The best part about making these spicy salmon bowls is that it’s a blueprint for a recipe that you can easily customize to your tastes! Here are some of my favorite ways to customize salmon rice bowls:
Switch up the starch. I love white rice, but it’s so easy to mix things up by swapping in brown or purple rice, quinoa, couscous, or even cauliflower rice if you’re looking for a low carb option.
Toppings, toppings, toppings. I think one of the reasons I love bowl dinners so much is because I love toppings! The more the merrier, IMO. While I went simple and classic here, you could add: shredded cabbage, carrots, red bell pepper, mango, roasted broccoli, fresh herbs, etc.
Meal Prep & Reheating Instructions
I rarely ever store my bowl dinner recipes already assembled. In my opinion, the best way to store bowl recipes is to store the ingredients separately and assemble them right before you enjoy them. Then everything tastes completely fresh!
- In the Refrigerator: Store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Store the spicy mayo in a separate airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- To Reheat: Reheat the rice and salmon in the microwave for about 60 seconds or until warmed through. Then, assemble the fresh veggies on top, drizzle with sauce, and enjoy!
If you loved those Emily Mariko Tiktok videos, you could reheat the salmon and rice, mix them together with spicy mayo, and enjoy with little pieces of seasoned nori.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use frozen salmon for this recipe?
Fresh is always best, in my opinion! However, if you do use frozen salmon, make sure to defrost it completely and pat it dry with paper towels before marinating the salmon.
Are there alternative cooking methods for the salmon?
Definitely! You could air fry the salmon for 6-8 minutes at 400ºF or pan-fry the cubed salmon until cooked to your desired doneness.
Salmon bowls are of my favorite weeknight meals! They’re quick and easy while being healthy and packed with flavor. If you do give them a try, be sure to let me know!
Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram. I LOVE hearing about & seeing your SMF creations!
More Salmon Bowl Recipes to Make
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Salmon and Rice Bowls Recipe
Ingredients
Salmon
- 1 1/2 lbs center-cut salmon filet , skin removed
- 1/4 cup soy sauce*
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sriracha (or chili garlic paste)
- 2 garlic cloves , grated
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger (or ginger paste)
Spicy Mayo
- 1/3 cup kewpie mayo (or regular mayonnaise)
- 1 tablespoon sriracha (or chili garlic paste)
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger (or ginger paste)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
Bowls
- 4 cups steamed rice
- 2 Persian or baby cucumbers , cut into half moons
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 cup shelled edamame , steamed
- sesame seeds
- nori sheets , for serving
Instructions
- Make the marinade. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, sriracha, garlic, and ginger until smooth.
- Prep the salmon. Pat the salmon dry with paper towels and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes.
- Marinate the salmon. Toss the cubed salmon with the marinade and let it marinate for 20-30 minutes, up to 8 hours.
- Make the spicy mayo. In a small bowl, whisk together the kewpie, sriracha, ginger, soy, and sesame oil until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Bake the salmon. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the salmon from the marinade and spread on the baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes and broil for 1-2 minutes to get a light char. Remove from the oven.
- Assemble the bowls. Divide rice between bowls, then top with salmon, cucumbers, avocado, veggies, and any other desired toppings. Drizzle with spicy mayo and enjoy salmon rice bowls right away.
Notes
Nutrition
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Rate & Review This Recipe
I have made these bowls for my family a couple of times. They are quick and delicious. I do use frozen wild-caught salmon from Costco, sometimes I cut the salmon into chunks as suggested, and sometimes I leave them in fillets. I also love to add some shredded carrots on top. Another winner Jenny!
Loved this one! Put less sriracha in the spicy mayo to make it more kid-friendly and both of them ate it up! The marinade was a perfect combo and gave the salmon so much flavor. This is a great recipe that allows you variety in the veggies you use.
This was so so good!! I had to improvise a bit based on what I had on hand. I was somehow out of soy sauce so I used hoisen instead! The marinade was still SO good!! Loved the sauce too! It is a winner!!! Also based on what I had on hand I topped our bowls with mango, avocado, corn and some Brie cheese. Different, but it worked!! Haha!! Thank you Jenny!!! I am having so much fun going through your recipes!!! You are such an inspiration!!
Lori, comments like this mean everything to me! Thank you for your support and trust in my recipes!! I love that you used what you had on hand, cooking is all about adaptation.
I changed a bit because of personal taste, adding ponzu instead of soy sauce. This is such a good recipe and my family loves it as do I. Thank you for this recipe! I’ll need to go look at some of your others after this.
Ponzu is a great substitute! So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Made this tonight. It was quick, easy and tasty. Used mango, edamame, cucumbers and cole slaw (from another salmon bowl recipe) as toppers. The cole slaw was a refreshing addition. I will make this again.
My family loved these bowls…one of their favs ever! I didn’t make any adjustments and got no complaints…even though 2 out of 6 of us don’t eat edamame, they said it was fine in these bowls. I let everyone make their own, and everyone added every item! Thank you for this one!
Love to hear that!
I’ve made this for my roommates and I a couple times, and each time this recipe has been so well received!! The sweet and sour marinade is delicious, and the toppings pair very nicely when all combined with the rice and spicy mayo sauce (which I like to put a little bit of honey in as well). It also takes very little time and cleans up well. Thank you for this recipe!
My grandsons (16 and 12) request this weekly. We all love it! Dinner here is always my mother (91), me (going on 16 ?), my daughter and her three boys (19, 16 and 12).
Always love to hear that! So glad the recipe is a hit across generations!