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This recipe for easy and delicious Salmon Bowls is a simple, yet healthy dinner that is ready in only 30 minutes! Teriyaki glazed and grilled salmon served in a rice bowl with crunchy veggies, creamy avocado, and an extra drizzle of teriyaki sauce.
Love salmon? Try my Baked Salmon with Dill Sauce and Grilled Salmon Kabobs next.
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
- 30 Minute Meal – Salmon Bowls are easy and fast to make, even for a weeknight dinner!
- Customizable – I like to pair the salmon with cooked white rice, some crunchy veggies, and creamy avocado, but you can easily mix it up!
- Easy Teriyaki Marinade – The simple teriyaki sauce (that doubles as both a glaze for the salmon and a sauce to drizzle on the bowls) uses only 6 simple ingredients. Also try this recipe for a teriyaki chicken bowl!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Soy Sauce – I like to use a low sodium soy sauce and this is the main ingredient in the homemade teriyaki sauce.
- Mirin – Mirin is a sweet rice wine that is common in Japanese cooking. It is similar to a sake but has a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content. Rice wine vinegar can be substituted for mirin.
- Brown Sugar – This adds extra sweetness to the teriyaki sauce. You can use either light or dark brown sugar, but be sure to pack it into the measuring cup to get an accurate measurement.
- Minced Garlic – Freshly minced garlic is best, but you can also use the kind in a jar.
- Ginger – You can either use freshly grated ginger or dried ginger if you have it on hand.
- Cornstarch – Cornstarch helps thicken the teriyaki sauce.
- Center Cut Salmon Filets – Tail portions of salmon will cook unevenly, try to find center cut if it’s available. Skin on or skinless salmon filets can be used.
- Mayo – You can use either regular or light mayo to make the spicy Sriracha mayo.
- Sriracha – This is a hot sauce that has a tangy-sweet flavor. You can easily adjust the amount used to suit your spice preference.
- Lime Juice – Freshly squeezed lime juice adds a fresh acidic flavor to the spicy mayo dressing.
- For the Bowls – Cooked white rice, sliced mini cucumbers, sliced avocados, shredded carrots, radish matchsticks, and fresh cilantro. You can easily customize by omitting any ingredients or even adding in others.
How To Make The Best Salmon Bowls
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Make Teriyaki Marinade – Use a whisk to mix together the soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and cornstarch until smooth. Bring it to a boil for a minute or so then remove from heat. Add a small amount of the marinade to a small bowl to drizzle over the bowls at the end.
Cook Salmon – Brush the teriyaki over the salmon filets and cook in a large grill pan over medium heat. Start with the salmon skin side down and cook for a total of 10ish minutes, flipping once. Salmon is cooked when it reaches 145℉.
Spicy Mayo – Mix together the mayo, sriracha, and lime juice in a small bowl.
Assemble Bowls – Assemble the bowls by starting with cooked rice, one of the salmon filets, sliced avocado, shredded carrots, cucumber, radish, and fresh cilantro. Finish the bowls off with a drizzle of the reserved teriyaki sauce. Enjoy!
Variations
- Air Fryer – You can air fry the salmon at 400℉ for 6-7 minutes or bake at 400℉ for 10-12 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 125℉.
- Other Grain Options instead of Rice – You can use long grain, medium grain, jasmine, brown rice, or even fried rice. For a healthier option, you could sub cauliflower rice, quinoa, or farro. Just cook according to package directions and keep warm for serving. For another fun pairing, try making homemade coconut rice.
- Other Toppings – Other topping ideas for these salmon bowls; shelled edamame, shaved purple cabbage, or diced pineapple.
Storage
Leftover bowls can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Leftovers are best eaten cold. If you want to reheat these bowls, I would suggest storing and reheating the fish and rice separately and then assembling the bowls with the fresh toppings.
Expert Tips
- How do you tell when salmon is cooked? An easy way to tell when salmon is cooked to your liking. Salmon is considered medium rare at 125-130℉, medium at 130-135℉, and well done at 145-150℉. The USDA recommends salmon to be cooked to 145 ℉. I like to cook salmon until around 125℉ as the temperature will continue to rise slightly as it rests before eating.
- Use a Store Bought Teriyaki Sauce – If you’re really tight on time, you can follow these same instructions but use a store bought teriyaki sauce.
- Should you leave salmon skin on? You can use salmon that has the skin or is skinless. I like to use salmon with skin because it is then very easy to remove after cooking.
More Asian-Inspired Recipes
Salmon Bowl
Ingredients
- 16 ounces center cut salmon filets 4 ounces each filet
For the teriyaki salmon
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger or 1 tsp dried
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
For sriracha mayo
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
For the bowls
- 4 cups white rice cooked and warm
- 1 cup mini cucumbers sliced into rounds
- 2 avocados sliced thin
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup radish matchsticks or thin slices
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- Sesame seeds and sliced green onion for garnish
Instructions
- In a small saucepan whisk together the soy, mirin, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and cornstarch until smooth and fully incorporated. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for one minute. Remove from heat and place ¼ cup of this mixture into a small bowl. Reserve the rest to drizzle over the bowls.
- Use the ¼ cup of reserved sauce to brush all over the salmon. Heat a large grill pan over medium high heat. Place the salmon filets skin side down in the pan and cook for 10-12 minutes, flipping once, basting with sauce when flipped, until salmon is just cooked and reaches 125℉.
- While salmon cooks, whisk together the mayo, sriracha and lime juice together in a small bowl, set aside.
- To build the bowls; In the bottom of each bowl scoop 1 cup of cooked rice, top with one filet of salmon, ½ sliced avocado, ¼ cup shredded carrots, ¼ cup mini cucumbers, ¼ of the radish and 2 tablespoons cilantro. Drizzle each bowl with leftover sauce and sriracha mayo, and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.
