Salmon Sushi Bowl

If you love ordering sushi for takeout, you’ll love this Salmon Sushi Bowl even more. It’s loaded with marinated and baked salmon, crisp vegetables, rice, and a vibrant dressing. So fun, customizable, and an easy and flavorful weeknight meal.

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an assembled salmon sushi bowl in a white bowl with wood chopsticks.

Baked salmon rice bowls

This Salmon Sushi Bowl is a fun, creative, and flavorful weeknight dinner. Just like Sushi Poke Bowls, these light and healthy rice bowls are topped with juicy salmon and all kinds of fresh and flavorful toppings. It’s just like your favorite sushi roll but so much easier and more fun to put together!

Making homemade sushi can be messy and difficult, and takeout sushi is not very friendly to our wallets. Thankfully, the ingredients and toppings in this salmon sushi rice bowl are all easy to find, flexible, and relatively inexpensive. It’s made with a few different layers:

Cooked rice
Marinated, baked, and shredded salmon
Sauce
And crisp, fresh veggies on top

The salmon is baked low and slow in the oven, giving you plenty of time to prepare the dressing and all of your favorite toppings. Add anything you like on top – this recipe is completely flexible!

raw salmon fillet on parchment paper next to small white bowls filled with marinade ingredients.

Ingredient notes

Rice – Any kind of rice will work here but brown rice or sushi rice are the best.

Salmon – Bon Appetit recommends purchasing a center-cut salmon fillet with an even thickness to ensure it cooks evenly. As always, choose wild-caught salmon over farm-raised for the best possible quality and flavor.

Salmon marinade – The baked salmon always turns out bright, tangy, and flavorful when it’s seasoned in an Asian-inspired marinade. For this recipe, a mixture of avocado and sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, ginger, and garlic is poured over the salmon before it heads into the oven.

Soy lime honey dressing – This simple dressing is the finishing touch to add to your sushi bowls. It’s easy to make using sesame and avocado oil, garlic, ginger, honey, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, and sriracha.

Spicy mayonnaise – Kewpie mayonnaise, sriracha, and rice vinegar mixed together add a little spice and creaminess to the bowls. Kewpie mayonnaise is not only an insanely popular Japanese condiment but also the perfect choice for sushi bowls. It’s made only with egg yolks, rice vinegar, and MSG, giving it added flavors and richness compared to regular or homemade mayonnaise.

Sushi bowl toppings – The toppings used in this sushi bowl recipe are similar to your favorite seafood sushi rolls. See below for all kinds of sushi bowl topping options.

4 images showing the process of marinating and baking salmon.

How to cook salmon for sushi bowls

Prepare the salmon: Pat the salmon fillet dry with a paper towel and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Make the marinade: Whisk the avocado oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, ginger, and garlic together in a bowl. Pour it over the salmon, flip so the other side gets coated in the marinate.
Bake the salmon: Bake the salmon until it flakes easily with a fork. Prepare the sauce and vegetable toppings while you wait.

How to make sushi rice bowls

Make the spicy mayo: Secondly, whisk the mayo, sriracha, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
Assemble the bowls: Lastly, add the cooked rice to individual bowls and top with shredded salmon. Add your desired toppings, then drizzle with the spicy mayonnaise. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, then enjoy!

Sushi bowl toppings

There is no limit to the amount of fresh and flavorful toppings you can add on top of salmon and rice bowls. Use these ideas to get started:

Sliced avocado
Persian cucumbers (or regular cucumbers)
Green onions
Packaged seaweed or nori strips
Sesame seeds
Pickled ginger
Pickled red onions
Shredded carrots
Cilantro
Ahi tuna
Salmon roe
Shrimp
Seaweed salad
Pickled radishes
Wasabi
Jalapenos

2 salmon sushi bowls in white bowls with chopsticks.

Frequently asked questions

Do you cook the salmon for sushi?

The thought of sushi goes hand in hand with raw fish. However, these rice bowls aren’t like salmon sashimi. Instead, they’re topped with marinated baked salmon to expand on the depth and layers of flavor.

Are sushi bowls hot or cold?

It’s up to you. The sushi bowls can be assembled immediately after the rice and salmon are done cooking, or you can let all of the toppings and rice chill in the fridge if you prefer cold sushi bowls.

Can you make baked salmon bowls ahead of time?

I recommend preparing the salmon, rice, dressings, and toppings and storing them in separate containers in the fridge if you want to make the bowls ahead of time. The toppings will stay fresh for about 2 or 3 days and can be assembled right before serving.

2 salmon sushi bowls in white bowls with chopsticks next to smaller bowls filled with cucumbers, pickled ginger, and seaweed.

More Asian-inspired seafood recipes

Did you try this Salmon Sushi Bowl recipe? Let me know what you think! Leave a comment or rate this recipe below. Don’t forget to take a picture and tag me on Instagram! I love to share all of your recreations!

Salmon Sushi Bowl

4.8 from 4 votes

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 25

Total Time: 35

Servings: servings

Author: Lena Gladstone

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Ingredients

Salmon

1 ½ lbs salmon, skinless center-cut
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
⅓ cup soy sauce, or use coconut aminos
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic, grated

Bowls

2 cups brown rice, cooked or use sushi rice
1 avocado, peeled and sliced, divided
2 persian cucumbers, thinly sliced on the diagonal
3 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
4 ½ g package seaweed, halved and thinly sliced
2 tablespoon sesame seeds
¼ cup pickled ginger, divided, optional

Sriracha Mayonnaise

⅓ cup mayonnaise, kewpie or use regular
1 tablespoon Sriracha, or to taste
1 teaspoon rice vinegar, or lime juice

Instructions

Make the Salmon:

Preheat the oven to 300 F.
Pat the salmon dry and place it in a small baking dish lined with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk together the avocado oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, ginger, garlic, and whisk until well combined. Pour over the salmon to coat evenly, flip so the other side gets the sauce too. Transfer the salmon to the oven and bake until the salmon flakes easily with a fork, about 25-30 minutes, depending on how thick your salmon is.

Make the Sriracha Mayonnaise:

In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, sriracha and rice vinegar, mix well and set aside.

Prepare the Bowls:

To serve, flake the salmon with a fork into large pieces. Serve over rice and garnish your bowls with avocado, cucumber, green onions, pickled ginger and nori strips. Drizzle with sriracha mayonnaise. Sprinkle it with toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy.

Notes

The salmon is cooked a little lower and slower so that you can prepare all of your bowl items and dressing while it bakes, making the recipe come together pretty quickly and easily.