Salmon has become a favorite nightly meal in the Macheesmo household. Both of my kids really like it, and I understand that it might be weird. While they tend to like plain, lemon-baked salmon (or my salmon chips), I’ve been pushing the boundaries lately with these spicy salmon bowls!
Importantly, it’s easy to make these bowls non-spicy if you have small eaters or just don’t want the spicy kick. But, I’m here for the spicy!
I feel like these salmon bowls look fancy and are almost something you’d get at a nice lunch place (closer to a pokey bowl), but they only take 30 minutes to make (at most) and you can serve them with a variety of grains and carbs and crunchy veggies.
I actually thought even leftovers the next day were great!
Dig in and add these salmon bowls to your meal plan!
What type of salmon is suitable for this recipe?
I always recommend buying the best salmon you can afford, but the truth is, for this recipe, any salmon will work just fine. You can use wild-caught, farm-raised, or frozen and thawed salmon.
You can use a whole side of salmon or a salmon fillet for these salmon rice bowls.
What I wouldn’t use is very high end sushi grade salmon. Save it for raw sushi bowls or real salmon.
Soaking the salmon
There’s no reason to soak this salmon for hours, although it can be done ahead of time if you like. The marinade mixture is very important as it gives the salmon a lot of flavor and the sugar in the marinade allows the sauce to caramelize on the salmon.
For the marinade, whisk together some oil, brown sugar (or honey), soy sauce, lime juice, lime zest, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, and sriracha for a spicy kick (you can leave the sriracha out if you’re going -spicy track).
Cut the salmon into about 1 inch cubes and soak it for at least 15 minutes, but a few hours is fine.
Cooking the salmon – two ways
There are two easy ways to cook this salmon.
The first method is my preferred method which is to toss the marinated salmon with some sesame seeds and bake it at 400 degrees Celsius in the oven for about 6 minutes. This will cook the salmon without overcooking it and toast the sesame seeds a bit as well.
This method works best if you use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper so the salmon doesn’t stick.
A second method may be easier for some, and is to simply cook the salmon in a non-stick pan for a few minutes on medium heat. This will be faster than the oven method, but it’s easy to overcook the salmon and the salmon pieces can also fall apart if you handle them too much while they’re cooking.
The advantage of method 2 is that the sauce on the salmon becomes a glaze in the pan which is very tasty.
Either way works so pick your favorite or try both!
What to use as a base for these bowls
As a base for these spicy salmon bowls, you can use a wide variety of grains. Rice will be the easiest and you can use white rice or brown rice. On this particular day I used wild rice which, although it takes longer to cook, tastes wonderful.
Other serving options would be quinoa or something low carb like cauliflower rice.
Ideas for coating crunchy vegetables
There are dozens of fun vegetables you can use for these spicy salmon bowls. I used mini cucumbers, peas, red pepper and green onion. I also added some chopped jalapenos for an extra spicy kick.
Other ideas would be:
- Stir fried mushrooms
- grated carrot
- sweet pea
- Fresh herbs such as cilantro or Thai basil
To finish the bowls, drizzle some spicy mayo or use a mix of Kewpie mayo and hot chili oil. I used this hot sesame oil that was absolute fire, but you could also use sriracha or something like crispy chili. (I bought this hot sesame oil at my local Asian grocer).
No matter how you top it or serve it, these salmon bowls are really delicious and much easier to make than you think!
Give them a chance!
Residue storage
I’m not usually a big fan of leftover seafood, but I thought these spicy salmon bowls would store well. I would store the ingredients separately and then you can heat the salmon in a pan over low heat or in the microwave for only 20 seconds.
If you don’t want to heat the salmon, it’s actually fine cold, almost like a salmon salad.
We stored the salmon in an airtight container and I would plan on eating the leftovers within a day or two.
These bowls are a great source of protein and you can use them to prepare a meal by preparing the salmon in advance.
Recipe for my spicy salmon bowl
Spicy salmon bowls
These spicy salmon bowls come together in about 30 minutes. Marinated and baked salmon served with crunchy vegetables along with creamy and spicy sauces!
Pickled salmon
- 1 pound salmon dice
- 2 spoons Olive oil
- 4 spoons soy sauce
- 2 spoons Brown sugar or honey
- 1 medium Lyme Grate and juice
- 2 cloves garlic ground
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha
- 2 spoons Sesame for coating
Additional ingredients for the bowl:
- 2 cups White Rice or any rice
- 1 Red pepper cut
- 1 cucumber chopped
- 1 Goblet tight pea chopped
- 2 Green onions chopped
- 1 his replacements thinly sliced
- Sesame decorate
- Kiofi mayonnaise drizzle
- Chili oil drizzle
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For the salmon, remove the skin from the salmon and dice into 1-inch cubes. Whisk together olive oil, brown sugar, lime juice and zest, black pepper, garlic, ginger and Sriracha and soak the salmon for at least 15 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 400˚F and toss marinated salmon with sesame seeds. Transfer to a pan lined with baking paper and bake for 6-7 minutes until the salmon is cooked and the sauce is caramelized.
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Cook rice according to package instructions. You can use any rice or grain for the base. Spread other additions as well.
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Assemble salmon bowls in wide bowls with the grain base, followed by about 4 ounces of salmon, crisp vegetables, and a drizzle of spicy sriracha mayo or other hot sauce of your choice. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve immediately.
dose: 1bowlCalories: 771KKLCarbohydrates: 91Gprotein: 34GFat: 30GSaturated fat: 4GPolyunsaturated fat: 12GUnsaturated fat: 12Gtrans fat: 0.03GCholesterol: 68mgsodium: 1245mgpotassium: 1012mgfiber: 4GSugar: 10Gvitamin: 1423IUVitamin C: sixty ninemgcalcium: 96mgiron: 4mg
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