Sesame Salmon Rice Bowl
This quick and easy recipe for a sesame salmon rice bowl is comfort food at its healthy best!
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❤️ Why we love this recipe
Is there anything more completely comfort food than supper out of a bowl? I DON’T THINK SO.
And while I do love bowls full of soup and oatmeal and pastina with egg and cheese, my most recent supper in a bowl crush has been this sesame salmon rice bowl.
Tender flaky roasted salmon, buttery avocado, sassy scallions and a lime and mustard dressing, all nestled in a bed of rice and served in your favorite bowl.
🤔 What is a rice bowl?
A rice bowl is a dish (it doesn’t have to be an actual bowl) of cooked rice that is topped or mixed with other ingredients including proteins like fish or meat or eggs, veggies and some kind of dressing or sauce to add some extra flavor.
It’s a great way to use up any leftovers you have in your fridge – pretty much anything will work in a rice bowl!
🥑 Ingredients you need
📝 Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Salmon: There are SO many kinds of salmon out there. Wild caught salmon has the richest flavor…it is also always more expensive. Farmed salmon is usually more available and affordable, and that is what we usually use. One way or the other, you are looking for boneless salmon filets.
- Rice: We go back and forth between brown rice and basmati rice for this recipe, but you can use any rice you like. Cook it ahead of time so you are all ready to rock when it’s time to assemble your bowls. Recently we have been loving the Ben’s pre-cooked brown rice that you just heat up in the microwave. It’s plain cooked brown rice with a little canola oil, and it tastes good!
- Rice Vinegar: Look for this mild vinegar in the international foods section of your supermarket. You can also swap in white wine vinegar if you prefer.
- Rice Wine: This is also in the international aisle. You can substitute sherry if you prefer.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
👩🏻🍳 How to make this recipe
STEP 1: Preheat your oven 425° and line a rimmed baking dish with parchment paper or foil.
STEP 2: Put some rice vinegar, the juice and zest from one lime, some canola oil, soy sauce, mustard, and honey in a small jar, put the lid on tightly and shake shake shake. Set it aside.
STEP 3: Lay some salmon fillets on the baking dish, brush them with some olive oil, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and pop them in the oven.
STEP 4: Roast your salmon until it is just done, about 15 minutes.
STEP 5: When the salmon is out of the oven, flake it into bite-size pieces using two forks.
STEP 6: Toss some cooked rice with a little rice wine and you are ready to assemble.
STEP 7: Divide the rice into two bowls. Top each with half the salmon, some avocado and some scallions. Give the dressing, one more shake and then drizzle it over the top of each bowl. Scatter some sesame seeds on top and serve it up with some lime wedges!
🤔 Recipe FAQs
Start with the zesting! There are all kinds of fancy zesting tools out there, but I love my microplane zester – it does the job quickly and you can also use it for cheese. Simply drag the lime over the zester and little chopped lime peel pieces will come out the other side. As for juicing, you can get as fancy as having a citrus juicer that squishes the juice out and leaves the seeds, or you can simply squeeze that lime juice into a prep bowl with your hands.
Hold the avocado firmly and carefully cut it lengthwise all around the pit. Twist it apart, and then scoop out the pit with a spoon. If the pit is being stubborn about staying in the avocado, cut that half again length-wise and it should pop out. Now take a large spoon and scoop out the delectable avocado insides from the peel.
Partly! The rice and the salmon can both be cooked as long as one day ahead of time (store both in the fridge and bring them to room temperature before you use them), and you can also make the dressing ahead of time. Do the assembly right before you serve it up.
Pop your question in the Comments section under the recipe card and I will answer pronto!
🥣 Equipment we used for this recipe
These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!
- Measuring Cup: We love these angled cups that show the measurements on both the inside and outside of the cup.
- Measuring Spoons: These handy magnetic spoons are not on a ring, so you can just pick the one you need.
- Cutting Board: These sturdy, dishwasher-safe cutting boards come in all different sizes.
- Basting Brush: This handy silicone brush is perfect for spreading everything from olive oil to egg wash on whatever you are cooking up.
- Citrus Juicer: We love this handy juicer that catches every single seed.
- Mason Jars As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.: Oh, the ever helpful mason jar! Just right for shaking up salad dressings, storing ingredients, and eating slow cooker brownie pudding out of!
- Microplane Zester: This handy tool perfectly grates off the zest from lemons, oranges and limes. It’s also a handy tool for a quick grating of Parmesan cheese!
- Pyrex Mixing Bowls: These classic sturdy bowls come in all different sizes and are great for everything from mixing ingredients to being casual serving bowls.
- Rimmed Baking Pan: These baking pans are great for everything from roasting veggies to baking our favorite rum raisin oatmeal cookies.
😍 Other salmon recipes we love!
⭐️ We want to know what you think!
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe card.
Sesame Salmon Rice Bowl
Savor the delicious flavors of a sesame salmon rice bowl. This healthy recipe combines salmon, avocado, and a zesty dressing.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
- Juice and zest from one lime
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
For the Salmon Bowls
- One 1/2 pound boneless salmon filet
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup cooked rice (white or brown, your choice!)
- 1/4 cup mirin (rice wine)
- 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
- 1 scallion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- Put all dressing ingredients into a jar, close the lid tightly and shake shake shake until well mixed.
- Preheat oven to 425. Line a rimmed baking dish with parchment or foil. Place salmon filet on the baking dish, brush on olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 15 minutes.
- When the salmon is done, pull it into flakes, using two forks to gently pull it apart.
- Toss the rice with the mirin, and then you are ready to assemble the bowls!
- Divide rice among two bowls. Top each with half the salmon, half the avocado and half the scallions.
- Give the dressing one more shake and then drizzle it over the top of the bowls. Scatter sesame seeds on top and serve with lime wedges.
Notes
-
- Salmon: There are SO many kinds of salmon out there. Wild caught salmon has the richest flavor…it is also always more expensive. Farmed salmon is usually more available and affordable, and that is what we usually use. One way or the other, you are looking for boneless salmon filets.
-
- Rice: We like brown rice for this recipe, but you can use any rice you like. Cook it ahead of time so you are all ready to rock when it’s time to assemble your bowls. Recently we have been loving the Ben’s pre-cooked brown rice that you just heat up in the microwave. It’s plain cooked brown rice with a little canola oil, and it tastes good!
-
- Rice Vinegar: Look for this mild vinegar in the international foods section of your supermarket. You can also swap in white wine vinegar if you prefer.
-
- Rice Wine: This is also in the international aisle. You can substitute sherry if you prefer.