Smoked Salmon Rice Bowl

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This Smoked Salmon Rice Bowl is such a simple but delicious 30-minute dinner or lunch! It's easy to make, and it's basically a deconstructed salmon sushi bowl, but with smoked salmon! You can meal prep the rice, cucumber salad, edamame, and the sauce ahead of time to make it even easier and quicker!

Smoked salmon rice bowl with edamame, cucumber, avocado, pickled red onion, strips of nori, spicy mayo, and sesame seeds.

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Why You'll Love This Smoked Salmon Bowl
Ingredients
Variations and Substitutions
Step-by-Step Instructions
Storing and Make-Ahead Options
FAQs
More Smoked Salmon Recipes
📖 Recipe

Why You'll Love This Smoked Salmon Bowl

Salmon sushi bowl - I didn't initially make this as a deconstructed sushi bowl, but it has a lot of the same components and flavors, and adding nori on top really brings it together! Raw salmon is swapped for smoked salmon, which simplifies things if you don't like handling raw fish, and it adds more flavor! It's gluten-free and dairy-free as well!

Full of flavor and textures - This bowl has it all! Rice is the base, edamame beans add extra protein, cucumber salad adds crunch, avocado creaminess, and briney pickled red onion ties it all together! And we can't forget my favorite Bang Bang Sauce, which absolutely shines in this dish! It's a little spicy, creamy, and just so good!

Easy and versatile - While this recipe does have several steps (the rice, salad, edamame, sauce, and pickled onion), everything is really easy to make and simple. You can prep some of it ahead of time for the week and just put it together each day. You can swap the toppings for other veggies you like, like radishes or carrots, or make a different sauce based on what you have!

A bowl with smoked salmon, rice, edamame, cucumber, avocado, pickled red onion, strips of nori, spicy mayo, and sesame seeds.

Ingredients

Basmati rice - I picked white basmati rice because I always have it on hand, and it takes less than 15 minutes to cook. You can swap it for brown rice or sushi rice if you prefer.
Edamame beans - I always have some shelled edamame beans in the freezer. They're quick and easy to cook (without defrosting), and they give a protein boost to any meal. You can also use them in these Salmon Lettuce Wraps!
Cucumber salad - A simple salad of cucumber, sesame seeds, unseasoned rice vinegar, and a little bit of toasted sesame oil adds crunch, flavor, and freshness. You could also upgrade it to this Cucumber Mango Salad!
Pickled red onion - You can buy these, but I usually have a batch of my Quick Pickled Red Onions in the fridge, and highly recommend making your own too! It's really easy and adds a briny flavor this bowl really needs!
Smoked salmon - I recommend buying frozen smoked salmon, unless you live right by the ocean. This way, you'll be sure it's as fresh as it can be.
Toasted nori - Adding chopped seaweed snacks on top adds another layer of flavor and turns this into a deconstructed salmon sushi bowl!
Bang Bang sauce - I have a separate recipe for Bang Bang Sauce with extra tips and tricks, but I included a half batch of the sauce in this recipe card to make things easier for you. It yields enough for 2-3 people.
Avocado - This one is optional, but it adds healthy fats, a little protein, and another layer of flavor and texture.

Variations and Substitutions

Quinoa or different rice - You can serve this with any kind of rice you have (jasmine rice, brown rice, red rice, or black rice), or quinoa if you prefer. You can also swap the rice for cauliflower rice.
More veggies - Add julienned carrots, sliced radishes, or chopped green onions for more flavor and extra crunch.
Different salmon or shrimp - You can add hot-smoked salmon instead of the classic cold-smoked one, or make some roasted salmon instead. Try it with this Chili Crisp Salmon! You can also make these bowls with sauteed shrimp!
Sriracha mayo - If you don't have all the ingredients for the bang bang sauce, you can add some simple Spicy Sriracha Mayo instead! It's made with mayo, sriracha, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, cane sugar, garlic, and sea salt. Alternatively, you can also just mix mayo with hot sauce!

Step-by-Step Instructions

Basmati rice: Rinse the rice well and drain it. Add it to a small saucepan with water and sea salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 12 minutes until there’s almost no water left. Fluff with a fork and cover for 2 minutes.
Edamame beans: While the rice is cooking, boil the edamame. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil on the stove, and add frozen edamame. Cook for 5 minutes, drain, rinse, and set aside to cool.

Cooked edamame and rice in two separate glass containers.

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Cucumber Salad: Thinly slice the cucumber and add it to a medium bowl with rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Set aside.

Sliced cucumbers, sesame seeds, and rice vinegar in a glass bowl before and after tossing together.

Bang bang sauce: Whisk together mayonnaise, sweet red chili sauce, sriracha, honey, and rice vinegar. This recipe has a half version of my Bang Bang Sauce, enough for 2-3 people.

Bang bang sauce in a medium glass bowl before and after whisking ingredients together.

To put everything together, divide the rice into two bowls or plates and add the cooked edamame, cucumber salad, smoked salmon, pickled red onion, and avocado.
Drizzle with bang bang sauce or sriracha mayo.
Lastly, slice the seaweed snacks into thin strips and sprinkle them on top. You can also sprinkle on some extra sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Smoked salmon rice bowl with edamame, cucumber, avocado, pickled red onion, strips of nori, and spicy mayo.

Storing and Make-Ahead Options

This bowl is best eaten right away once you put everything together, but you can store the individual ingredients separately in airtight containers in the fridge.

I recommend storing the smoked salmon only for 1-2 days. I always buy mine frozen, and it lasts 2-3 days once defrosted and opened, but always refer to what your package says.

The rice, edamame, and cucumber salad will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. The bang bang sauce can be stored in a jar in the fridge for up to 5 days. Avocado goes brown quickly, so always slice it up right before serving.

FAQs

Can I use lox or gravlax?

Yes, you can technically use smoked salmon, lox, or gravlax here, but they all have slightly different flavors. Smoked salmon is the only one that has a smoky flavor, and it works the best in this recipe. Lox is salt-cured without any smoke, and gravlax is also salt-cured, but it usually has lots of dill and often includes alcohol.

What's the difference between cold and hot smoked salmon?

You can use either here, but they both have very different textures. Hot smoked salmon is smoked above 120°F, while the cold smoked one is below 90°F. Because of this, hot-smoked salmon has a much more "cooked" texture and also a stronger smoky flavor.

More Smoked Salmon Recipes

If you have more smoked salmon you need to use up, check out four of my favorite recipes below! There's something to choose from for everyone! To see all the latest ones and more, head over to Fish and Seafood.

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Have you tried this Smoked Salmon Rice Bowl? Please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!

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