Teriyaki Salmon Bowls
These Teriyaki Salmon Bowls are delicious, fresh, and satisfying. With tender baked salmon coated in a sweet and savory glaze, creamy avocado and edamame, and crisp cucumber and carrots, you get a mix of flavor and texture in every bite, and an easy build-your-own bowl that can be flexible for family lunch or dinner, too.
The healthiest and happiest meal.
Based on the simple teriyaki salmon recipe that I adore, this delicious salmon bowl is a dream lunch, in my book. It’s colorful, fresh, and delicious, with bold flavors from the sweet and tangy homemade teriyaki sauce. As with any bowl, the build-your-own qualities make this work for a family dinner, also — lay everything out and ask everyone to pick their own favorite toppings, buffet style. I usually tell the kids they must choose at least one green thing to try. 🙂
Key Ingredients
- Salmon. Look for salmon sold with the skin on, if possible. It bakes up with more flavor, is more likely to stay tender, and is super easy to flake off of the skin when it’s time to eat. You can purchase pre-cut filets or a larger side of salmon, it doesn’t matter.
- For the Teriyaki Sauce: soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, honey, ground ginger, garlic powder, and an optional pinch of red pepper flakes. Simmer these together into a deliciously sweet and tangy homemade sauce that does double duty as a marinade for the salmon and a condiment for the bowl itself. Use a small cornstarch slurry — just powdered cornstarch dissolved in an equal volume of cool water — to thicken this up.
- Rice. The best kind to use is your favorite kind! White rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice, a blend, you name it. You can also skip rice entirely in favor of another grain or base, like couscous, quinoa, farro, or greens.
- Veggie Toppings: shelled edamame, shredded carrots, chopped cucumber, and sliced avocado. Thinly-sliced green onions and a dusting of toasted sesame seeds make the ideal finishing touch.
Pro Tip
Plan ahead! Although the active prep of this recipe is minimal, for best flavor it is best to let the salmon sit in the teriyaki marinade for at least 20 minutes, or up to 24 hours. This is why this recipe is so great for meal prep: it’s not only OK, but actually great, to prep the sauce if not the salmon fully ahead of time to enjoy throughout the week.
Storage and Meal Prep Suggestions
To Store: Keep any leftover salmon in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Store the other components–rice, veggies, avocado–separately if possible and combine into bowls as desired.
To Meal Prep: With a little strategy, this is a great recipe for meal prep. My suggestion would be to fully bake the salmon and store that in the refrigerator. Once that’s ready to go, everything else can be chopped and assembled in about 10 minutes time for a totally fresh, delicious bowl on demand.
Related Recipes
Love easy salmon recipes? Me too! Honey garlic salmon, brown sugar glazed salmon, and a simple lemon herb baked salmon filet are all some of my go-to ways to enjoy this fish. Love the idea of a big bowl of goodness? These Greek salmon salads are another favorite of mine.
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Teriyaki Salmon Bowls
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch plus 1 teaspoon cool water
- 4 salmon fillets 4-6 ounces each
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1 cup shelled edamame
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup chopped cucumber
- 1 avocado sliced
- sliced green onions and sesame seeds optional garnishes
Instructions
- Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, honey, ginger, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes if using in a small saucepan set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let it bubble for 1-2 minutes.1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce, 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 Tablespoon honey, 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- While the sauce is simmering, mix the cornstarch and cool water in a small bowl and stir into a thin slurry, then stir this into the soy sauce mixture. Keep bubbling until the sauce is thick enough to visibly coat the back of spoon. Set aside to cool for 5-10 minutes. (You can do this a few minutes or a few days ahead of time and store in the fridge.)1 teaspoon cornstarch plus 1 teaspoon cool water
- Place salmon in a large bowl and pour about half of the sauce on top, reserving the rest. Set aside to marinate for 15-20 minutes at room temperature or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.4 salmon fillets
- When ready to bake, heat oven to 400 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up. Place salmon fillets skin side down on the sheet. Discard the sauce that was used as a marinade. Roast salmon for 12-15 minutes, until it flakes easily with a fork and reaches 135-140 degrees F in the thickest part.
- Make bowls of rice and top with salmon, edamame, carrots, cucumber, and avocado as desired. Drizzle the reserved teriyaki sauce generously on top.2 cups cooked rice, 1 cup shelled edamame, 1 cup shredded carrots, 1 cup chopped cucumber, 1 avocado
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions for an optional garnish, and dig in!sliced green onions and sesame seeds
Notes
- Rice vinegar: Apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar — not to be confused with standard white vinegar — are good substitutes if needed.
- Brown sugar: I prefer light in this sauce but either light or dark works.
- Cornstarch slurry: Always incorporate cornstarch as a slurry — dissolved into cool water first — rather than adding the powder directly to a hot sauce. The slurry will thicken things up quickly but smoothly. In contrast, cornstarch powder mixed straight into a hot sauce will seize up into small clumps, which are very difficult if not impossible to whisk out.
- Cold oven salmon variation: Pace the marinated salmon fillets on a lined baking sheet and transfer to a cold oven, then turn the oven onto 400 degrees F and set a timer for 20 minutes. This takes a little longer than beginning with a preheated oven, as one might expect, but often yields even more tender, flaky fish.
- Storage: Keep any leftover salmon in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Store the other components separately if possible and combine into bowls as desired.
