Honey Salmon Rice Bowls
Developed and tested by Robyn Conley Downs
on Apr 6, 2026 
These easy salmon bowls get dinner on the table in under 30 minutes with honey-garlic salmon that’s baked or air fried. Paired with rice, an easy cucumber salad, and quick bang bang sauce, it’s perfect for weeknights, meal prep, or when you want something impressive without the work!
5 star review
“These were so easy and delicious! As someone who has always wanted to cook fish but been intimidated this was a perfect recipe for me to start with. I will be making this again.”
– Erin
Honey Salmon Bowls with Bang Bang Sauce for Dinner Tonight
Okay, here’s the thing. I’m not a huge fish person. Buuuuut, that all changes when it comes to my honey garlic salmon bowls. First of all, it’s just so darn easy to make. The honey soy marinade takes about two minutes to whisk together, the salmon sits in it for five minutes while you pull everything else out, and then it either goes in the oven or the air fryer for under ten minutes. Seriously. That’s the whole thing. It’s genuinely one of the fastest dinners in my rotation and it doesn’t feel like a compromise the way a lot of fast dinners do.
While the salmon cooks you make the cucumber edamame salad and sriracha mayo, so everything lands on the table at the same time without any juggling. The salad is bright and fresh with a little sesame and rice vinegar, the sriracha mayo takes about thirty seconds, and the reserved marinade gets drizzled over the finished salmon so nothing goes to waste. It tastes like something from a restaurant bowl and costs a fraction of that, which, on that note, if you’re looking to mix up your bowl nights, my egg roll in a bowl is just as simple and packed with flavor.
This one is in my regular weeknight rotation specifically for the nights when I need dinner handled fast and want something the whole family will actually eat (truly, this is the one of the only ways one of the picker members of the family will eat salmon). Salmon feels more special than chicken without being any harder, which makes it an easy way to break out of the same protein rotation without adding any complexity. And that’s what I call a dinner win! And for another easy salmon dinner the whole family will love, my salmon orzo pasta bake is a great weeknight option.
Welcome to My Kitchen, Let’s Make Salmon Bowls!
Tips from My Kitchen for a Flavorful Salmon Dinner
- I’ve tested in the oven and air fryer and they both work great, but the air fryer gets slightly crispier edges in less time so that’s my preference, if it’s an option for you. If you’re using the oven, don’t skip the parchment or you’ll be scraping stuck marinade off the pan forever.
- Pat the salmon really dry before adding the marinade or it won’t stick properly and you’ll get watery instead of glazed.
- Don’t marinate longer than an hour or the acid and salt start breaking down the salmon texture and it gets mushy. 5 minutes is honestly plenty for the flavor to soak in.
- Add the avocado to the salad last and toss gently or it’ll turn into mush. Everything else can hang out together, but avocado needs to go in right before serving or it gets brown and sad looking.
Honey Salmon Rice Bowls
Ingredients
For the Honey Salmon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste, see notes)
- 1 pound salmon, skin removed and cut into 1-inch cubes
For the Cucumber Salad
- 1 cup shelled edamame (steamed or frozen, defrosted)
- 1 cup seedless cucumber, small diced (such as Persian or English)
- 2 green onions, chopped (white and green parts)
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ large avocado, diced
For the Bang Bang Sauce
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sriracha
- 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
- for Serving: steamed rice
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat: If baking, preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper for easy cleanup, or spray with cooking spray. If air frying, skip this step.
- Make the Salmon Sauce: Whisk together the olive oil, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl until smooth.
- Add the Salmon: Pat the salmon dry and check for and remove and pin bones. Add roughly ½ of the marinade along with the salmon to a large bowl or baking dish, tossing to coat.
- Set the remaining marinade aside, as you will use this at the end to toss with the cooked salmon
- Allow the salmon to sit in the sauce at room temperature for at least 5 minutes to soak up the flavor, or up to 60 minutes in the fridge.
- Make the Salad: While the salmon marinates, make the salad by adding the edamame, cucumber, green onion, vinegar, sesame oil, and salt to a large bowl, tossing to combine. Add the avocado and gently toss to just combine.
- Cook the Salmon: Remove the salmon from the marinade (discard any marinade remaining in the dish).
- Bake: Add the salmon to the prepared sheet pan in an even layer, being careful not to overlap. Cook for 8-15 minutes, flipping once, or until cooked and flakes easily with a fork.
- Air Fry: Add the salmon to the air fryer basket in an even layer, being careful not to overlap. Cook at 400°F for 5-8 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through, until cooked and flakes easily with a fork.
- Make the Bang Bang Sauce: While the salmon cooks, in a small bowl, whisk together the sriracha, chili sauce, and mayonnaise until smooth.
- Serve: Serve the salmon, drizzled with the reserved sauce over rice, with the salad on the side, drizzled with the bang bang sauce.
Notes
- Sauce it Right: Save a third of the sauce before adding the raw salmon and toss the cooked salmon with it at the end. This gives you that glossy, sticky coating without any food safety weirdness.
- Removing Salmon Skin: Okay, real talk, removing salmon skin can be a bit of a pain. My best strategy is to use frozen salmon, allow it to defrost about half way (just so it’s not frozen solid), and then slice the skin off with a knife – it should slice off easily. Then I’ll dice into cubes (again, the slicing is easy because it’s still semi-frozen), and allow it to defrost the remainder of the way in the marinade. If this is too much of a hassle, though, no worries. Just use whole salmon. In this case, I’d recommend at least a 30 minute marinade, and adding about ¼ teaspoon kosher salt to the marinade.
These were so easy and delicious! As someone who has always wanted to cook fish but been intimidated this was a perfect recipe for me to start with. I will be making this again.
Erin, YAY, I’m so happy to hear this fish recipe was a hit, am so happy you gave it a try! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and leaving a review.
This one had potential for us. I felt the salmon needed more salt than the soy sauce provided. I also think I’d prefer to just cook the salmon whole rather than removing the skin and chopping. I disliked the process of trying to remove the skin.
Robyn, thanks for your honest feedback! I think adding about 1/4 teaspoon salt to the salmon marinade might help. As for the salmon, I hear you! I’ve found the best method for removing salmon skin is to buy frozen salmon and then to slice the skin off when it’s about half defrosted – it comes off super easily that way (which reminds me that I should add that tip to the recipe card!). But another great option would be to just cook the salmon whole, in which case I’d recommend a longer marinade time to get the flavor infused (since you’ll only have one side to work with), and to add the extra salt. If you give it another try let me know what you think!
This was lovely!! Have any other good recipes with the sweet chili sauce that I now own a bottle of? Ha ha.
Rachel, YAY, I”m so happy you enjoyed this one! And great question about the sweet chili sauce (you know I try to avoid unnecessary ingredients that you’ll never use again), I use if most often to make this bang bang sauce and put it on basically anything with an Asian-profile (so good on my egg roll bowls, slow cooker Korean beef, beef ramen skillet, and ground chicken ramen for example. Also makes a good dipping sauce for wontons or dumplings on my my dumpling bake! Hope that helps. 🙂