Honey Salmon Rice Bowls
Easy salmon bowls with honey salmon, rice, a fresh cucumber salad, and bang bang sauce. Ready in 20-minutes in the air frier or 30-minutes baked.
Equipment
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
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.
The longer the salmon marinates, the more flavorful it will be. If you only have a few minutes, you might want to add ¼ teaspoon salt to the marinade.
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.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 (of 4) | Calories: 411kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 720mg | Potassium: 940mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 221IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 3mg
