Salmon Buddha Bowl Recipe

Salmon Buddha Bowl Recipe is a delicious healthy superfood recipe loaded with umami flavors, spicy sriracha, sweet mango, rich salmon, and fresh vegetables. This recipe packs a plentiful amount of nutrition into this quick and easy buddha bowl.

Recipe Video

You'll ❤️ This Buddha Bowl Recipe

"This delicious salmon buddha bowl blends salmon with quinoa to create a tasty meal along with nutrient packed fresh vegetables and fruits - with NO shortage of flavor." 🙂

Super Simple

Besides preparing the quinoa and searing a piece of fresh salmon, adding already prepared ingredients to this dish makes assembling this entree an effortless task. You are welcome to substitute other fresh fruits for the mango, such as strawberries or raspberries.

Delicious

A lot of unique and tasty flavors are packed into these buddha bowls. From the rich umami flavor of the tamari, avocado oil mayonnaise, and seaweed snacks to the spiciness of the sriracha and the sweetness of the fruits and vegetables - your palate is in for an amazing ride.

Customizable

Because you can customize this so many ways, Buddha bowls are perfect if you've got picky eaters, hearty eaters, or individuals in your home following different diets. Any healthy eater looking for a quick and easy meal idea to make at home will love this.

See our Variations section below for ideas on how to customize!

Superfoods

This quinoa bowl has many health benefits already, being that it is predominantly a superfood bowl. Superfoods are rich in nutrients and are considered beneficial for one's health and well-being.

• This dish is already gluten-free, but can easily be keto-friendly too with a few modifications mentioned in the variations and ingredients sections below.
• The recipe uses mostly superfoods and other ingredients that are beneficial to one's health and everyday living.
• Use coconut aminos in place of the tamari to reduce the salt content in the recipe. Tamari is already gluten-free but is much higher in sodium. You can use reduced-sodium tamari sauce as well.

How To Serve

This Salmon Buddha Bowl Recipe packs a lot of flavors, which is what you'd expect from an Asian-style dish. There are a variety of ways you could serve this dish:

Change up the toppings/sides: we garnished this recipe with our homemade yum yum sauce, seaweed snacks, and black sesame seeds. Some other favorites are cashews, toasted almonds, toasted sesame, toasted panko bread crumbs, wasabi sauce, cilantro, sweet potatoes, asparagus tips, shredded carrot, thinly sliced cucumber or radishes, etc...

The best sauces to serve with this dish are soy sauce, gluten-free soy substitutes such as tamari or coconut aminos, or teriyaki sauce, or yum yum sauce.

Serving with kimchi, a small pickled ginger and cucumber salad, or even pickled red cabbage would be a nice addition as both a palate cleanser or compliment to the dish.

For those of you who feel gluten is necessary, I would suggest wonton chips along with the seaweed to help drive the crunch factor and flavor of this dish.

Want more salmon bowls? You gotta try this Teriyaki Salmon Bowl and this version with smoked salmon (like deconstructed sushi). Delish. 🙂

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need to make this Salmon Buddha Bowl:

See the recipe card for quantities.

• Quinoa - White quinoa is the easiest to find and black quinoa is the hardest. Red quinoa is my favorite in terms of flavor, but whatever you can find on the shelves will work just as great!
• Water
• Table salt
• Ground Black Pepper
• Salmon - Comes in many sizes, shapes, and grades. Fresh salmon is my favorite and you should be able to find it from 8 ounce cuts up to a pound. Frozen works just as well, but make sure to thaw it for 2 days in the refrigerator before you cook it.
• Tamari Soy (Gluten-Free, Low Carb, and Keto) - Use regular soy sauce or Coconut Aminos (a gluten-free low carb keto soy sauce substitute)
• Sriracha - Is a spicy chili sauce found at most, if not all grocery stores. This sauce is what heats things up!
• Avocado Oil Mayonnaise - Gives the recipe an added creaminess. We made this recipe using avocado oil mayonnaise, but use any favorite mayonnaise (regular, low fat, keto, fat free) that you like. Vegans use vegan mayonnaise. Another popular mayo is Kewpie mayonnaise which is an Asian style mayonnaise, that it uses all egg yolks instead of whole eggs. It also contains rice wine vinegar and sugar.
• Sugar Snap Peas - Gives this dish some sweetness and a very nice crunch. Clip the ends off, and if they seem to big, cut them in half. Snow peas can be substituted as well.
• Avocado - Add a nice creamy texture. When selecting, make sure they're not too soft, but not too firm. Using a knife carefully, make a slit down the middle of the avocado all the way around lengthwise following the pit. Twist both halves until they pull apart and pop out the pit using a small pasta spoon. with that same spoon, scoop out the avocado and slices lengthwise into thin slices (1/8 inch thick).
• Mango - Brings the sweet! When selecting, make sure they are not too soft, but not too firm. Skin the mango using a pairing knife as you would with a potato and then cut lengthwise 4 times around the pit. Dice into bite-size pieces. Feel free to substitute fresh berries.
• Scallions - An overall staple in Asian cuisine and brings both savory notes, yet a crunch as a simple garnish. Make sure to pull out any bad pieces and chop them into 1/4 inch pieces.
• Seaweed Snack Squares - These are what make this dish as close to a sushi roll as you can get. Any dried roasted seaweed will work, but remember you will need to cut the sheets into squares.

Variations

Here are a few ways you can vary or make changes to your Salmon Buddha Bowl:

• To make this keto-friendly: use cooked riced cauliflower as a substitution for the quinoa, use snow peas (lower in sugar) or green beans in place of sugar snap peas, use a modified amount of berries in place of the mango.
• How to make it vegetarian or vegan: If you're vegan why not replace the salmon with other vegetables like asparagus or fresh cucumbers? As you know, regular mayo won't work for you, but a bottle of vegan-friendly mayonnaise at your local grocery store.
• Make it low fat: use a fat free or low fat mayonnaise to lower the fat in this recipe. You can also reduce or eliminate the amount of avocado used and you could use a smaller portion of salmon.
• Any type of rice could be substituted for the quinoa in this dish. Sushi, rice, jasmine, basmati, and brown rice are my favorites, but regular long-grain works too. Brown Rice is the healthiest option of the four.
• Do you like it spicier or less spicy? You can adjust the amount of sriracha you use in the recipe to the level of spicy you prefer. Add more sriracha if you prefer.
• Give a Mexican-style twist. Use Spanish rice as your starch and even replace the seaweed with street corn tortillas to turn into tacos! From there, play around with the other ingredients and use tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and sliced olives. Maybe substitute sour cream for mayonnaise. Use salsa in place of the sriracha sauce. There are no rules! 🙂
• Sourcing is tough these days, but if you can find fresh sushi-grade salmon or ahi tuna, raw sushi-style seafood would be a delicious substitute for the cooked flaked salmon in this recipe.

Instructions

Here's how to make the Salmon Buddha Bowl:

For complete instructions, please see the printable recipe card below.

Cook Quinoa

Cook quinoa according to the package instructions. You will need about 1 cup of dry quinoa and 2 cups of water to make 2 cups of cooked quinoa.

Let the quinoa cool after cooking, then place in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

Sear the Salmon

In a 12" skillet, start heating the olive oil.

Season salmon with salt and pepper.

Place salmon flesh side down in the skillet. If there isn't any skin on your salmon fillet, the flesh side of your salmon is the top side or the presentational side. Sear until you have achieved a nice golden color for about 3 to 4 minutes.

Flip salmon and cook until it flakes about 3 to 4 more minutes.

Remove the salmon from the pan and let it cool.

Make Salmon and Quinoa Mixture

Break apart salmon into flakes.

Add the flaked salmon, tamari sauce, mayonnaise, and sriracha to the medium-sized bowl with quinoa. Mix until thoroughly blended using the large serving spoon—season with salt and pepper to taste.

Plate and Serve

Serve the quinoa and salmon mixture in a bowl or plate of your choosing. Top with diced mango, scallions, avocado slices, and sugar snap peas. Place six bite-size pieces of seaweed next to the quinoa.

If you need a little more sriracha or soy on the side to enhance the experience, don't hesitate. Everybody is different, but I love mixing all the ingredients together in my bowl, so I get a little bit of everything into one bite - it reminds me of a sushi roll. 🙂

Top Tips

• Remember to start cooking your quinoa first as it will take the most time to prepare.
• For quickness and ease, prep all ingredients before you start. Avocado will turn brown so only cut it when you are ready to serve.
• According to the USDA salmon should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees.

FAQs

What is the best sauce for buddha bowls?

This is all personal preference, of course, but the best and most common sauces used in buddha bowls are soy sauce, yum yum sauce, teriyaki sauce, ginger dressing, tahini sauce, etc.

Can this meal be prepared ahead of time?

Yes, you can meal prep this recipe up to 2 days ahead of time. For easy assembly, the quinoa and the salmon can be made a day ahead of time and stored separately in air-tight containers. The vegetables and fruit in this recipe can be prepared a couple of days ahead of time. However, do not cut the avocado until ready to use, as it will turn brown.

How long will this recipe keep?

This recipe will keep up to 3 days. Cooked seafood can be stored for 3 or 4 days.

Are there ways to make this more kid friendly?

Most certainly! Make their bowls with a side of their favorite ingredients. It's easy to substitute any of the ingredients. Some kid favorites are steamed broccoli, edamame, diced cucumbers, carrots, berries, etc. Most kids don't like anything too spicy (at least mine don't), so I'd recommend removing the sriracha altogether.

More Salmon Recipes

If you are looking for more salmon recipes, check these out:

• Pistachio Crusted Salmon - delicious
• Baked Salmon with Mayo and Parmesan Herb Crust - a blog favorite!
• Air Fryer Salmon Patties (Keto Low Carb) - super easy
• Grilled Salmon
• Keto Low Carb Smoked Salmon Frittata Recipe - makes an amazing breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

More Recipes To Try

Salmon Buddha Bowl is a delicious healthy dinner or lunch idea! Seared and flaked salmon blended with quinoa, sriracha sauce, and avocado oil mayo served with sugar snap peas, mango, scallions, and avocado slices. Garnish with our sugar free yum yum sauce and sesame seeds. So delicious! Low carb keto followers can use riced cauliflower and substitute any keto friendly ingredient such as green beans for the sugar snaps, berries instead of mango, and so on! Enjoy!