Last Updated on April 14, 2026 by Sabrina Currie
Cooked salmon poke bowls with avocado and spicy mayo are delicious and nutritious. Poke bowls are easy enough for weekday dinners, are easy to customize for picky eaters, and have tons of flavors and textures for the perfect one bowl meal. These only take 30 minutes and are naturally dairy-free and gluten-free (if using gf soy sauce).
What Makes This Recipe So Good
Fresh chunks of salmon bake in the oven with a tasty homemade teriyaki sauce while a pot of rice cooks. While both are cooking, mix up the easy 2-ingredient spicy mayo sauce and slice some veggies. That's it! Let everyone assemble their own bowl adding more of their favorites and omitting anything they don't like. Easy, right?! Plus, all the components are great meal prep items that can be easily packed for lunch the next day or doubled for another dinner.
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What is poke and how do you pronounce it?
Poke is a Hawaiian dish influenced by Japanese Hawaiians. It's a slightly sweeter version of a chirashi sushi bowl which is another a fun sushi bowl to make for dinner. Here is a video on how to say poke. There are some who say 'poke-ay' and some who say 'poke-ee', so however you decide to say it is fine.
What should I serve with poke?
While a bowl of sushi rice is the base of a traditional poke bowl , it's not the only way to serve this salmon poke bowl recipe. Poke is delicious on it's own or garnished simply with slivered nori (seaweed), scallions or sesame seeds. It can also be served as an appetizer with shrimp crackers or fried wonton wrappers to scoop it up.
In many poke restaurants you can also ask for it over a simple green salad or even rice noodles. In sushi restaurants, it is sometimes served in inari which are soft tofu pockets and may also contain rice. Poke is the perfect choose your own adventure meal so just pick your favorite complimentary base or side.
To make this spicy salmon poke bowl a meal, I like to add sliced vegetables. Any combination of thinly sliced or cubed cucumber, avocado, edamame, radishes, corn, shredded carrot, cabbage or any other veggie you like. How fun would it be to set up a salad bar-style poke bar?!
Recipe Ingredients
The base recipe for cooked salmon poke only needs a few ingredients. Feel free to keep it simple over a bowl of rice or get fancy with all the toppings.
- Salmon - I come from a fishing family so I love rich wild salmon like sockeye salmon, spring salmon, coho or even chum salmon when it's fresh. You don't have to use sushi-grade salmon since you'll be cooking it but the best salmon is the freshest salmon so choose what is available to you. No fresh? Frozen at sea (FAS) wild-caught salmon is almost always a great choice because it's been flash frozen within hours of being caught.
- Soy Sauce - Soy is the base of poke marinade. A little sweetness, acid, garlic and ginger further amp it up into a light teriyaki-like sauce. I use Kikkoman and you can buy a gluten free version if you like.
- Sesame - A little sesame oil and a finish with sesame seeds adds great Japanese flavor. Toasting your sesame seeds before using freshens them up and really enhances their flavor. I highly recommend doing this extra step. For an eye-catching presentation, sprinkle a teaspoon or so of black sesame seeds over.
- Mustard - This is a non-traditional ingredient and my little twist on this. I think it adds more depth of flavor and I love the mild crunch of the mustard seeds. This is an optional ingredient, and you can use it or omit it.
- Rice - Steamed sushi or jasmine rice are an easy and tasty base.
- Toppings - Use as few or as many as you like. Sliced red onion is traditional. To add more interest, creamy avocado, fresh cucumber, sweet bell peppers or crisp radishes, shredded carrot, beets, cabbage or lettuce, pickled onions or ginger, cooked edamame beans, chopped green onions, parsley or cilantro, diced mango or pineapple, alfalfa or sunflower sprouts are all tasty ideas.
- Spicy Mayo Drizzle - Optional but so yummy! You can buy it but it only needs 2 sauce ingredients; Japanese kewpie mayo and sriracha sauce. So if you have the ingredients, you should make your own. Or try this delish wasabi mayo instead.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions + Variations
These yummy sushi bowls are easy to customize with your favorite ingredients.
- Protein - You can swap the salmon for tuna and cook it the same way or cubed tofu, reducing the baking time until it's just hot through. You can also sub in smaller cubes of raw fish like sushi grade salmon or tuna and skip the cooking. Leftover teriyaki salmon makes these bowls even faster.
- Base - While sushi rice is a classic, it's not the only way to serve it as noted above. Other good bases include brown rice, rice noodles, quinoa, green salad, seaweed salad or even cauliflower rice.
- Poke sauce - I've given the recipe above but you can use store bought teriyaki sauce for a shortcut if you prefer.
- Honey - I love the thick and rich consistency of honey for the sweetener but you can swap it for an equal amount of maple syrup or agave syrup. If you choose to use sugar, use brown sugar and season it to taste.
How To Video
Watch this quick video to see how fast and easy these salmon bowls are!
Step-by-Step Instructions
To have cooked salmon poke bowls ready in 30 minutes, put your pot of rice on first, then preheat your oven to 350°F while you mix the marinade. Then while the salmon is cooking, slice up your toppings.
Step 1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the soy, honey, sesame oil, rice vinegar, lime juice, garlic, ginger and mustard. Set aside ¼ cup in another bowl. Slice your salmon fillets into cubes or strips with a sharp knife.
Step 2. Add the raw salmon strips or cubes to the remaining soy mixture and toss to coat.
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and sriracha and adjust the amount of spice to taste.
Step 3. Remove the pieces of salmon from the marinade and arrange it on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet.
Step 4. Place it in the oven and bake until just opaque through, about 7-10 minutes depending on how thick your pieces are. While the salmon is baking, chop and slice any onions, herbs, nori, fruit and fresh veggies you like.
*Optional - Toast your sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant and lightly browned.
Step 5. Fill bowls with ¾-1 cup of rice and top the rice base with salmon, creamy avocado slices and red onions, if using.
Step 6. Drizzle the remaining soy sauce mixture over the salmon and onions. Add any other vegetables and herbs, then drizzle the homemade sriracha mayo over and sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds (and nori if using) over top and serve.
Expert Tips
Cooked salmon poke bowls make great leftovers. Assemble leftover ingredients over rice in resealable containers for tasty, nutritious packed lunches. With the exception of sliced avocado, these ingredients last well for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. If you are making these with precooked (or leftover) salmon, just break it into chunks and marinate it for about 15 minutes before assembling the bowls. You could even do this with chunks of canned salmon.
Pin It For Later
Save this cooked salmon poke bowl recipe to Pinterest for next time or share it with your friend on Facebook!
More Delicious Salmon and Seafood Recipes
Love these cooked salmon poke bowls? Then I bet you'll love my other salmon and seafood recipes too!
- Easy Tilapia Fish Tacos With Crema And Cabbage Slaw
- Easy Furikake Salmon
- Easy Pan Fried Crispy Salmon Bites (Just 15 Minutes!)
- Quick, Easy Garlic Butter Sautéed Imitation Crab Meat
Hey, I'm Sabrina!
It's great to have you here. I'm a former fisher, culinary school grad and cookbook author. I create fresh, seasonal recipes based on garden, forest and ocean ingredients.
📖 Recipe
Cooked Salmon Poke Bowls With Avocado And Spicy Mayo
Ingredients
Salmon
- ½ c soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried ginger or 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon grainy mustard
- 1 lb boneless salmon filet, cut into 1" cubes (450 g)
Spicy Mayo
- ⅓ c Kewpie mayonnaise (Japanese mayonnaise) or sub regular mayo
- 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce or more to taste
Base and Toppings - Optional
- 1 sliced avocado
- ½ c sliced red onion
- 3-4 c cooked sushi rice
- 1 c cucumber, sliced
- 1 c shredded red cabbage
- ½ c shredded carrot
- 1 c cooked edamame beans
- sesame seeds, slivered nori, sliced scallions or other herbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the soy, honey, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, garlic, ginger and mustard. Set aside ¼ cup and then add the salmon cubes to the remaining soy mixture and toss to coat. In a separate pot, cook 1 ½ cups of rice, if using, as per package directions.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and sriracha and adjust the amount of spice to taste.
- Remove salmon from marinade and arrange it on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Place it in the oven and bake until just opaque through, about 7-10 minutes depending on how thick your pieces are.
- While the salmon is baking, toast your sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant and lightly browned, about 3 minutes, remove from the pan and let cool. Next, chop and slice any onions, herbs, nori, fruit and vegetables you want to use for toppings.
- Fill bowls with ¾-1 cup of rice and add salmon, sliced avocado and red onions, if using. Drizzle the remaining soy sauce mixture over the salmon and onions. Add any other vegetables and herbs, then drizzle the spicy mayo over and sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds (and nori if using) over top and serve.
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