Salmon Buddha Bowl with Ginger Lime Dressing
If you’re looking for a balanced, nourishing, and flavor-packed meal, this salmon Buddha bowl is what you need. Perfect for lunch or dinner, it features flaky roasted salmon, fluffy brown rice, crisp veggies, creamy avocado and a zesty ginger lime dressing. This balanced meal delivers protein, healthy fats, and vibrant flavors in every bite, it’s easy to customize and comes together in under 30 minutes.
Erica’s Thoughts
As a registered dietitian and busy mom, I love meals that are nutrient-dense, satisfying and (relatively) quick to throw together. These salmon Buddha bowls check all the boxes: they’re quick, fresh, and family-friendly. Although my girls won’t necessarily eat the bowl fully prepped, they love the individual components- like cucumbers, edamame (Pen calls them ‘mama beans’ lol) and rice. If I know my evening will be busy, I prep the components earlier in the day. AKA- blitz up the dressing, slice the cucumbers, thaw the edamame, etc. That’s one of my favorite things about bowl meals- you can prep all of the things ahead of time! We double saucin’ this bowl, because sauce is boss obvi. The ginger lime dressing adds a tangy punch that ties the whole dish together, while sriracha mayo gives a little extra oomph at the end.
This simple dish is everything I love about a ‘bowl recipe’. It is balanced with whole grains, lean protein, heart-healthy fats, and the dressing and garnishes dress it up in a way that makes it SO much tastier than plain ole salmon and brown rice.
Simple Ingredients You’ll Need to Make a Good Salmon Buddha Bowl
Here’s everything you need to bring these delicious bowls to life:
Salmon: I love to use wild salmon- it’s high quality and as more of the heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids than farmed salmon. I buy salmon at Costco.
Brown rice: any grain will work here! Quinoa, jasmine rice, white rice, wild rice, farro, cauliflower rice, they’re all great.
Avocado: you’ll want to use a firm but ripe avocado. Spritz it with lime and salt for the best flavor.
Persian cucumbers: you can use one large English cucumber but I love the mini or Persian cucumbers.
Edamame: you can find shelled edamame, that means out of the pod, in the frozen vegetable section at the grocery store. Edamame is an immature soybean and adds an extra protein boost to this meal!
Ginger lime dressing: this easy homemade dressing features fresh ginger, lime juice, honey, coconut aminos or soy sauce and avocado oil.
Mixed greens: leafy greens add a nutrition boost to these bowls.
For serving: sriracha mayo and sesame seeds are the perfect finishing touches! You’ll find sriracha mayo in the international foods aisle of most grocery stores. You can also make it be combining sriracha and mayo, I like a ratio of 5 tablespoons mayo to 1 teaspoon sriracha.
How to Make Salmon Buddha Bowls
Cook the Brown Rice:
Rinse the brown rice in a fine mesh sieve until the water runs clear. Place the rice in a medium saucepan with 2 ¼ cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook for 25 minutes, then turn off the heat and let sit (lid on) for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Make the Dressing:
Blitz up the easy ginger lime dressing.
Cook the Salmon:
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Pat the salmon fillets dry with a paper towel, season with salt and black pepper and place skin side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Spread a spoonful of ginger lime dressing over each fillet to coat. Roast the salmon for 10-12 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 145°F and flakes easily with a fork. It should be golden brown on top and around the edges.
Prepare the Veg:
While the salmon cooks, toss a few tablespoons of the dressing with the sliced cucumbers in a small bowl. Set aside to marinate. Cut the avocado into thin slices and run the edamame under warm water to thaw. I like to toss it with a little sesame oil and salt.
Assemble the Bowls:
Start with a brown rice base and add leafy greens. Top with marinated cucumbers, sliced avocado, edamame, and the rich salmon. Finish with a drizzle of sauce, spicy mayo and sesame seeds!
Expert Tips and Variation Ideas
- Don’t overcook the salmon! It should be just cooked through and flake easily with a fork. As a general rule, salmon takes about 10 minutes per inch of thickness at 425 degrees.
- Usually the grain:water ratio for rice is 2:1 but I like to do more like 1.75:1. This creates drier, fluffier rice.
- Feel free to add other fresh veggies! Shredded carrots, radishes, red cabbage, bell peppers, red onion, roasted sweet potatoes or Brussels sprouts, green beans, you can’t go wrong.
- Other dressing ideas that would be super yummy here: peanut vinaigrette, jalapeño lime vinaigrette, creamy cashew dressing
- Make it vegetarian with crispy tofu instead of salmon.
FAQs
Yes! Thaw frozen salmon fillets in the fridge overnight or in a bowl of cool water, then pat dry before cooking.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also store the components separately (brown rice, dressing, greens, edamame, cucumbers) and assemble when ready to eat.
Shelled edamame is in the frozen vegetable aisle of most grocery stores.
If you love this salmon buddha bowl recipe, check out these other easy dinners:
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Salmon Buddha Bowl with Ginger Lime Dressing
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Bowls
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: Asian
Description
Whether you’re looking for a quick weeknight dinner or meal prep inspiration, this salmon Buddha bowl has you covered. Simple, flavorful and packed with nutrient-dense ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1lb salmon (four 4oz fillets)
- pinches of salt and pepper
- 1 1/4 cup brown rice, uncooked
- 1 large avocado, sliced
- 3 small Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 cup shelled edamame
- 1 batch ginger lime dressing
- for serving: mixed greens, sriracha mayo, sesame seeds, lime wedges
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Rinse the brown rice in a fine mesh sieve until the water runs clear. Place rice in a medium saucepan with 2 ¼ cups water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook for 25 minutes, turn off the heat, do not take the lid off and let sit for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- Blitz up the ginger lime dressing.
- Pat the salmon fillets dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on a lined sheet pan. Add a spoonful of ginger lime dressing to each fillet, spreading it around to coat the salmon. Roast for 10-12 minutes, until the salmon reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees and salmon flakes easily with a fork. (see note)
- Toss a few tablespoons of dressing with the sliced cucumbers and set aside. I like to run the edamame under warm water to thaw and then toss with a little toasted sesame oil and pinch of salt. Slice the avocado and spritz with lime juice and sprinkle of salt.
- Assemble your bowls! Make a nice lil bed of fluffy brown rice and mixed greens. Top with marinated cucumbers, sliced avocado, edamame and salmon. Drizzle the entire bowl with more dressing and sriracha mayo, sprinkle with sesame seeds and dinner is served!
Notes
Cook time: Cook time will vary depending on the thickness of the salmon fillet, mine were about 1 inch thick and were done in 12 minutes. As a general rule, salmon takes about 10 minutes per inch of thickness at 425 degrees.
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl (4oz salmon + 3/4 cup cooked brown rice + veggies)
- Calories: 585
- Sugar: 1.9 g
- Sodium: 104.1 mg
- Fat: 27.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 53.1 g
- Fiber: 6.4 g
- Protein: 34.4 g
- Cholesterol: 57.9 mg
Such a yummy, easy, healthy recipe! Great for weeknight dinner!
DEE-VINE!!! Absolutely delicious. Another one of your creations I will be adding to the weekly meal plan!
Simple & delicious meal! Also…I bought fresh edamame from Trader Joes & frozen organic brown rice from TJ’s which made this even easier to put together. 🙂
LOVE this! What great shortcuts. Thanks for sharing Kylie!
Divine! The ginger lime dressing is soooo good drizzled on the pre-baked salmon then again on the finished dish. I used leftover cilantro lime rice from another of Erica’s recipes. I did not have edamame so used oven-roasted in-season asparagus. I adore the cucumbers marinated in the ginger lime dressing. Definitely a keeper salmon recipe!
This was a huge hit in my household–the combination of textures and flavors is just outstanding! Will definitely be adding this to the dinner rotation.