Easy Salmon Poke Bowls with Crab Salad, seaweed salad, brown rice, and avocado.
These delicious bowls are packed with flavor and give you a marvelous sushi experience in the comfort of your own home!
If you’re into raw fish and haven’t tried making poke bowls at home, I assure you, the process is easy and fun!
The only complicated part about making poke bowls is finding the best source for sushi-grade fish near you. Once you find a supplier of sushi-grade fish, the rest is smooth sailing!
I encourage you to read my Salmon Poke Recipe post before proceeding with these poke bowls, as it gives you everything you need to know about making poke safely and deliciously at home.
My favorite poke bowl ingredients are salmon poke, crab salad (which I make homemade using real crab from a jar), seaweed salad (which I buy from my seafood supplier), steamed white or brown rice, and avocado.
I like topping it off with sesame seeds and sometimes some green onion.
There is plenty of room for adaptation here, so you can use this as inspiration for all your poke adventures!
Let’s dig a little deeper!
What is a Poke Bowl?:
Poke Bowls are big bowls of sushi-grade fish marinated in a tasty sauce with rice, and all sorts of add-ins depending on your personal taste. Poke bowls typically include one to 3 different types of fish or seafood, pickled cucumbers or ginger, edamame, mango, avocado, and a couple of different sauces.
Let’s talk more about these ingredients!
Ingredients for Salmon Poke Bowls:
Sushi-Grade Salmon and ingredients for the sauce: Source sushi-grade salmon that you buy frozen and keep frozen until the day you make the bowls. If you follow my recipe for Salmon Poke, you will need fresh ginger, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, liquid aminos, sriracha, green onion, and sesame seeds.
You can add wasabi, mayonnaise, and/or fresh garlic to the sauce if you want to go with a creamier sauce for the poke. If you prefer ahi, simply use ahi instead of salmon. You can also check out my recipe for Ahi Poke .
Crab or Imitation Crab: I use real crab for my crab salad, which comes pre-cooked in a jar. I buy it at the same seafood supply company as the sush-grade salmon and seaweed salad, but you can also find it at most grocery stores. Both crab and imitation crab can be found in the seafood section of your grocery store and they are usually right next to each other (near the smoked salmon) 🙂
In addition to crab, you will need ingredients for the sauce to make crab salad. This is similar to making tuna salad. I use avocado oil mayonnaise, wasabi paste, liquid aminos, and sriracha.
I base the amounts on how creamy I want the salad (more mayo for creamier), and how spicy. You can adjust the portions in the recipe according to your own taste.
Seaweed Salad: Thus far, I have not been able to find fresh seaweed to make my own seaweed salad, BUT my seafood supply company makes it and sells it. When I make poke bowls, I just buy the seaweed salad at the same time I buy the jar of crab and sushi-grade salmon.
Steamed Rice: To give these bowls an authentic sushi flair, you can make sushi rice, or you can do as I do and make a batch of steamed brown rice. If you’re going for low-carb, use cauliflower rice!
Avocado: I love the cool creaminess avocado brings to a poke bowl. While not mandatory, I think it adds a nice freshness.
In addition to the aforementioned poke bowl ingredients, any of the following are amazing add-ins:
- Fresh mango
- Edamame
- Pickled Cucumber
- Pickled Ginger
- Fresh Vegetables (such as grated carrot, chopped bell pepper, jalapenos, cabbage, and/or sliced radishes)
- Fried onions
- Chopped Nori or sheets of nori
Additional Sauces:
It is very common to drizzle another sauce over everything in addition to the sauces used for the poke and any additional salads. You can make homemade teriyaki sauce (or use store-bought), peanut sauce, creamy wasabi dressing, and/or miso or ponzu sauces to drizzle all over your bowl.
You can even use my mango basil vinaigrette from my Crispy Jamaican Jerk Salmon with Mango Basil Vinaigrette recipe or my Orange Turmeric Tahini Sauce .
I find the sauce from the salmon poke and the crab salad is enough, although sometimes I drizzle some liquid aminos over my brown rice for a little added flavor.
How to Make Salmon Poke Bowls:
Steam the Rice: Cooking the rice is typically the most time-intensive part of the whole process, so I usually do this first. I like my rice to be warm upon serving, but if you prefer your rice cold for poke bowls, cook it well in advance so that it has time to chill in the refrigerator.
Make the Salmon Poke: Thaw the fish in the refrigerator, then chop it into cubes on a clean cutting board. Place it in a bowl with the ingredients for the marinade. Gently stir everything together until well-combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. I recommend allowing the poke to marinate for at least 15 minutes (up to 3 hours) before serving to allow it to become nice and flavorful.
Make the Crab Salad: Open the jar of crab and drain out any excess juice. Transfer the crab meat to a mixing bowl along with the ingredients for the sauce. Stir well until everything is combined. Taste the crab for flavor and add more mayonnaise, wasabi, sriracha, lime juice, or liquid aminos to taste.
Prepare Remaining Ingredients: Get your seaweed salad out and slice up the avocados. If you’re adding anything else, like mango or edamame, have those ready too!
Assemble the Bowls: Once all of your add-ins are ready to go, add desired amount of rice to bowls and top with salmon poke, crab salad, seaweed salad, sliced avocado, sesame seeds, and anything else you like! Dig in!
Now you have everything you need to make an amazing poke bowl! Get creative with your sauces and add-ins and leave me comments telling me what you like!
Enjoy! xo
My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!
If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag me at @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
Ingredients
For the Salmon Poke:
- 1 lb sushi-grade salmon
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, to taste
- 2 tsp rice vinegar, to taste
- 2 to 3 Tbsp liquid aminos, or soy sauce
- 1 to 3 tsp sriracha, to taste
- 2 stalks green onion, finely chopped
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
Crab Salad:
- 1 (8-oz. jar) pasteurized cooked crab meat, or imitation crab
- 3 Tbsp avocado oil mayonnaise, to taste
- 1 Tbsp sriracha, to taste
- 1 Tbsp liquid aminos, or soy sauce, to taste
- 1 to 2 tsp wasabi paste, optional
- 2 tsp fresh lime juice, or lemon juice, to taste
- 1/4 tsp sea salt, to taste
For the Bowls:
- 4 cups cooked white or brown rice
- 1 cup seaweed salad
- 2 large ripe avocados, sliced
- 2 Tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Steam the rice according to package instructions. Set aside until ready to use (if you prefer cold rice for your poke bowls, make it well in advance and refrigerate it until chilled).
Make the Salmon Poke:
- Thaw the fish in the refrigerator, then chop it into cubes on a clean cutting board. Place it in a bowl with the ingredients for the marinade. Gently stir everything together until well-combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. I recommend allowing the poke to marinate for at least 15 minutes (up to 3 hours) before serving to allow it to become nice and flavorful.
Make the Crab Salad:
- Open the jar of crab and drain out any excess juice. Transfer the crab meat to a mixing bowl along with the ingredients for the sauce. Stir well until everything is combined. Taste the crab for flavor and add more mayonnaise, wasabi, sriracha, lime juice, or liquid aminos to taste.
Assemble the Bowls:
- Add desired amount of rice to bowls and top with salmon poke, crab salad, seaweed salad, sliced avocado, sesame seeds, and anything else you like! Dig in!
Nutrition
