Name: Crispy Rice Salmon Cucumber Salad For One
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 1/2 cup rice, cooked and cooled; 1 teaspoon sesame seeds; 2 teaspoons soy sauce; 2 teaspoons chili oil; 4 ounce salmon filet; 2 small Persian cucumbers, sliced; 1/4 cup shelled edamame (I use frozen and just stick them in the microwave to defrost); 1/2 avocado; Green onions & cilantro; 2 teaspoons soy sauce; 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar; 2 teaspoons sesame oil; 2 teaspoons olive oil; 1 garlic clove, minced (or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder); 1 teaspoon grated ginger (or 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder)

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe·Leave a Review

Inspired by KaleJunkie's mega popular crispy rice salad, this is one of my favorite meals of all time! Crispy, chil oil-spiced rice, crunchy cucumbers, buttery salmon and more all come together for a bright, filling salad.

Crispy rice salmon cucumber salad in bowl.

If you've been around for a while, you know I LOVE salmon and you know I LOVE a good salad. And let's be honest, rice is pretty great too.

So here we are!

A crunchy salad base topped with perfectly cooked salmon, crispy rice and a bright, flavorful Asian-inspired dressing.

This recipe is inspired and adapted from KaleJunkie's crispy rice salad - one of her many, amazing crispy rice salads that have been SO popular. As soon as I saw this one, I knew I needed to adapt it to make just one bowl (although this salad stays really well in the fridge so extra is never a problem!).

Ingredients for crispy rice salmon salad on wooden board.

What you'll need

The beauty of this recipe is that you can make everything fresh OR use up leftovers

Rice: If you make your rice fresh you'll want to make sure it's completely cooled before bake it. To do that quickly, spread it out on a parchment-lined plate or baking sheet and stick it in the freezer for 30 minutes. With that said, this recipe is a perfect use for leftover rice.

Soy sauce: To flavor the crispy rice, salmon AND dressing. We love a multi-purpose ingredient!

Chili oil: A little mixed in with the rice adds the best flavor. I also like to add some to the salmon.

Sesame seeds: Optional, but I love the little extra crunch sesame seeds add to the rice.

Salmon: You can cook your salmon up next to the crispy rice or use some leftover salmon. I like to add an extra filet (and some extra rice!) when I'm making this crispy salmon or broiled miso salmon so I can have this salad the next day! Season the salmon however you'd like (i just use the soy sauce and chili oil since I'm seasoning the rice at the same time), but feel free to keep simple because the dressing adds so much.

Cucumber: I love using the little Persian cucumbers and just slice them into coins. You can use whatever kind of cucumber you prefer.

Edemame: For extra protein, and because it's just so easy to grab a handful from the freezer.

Fresh herbs: I love green onions and cilantro, but if you don't have any on hand it's okay to skip.

Avocado: A little creamy avocado goes a long way and cuts through all the crunchiness.

Dressing: Equal parts soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame and olive oil mixed together with either fresh or ground garlic and ginger make for the best dressing for this salad! If you have a store-bought dressing you love, absolutely feel free to use that!

Crispy rice salmon salad mixed in bowl with fork.

How to make a crispy rice salad

If you are making your rice fresh, cook it up and then spread it out on a parchment-lined plate or baking sheet and stick in the fridge or freezer until completely cooled. Then continue with recipe!

Make the crispy rice and salmon: Toss rice and sesame seeds with soy sauce and chili oil, and add soy sauce and chili oil to salmon (obviously skip this if you're using leftover salmon). Roast for 12-15 minutes until the salmon is done to your liking and the rice is crispy (I like my salmon a little underdone, so 12 minutes at 425 is my sweet spot...add a few extra minutes if you're worried about it and just keep an eye on your rice. You can always pull the rice off the pan if it's done before your salmon).
Make dressing: While the rice is getting crispy whisk up the dressing. I love this recipe because it's basically all equal parts so you can definitely scale up and down as needed. If I have fresh garlic and ginger, I like to grate that in. If not, jarred or powder work great!
Assemble salad: Add sliced cucumbers and defrosted edemame to a bowl. Flake salmon and add to the bowl with crispy rice. Top with avocado, and if using, green onions and cilantro. Drizzle with dressing and toss to combine. Enjoy!