Our fresh Crispy Rice Salad is the perfect summer salad to add to your meal plan this week! Made with tender salmon, fresh veggies, crispy rice, and a flavor-packed homemade salad dressing. It is a delicious salad recipe that has become our new favorite and you will be making it again and again!
The Best Crispy Rice Salad
At this time of year we love nothing more than a flavorful and fresh summer salad (or any time of the year really)! You can easily meal prep this easy crispy rice salad ahead of time and serve with a variety of different salad toppings or your favorite protein. This viral crispy rice salad is going to wake-up your taste buds for dinner or a light lunch.
Looking for More Summer Salads?
If you love this type of salad as much as we do, you definitely need to try our Tex Mex Salad!
What You Will Need
- crispy rice – follow our simple tutorial to learn how to make crispy rice – so easy!
- sriracha salad dressing – just mix up 3 basic ingredients in a small bowl and adjust the spice level to your personal preference.
- salmon fillets – highly recommend this lean fish as the protein option here, but grilled chicken would also make a great addition.
- olive oil – a little bit in the bottom of the pan to sear the fresh salmon.
- salt and pepper – simple seasonings that are always a must!
- soy sauce – a great way to add flavor and golden brown color to the cooked salmon.
- shredded cabbage – the fresh vegetable base to this crispy rice salad recipe.
- fresh kale & carrots – love the crunch and color that these fresh ingredients bring to this salad.
How To Make A Crispy Rice Salad
The first steps to making this easy recipe are to gather all of the fresh ingredients.
What Rice is Best for Crispy Rice?
We used basmati rice but any types of white rice or brown rice would work great! For best results, we would recommend a long grain rice (like basmati or jasmine rice) and if you are making rice for another meal you could make a larger batch and use leftover rice to make crispy rice.
First, it is time to make the crispy rice. Simply place your cooled rice on a large sheet pan and add the sesame oil, garlic chili sauce, salt and pepper on top. Give it all a toss and spread in a single layer on the pan. Bake the seasoned rice in a preheated oven (place pan one level below the heat source) at 425 degrees F for about 25-30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Now, grab a small bowl to mix together the salad dressing and set aside while you cook the salmon. Simply rub the salmon fillets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Then bring a large skillet to a medium heat and add a drizzle of oil in the pan. Sear salmon with a little bit of soy sauce added to the pan for 2-3 minutes. Flip and move to the oven to bake at 400 degrees F for 12-14 minutes.
Finally it is time to assemble all of the pieces for this delicious salad in a large bowl. On a bed of cabbage, add the crispy rice, cooked salmon, and all the best toppings! Pour on your desired amount of dressing and enjoy!
Best Way To Serve Crispy Rice Salad
We highly recommend serving this perfect meal with all of the elements noted in the recipe card below! However, you can easily swap out the salmon for chicken breast, spicy tuna, or omit for a vegetarian spin. The included dressing recipe has the perfect creamy texture with a little kick of heat but you could also serve with a lemon tahini dressing or peanut sauce!
Recipe FAQs and Tips
- Can I meal prep a crispy rice salad? Absolutely! Feel free to cook chicken, salmon, or any other protein ahead of time and store in the fridge. Plus, the rice can easily be made ahead of time and then crisp before serving the next day. Just store items is separate airtight containers for easy reheating.
- Favorite Salad Toppings: highly recommend the salad ingredients included in the recipe card, but you could also add some sesame seeds, red onion, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, or fresh herbs, like fresh mint.
Made this recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Other Salad Recipes You Might Like
Crispy Rice Salad
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stove Top + Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Our ultimate Spicy Salmon Crispy Rice Salad recipe is so fresh and it packs a real flavor punch! A delicious summer salad!
Ingredients
Crispy Rice:
- 4 cups cooked basmati rice (day old is best, but not required)*
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons garlic chili sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Creamy Sriracha Dressing:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 tablespoon sriracha (more, if desired)
- 2 tablespoons water (or until you have reached your desired consistency)
Pan Seared Salmon:
- 4 salmon fillets (fresh or thawed)
- extra virgin olive oil
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (sub tamari for gluten-free)
Other Salad Ingredients:
- 2 cups green cabbage, chopped
- 2 cups kale, chopped (massage with olive oil and salt)
- 2 cups English cucumber, sliced and quartered
- 1 cup edamame, thawed
- 2 avocados, diced
- 1/2 cup matchstix carrots
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup green onions, sliced
- 1/2 cup sesame ginger vinaigrette**(store-bought works!)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Make Crispy Rice: Put all of the crispy rice ingredients on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Toss to coat and spread out evenly. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, tossing halfway. Keep cooking and tossing in 5 minute increments until it reaches your desired crispness (for us this took a total of 25-30 minutes). Set aside, while you cook and prep the rest of the salad.
- Make Dressing: While the rice bakes, put all of the Sriracha Dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
- Prep Salmon: After making the crispy rice, drop the oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Place the salmon fillets on a large plate or cutting board. Rub fillets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Cook Salmon: Bring a large cast iron skillet to a medium-high heat and drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the bottom of the pan. Sear salmon (skin side up) for 2-3 minutes. Add a little soy sauce to the pan as they sear. Flip Salmon and move the entire pan to the oven to bake for 12-14 minutes or until salmon is fully cooked and flakes easily with a fork.
- Assemble Salads: Divide the cabbage, kale, cucumber, edamame, diced avocado, carrots, cilantro, and green onions evenly between bowls. Drizzle with some sesame ginger vinaigrette and toss to coat. Add cooked salmon fillet and crispy rice on top.
- Serve: Drizzle your desired amount of sriracha dressing on top of the salad and enjoy!
Notes
- *Rice: Two things: 1) for best results use day-old rice, that being said, we also tested this with just cooked and then cooled rice and … it still turned out. 2) I also tested this using 2 bags of the quick microwaveable rice and it also turned out – if you are in a pinch. We used basmati rice every time we tested so that is our recommendation.
- **Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette: we have a recipe for this on the site, but feel free to grab a bottle of Primal Kitchen’s Sesame Ginger Dressing to speed things up!
- Dressings: yes this recipe has two dressings 🙂 Sorry! But I love the flavor the sesame ginger dressing adds to the veggies and then the creamy sriracha just adds that creaminess and heat for the salmon – I promise it is worth it!
- Spice Level: depending on your personal preferences, you can increase or decrease the amount of garlic chili sauce and/or sriracha to adjust the spice level of this dish.
- Crispy Rice: we have included instructions to make crispy rice in this recipe card, but feel free to checkout our tutorial on how to make crispy rice for even more info.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6oz
- Calories: 409
- Sugar: 1.3 g
- Sodium: 320.4 mg
- Fat: 22.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 20.1 g
- Protein: 31.5 g
- Cholesterol: 75 mg
Terry says
Delicious!!!
Erin says
So happy to hear that, Terry!! Thanks for coming back to leave a rating and review – I really appreciate it!
Terry says
I’m anxious to try this, but I’m not a fan of kale. Can i just use Romaine?
Erin says
Hi Terry! You could definitely use chopped romaine if you prefer that over kale – spinach or arugula would also work!
Michele says
Absolutely delicious! I got overzealous and left the crispy rice in too long… follow the timing and you will be fine! Sriracha sauce is easy and yet pivotal. Yum!
Bridget Montag says
So glad you loved it Michele! Thanks for coming back to leave a review!
Erin says
My new favorite salad!!