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A big bowl of crispy rice salad with salmon, carrots, avocado, cucumber and cilantro.

Crispy Rice Salad

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  • Author: Erin Jensen
  • 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

Scale

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

  1. Prep: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. 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.
  3. Make Dressing: While the rice bakes, put all of the Sriracha Dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine. Set aside. 
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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