Salmon Sushi Baked
Salmon Sushi Baked – If you love sushi, then this recipe is for you! It’s like a deconstructed sushi roll in casserole form.
This is sushi you can make at home! It comes together in under 30 minutes. Which means it’s easy enough for a weeknight dinner.
What is a salmon sushi bake?
Instead of a traditional sushi roll, this easy sushi bake is a casserole you can make in baking pan. It has layers of rice, nori sheets (seaweed), spicy salmon, avocado, cucumber, and sauces.
The layers:
- Rice – I used a package of frozen basmati rice to keep it easy.
- Nori sheets (seaweed)– I used the small squares and layered them on top of each other. You can find these at Trader Joe’s.
- Salmon – This layer is cubed salmon mixed with yum yum sauce and chili onion crunch. I like to broil the salmon instead of just baking it so the salmon gets a little crispy.
- Cucumber, pepper, avocado salsa – The sushi bake didn’t have enough flavor when I just did diced cucumbers and avocado. The salsa adds so much flavor from the bell peppers, ginger dressing and chili onion crunch.
I like to top with extra spicy mayo. And some optional toppings are eel sauce and crispy onions!
Is this salmon sushi bake spicy?
No! The chili onion crunch adds a little heat, but it’s not too spicy.
Ingredient Breakdown:
Lots of sushi bakes on the internet have tons of ingredients. I tested a bunch of different versions because I wanted to narrow down the ingredient list to only the most important ingredients. I wanted maximum flavor for minimal ingredients.
Ingredients I found not necessary:
- Crab meat – I liked salmon more than crab. Using both was too much fish.
- Kewpie mayo – Not enough flavor compared to yum yum sauce
- Spicy mayo – Good but yum yum sauce is better and less spicy
- Rice vinegar – You can get the same flavor if you use ginger dressing
- Soy sauce – You can get the same flavor if you use ginger dressing
- Furikake seasoning – It’s not necessary to have nori sheets (seaweed) in the sushi bake and little flakes on top
- Fresh sushi ginger – it was a little too pungent for a sushi bake. And you can get the same flavor if you use ginger dressing
Ingredients I found necessary:
- Rice – But it didn’t matter whether it was sushi rice or basmati rice. So I opted for the easier of the two and use frozen basmati rice.
- Nori sheets – it gives the sushi feel and adds a great umami flavor.
- Chili onion crunch – This has a ton of flavor! Plus it’s a little spicy so it gives a little kick of heat like spicy salmon sushi rolls do.
- Yum yum sauce – This takes the place of kewpie mayo or spicy mayo. It adds a ton of flavor all in one ingredient. And it’s more of sauce than mayo, which is great for topping the casserole.
- Ginger dressing – Adds a ton of flavor all in one ingredient.
Optional ingredients: You can get some eel sauce and crispy onions for topping if you want some extra texture and flavor.
Where to get the ingredients?
I get the frozen basmati rice, chili onion crisp, seaweed sheets, and everything but the bagel seasoning from Trader Joes.
Amazon is where I buy the eel sauce.
You can find everthing else at most grocery stores.
If you don’t have ginger dressing, I have used this homemade ginger dressing before:
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Ingredients
For the salmon bake:
- 2 (10 oz) packages frozen white basmati rice (I like Trader Joe’s)
- 1 (0.17 oz) package nori sheets (seaweed)
- 3 (6 oz) pieces Atlantic salmon, diced into small cubes
- 1/4 cup yum yum sauce
- 1 Tablespoon chili onion crisp (You can find at Target or Trader Joe's)
For the cucumber pepper salad:
- 2 cucumbers, peeled, halved, scoop seeds out with a spoon, and diced
- 2 bell peppers (red, orange, or yellow bell peppers work)
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1/3 cup ginger dressing* (storebought or see notes for homemade dressing recipe)
- 1 Tablespoon chilli onion crisp (You can find at Target or Trader Joe's)
- 1 teaspoon everything bagel seasoning (optional)
For topping:
- Yum yum sauce
- Eel sauce (optional)
- Crispy onions (optional)
Instructions
To make the salmon:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. (You will turn the oven to broil right before putting the sushi bake in!)
- Cook rice according to package instructions.
- Pour in the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate (or 8×8-inch baking pan). Pat the rice down with a spatula or wooden spoon to create a flat surface.
- Place seaweed pieces on top of the rice to cover the rice completely.
- In a medium bowl, combine the salmon cubes, yum yum sauce, and chili onion crisp.
- Add the salmon to the top of the seaweed.
- Turn oven to broil and broil for 10-12 minutes, or until salmon is no longer opaque in the middle.
To make the cucumber pepper salad:
- In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients.
- When the salmon bake is done, remove from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes.
- Top with the cucumber pepper salad, yum yum sauce, eel sauce (optional), and crispy onions (optional). Cut out pieces from the pan and serve!
Notes
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
