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
Watch the recipe video here:
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
Nutrition
We’ve made this a few times now! My tiniest kiddos aren’t fans, BUT my older kiddos love it. I’ve shared the recipe with other family and they love it too! Easy enough to make, but feels fancy and keeps decently for leftovers (served either hot or cold)