Roasted Salmon Quinoa Bowls with Avocado, Cucumber & Green Goddess Dressing
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This salmon quinoa bowl is one of those dinners that checks all the boxes: healthy, satisfying, and packed with fresh flavor. With plenty of make-ahead components, it’s easy enough for a weeknight but good enough to look forward to all day.
This feel-good roasted salmon quinoa bowl recipe is the perfect mix of wholesome and crave-worthy. Quinoa serves as the hearty base, topped with tender roasted salmon, creamy avocado, crisp cucumber, and a generous spoonful of green goddess dressing. The quinoa and dressing can be made ahead, so all that’s left is roasting the salmon, and it’s done in just 10 minutes.
You can easily swap the quinoa for other healthy grains like bulgur or brown rice, and mix in whatever vegetables you have on hand. Just don’t skip the green goddess dressing—it’s the magic that ties everything together.
“This is a delicious, fresh and healthy one dish meal that my whole family loved. We all licked our bowls clean…”
What You’ll Need To Make Roasted Salmon Quinoa Bowls
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1. Prepare the salmon. Grease a foil-lined baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Season the salmon with ½ teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper, place on the baking sheet, and drizzle with another tablespoon of oil.
Pro Tip: If you don’t mind a repeat performance, for easy weeknight prep, roast extra salmon and keep it chilled—these bowls are great cold, too.
Step 2. Roast the salmon. Roast for about 10 minutes, or until just cooked through.
Step 3. Prep the quinoa. While the salmon roasts, toss the quinoa with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.
Pro Tip: Make sure to always rinse quinoa before cooking it. This removes its natural bitter coating (saponin). Even pre-rinsed brands benefit from a quick rinse.
Step 4. Assemble the bowls. Spoon about 1 cup of quinoa into each bowl. Top with a piece of roasted salmon, sliced cucumbers, and diced avocado. Sprinkle the avocado and cucumbers with a little salt, then add fresh herbs if using. Serve with green goddess dressing and lemon wedges.
Swaps & Pro Tips
- Switch up the base: Farro, couscous, barley, or even cauliflower rice can stand in for quinoa if you want to change the flavor or texture.
- Vary the veggies: Use veggies you have on hand, like diced zucchini or bell pepper, edamame, corn kernels, halved cherry tomatoes, etc.
- Meal-prep shortcut: Buy precooked quinoa from the freezer section—it heats in minutes and tastes just as good as homemade.
- Make it a DIY bowl bar: Set out the salmon, quinoa, veggies, herbs, and dressing so everyone can assemble their own—great for a crowd.
More Flavor-Packed Bowls to Try
Roasted Salmon Quinoa Bowls with Avocado, Cucumber & Green Goddess Dressing
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 4 (6-oz) skinless salmon fillets
- 1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package instructions (see note), at room temperature
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small English or hothouse cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced
- 2 avocados, pitted and diced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh herbs, like chives, basil, tarragon, or parsley, for serving (optional)
- Green goddess dressing
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line a 13 x 18-in (33 x 46-cm) baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Grease the foil-lined baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Season the salmon with ½ teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper. Place the salmon on the greased baking sheet and drizzle with another tablespoon of the oil. Roast for about 10 minutes, or until the salmon is just cooked through.
- Meanwhile, toss the cooked quinoa with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.
- Assemble the bowls: Spoon about 1 cup of quinoa into each bowl. Top each bowl with a piece of roasted salmon, sliced cucumbers, and diced avocado. Sprinkle the avocado and cucumbers with a little salt. Sprinkle with the fresh herbs, if using. Serve with the bowls with the green goddess dressing and lemon wedges.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made this for dinner tonight and it was light and lovely . I’d use that dressing over anything ! Thank you! I adore your recipes
This is simply delicious, a great summer dish. It’s easy to put together and the green goddess dressing is perfect. I highly recommend you make this, I certainly will be.
Hi Jenn, I adore this recipe and was wondering if you think trying grilled shrimp instead of salmon would taste good. 🤔
Yes, I think shrimp would be great here – I’d love to hear what you think!
Made this last night and it was a huge hit! SO good especially with the green goddess dressing. Yum!!
This is a great dish -simple to prepare and serve, healthy, delicious. The star is the delicious green goddess recipe that is linked. I have loved the green goddess recipe but now I love it even more. We dislike sour cream so I have used store bought Greek yogurt instead. Now I make yogurt (regular and Greek) at home. I used my homemade yogurt and, wow, the green goddess was even more delicious with the fresh yogurt. Also, we were out of quinoa so I used barley and it was good with the dish. Thanks for the great recipes.
Hi Jenn, pardon the ignorance, but it there any ‘real’ difference between the quinoa you used and the tr-color kind? Difference in cook or flavor? Or is it truly just a color thing. Thanks.
Hi Doug, that’s not an ignorant question at all! I believe tricolor quinoa has a slightly nuttier, earthier flavor. I hope you enjoy the bowls if you make them.
Incredibly easy and quick to make. I used buttermilk ranch dressing instead of green goddess because that’s what I had on hand, but will try green goddess next time. I also pan fried the salmon rather than roasting because I needed to get dinner on the table ASAP.