Roasted Salmon Quinoa Bowls with Avocado, Cucumber & Green Goddess Dressing
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This roasted salmon quinoa bowl with green goddess dressing is loaded with protein, healthy fats, and fiber.
My friend Meghan Punda, a nurse practitioner and holistic nutritionist who focuses on women’s health issues, like balancing hormones and healing the gut, asked me to develop a recipe for her Nourished + Well community – something seasonal, nutrient-dense, whole foods-based, and (of course!) delicious. Using the supergrain quinoa as my building block, I came up with this roasted salmon bowl with creamy avocado, crispy cucumber and green goddess dressing. It’s loaded with protein, healthy fats, and fiber, and it’s easy to make on a busy weeknight, too. The quinoa and dressing can be made ahead of time, and the salmon cooks in just 10 minutes!
Feel free to swap out the quinoa for other healthy grains, like bulgur, brown rice, or whole wheat couscous, and vary the vegetables based on what you have on hand. Just don’t skip the luscious green goddess dressing to pull it all together.
What You’ll Need To Make Roasted Salmon Quinoa Bowls
Step-by-Step Instructions
Grease a foil-lined baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Season the salmon with 1/2 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.
While the salmon roasts, toss the quinoa with the remaining two tablespoons 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.
You May Also Like
- Tuna Poke Bowls
- Grilled Salmon with Creamy Cucumber-Dill Salad
- Chicken & Quinoa Burrito Bowls with Spicy Green Sauce
- Sheet-Pan Blackened Salmon with Garlicky Kale
If you’re interested in learning more about balancing and healing your body through holistic nutrition, check out Nourished + Well and follow Meghan here.
Roasted Salmon Quinoa Bowls with Avocado, Cucumber & Green Goddess Dressing
This roasted salmon quinoa bowl with green goddess dressing is loaded with protein, healthy fats, and fiber.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 4 (6-ounce) 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 and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line a 13x18-inch 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.
- Note: Different brands of quinoa require different preparations and cooking times. I like Ancient Harvest quinoa, mostly for ease because it comes pre-washed and does not need to be rinsed prior to cooking (quinoa is coated with a bitter substance called saponin that needs to be rinsed off before cooking). For 1 cup of quinoa, add ½ teaspoon of salt to the cooking water.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 4
- Calories: 804
- Fat: 54 g
- Saturated fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Sugar: 2 g
- Fiber: 11 g
- Protein: 43 g
- Sodium: 693 mg
- Cholesterol: 94 mg
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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Hi Jen,
Could I use sashimi salmon instead of cooked salmon? I am making this recipe for a brunch I have this Saturday.
Thanks
Mich
I don’t see any reason why that wouldn’t work. Hope everyone enjoys!
Hi Jenn, just curious about the herbs for the dressing. Is is 1/4 c. total or 1/4 of each? I think it’s probable 1/4 total but checking. Thanks!
You’re right — it’s 1/4 cup total. Hope you enjoy!
Fantastic. and easy
Combination of the marinade and the sauce is delicious
Not a cucumber in the house. I substituted edamame and corn
Oh my – sooooo good and sooooo easy to prepare! Quinoa is my new favorite! I am looking forward to more of these Whole Foods recipes – who knew they could be so filling and satisfying! I’m doing something new every week and my husband is thrilled and so am I – THANK YOU JENN! Paulette
Made this tonight and it was a hit with my family. The green goddess dressing is soo delicious!
Even my 2 year old loved it and went back for more!
Thanks for the recipe. It was delicious. Your green goddess dressing was a hit with my husband! The only thing I changed was I cooked salmon in air fryer and added edamame beans.
This is a delicious, fresh and healthy one dish meal that my whole family loved. We all licked our bowls clean (and dipped a baguette in leftover green goddess sauce). My teen son – who usually is more a fan of Chipotle and pizza – said it was a perfect combination of flavors and textures, and the rest of us agreed! Thanks for helping to kick off our year on a healthy and delicious note!
Has anyone tried this with rice noodles instead of quinoa?
Perfect summer meal! Made this with what I thought was a too-small salmon filet and it was perfect. Certainly filling and absolutely delicious. I made the green goddess dressing and used it as a starter as a dip for vegs. MMMMMMM Another one with my hand-written comments stating how much we loved it. Another recipe to go-to when I have no ideas. Requires very little (or no) pre-planning. Thank you, JEN!!!
Green Goddess dressing, cucumber, avocado…OH MY!!! Scrumptious! Jenn, you hit it out of the park on this one! My husband is a picky salmon eater, and he couldn’t get enough. Wahoo! This recipe is a winner and a keeper. Thanks a bunch!
I made this for dinner for 2 yesterday and it was absolutely fantastic. I had an extra piece of salmon so I made it again today but I added some sweet cherry tomatoes and 2 chopped anchovy filets and mixed both with the cucumbers a pinch of salt, pepper and evoo. The green goddess dressing was better the second day. Also, I didn’t have quinoa, so I used farro instead, both nights. This is a definite winner.
Hi! So excited to make this tomorrow! I am making your halibut burre blanc tonight and have a ton of fresh tarragon left over. I LOVE that I am able to search your sight for simply Tarragon and find a handful of recipes I could use the remainder of the tarragon on. Now to my question: do you think pearled couscous would work in place of the quinoa? Thank you!
(Also your chicken Marsala made a mushroom convert out of our 7 year old!)
So glad you like the feature where you can find recipes based on the ingredients you’re looking to use! Yes, pearled couscous will work here. Just follow the package cooking directions. Enjoy!
Absolutely delicious!!! A 10. My husband loved it too!
I like all the ingredients in this recipe, and found the dish to be nourishing but I thought it was bland.
Outstanding dish!! And the bonus is that I was left with some green goddess dressing that I used the next day as a dipping sauce with some crudités. It was the perfect appetizer!
If preparing the quinoa in advance, is it reheated before serving?
I think that’s really personal preference, but if you’re not going to reheat it, I would bring it to room temperature (you really can’t go wrong here however you go).
This is a winner. The simplicity of the bowl ingredients with the yummy green goddess dressing are the perfect combination. We did grill our salmon with a soy/brown sugar glaze. Just love this and look forward to using it as a base recipe all summer! Thank you Jenn for another great recipe.
Is the calorie and fat on the recipe correct – they seem really high for what looks like a healthy recipe?
Hi Tricia, I just double-checked the numbers and they are correct.
The calorie count is for the total recipe. Divide by 4 for a single serving.
Actually, the nutritional info is per serving.
So delicious! The whole family enjoyed this one so much we planted our own herb garden so that we’d always have the herbs needed to make that Goddress Dressing! Thank you for my new go-to salmon meal!
The salmon quinoa bowls were fantastic and were even a hit with the kids, which is saying something! I loved all the flavors—fresh, satisfying and delicious!
I was SUPER excited to see another grain bowl recipe on OUAC. And as usual Jenn does not disappoint – a gold star recipe. I prepped all of this over the weekend minus the avocado and threw the salmon on the grill right before dinner since we prefer it that way. We had enough for leftovers for lunch the next day and ate it with cold salmon – just as delicious. I have learned to double the sauce in Jenn’s recipes because I invariably want more! I’m so glad I made extra of the green goddess dressing as I’ve been using it all week – over chopped salad, over roasted veggies.
Should the salmon be warm along with the quinoa when served? I would like to prep beforehand but was wondering. It sounds amazing and I want to make tonight for a light dinner! Can’t wait!
By the way, we love your recipes, Jenn. I have been asked so many times by my family when they like a recipe I prepare, if it’s one of yours- it more than likely is :)))
Thank you again. You are a wonderful chef we can all aspire to try and emulate :))))
So glad your family likes the recipes!! The salmon should be warm or room temperature.
This looks soooooo delish! Question on the quinoa – in the ingredient list, it says 1 cup of quinoa. Is that 1 cup uncooked? Because in the serving instructions I think I read that each plate gets a cup of quinoa… this is one of those questions I feel dumb asking because it should be a no-brainer, but before I overthink myself into a complete flurry, I thought I’d ask. Just to be 100% certain…
Not a silly question! The 1 cup of quinoa specified in the ingredients is uncooked. Once you cook it, you’ll have enough for 4 servings of about 1 cup each. Hope that clarifies and that you enjoy!
Delicious! This is the perfect spring/summer dinner. The green goddess dressing was flavorful and is delicious on the salmon. Also, unbelievably little time to prepare and can be done in advance (except cutting the avocado). We will be making this often. Thanks.
This was SO good! The dressing really makes it fabulous. Leftover dressing was great on a simple green salad during the week. I will definitely make this again. So light and refreshing!
Made this tonight. Whole family enjoyed it. Super tasty. My teenage daughter who complains when I make salmon asked for more salmon! Total winner!!! Highly recommend.
Healthy and delicious! I used a regular cucumber and green onions I have growing in my yard. This recipe is a winner.
My daughter made this fabulous recipe for dinner tonight !!! Delicious !!! She added kale to the mix also which is a great way to get your greens in an make it even more nutritious and delicious. Thanks for your many amazing recipes. We make many over and over again and this is another one we will be making many times !
This was a huge hit in my house! Restaurant quality!
Wow! Nice light dinner.
Wow! Lovely dinner in jig time. And I had everything ready to put together after a lovely happy hour on our outside patio!! I can’t WAIT to get your new cookbook. Thank you Jen.
Wow. We made this and everyone in the family (including the picky eaters and those with very high standards) were wolfing it down. They couldn’t help but repeatedly say how delicious it was. This was one of my first times making quinoa so I was a bit nervous so made sure to thoroughly rise it at first and cook according to the directions (it was very simple on the stovetop.) The dressing is amazingly delicious. I didn’t have several of the fresh herbs so I used a nice handful of basil (I didn’t have the tarragon or parsley on hand) and it still really turned out wonderfully. It was very simple and easy to prepare and made for a healthy and delicious meal for the family. I also really liked that there was no sugar added anywhere including the dressing. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, Jenn! It is a winner and I plan to make it over and over again!
I’d like to make this recipe but my daughter is allergic to eggs in the mayo. Can you suggest a different dressing that would work with the dish? Thanks!
Hi Bev, You could replace the regular mayo in the dressing with an eggless variety. Hope that helps!
Perfect for this time of year as the weather warms up! I can’t wait to make this recipe! So fresh and vibrant! I am also excited to see your new book coming out later this year…Congratulations! Definitely on my must-buy list.
glenda
💗
This sounds right up my alley…I still have a bunch of your wonderful pesto sauce. Do you think that would work in place of the Green Goddess?
Yep 🙂
This recipe looks amazing . For people with seafood allergies, what other protein would work well and still capture the delicious flavors ?
Hi Marion, I think it’d be really good with grilled chicken.
Can a different protein be substituted? Perhaps boneless skinless chicken breast, or a different fish? My husband is a bit burned out on salmon. I’m hoping it’s temporary, because it’s my favorite fish, LOL.
Sure, Mindy — a different fish, shrimp, or chicken will work. Although if you go with chicken, I’d probably marinate and grill it using this recipe.
Could another grain be used instead of quinoa?
Sure, Mary — any grain will work.