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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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.