Skip the takeout but not the flavor, this Gluten-Free Poke Bowl uses air fryer salmon bites for tender, caramelized flavor, plus avocado, crunchy veggies, and a simple gluten-free teriyaki sauce. It's fast, fresh, and totally weeknight-friendly. It also meal preps like a dream, making it an easy grab-and-go lunch for busy days.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- ⏲️Ready In: 40 Minutes
- 👪Serves: 2
- 🍽 Calories and Protein: 467 kcals and 35 grams of protein
- 📋Main Ingredients: Salmon, homemade teriyaki sauce, rice, avocado, and edamame.
- 📖 Dietary Notes: Dairy-free, gluten-free, and nut-free.
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: This salmon poke bowl is fresh, flavorful, and incredibly satisfying without being heavy. The air-fried salmon gives you crispy, caramelized edges while staying tender inside, and the bowl is endlessly customizable.
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If you love poke bowls but don’t love the idea of raw fish (same 🙋♀️), this gluten-free salmon poke bowl is the best of both worlds. You still get that fresh, restaurant-style vibe, saucy salmon, crunchy toppings, creamy avocado, but it’s made with cooked air fryer salmon bites, so it feels easy and totally safe.
The salmon gets glazed in a simple teriyaki-style sauce, then crisped up in the air fryer until tender with those caramelized edges that taste like takeout. From there, it’s just “build your bowl”: rice, veggies, toppings, and drizzle, done. I meal prep these for busy weeks because the leftovers hold up well (just keep the avocado separate). This and my Italian sausage and rice skillet, or these gluten-free crispy chicken bites, are total go-tos.
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💭Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Fast cook time: Since this teriyaki poke bowl is made with air fryer salmon, it whips up in minimal time.
- Healthy: The poke bowl is naturally dairy and gluten-free and can even be made paleo with a few small tweaks.
- Versatile: Though it’s delicious as written, the salmon bowl is really easy to customize as well, based on your taste preferences. But truly, the caramelized edges on the salmon are better than a restaurant.
- Meal prep: Cooked salmon makes for easier meal prep and you can easily make and portion this bowl in multiple servings to make for speedy lunches.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Teriyaki sauce: I personally use my gluten-free teriyaki sauce recipe, as it uses tamari or gluten-free soy sauce as the base. You can, of course, use a store-bought teriyaki sauce, but you’ll want to verify that it’s gluten-free, as most are a hidden source of gluten.
- Toppings: Edamame and carrots give the best pops of color, but fresh cherry tomatoes or bell peppers can be used in their place.
- Make it paleo: You’ll want to use a paleo teriyaki sauce, coconut aminos for the soy sauce, and herbed cauliflower rice for the base.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Flavor Variations
Protein: Salmon is wonderful, but you could also use tuna, air fryer pork belly bites, or air fryer steak bites for the teriyaki poke bowl.
Crunch: Adding crunchy cucumbers, radish, or shredded cabbage is a great way to bump up the texture.
Heat: Spicy kimchi (like in these keto deviled eggs), chili crisp, or sriracha sauce are tasty (I like to them in this soba noodle bowl).
Toppings: You can add on more toppings like spicy kimchi for a gut-friendly boost or a sriracha-mayo dressing. Even cilantro lime sauce would be great.
How To Make the Salmon Poke Bowl
Step 1: Whisk together the teriyaki sauce, sesame oil, and gluten-free soy sauce. Mix salmon bites in with ⅔’s of the sauce and coat them well. Marinate 15 minutes.
Step 2: Preheat the air fryer and cook the salmon fully making sure to flip halfway through.
Step 3: Assemble the poke bowl with rice on the bottom.
Step 4: Drizzle the remaining gluten-free teriyaki sauce over the bowl and serve.
Expert Tips To Make It
Make sure to flip the salmon in the air fryer halfway through cooking so that it cooks evenly on all sides. You want it to have an almost blackened look to it.
You need your salmon to be thawed before popping it into the air fryer. You can either pull frozen salmon out the night before and pop it in the fridge or thaw the fillets in cold water for about 30 minutes.
Leftover salmon will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container. You can reheat it in the air fryer at 350F until heated through, about three minutes, and serve it on top of something like a Chick-fil-A kale salad recipe.
How To Meal Prep Poke Bowls
Want to prep a few servings of this gluten-free poke bowl for the week? Totally doable. Start by air frying the salmon bites as directed, then let them cool completely before storing.
To assemble, layer your bowls in lunch-size glass containers with rice (learn how to cook white rice), carrots, and edamame. For best results, store the salmon bites and teriyaki sauce separately so everything stays fresh (and the salmon doesn’t soften). Avocado is best added right before eating, but you can prep it ahead by rubbing it with lemon juice to slow browning.
When you’re ready to eat, warm the salmon in the microwave—or re-crisp it in the air fryer if you’re home—then finish the bowl with avocado and a drizzle of sauce. Need more easy lunch ideas? Check out these high-protein lunch ideas.
Gluten-Free Poke Bowl FAQs
A poke bowl is the name for a bowl that has a base of rice and is topped with chunks of marinated fish, vegetables, and some sort of sauce.
If you’re making poke bowls with raw salmon, you should use sushi-grade salmon from a trusted fish market. But for a poke bowl with air fryer salmon, you don’t need sushi-grade at all because the salmon is cooked. Regular fresh or thawed frozen salmon works perfectly. I usually use Atlantic salmon for the most.
Yes, you can make a salmon poke bowl without rice. Instead, for the base, use cauliflower rice, shredded cabbage, or even leafy greens.
More Easy Gluten-Free Recipes You'll Love
If you tried this Gluten-Free Salmon Poke Bowl Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes!
Gluten-Free Salmon Poke Bowl
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ lb salmon cut into 1” pieces
- 1 cup teriyaki sauce make sure it's gluten-free
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 cup pre-cooked jasmine rice
- ¼ cup edamame
- ½ avocado
- ¼ cup shredded carrots
- roasted seaweed optional
- sesame seeds optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the teriyaki sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Reserve ⅓ cup of the sauce for later.
- Add the salmon to the remaining sauce, mixing until coated. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes to marinate.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400°F. Once heated, place the salmon pieces in a single layer in the air fryer. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, flipping halfway through, until the salmon is cooked and slightly blackened.
- Add a bed of rice to a serving bowl, then top with shredded carrots, edamame, and sliced avocado.
- Add the salmon and drizzle with the reserved sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with roasted seaweed, if desired.
Notes
Disclaimer:
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data"
Nutrition
Shelby S says
I'm not always a huge fan of salmon but I love the sweet taste to the teriyaki sauce on this one!