A tasty twist on the classic caesar salad! Flakey salmon, shaved parmesan, tender grains, sliced radishes, and fresh romaine all served in a bowl topped with crispy chickpeas and caesar dressing. Salmon Caesar Salad Grain Bowl makes for a satisfying lunch or quick weeknight dinner and is perfect for meal prep.
This post was created in partnership with Primal Kitchen.
This salmon recipe has everything you need. Quality protein, healthy fats, plenty of vegetables plus a dose of whole grains! It’s a mix between a salad and a grain bowl because we’re all about sneaking in the vegetables whenever an opportunity arises. This recipe is nutritious thanks to all of the wonderful vegetables and heart-healthy salmon and easy to make thanks to Primal Kitchen Caesar Dressing.
In addition, while you can certainly make your own grains (whether that be brown rice, quinoa, white rice, etc.) if you’re looking for the quickest option, a great alternative are the 90 second grain packets or frozen grains that you simply heat up. Most all grocery stores carry these shortcut options. If using the shortcut option, these grain bowls can be made and on the table in less than 30 minutes!
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Ingredients for Salmon Caesar Salad Grain Bowl recipe
- Salmon fillets – We like Alaska sockeye salmon with skin-on such as salmon from ButcherBox. Alaska Keta salmon would also work great and has a more mild flavor. Feel free to choose whatever salmon you like best!
- Primal Kitchen Caesar Dressing – made with only real food ingredients – we love Primal Kitchen Dressings! You will use this for both marinating the salmon and dressing the salad.
- Cooked brown rice or quinoa – choose your favorite grains. We like to use frozen or 90 second rice/grain packets for an easy option. No shame in taking shortcuts!
- Chopped romaine
- Sliced radishes
- Avocado – we can never resist the urge of adding avocado. It takes this bowl to the next level!
- Parmesan cheese – shreds or shavings. Omit for dairy-free.
- Crunchy chickpeas – such as Biena or a homemade version
- Lemon
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With a few changes to this salmon rice bowl it can be made paleo-friendly, low carb, dairy-free, and Whole30-compatible, here’s how:
- Substitute cauliflower rice in place of the grains
- Omit the cheese
- Top with toasted, chopped almonds instead of crispy chickpeas
How to meal prep Salmon Caesar Salad Grain Bowl
This salmon rice bowl can absolutely be prepped ahead with no reheating of the salmon necessary. Salmon tastes great both warm or chilled. If you choose to meal prep this salmon bowl recipe, we recommend that you save adding the Caesar Dressing to the salad until just before you plan to enjoy the bowl. That way the romaine will stay nice and crisp for you. For this recipe, we suggest a meal prep container that holds up to 36 ounces.
You’ll want to enjoy the prepped bowls within 4 days of making them. So if you make them up on a Sunday will want to have them eaten on Wednesday (maybe Thursday depending on the state of your romaine when you made them grain bowls).
Salmon nutrition facts
Because there are several types of salmon that vary slightly in nutrition profile, we will focus on wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon which tends to be one of our top choice.
Sockeye Salmon:
- Contains high-quality protein – 23 grams per 3 ounces.
- Contains 130 calories per 3 ounces and 5 grams of fat with 1 gram of saturated fat.
- A key source of marine omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA) – great for heart health, brain health, and for reducing inflammation. Sockeye salmon contains 730 mcg of omega-3 fatty acids per 3 ounces.
- Naturally high in essential vitamins and minerals including Vitamin B12, D, and E.
- Excellent source of selenium which is important for optimal function of the cardiovascular systems as well as thyroid function and is an antioxidant that reduces inflammation.
To learn more salmon nutrition facts visit www.alaskaseafood.org.
Learn how to Choose Safer Seafood here!
Other salmon recipes to try:
Mediterranean Bowl with Salmon – a reader favorite!
Grilled Salmon with Elote-Style Veggies
Salmon Burgers with Thai Cabbage Slaw
Video: How to make salmon caesar salad grain bowl
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Salmon Caesar Salad Grain Bowl
A tasty twist on the classic caesar salad! Flakey salmon, shaved parmesan, tender grains, sliced radishes and fresh romaine all served in a bowl topped with crispy chickpeas and caesar dressing. Salmon Caesar Salad Grain Bowl makes for a satisfying lunch or dinner and is perfect for meal prep.
Ingredients
- 1–1 ½ lbs. salmon fillets (4-6 fillets, about 4–6 oz. each)
- ½ cup Primal Kitchen Caesar Dressing + 1/4–1/3 cup more for for tossing greens
- 1 ⅓ cups cooked brown rice or quinoa (90 second rice/grain packets work great!)
- 7–8 cups roughly chopped romaine, loosely packed (about 4 small heads or 2 large)
- ¾ cup sliced radishes
- 1 avocado, sliced
- ⅓–½ cup parmesan cheese, shreds or shavings
- ½ cup crunchy chickpeas – such as Biena or a homemade version
- 1 lemon, sliced into fourths
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425℉.
- Place the salmon fillets in a shallow dish. Pat dry and then pour ½ cup of the Caesar dressing over the fillets. With a fork or tongs flip the fillets to coat well then place salmon skin side up in the dish. Place in the fridge and marinate for 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- In a large bowl combine the romain, sliced radishes and ¼ cup of the parmesan cheese. Toss gently with about 1/4-1/3 cup Caesar dressing. You want it to be just lightly coated as you’ll drizzle more on top before serving.
- When marinating time is up, place salmon, skin side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Discard excess marinade. Bake in the preheated oven for 9-12 minutes or until salmon is cooked through and flakes with a fork. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Assemble the 4-5 bowls as you please. Divide the Caesar salad among the bowls then add ¼-⅓ cup of rice to each bowl, a salmon fillet (remove skin if on) and avocado slices. Top each bowl with a sprinkle of additional sliced radishes, parmesan cheese and the crispy chickpeas.
- Drizzle the contents of the bowl with a little Caesar dressing and serve with a lemon wedge.
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Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe (4 oz of salmon per serving)
- Calories: 560
- Fat: 33 g
- (Sat Fat: 6 g)
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Carbohydrate: 30 g
- (Fiber: 8 g
- Sugar: 2 g)
- Protein: 37 g
Dietary
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Photo Credit: The photos in this blog post were taken by Jess of Plays Well with Butter.
MAde this for dinner and my daughter couldnt eat it fast enough. So filling and fresh! Cant wait to make it again
Yes! We love hearing this. Thank you!
Hi! Seeing if you have a suggestion for a replacement for the chickpeas? Following your 2-week meal plan and definitely want to try this but we don’t care for them. Hoping to replace the calorie/nutrition with something else. Thank you!
You could use any canned bean or lentil of your choice. Cooked, shelled edamame would also be a good option.
So excited to make this! What would you recommend when substituting the salmon with chicken? Would you change marinating time and cook time? Thank you!
You can definitely substitute chicken for the salmon. You can marinate the chicken for up to 8 hours before baking. As for the cooking time, you’ll likely need to add 5-10 minutes to the cooking time depending on how thick your chicken breasts are (they should be 165F in the thickest part using an instant-read thermometer).
Really good!
I was SO surprised with how this tasted. I’m not sure why but I wasn’t super keen on marinating my salmon in Caesar dressing but WHOA, it’s sooo good. I loved the addition of quinoa and roasted chickpeas for crunch. I mean this dish had everything we needed. Totally going in our rotation in our house.
We’re so glad to hear it was a pleasant surprise, Kelsey!