Poke Bowl restaurants have recently become popular across the United States. While this dish has been eaten on the Hawaiian islands for centuries, chances are you haven’t yet had the chance to try one.
Either way, poke bowls are delicious, healthy, and extremely easy to make at home no matter what your cooking abilities. While traditional poke bowls contain raw fish, you can also substitute cooked fish, or even cooked chicken breast if you prefer.
One of our favorite parts about poke bowls is that they are easy to make in advance and save for later, meaning one cooking session can keep you fed for a week! Or, if you have guests coming, this is a meal that will wow them and make it easy to design a dish to fit their dietary needs.
If that wasn’t enough, poke bowls are a fully balanced meal that contains fruit, veggies, proteins, and starches. They can also be made gluten and dairy free. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at how to make this tasty dish!
Ingredients for Poke Bowls:
- White Rice (6 portions)
- Peeled and ready-to-eat edamame
- 1 mango
- 2 avocados
- 1 bag shredded carrots
- 1 cucumber
- Sashimi-grade salmon (or salmon that can be baked in the oven)
- Soy sauce (optional)
- Spicy mayo (optional)
How to Make Poke Bowls (Step by Step)
Start by boiling some water to cook the rice, following the instructions on the package. If you’d rather not cook rice, you can also buy a pre-cooked variety. In this recipe, the rice is consumed cold, so it is a good idea to cook the rice a few hours in advance before you want to eat it.
(I couldn’t find precooked edamame at our usual store, so I had to cook it myself.)
While the rice is cooking, you can chop the vegetables that you couldn’t buy pre-chopped—usually the cucumber and avocado. If you aren’t eating all the poke bowls now, just cut one avocado.
The hardest part of this entire recipe is cutting the mango. If you have never cut a mango before, here is a YouTube video that explains how to do so. Basically, you cut the sides off the large pit, then make a crosshatch pattern before using your fingers to push off the juicy flesh.
As you are cutting the ingredients, if you aren’t serving 6 people, place the cut ingredients in containers to keep them fresh for future meals. The avocado can be drizzled with lemon juice to keep it a bit fresher. (You can also just cut half of the avocado at a time!)
Cut the salmon into bite-size pieces using a very sharp knife. In some areas, you can buy pre-cut poke salmon, which is easier to handle. As mentioned above, you can also swap the raw salmon for shredded cooked salmon or grilled chicken.
Now that everything is cut and the rice is cooled, place 1 portion of rice in a bowl or rimmed plate and add a small scoop of all of your ingredients. If you don’t like a particular ingredient, it can be left out or swapped for something else.
After you have added a bit of everything, drizzle with soy sauce or spicy mayo (or both) and stir. Just like that your poke bowl is ready to eat!
Variations of Poke Bowls:
- Skip the meat for a tasty vegetarian version of this recipe.
- Skip the soy sauce or use a gluten-free brand to make this recipe gluten-free.
- Those on a low-carb diet can replace the rice with lettuce to make a poke salad.
- Substitute the fish for grilled chicken if you aren’t a fish eater.
Other Ingredients That Go Well in Poke Bowls
As we mentioned above, you can skip or swap out any ingredient you don’t like in our poke bowls. Below are some common fruits and veggies that make a good replacement.
- Chopped onion
- Pineapple (instead of the mango!)
- Chopped bell pepper
- Sliced radishes
- Seaweed salad
- Pickled ginger
- Shredded red cabbage
- Cooked shrimp (instead of salmon)
- Spinach
- Pickled beets
Tips for Poke Bowls
- Use pre-cut ingredients: The only work in this recipe is cutting the ingredients and cooking the rice. Buy pre-cut vegetables to make it even easier.
- Use lemon juice: Lemon juice is a good tool for keeping things fresh. Use it on the avocado if you are cutting for multiple days in advance.
- Add seasoning: We like our poke bowls basic, but you can add sesame seeds, raw onion, and furikake if you like an extra punch of flavor.
What to Serve With Poke Bowls
Poke bowls are a meal in and of themselves! You don’t need to serve anything with them.
How to Store Poke Bowls
Poke bowls must be kept cold in order to stay fresh. We recommend placing all of the ingredients in separate containers after cutting. This way, if one ingredient goes bad, it won’t ruin your poke bowls. Poke bowl ingredients generally stay fresh for 3-4 days.
How to Reheat Poke Bowls
There is no need to heat poke bowls. They are served cold.
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Recipe Card
Poke Bowls
Yield: 6
Time: 20 Minutes (10 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking)
Directions:
1. Cook the rice following the directions on the package. Set aside to cool.
2. Cut the cucumber, avocado, and mango into bite-sized pieces.
3. Cut the salmon into bite-size pieces.
4. Place one serving of rice in a dish.
5. Add the ingredients one by one on top of the rice.
6. Drizzle with your preferred sauce and serve!
7. Store any unused ingredients in separate containers for later.
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