BBQ Salmon Bowls with Mango Avocado Salsa! An easy and impressive dinner with yummy smoky-sweet flavor and a zip of zesty homemade salsa to take it over the top. The BEST weeknight dinner.
BBQ Salmon Bowls with Mango Avocado Salsa
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This is amazing! I never cook fish myself, but this looked too easy not to try! It’s quick and delicious, perfect summer recipe!
Mallory
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Salmon lovers, salmon skeptics… gather round, all of you.
This is not your ordinary salmon. It is salmon that’s been given a delicious and aggressive treatment of sweet and smoky spices, which then gets broiled (fast! easy!) which results in a lightly crunchy outer layer, which conveniently mixes-and-matches with that buttery, silky, lime-zesty, sweet and juicy mango avocado salsa. It’s equal parts super pretty and not fancy, which is why we just pile a scoop of each on hot steamy rice and don’t get too precious about it. This is the bowl life.
You might be saying, nah, I don’t really like salmon, and honestly I can respect that because salmon is salmon sometimes.
But also: you haven’t had this salmon yet. You are about to be changed. Seriously. I would just like to say, it’s an honor and a privilege to be a part of your conversion experience.
First Stop – Mango Salsa:
This takes about ten minutes. It’s just a chop and mix situation. As you can see, I love love love a mango salsa situation on salmon.
Bring your self-control because otherwise this will be gone before the salmon hits the table.
Here Comes The BBQ Salmon:
Salmon. Spice rub.
Broil.
Done.
20 Minutes Later – BBQ Salmon Bowls!
And that’s all.
(If you want it even faster, I’d recommend using our air fryer salmon in this too!)
Could you add other veggies and things to the bowl OKAY YES of course you could. That’s the whole point of bowls!
But even if this was all you had, it would be more than enough.
May your rice be hot, your salmon be smokey, sweet, and just-right flakey, and your mango salsa be extra sweet and limey! ♡
I got this recipe from my friend Jessica’s cookbook (The Pretty Dish*) and I adjusted just slightly based on what I had in the kitchen already, and wowza. Salty, sweet, ultra fresh, and buttery without butter. Credit to the queen!
Interested in all the wonderful ways to make salmon? Check out our how-to guide for cooking salmon!
Watch How To Make Our BBQ Salmon Bowls:
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BBQ Salmon Bowls with Mango Avocado Salsa
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2–4 (depends on how much salmon you use) 1x
Description
BBQ Salmon Bowls with Mango Avocado Salsa! An easy and impressive dinner with yummy smoky-sweet flavor and a zip of zesty homemade salsa to take it over the top. The BEST weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Salmon:
- 1–2 lbs. fresh salmon
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (more for a larger filet)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Mango Avocado Salsa:
- 2 mangoes, diced
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1/4 cup minced cilantro
- 1/4 cup minced red onion
- 1/2 jalapeño, minced (optional, to taste)
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 tablespoons lime juice + 1 teaspoon lime zest
- salt to taste
For serving:
- 1 1/2 cups of rice
Instructions
- Mango salsa: Toss all ingredients in a bowl to combine. Taste, adjust, try not to eat the whole bowl.
- Cook your rice: Get your rice cooking according to package directions.
- Get the oven ready: Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Alternatively, you can set it to 500 degrees on the broil setting for medium rare with a yummy crispy top – the risk here is that you have to watch closely so it doesn’t burn the sugar. If taking this route, make sure one of the oven racks is close-ish to the top, about 6 inches or so.
- Salmon: Mix the spices and the olive oil to make a paste. Place the salmon skin side down on the baking sheet. Rub the paste liberally over the top part of the salmon. Bake for 6-12 minutes depending on the thickness of your salmon and your desired doneness. See notes if you’re not sure.
- Bowl it up: Pile up some rice, pull off some of salmon, and spoon that mango avocado salsa over the whole thing. Add a lime squeezer for good measure. IT’S SO GOOD.
Equipment
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Notes
How to tell when the salmon is done: “Salmon will change from translucent (red or raw) to opaque (pink) as it cooks. After 6-8 minutes of cooking, check for doneness, by taking a sharp knife to peek into the thickest part. If the meat is beginning to flake, but still has a little translucency in the middle, it is done.” (Thank you Heidi!) I know this is the proper way to cook salmon, but I am also slightly paranoid about food safety, so the salmon we cook at home has almost no translucency when done. If the rare center freaks you out, don’t worry – it’s still very, very delicious when cooked all the way through (just don’t let it get WAY overcooked or it will be dry and sad).
How much salmon to use: I don’t really care for leftover salmon, so I usually opt for a smaller filet – something like 1 – 1/2 lbs. so that we can eat it once or twice without a lot of leftovers. A 2 lb. filet will serve 4-6 people easily, especially when combined with rice, mango avocado salsa, etc.
Do you use fresh or frozen mangoes: Fresh is the most delicious. But frozen chunks can also work! Just let them thaw out on the counter and then give them a little extra knife treatment so they’re good for salsa-size.
What else does this salmon go with: You can also add any other vegetables you like to build out your bowls (totally optional). I used some of my leftover Korean BBQ style cauliflower in there and it was SO yummy. I’ve also added roasted vegetables like mushrooms and asparagus.
Air-Frying Your Salmon: I’d just use the salmon in this Air Fryer Salmon as the spices are very similar!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: BBQ
Keywords: bbq salmon bowls, mango avocado salsa, salmon with salsa
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Filed Under: All Recipes Avocado Bowls Dairy-Free Dinner Fish and Seafood Healthy Lime Main Dishes Most Popular Recipes Rice Salmon Summer
July 15, 2019
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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now that’s exactly what I’m talking about. I healthy slab of cinnamon in combination with delicious salsa dressing and looks like sliced avocado. I wish I could reach my hand through the computer with a large spoon or fork and get a taste of this wonderful looking meal. Thank you for another successful blog Lindsay. Keep up the good work with your blogging. 🙂
So yummy looking! I’m definitely going to try this, I’ll just make a tilapia one for my fiancé and I’ll enjoy all of the same myself!!
This looks so yummy and might just be the “gateway recipe” to get my reluctant family to try salmon! My question is about where you get your salmon. Can you use frozen? I live in the middle of Nowhereville in the good old Midwest so fresh salmon can sometimes be a little hard to come by. Thanks for your great recipes!
Frozen is fine! Just be sure to thaw it before cooking.
I bake salmon from frozen all the time! Oil in baking dish, lemon if you like, put filet(s) in flesh side down, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, cover with foil, in preheated 425 oven approx 25-30 min.!
As a Type 1 Diabetic, what yummy alternative can you recommend for the brown sugar? I love this dish but can’t do the sugar. Thank you for your wonderful recipes!!
Coconut sugar
Maple syrup
I’m commenting first because this looks incredible and I always want to try to cook new fish things. but second, I love /hate the new Delicious Distraction on the side. I could spend a lot of time doing those puzzles. So thank you, twice!
Haha! Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Absolutely love salmon and this dish looks wholesome and so delicious. Will be trying soon..
Now this looks like a must try!
That salsa sounds delicious!
Ok so, this is going to be amazing, except it totally just caught fire in my oven!! Big flames! I think the sugar caught fire? I guess when you said heat the oven to 500 I should have done that, but I used the broiler setting instead. Hey everybody, dont do that! 😮😮😮 somehow the fish still looks beautiful, the mango chutney is amazing. I just hope my oven survives 😖
Ok so, looking back. Maybe it wasnt so much the sugar as the fish itself? The salmon came out really oily and now I think I had a particularly fatty piece of salmon or something. Still delicious though!
This looks so good! I’ve never actually cooked salmon before. I have a 2lb filet that has the skin on. Is that okay? Does the skin need to be removed? Or doesn’t it matter since it’ll be face down on the baking sheet? Rookie question here.
Hi, Amber! No need to remove the skin first. Just cook the salmon skin side down on the baking sheet and remove it after cooking.
Tonight I used a premade pico (thank you Texas grocery stores) and added a fresh mango. No avocado, but delicious and faster than chopping everything!
Awesome, Michelle!
Looks so good! Can I ask what store you buy your salmon from? I am also in the twin cities and feel like I can never find a good piece of salmon! 🙁
Usually Whole Foods!
Jenna,
Good answer about getting Salmon from “Whole Foods market.” I love that place too, though I haven’t been there in a long time. When I was a teenager growing up in Brooklyn, my former best friend and I used to go to a health store downtown Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Supreme Court called “Perelandra natural foods store.”
We buy our salmon at Coastal Seafood’s in Minneapolis
I’ve made this once before and going to add this to the meal prep this week.
Based on the macros of the bowl in the recipe what’s the serving size for each bowl?
This looks so delicious Lindsay. I’ve made something similar minus the avocado in the mango salsa. Mango salsa and salmon go so well together, and so healthy. Love your pictures!
very nice recipe. Thanks for sharing
I made this last night (sans salsa because I wasn’t prepared) and it was AMAZING! The flavor combination on the salmon was delicious. A great change from my usual lemon/garlic salmon. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad to hear it!
Delicious. For some reason I don’t usually love salmon when I make it at home but this was great. Will make it again. Salsa is perfect!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I’m sure this would be just as good cold. I’M for sure gonna try both
Fantastic! Will be in our regular rotation!
This is amazing! I never cook fish myself, but this looked too easy not to try! It’s quick and delicious, perfect summer recipe!
Love this! my favourite mango salsa is avocado, red onion, mango, chopped tomato, lime juice, chilies, and a little bit of sweet chili sauce. I bet that would work well here too, along with some coconut rice!
Coconut rice! Genius!
this was the BEST salmon I’ve ever made. I got nervous because I thought the sugar & spice rub got too burnt under the broiler but nope! it was delicious!! the rice/salsa/salmon combo was amazing. perfect and easy!
Is there a way to make the BBQ Salmon Bowls with Mango Avacado Salsa, if I do not have or are unable to use an actual grill? I miss out on so many delicious recipes because of my living situation, being in a hi-rise apartment building and unable to REALLY GRILL. Any tips would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Lisa
this salmon is broiled in the oven..! no grill needed
What type of chili powder? Like the kind you put in bean/beef chili? Thx!
Yep, that’s right!
I was SO excited to try this recipe and everything POY I make is delicious but the rub burnt in my oven after 6 minutes and the salmon definitely wasn’t done so I had to scrape most of it off 🙁 I did 500 at broiler setting like it specified, but maybe it wasn’t supposed to be on broiler? There was also lots of oil in the tin foil after, I think I’d adjust that too. The fish didn’t look too fatty to start!
Is the rice included in the nutritional values for the BBQ Salmon Bowl? Thanks!
Nope, just for the salmon and salsa!
Made tonight for first time. Delicious and one of my new favorites!! So light and flavorful, mango gives it plenty of sweetness without adding honey (IMO). Wonderful dish and thank you for sharing!!
Delicious!!! One of the best salmon recipes I’ve made. We loved them! I made a couple of adjustments (less brown sugar and added a little lime zest to the paste as well as lime juice- my paste was very dry.) Will definitely make these a staple in our house!
This recipe looked so good on your Instagram post I had to try it! It’s a perfect meal for a summer night! Very tasty!
Glad you liked it, Andrea!