Quinoa Poke Bowls are a fresh, flavorful summertime meal! My version utilizes tuna & salmon along with quinoa for a modern twist that’s completely customizable with traditional poke flavors and spicy mayo!
I’m a huge fan of poke. Specifically, because it’s typically a healthy dish that’s fresh, flavorful and filling. Since it’s served chilled, its makes for a great summertime meal! My Quinoa Poke Bowls also 100% customizable so you’re able to make each poke dish your own, tailored to your own taste preferences.
Austin itself has quite a few poke restaurants popping up around town, Poke Poke, Ola Poke, & Poke Bowl — which just opened last week! And as much as I love visiting each for a bowl of poke, it can get a bit pricey, especially if you go for the no-rice option.
Plus, I tend to want ALL THE TOPPINGS including avocado (#yesIknowguacisextra) which means I end up paying about $15 for a small bowl of poke. And trust me, it’s dang delicious poke but I can’t be putting up $15 on the regular.
In a desire to save a few bucks, I recreated my favorite poke bowl at home, adding in a modern twist by swapping out the traditional rice for protein heavy quinoa. And since I couldn’t decide on salmon or tuna poke, I made BOTH! #Poke2Ways
I had so much fun making these Quinoa Poke Bowls because it involved a lot of careful, thoughtful dicing for the fish, pickled cucumbers, avocado, and scallions. I found the concentration required for such precise cuts relaxing. The methodical cutting simply allowed me to zone out for a moment and put thought and care into the food I was creating with each slice.
Even if you haven’t quite honed your knife skills, this recipe is a great way to practice so don’t be intimidated by all the slicing and dicing! Just like everything else you do, practice makes perfect.
These Quinoa Poke Bowls have a few different components which creates layers of flavor throughout the dish! Now, when plating the bowls, I made everything nice, neat and organized but my favorite way to eat Quinoa Poke Bowls is to stir everything together and mesh all the flavors so I get a taste of everything in each bite!
My favorite part about these Quinoa Poke Bowls (besides the fish!) is the pickled cucumbers. They bring a low heat to the dish, lots vinegary flavor, and add a slight crunch! I even made a few extra to munch on while I prepped the rest of the ingredients.
To accompany the poke, I made a spicy mayo which you can mix directly into the salmon (or tuna — your choice!) if you so choose. Since I’m not too into spice and find it often overpowers the other flavors, I served my Quinoa Poke Bowls with the mayo on the side and used it more for dipping!
As for the poke sauce itself, I kept it pretty traditional with tamari, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil. And, since I always need a bit of green, I mixed in a touch of finely chopped kale and cilantro for a bit of zest! In this dish, the poke sauce also serves dual purpose as a sauce for the quinoa which helps drive home the traditional poke flavor.
Lastly, for added pop and crunch, I served my Quinoa Poke Bowls with chilled, steamed edamame! I’m a huge fan of edamame, it’s healthy, a great source of protein and fiber and in this poke bowl, it adds to the staying power of the dish! Yum!
My one tip when making these Quinoa Poke Bowls is to wait to toss the fish with the poke sauce until just before serving. You don’t want the fish to marinate in the sauce, you simply want it to be lightly dressed and tossing it just before you eat will ensure you get both the flavor of the poke sauce as well as the fish! Enjoy!
Looking for more summertime meals? Try my Cold Sesame Soba Noodle and Cucumber Salad with Poached Shrimp!
- ½ English cucumber, sliced into thin rounds (~ ⅛th inch)
- ½ cup rice wine vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons light mayonnaise
- 3 teaspoons Sriracha
- ½ teaspoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon vegetable brown
- ¼ cup tamari (or soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- 1 small clove garlic, finely grated
- 8 ounces sushi grade salmon, thawed in the refrigerator & cut into ¼-1/2 inch cubes
- 8 ounces sushi grade tuna, thawed in the refrigerator & cut into ¼-1/2 inch cubes
- 1 cup quinoa, cooked & chilled
- 1 cup edamame, cooked & chilled
- 1 avocado, sliced
- ¼ cup matchstick carrots
- 2 tablespoons green onions, thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons kale, finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped
- 4 teaspoons black sesame seeds
- pickled ginger, optional
- Place the rice wine vinegar, water, honey, red pepper flakes, and salt in a small sauce pan and bring to boil over high heat
- Once boiling, remove from heat and stir in cucumber slices
- Let the cucumbers sit for 10 minutes then drain and refrigerate the cucumber slices until serving
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and Sriracha
- Add the lime juice and 1 tablespoon of the vegetable broth at a time until desired consistency is achieved
- Refrigerate until serving
- Whisk together all poke sauce ingredients together
- Reserve half of the sauce to toss with the fish before serving
- Toss the remaining poke sauce with the chilled quinoa and set aside until you're ready to assemble
- Place the cubed salmon in a medium size bowl and the tuna in a separate medium size bowl
- Pour half of the reserved poke sauce onto the salmon and the other half onto the tuna and gently toss to coat
- To each bowl of salmon and tuna add 2 tablespoons kale, 2 tablespoon cilantro, 1 tablespoon green onions and 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds. Gently toss to distribute. If you'd like to make spicy salmon poke, then add 2 tablespoons of the Sriracha Mayo to the salmon and mix to combine.
- To plate, add a ¼ cup quinoa, ¼ cup edamame, 1 tablespoon of carrots, avocado slices, and some pickled cucumbers to a bowl. Top with either the salmon or tuna poke and garnish with the pickled ginger. Serve immediately with additional Sriracha Mayo on the side.