Poke Bowl
Published August 7, 2022 • Updated February 23, 2026
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If you're a sushi fan, you'll love this keto poke bowl! The flavors rival your favorite sashimi, and it's a breeze to toss together for a fresh, low-carb lunch or dinner—no seaweed required.
Traditional poke bowls use ahi tuna, short grain white rice, and sweetened marinades. If you want the flavors of your favorite sushi or sashimi without the seaweed or rice, this keto poke bowl is exactly what you need!
Don’t enjoy raw fish? Try these salmon cucumber bites with smoked salmon or make a cucumber wrapped sushi roll instead!
This low-carb poke bowl swaps short grain rice for cauliflower rice and keeps the marinade sugar-free. Even without added sugar, the marinade brings incredible freshness and flavor to the salmon. Plus, it’s allergy-friendly: no eggs, nuts, or dairy! I top the cauliflower rice and salmon with avocado and sriracha for a filling meal. It pairs perfectly with cucumber salad.
How to make a poke bowl
- Pat the salmon dry with a paper towel. Cut the fish into small bite-sized chunks and add them to a medium bowl.
- Add lemon juice, green onions, tamari or soy sauce, sesame oil, avocado, and sesame seeds to the fish. Gently stir to combine.
- Serve over cauliflower rice and top with sriracha if you want a little heat.
Pro Tip: Don’t marinate the salmon for longer than a couple of minutes or the lemon juice will start to cook it. You’ll end up with ceviche instead of sushi!
Key ingredients
- Sushi-grade salmon: You can’t use just any fish for this poke bowl, as not all fish has been taken care of in a way that makes it safe to eat raw. While the term “sushi-grade” isn’t regulated, stores and distributors use this label on their highest quality fish that they deem safe to eat raw.
Salmon gets extra protection since it can harbor parasites. Sushi-grade salmon has been frozen to kill any parasites. I get my sushi-grade salmon here and love the quality and flavor. You can also use sushi-grade tuna if you prefer.
- Toasted sesame oil: Don’t swap another oil for sesame oil. While this does help add a little fat to the marinade, it mostly adds an amazingly complex nutty flavor that makes this poke bowl pop.
- Soy sauce: Soy sauce or tamari can be used in the marinade, but if you want to make this recipe soy-free, use liquid amnios instead.
- Avocado: Adds a serving of heart-healthy and filling fats to this poke bowl. The contrast in textures from the salmon to the rice to the avocado adds a fun experience to this dish.
- Cauliflower rice: Short grain rice is often used in sushi and poke bowls but this salmon poke bowl recipe uses cauliflower rice as your base.
Explore 683+ keto recipe videos with step-by-step instructions, tips, and tricks to make keto easy.
Ingredients
4 oz sushi grade salmon -
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
-
2 tablespoons sliced green onions
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2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
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1 teaspoon sesame oil
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1/2 avocado, diced
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1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
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1/2 cup cooked cauliflower rice
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sriracha sauce, optional
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biscuit ring, optional
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Prep salmon
Rinse and pat salmon dry with a paper towel. Cut salmon in bite sized chunks and add to a large bowl.
Make poke
To the bowl with the salmon, add lemon juice, sliced green onion, soy sauce or tamari, toasted sesame seed oil, diced avocado and sesame seeds. Stir to combine.
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
Is a poke bowl like sushi?
Poke bowls and sushi both have raw fish, but poke originated from Hawaii and features fresh ingredients tossed into a bowl, while sushi is from Japan and is often served in rolls.
Are there carbs in a poke bowl?
A traditional Hawaiian poke bowl has 30-60 grams of carbs, depending on the amount of rice used. This low-carb version has only 3.4g net carbs.
How do you safely thaw frozen fish?
The best way to thaw frozen fish is to take it out of the package and place it in a container in the refrigerator overnight. Alternatively, place the fish in a plastic bag and cover it with cold water to thaw it more quickly.
The salmon marinade is the thing that makes this work. Soy, sesame oil, and lemon in that ratio is exactly how a good poke shop does it, and I've tried a lot of at-home versions that miss the balance. One thing I'd warn about: dry your cauliflower rice in a hot pan before it goes in the bowl. I made the mistake of using it straight after steaming and the liquid pooled at the bottom and ruined the texture of the whole thing. Pan-dried second time around and it was a completely different dish. The avocado and sesame seeds pull real weight here, so don't skip them. Worth making this right.
First time using sushi-grade salmon and I kept second-guessing myself the whole prep, but the sesame oil and soy sauce came together so fast I was kind of shocked it worked. Is it better to let the salmon sit in the seasoning for a few minutes before serving, or is the idea to toss and go right away?
Few minutes is actually better. The soy and sesame need a little time to settle into the fish, 5 minutes or so. Go past 10 and you start losing that fresh texture.
Oh that tracks. I was tossing and eating right away so that explains it.
Never cooked with sushi grade salmon before and almost talked myself out of it, but the lemon juice and soy sauce come together so fast. The cauliflower rice fooled me more than I expected.
The sesame oil is what sells the cauliflower rice. It's doing more work than people realize.
Before I went keto two years ago I had a poke place I'd hit every Friday, spicy salmon bowl, white rice base, the whole thing, and I just kind of quietly grieved it when I started cutting carbs because I figured that chapter was closed. Made this last Sunday when it was freezing out and I wasn't expecting much, just something different for dinner, and the second I drizzled the sesame oil over the salmon I was back in that spot (the smell is exactly the same, I don't know how). The cauliflower rice absorbing the tamari the way real rice does, the avocado going in cold against the warm salmon, I kept stopping to just look at the bowl. It tasted like a Friday again. I keep coming back to how something this simple, just lemon juice and sliced green onion on good salmon, packs that much flavor. Going in the rotation permanently.
'Tasted like a Friday again.' That one got me. If you haven't added the sriracha yet, that's what gets it closest to the spicy salmon bowl.