This delightful dish features crispy rice baked to perfection in the oven, topped with fresh raw salmon and a tasty nori salad, making it perfect for a fun appetizer or dinner.
Introducing our new favorite dish: Sheet Pan Crispy Rice and Salmon! We’ve mastered the art of crispy rice in the oven, then adorned it with sushi-grade salmon, vinegar pickles, a flavorful nori salad, and creamy kewpie mayo.
We’ve put this recipe to the test multiple times (not that we mind, it’s delicious!). Our goal was to create a large batch of crispy rice without the hassle of frying individual rice squares.
We discovered that pressing day-old sticky rice and a bit of oil into a baking sheet, then broiling it, resulted in perfectly golden brown crispy rice. The top is beautifully toasted, the bottom lightly coated, and it pairs wonderfully with all the tasty toppings.
Sheet Pan Crispy Rice and Salmon
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sesame oil divided
- 1.5 teaspoons sea salt divided
- 5 cups cooked cold sticky rice
- ½ cup thinly sliced cucumbers ~½ large cucumber
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ⅓ cup sushi ginger
- 1 lb. sushi-grade salmon chopped
- 5 green onions chopped
- 3 sheets nori broken into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1.5 tablespoons sesame seeds white or black
- 3 tablespoons kewpie or mayonnaise
Instructions
- Grease the bottom of a half baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of avocado oil.
- Scoop the rice onto the baking sheet, press it down firmly, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
- Drizzle the top of the rice with 1 tablespoon of avocado oil and ½ tablespoon of sesame oil. Season with 1 teaspoon of sea salt.
- Preheat the oven to 475ºF and bake the rice for 7-10 minutes until crispy.
- Toss cucumbers with soy sauce and set aside. Prepare nori salad by mixing green onions, nori, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and salt in a bowl.
- Spread cucumbers over the crispy rice, top with ginger, then salmon, and finally the nori salad. Drizzle with kewpie.
- Let it cool for 10 minutes before cutting into pieces and serving.
Notes
- Monitor the rice closely while baking to avoid burning.
- Prepare sticky rice a day ahead for best results.
- Use a spatula to remove the pieces from the baking sheet carefully.
- Sushi-grade tuna can be used instead of salmon.
- Double the nori salad ingredients for extra topping.