What Is A Poke Bowl? + 20 BEST Poke Bowl Recipes

In this ultimate guide to a poke bowl, I cover what it is, key ingredients, sauces, nutrition, how to order one and how to make your own at home with some inspiring poke bowl recipes.

PS. This article was put together with the help of my friend Alex in Hawaii, the home of poke!

Jump to: ℹ️ Overview | 🛒 Ingredients | 📷 How To Make | 🥗Serving Suggestions |👨‍🍳Nutrition Notes | 📝 Go To Full Recipe |🐟 More Healthy Fish Recipes

What Is A Poke Bowl?

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to have an incredible poke bowl in your life, you already know the magic. The vibrant pink colour, all of those tasty toppings, and melt-in-your-mouth flavour!

A poke bowl is a classic Hawaiian dish that can be served up in several delicious ways. It is most notably defined by its inclusion of cubed, raw ahi tuna. Poke may also feature salmon, hamachi, octopus, or even tofu. The fish is marinated in salt with other traditional and varied add-ins. It’s typically served with rice and furikake.

Poke Bowl Pronunciation

Before you go to your local poke shop, let’s clear up any hesitation about how to order what you want! Poke is pronounced po-keh. This is a Hawaiian word that means chunk, or “cut into chunks.” Pretty straightforward, right?

Poke Bowl Ingredients

Poke bowls have picked up a lot of steam in recent years globally, far from the shores of the Hawaiian islands. As ahi’s fame grew around the world, so did the ever-evolving variety of poke bowls and ingredients being used to create new versions of the island classic all over the world. Let’s start with the basics of a poke bowl recipe.

• Protein – the cubed fish is often sold by the pound on its own with your chosen marinade. Ahi tuna and octopus are considered to be “authentic” with the default being the former. However, salmon is relatively common too.
• In Hawaii, you can find countless options for your poke – even at the local grocery store chains – from mussels to pipikaula which is a semi-dried beef. It can be SO versatile. 
• Marinade – raw fish is tossed through with a light, umami-rich marinade of salt and/or Japanese soy sauce, oftentimes sesame oil, garlic and ginger. You will often see sesame seeds, green onions or sweet white onion, or chilli flakes.
• Rice – poke bowls are usually made atop a bed of white sushi rice. You can also use regular short-grain or medium-grain rice if you can’t get sushi rice. Some people use brown rice, too. At restaurants and poke stations, you can often substitute for steamed greens or cauliflower rice. As poke picks up popularity, these bowls are getting more interesting and customisable.

Poke Bowl Toppings

Other popular toppings, although not always authentic to the original recipe, include:

• various types of seaweed: furikake, nori, ogo, wakame
• sliced or diced avocado
• edamame beans
• crab meat or shrimp/prawns
• fish roe
• fermented vegetables
• raw vegetables like radish, cucumber, carrots
• sesame seeds and fried shallots
• mango 
• jalapenos
• cilantro
• mushrooms
• tofu

Poke Bowl Sauce Ideas

In terms of poke bowl sauces, the Japanese influence is at the front and centre of the ingredients list. You’ll find ponzu, yuzu, teriyaki, and shoyu which is a Japanese-style soy sauce. Sriracha mayonnaise or a more tropical spiced coconut sauce also often makes an appearance.

It can be tough to choose your ingredients when they’re all so tempting. The trick is to try them all. It’s very common to serve a poke bowl with two sauces: sauce for marinating the fish and a drizzle over the lot.

You can make a variety of sauces at home using pantry staples.

• Try spicy mayonnaise by mixing regular mayo with hot sauce or chilli flakes and a little ketchup
• Grated ginger, garlic and honey can be mixed in with soy sauce for a sweetened glaze.
• Yuzu is a citrus ingredient that you can replace with some grated lemon zest and lemon juice added to soy sauce, honey and sesame oil.
• Ponzu sauce is another citrusy soy-sauce based drizzle.
• Japanese sesame dressing (goma) is also fabulous.

Poke Bowl Nutrition

It turns out poke bowls can stack up to be a pretty nutritious meal. With grab-and-go poke shops and the convenience of the “build-a-bowl” restaurant-style, it is the perfect healthy meal to order while you’re out.

Poke bowls are high in protein, healthy fats (omega-3s, anyone?), and flavour which are the perfect ingredients for feeling energetic and staying full. A bowl with fish, rice and vegetables is balanced in nutrients, and high in B vitamins, antioxidants and minerals.

How Many Calories Are In A Poke Bowl?

The calories range, but you’re looking at around 300-600 calories per bowl. The biggest indicators of a higher-calorie bowl will be mayo-based sauces, extra rice, and fried toppings which are increasingly common at casual poke spots. Hint: if the word ‘spicy’ is in the title, it may be a richer dish.

A simpler, traditional version with rice, fish, vegetable toppings, and a shoyu and oil-based sauce will be on the lower-calorie end of the spectrum with a more balanced ratio of protein, fat, and carbs.

How To Make A Poke Bowl

During the early days in the Kingdom of Hawaii, Polynesians developed poke from a few simple, staple ingredients: fresh fish, alaea or Hawaiian salt, and limu which describes an edible underwater plant – usually a type of seaweed or algae.

This base might be embellished with roasted candlenut meat or inamona. This nut is related to the macadamia nut with a similarly buttery taste and texture. Macadamia nuts will likely be easier to find if you want to try your hand at this dish at home.

The traditional recipe can be found all over Hawaii today. Most grocery store chains and speciality Asian markets on the islands sell many varieties of poke and a la carte ingredients like ogo – a stringy, reddish seaweed – to make your homemade creations.

The contemporary Hawaiian poke bowl variety you’ll commonly see also includes super sweet maui onions (white onions), soy sauce (shoyu), sesame oil, and a garnish of green onions, chilli flakes, and furikake.

Full Recipe For Poke Bowl

Find the full list of ingredients, instructions and extra cooking notes below. If you have questions or cook this recipe, please let me know in the comments and make sure to rate this recipe so it’s easy for others to find.

How To Eat A Poke Bowl?

Now you’ve built the poke bowl of your dreams and you’re sitting down to dig in. Most poke restaurants will provide chopsticks to use as a default. I like to scoop up some fish and rice in each bite and get a little bit of each topping with every bite. The contrast of cold fish and warm rice together is one of the best parts of eating fresh poke! Some people choose to mix everything up but I think it gets a bit muddled.

Traditional Hawaiian Poke Bowl With Ahi Tuna

While some of these ingredients may be tough to source off-island, this is the Hawaiian poke recipe with just the basics. If you’re looking for authentic flavour, this recipe is a sure bet. From Keeping It Relle.

More Healthy Fish Recipes

• Lomi-Lomi Salmon & Avocado Salad
• Rainbow Salad Power Bowl With Salmon & Sesame Dressing
• Canned Salmon Salad With Curry-Spiced Mayo Dressing
• Stuffed Sweet Potatoes With Spanish Tuna & Peppers
• Spiced Mexican Tuna Steak With Avocado Salsa & Red Peppers