Crispy Rice Salad with Cucumber and Avocado

Crunchy, creamy and cool crispy rice salad with cucumber and avocado, finished with a sesame ginger tahini dressing. An easy, tasty bowl for warm-weather lunches and light dinners.

This crispy rice salad with cucumber and avocado is a cold, crunchy bowl built on oven-roasted rice, marinated cucumbers, creamy avocado and a sesame ginger tahini dressing. It’s a modern, Asian-inspired salad rather than a traditional dish, and it turns up mostly at warm-weather lunches and in meal-prep bowls.

Crispy rice has older relatives, like Korean nurungji and Persian tahdig, the crunchy layer that forms at the bottom of the pot. Here the crunch comes from a hot oven instead. It’s a favorite with anyone who loves texture in a salad.

I kept a bag of leftover rice in the fridge for most of last summer and never knew what to do with it besides fried rice. A friend served something similar at a lunch, with crunchy rice scattered over cold cucumbers, and I thought about it for weeks. I’ve been planning my own version for about a year.

I make a lot of cucumber salads. My viral mandoline cucumber salad and Logan’s whole cucumber salad get made all summer, and this one is the filling, dinner-in-a-bowl version.

My first batch of crispy rice was a mess. I used rice straight from the pot, it steamed on the pan, and we ate soft, slightly sad rice with a lot of chili crisp to cover it up. These days this bowl and my feta bean pasta are the dinners the husband asks for when I say I don’t feel like cooking.

Do try this crispy rice salad with cucumber and avocado at least once with proper leftover rice. I can guarantee your family will love it.

Everything That Goes Into Crispy Rice Salad with Cucumber and Avocado

This makes 4 bowls. The table below covers the crispy rice, the salad and the dressing.

Ingredient	Quantity	Notes
Cooked and cooled rice	3 cups	Crispy rice. Leftover rice is best
Toasted sesame oil	1 tablespoon	Crispy rice
Tamari or soy sauce	1 tablespoon	Crispy rice
Sea salt	¼ teaspoon	Crispy rice, tossed in after roasting
Persian cucumbers	6 to 8 (about 1 pound)	Salad. Sliced
Rice vinegar	1 tablespoon	Salad. For marinating the cucumbers
Cane sugar	¼ teaspoon	Salad. For marinating the cucumbers
Sea salt	¼ teaspoon	Salad. For marinating the cucumbers
Frozen shelled edamame	1 cup	Salad. Thawed
Avocados	2	Salad. Diced
Scallions	3	Salad. Chopped
Roasted peanuts	½ cup	Salad
Fresh mint leaves	For garnish	Salad
Chili crisp	For drizzling	Salad
Smooth tahini	3 tablespoons	Dressing
Toasted sesame oil	2 tablespoons	Dressing
Rice vinegar	2 tablespoons	Dressing
Tamari	1 tablespoon	Dressing
Fresh ginger	1 heaping teaspoon	Dressing. Grated
Maple syrup or honey	1 teaspoon	Dressing
Water	1 to 3 tablespoons	Dressing. Only if needed to thin it

• Cooked, cooled rice – day-old rice from the fridge is best, because cold, dry grains roast up crisp while warm, fresh rice steams and turns soft.
• Persian cucumbers – thin skin, very few seeds and they stay crunchy after marinating. If you use a regular English cucumber instead, drain it well, since it holds more water.
• Tamari – a smooth, slightly less salty cousin of soy sauce, usually made without wheat. Regular soy sauce works, but taste before adding extra salt.
• Toasted sesame oil goes into both the rice and the dressing. It’s strongly flavored, so measure it rather than pouring freely, and don’t swap in plain oil.
• Tahini should be smooth and stirred well, because the oil separates in the jar. Brands vary in thickness, which is why the dressing needs a range of water.
• Chili crisp – a crunchy chili oil condiment. Heat varies a lot by brand, so start with a spoonful and add more at the table.
• Frozen edamame – thaw in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes, then drain and pat dry so they don’t water down the dressing.
• Avocados should be ripe but still firm, so they dice cleanly. Cut them just before you assemble the bowls.
• Roasted peanuts add the second crunch. If yours are salted, go easy when you season at the end.

How It Comes Together

Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Spread 3 cups cooked, cooled rice on the sheet, drizzle with 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil and 1 tablespoon tamari, and toss to coat.

Smooth the rice into an even layer so the grains aren’t piled on top of each other.

Roast for 10 minutes, then toss.

Roast for another 12 to 16 minutes, until the rice is lightly crisp and golden brown (my first tray had a few very dark edges because I wandered off to do the dishes, so start checking at 12 minutes).

Toss the hot rice with ¼ teaspoon sea salt and set it aside, since it keeps crisping as it cools.

Toss 6 to 8 sliced Persian cucumbers (about 1 pound) in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, ¼ teaspoon cane sugar and ¼ teaspoon sea salt.

Let the cucumbers marinate for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk 3 tablespoons smooth tahini, 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon tamari, 1 heaping teaspoon grated fresh ginger and 1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey in a small bowl.

Check that the dressing is creamy and drizzleable, and if it’s too thick, whisk in 1 to 3 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Divide the cucumbers among 4 serving bowls, leaving the excess water behind in the large bowl.

Divide 1 cup thawed edamame, 2 diced avocados, 3 chopped scallions and ½ cup roasted peanuts among the bowls, then drizzle with some of the dressing.

Top with the crispy rice and garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Drizzle with chili crisp, season to taste, and serve with the remaining dressing on the side.

A Few Things Worth Knowing

• Cold leftover rice is the right rice here. Fresh rice is too soft and steams instead of crisping, so if that’s all you have, spread it on a tray and chill it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes first.
• If the rice still feels soft after the full roasting time, give it 3 to 4 more minutes and watch the edges. It also firms up a lot as it cools on the counter.
• Leave the liquid from the marinated cucumbers behind when you scoop them into the bowls, or the salad turns watery and the rice softens faster.
• Adjust the chili crisp to your preference, and thin the dressing with water until it drizzles the way you like it.

The One Thing That Makes or Breaks It

The crispy rice decides everything, and it comes down to two things: cold, dry rice and one even layer on the pan. Crowd the pan or use warm rice and the grains steam against each other and turn chewy instead of crunchy.

Toss the rice at the 10 minute mark so the grains touching the pan don’t burn while the rest catches up. Look for golden edges and grains that feel dry and rattle a little when you shake the pan. They’ll still seem slightly soft straight from the oven and harden as they cool.

Add the crispy rice last, right before you eat. It starts to soften once it meets the dressing, so I wait until everyone is at the table. Follow these tips and it works every single time, even if it’s your first time roasting rice.

One more thing about the dressing: the water ratio depends on your tahini brand. Start with 1 tablespoon and add more until it’s creamy and pourable.

Swaps and Tweaks

Pressing rice into a hot, oiled pan until a crust forms is the older way to make crispy rice, and in my honest opinion it gives the deepest crunch. However, the oven is hands-off and crisps a whole tray at once, which is why I use it here. If you prefer another method, here’s what changes.

• Skillet: press the rice into a thin layer in a hot, oiled skillet and leave it alone until the bottom is golden. You’ll get a deeper crunch, but you have to cook in batches and stay at the stove.
• Air fryer: cook the rice in a single layer, shaking the basket often, and start checking at around 8 minutes. I haven’t timed it exactly, so go by color. You lose volume, since the basket only fits a small batch.
• Gluten-free: use tamari labeled gluten-free instead of regular soy sauce, which contains wheat. Nothing is lost in flavor.
• Vegan: use maple syrup instead of honey in the dressing, and check your chili crisp label, since some brands include shrimp or fish.

I normally add just 1 tablespoon of water, because I like the dressing thick, but feel free to go up to 3 tablespoons for a thinner drizzle.

Storage, Serving and Second Helpings

Storage Method	How Long It Keeps	What To Know
Room temperature	Up to about 1 hour	Best eaten right after assembling. The avocado browns and the rice softens the longer it sits.
Refrigerated, assembled	Best the same day, up to 1 day	Still tasty, but the rice is no longer crisp and the avocado darkens.
Refrigerated, kept separate	Dressing up to 4 days, crispy rice up to 1 day	Store the rice airtight, and the dressing in a jar. Cut the avocado fresh each time.
Frozen	Not recommended	Cucumbers and avocado turn mushy once thawed.
Reheating and re-crisping	About 5 minutes at 400°F	Spread the rice on a baking sheet until crisp again, and keep the rest of the salad cold. Don’t reheat rice more than once.

I serve this cold or at room temperature as a main, with the crispy rice still slightly warm if I can manage it. It also sits well next to anything grilled.

Since the rice starts as leftovers, cool it quickly and refrigerate within an hour of cooking, as the NHS advice on storing cooked rice recommends.

Questions I Get Asked a Lot

One Last Thing

If you make this crispy rice salad, I’d love to hear how the rice turned out. Leave a star rating and a comment below, and tell me if you changed anything along the way.

Questions are welcome too, and I answer them all. If you share a photo of your bowl on social media, tag me so I can see it.