We love sushi but it can get pricy! So we learned to make it at home. These vegan sushi recipes will have you making this awesome treat quickly and easily!
I love a good sushi roll. I can eat SO many and the bill hikes fast. So after learning how easy it was to make these at home, I can eat them any time! Bonus, the kids love to help and eat them too!
Vegan Sushi Basics
It seems daunting to make this amazing but expensive dish at home, but I am here to show you how easy it can actually be! The options to mix and match are endless, and you don’t even need any special equipment!
What kind of sushi is vegan?
Anything that does not use animal product is considered vegan, so vegan sushi cannot have any fish. Luckily there are so many other ingredients you can fill it with, you won’t even miss the fish!
What is vegan sushi made of?
There are many ways that people like to make sushi with vegan friendly ingredients. Here are some of the most common:
- Raw vegetables
- Vegetables pickled and marinated to mock fish
- Tofu
- Fried vegetables, tempura style
- Baked Vegetables
- Mock meats
Is a California roll vegan?
Unfortunately , a traditional California roll has crab, or mock crab. And neither of those are vegan. But if you go to a vegan sushi restaurant, they get creative on using different things to mimic the flavor.
Products needed to make sushi
While many people say you need specific equipment to make your own sushi, I have been successful many times without anything special.
If you use the right ingredients, like sushi rice instead of regular rice, and you don’t overfill the rolls, you can get a nice tight result just using your hands.
However, if you’re feeling fancy, here is some fancy stuff you can use:
You can also get a whole sushi making kit!
How to Make Vegan Sushi Step by Step
Making sushi is easier than you think, and you truly don’t need a fancy set up. Here is how we made our own amazing vegan sushi rolls!
- Lay down the nori sheet, spread rice over the top and line up your filling on one end.
- Tuck one side over the ingredients and tighten up the tuck.
- Slowly roll as you keep tightly tucking. If you are using sticky sushi rice then the end will easily seal, but you can also dip your finger in water and seal the end of the nori that way.
- Cut with a sharp knife and serve!
Vegan sushi ingredients
The right ingredients are key to making great sushi that holds together and tastes amazing. First off, you need to use sushi rice.
Sushi rice is sticky so will help keep your roll together. You could also use a black rice and cook it well, as that tends to be sticky too. It won’t work as well as regular white sushi rice but it’s a good alternative.
You also need to flavor the rice. The traditional ingredients are:
- Rice vinegar
- Sugar
- Salt
To hold the sushi roll together you need to use nori sheets, which are basically sheets of dried edible seaweed.
Then, you need the filling ingredients! These are endless and can be anything you like.
Sushi filling ideas
Here is a list of our favorite ways to fill our vegan sushi recipes!
Raw veggies
- Avocado
- Cucumbers
- Carrots
- Green onions
- Peppers
- Sprouts
- Asparagus
- Mushrooms
- Lettuce
- Tomato (surprisingly good!)
- Radish
- Purple cabbage
Cooked veggie ideas
- Marinated mushrooms in soy sauce/Tamari
- Marinated sweet potatoes in soy sauce/Tamari
- Fried tempura style veggies
Other filling ideas
- Crispy tofu
- Mashed chickpeas or white beans with mayo (or the base of this cream sauce) and sriracha
- Pickled veggies
How to prep veggies for sushi
When cutting your veggies, you want to make sure that you are using a sharp knife and cutting them into long strips. You can either cut matchstick like strips or keep them long like asparagus.
Dips for vegan sushi
The other thing I love about making sushi at home is the variety of dips you can make! Anything goes, so get creative! Here are some classics and non traditional favorites:
- Soy sauce/Tamari
- Soy sauce/Tamari mixed with wasabi paste
- Fresh wasabi root (if you have never tried this it’s a must try and many sushi places keep it secret in the back)
- Ponzu
- Chili garlic sauce
- Spicy cilantro cream sauce (use the base of this to mix with anything!)
- Tahini sauce
- Vegan teriyaki sauce
- Vegan buffalo sauce (even mixed with the cream sauce base above)
- Vegan remoulade
- Peanut sauce
- Chopped green onions sautéed with garlic and mixed with soy sauce/Tamari
- Pickled ginger
Tips for making sushi with kids
Making sushi can be a fun family affair, at least until the little one starts throwing the filling ingredients at his brothers. At that point, just drink some sake.
But before that happens, here are some fun ways to involved the kids:
- Let everyone pick filling ideas they like.
- Arrange all the filling options in bowls or piles so they are easy to grab.
- Give each kid a nori sheet and help spread the rice over the top since that can be tough for little ones.
- Give them each a bowl or basket and let them select the filling ingredients they want.
- Have them arrange them on one end of the rice covered nori sheet
- Help them roll it up by covering your hand with theirs to ensure it will be tight.
- Give them dip choices so that they can enjoy their creations!
Homemade Vegan Sushi Recipes
Ingredients
Base-
- 4 Seaweed/Nori sheets or thinly sliced cucumber
- 4 cups cooked sushi rice (see note)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Cooked filling ideas-
Raw filling ideas-
- 6 slices Avocado
- 6 slices Cucumber matchstick style
- 6 slices Carrot matchstick style
- 6 slices green onion matchstick style
Serving suggestions-
- Tamari soy sauce for non gluten-free
- Wasabi
- Fresh pickled ginger
- Creamy peanut sauce
Instructions
- Mix vinegar, sugar and salt in a bowl and heat on the stove or the microwave until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add the mixture to the cooked rice and mix well.
- Make the marinated sweet potato and mushrooms by pouring the tamari over them and allowing them to marinate a bit while you prep the rest of the roll ingredients.
- Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes until crisping on edges. You can also saute them in a pan until crisp and cooked through.
- Build by spreading 1 cup of rice onto nori sheet.
- On one end lay filling ingredients of choice in a thin line. You want between 2-4 pieces of each filling ingredient. Don’t use more than 4 or 5 fillings ingredients or it will get too big to roll.
- Tightly roll and cut. Serve with dipping sauces like Tamari (soy sauce for non gluten-free)
Notes
- Sushi rice is what gets it to stick well, you can use black rice as a second alternative too. Brown rice will not stick as well, keep that in mind.
- I made 4 rolls using the sweet potato, mushrooms, avocado, cucumber, carrot, and green onions. Serving size is 1 roll.
- Nutrition facts are for sushi rolls only.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate. Please read more about that here.
Jen says
I’ve needed a solid sushi recipe, this looks amazing. Can’t wait to try it.