Confession: I’ve been spending way too much on sushi lately. But I don’t have the skill to make beautifully rolled sushi at home. So when that sushi craving hits, I just whip up an easy sushi bowl instead. It’s got all of the components of California roll piled into a bowl instead. They’re not fancy, for sure, but they’ll crush that sushi craving without leaving you $30 in the hole.
What is in a Sushi Bowl?
I kept this sushi bowl as simple as possible to keep the price low and to make it easy to prepare, but they’re very customizable! My sushi bowls had seasoned sushi rice, a few crunchy vegetables (carrot and cucumber), nori (seaweed), and crab stick. You can jazz these sushi bowls up and make them fancier as your budget allows.
Here are some other fun ingredients to add to sushi bowls:
- Mango
- Steamed asparagus
- Radish
- Coconut
- Shrimp
- Honey sriracha tofu
- Sashimi grade fish
For Best Results, use short grain rice
Using short grain rice is really important for getting that classic sushi flavor and texture. Those little grains have a high starch content and a very different texture than long grain white rice. Packaged “sushi rice” carries a hefty price tag at regular grocery stores and can be quite expensive, so I suggest checking bulk bins, or better yet making a special trip to an Asian grocer.
Another option is to use Calrose rice, which is fairly common in U.S. grocery stores. Calrose is a medium grain starchy rice grown in California that still works really well for sushi bowls.
What is Imitation Crab?
Imitation crab is what you’ll find in California rolls and a lot of other Americanized sushi. It’s real white fish that has been shaped and flavored to resemble crab meat, but at a much lower price. You can usually find it in stick form, chunks, or flaked. It’s pretty tasty, IMHO, and very affordable!
Seaweed options
Adding a bit of nori (dried seaweed) really goes a long way toward making this bowl taste like real sushi. Luckily, “nori snacks” have become really popular the last few years. They are just smaller single-serving-sized packages of nori rather than the larger packs you’d typically use to roll a lot of sushi. I sliced up a few small squares of nori snack for each bowl and, boom! Done.
How to Store Sushi Bowls
These sushi bowls work really well for meal prep and stay good in the refrigerator for about four days. You definitely want to cool the rice as quickly as possible after cooking and before packing your sushi bowls so that the warm rice doesn’t wilt the vegetables. So after seasoning the rice, spread it out on a baking sheet or in a casserole dish then refrigerate until cooled before packing the sushi bowls into meal prep containers.
Sushi Bowls
Servings 4Ingredients
SUSHI RICE
- 2 cups short grain white rice ($1.36)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar ($0.27)
- 2 Tbsp sugar ($0.02)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
TOPPINGS
- 8 oz imitation crab ($2.99)
- 1 carrot ($0.19)
- 1 cucumber ($0.59)
- 1 avocado ($1.50)
- 1 pack nori snack ($1.15)
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds ($0.18)
SRIRACHA MAYO (optional)
- 4 Tbsp mayonnaise ($0.30)
- 2 Tbsp sriracha ($0.22)
Instructions
- Place the uncooked short grain rice in a medium sauce pot. Rinse the rice well and drain off as much water as possible.
- Add 2 cups of fresh water, place a lid on the pot, and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let the rice rest, undisturbed and with the lid in place, for 10 additional minutes.
- To prepare the sushi rice dressing, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. If needed, microwave for 15-30 seconds to help the sugar dissolve.
- While the rice is cooking, prepare the toppings. Shred or chop the imitation crab, shred or julienne the carrot, slice the avocado, slice the cucumber, and break the nori snacks into smaller pieces. Stir together the mayonnaise and sriracha in a small bowl.
- When the rice is finished cooking, sprinkle about 1/4 of the vinegar dressing over the rice, then gently fold or stir the rice to combine. Repeat the process until all of the vinegar dressing has been incorporated into the rice.
- To build your sushi bowls, place about 1 cup of the seasoned sushi rice in a bowl, then top with crab stick, carrot, cucumber, avocado, a few pieces of nori, a pinch of sesame seeds, and a drizzle of the sriracha mayo.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Sushi Bowls – Step by Step Photos
Place 2 cups of the uncooked rice in a medium sauce pot. Rinse the rice well and drain off as much of the excess water as possible. Add 2 cups fresh water, place a lid on the pot, then bring the water up to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let the rice simmer for 15 minutes (make sure it’s simmering the whole time). After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let the rice rest, lid in place, for an additional five minutes.
While the rice is cooking, mix up the rice seasoning. This seasoning gives the rice its characteristic sushi flavor and glossy appearance. Combine 2 Tbsp rice vinegar, 2 Tbsp white sugar, and 1 tsp salt. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved. If needed, microwave the mixture for 15-30 seconds to help dissolve the sugar.
Sprinkle about 1/4 of the vinegar seasoning over the rice. Gently fold or stir the rice to distribute the dressing. Repeat this process until all of the dressing has been incorporated and the rice appears slightly glossy. Make sure not gently fold, rather than stir, the rice to prevent it from becoming mushy.
While the rice is cooking, prepare the rest of the sushi bowl toppings. Shred one carrot (use a large-holed cheese grater), chop one cucumber, slice one avocado and chop or break up 8oz. of imitation crab into small pieces.
Imitation crab is basically just white fish that has been shaped and flavored to resemble crab. You can usually find this in the seafood department or frozen seafood department of the grocery store. Nori snacks can usually be found in the International aisle of larger grocery stores. They’re usually around $2 per pack and contain several squares each!
Prepare a little sriracha mayo to go on the sushi bowls… Simply stir together 4 Tbsp mayo and 2 Tbsp sriracha. NOM.
Finally build your sushi bowls by adding about 1 cup of the seasoned sushi rice, then topping with some of imitation crab, sliced avocado, shredded carrot, sliced cucumbers, a few pieces of nori, a sprinkle of sesame seeds, and a delicious drizzle of sriracha mayo.
Seriously, SO GOOD.
Bonus: sushi bowls are a little harder to pick up with chopsticks than rolled sushi, so you can’t inhale them quite as quickly. Take time and savor that flavor. ;)
…oh, and once in awhile, Safeway would have those “lobster” bites right next to the Krab. MMMMMM! Those are good too!
haha I’ve been making these too. :p
Only things I do different: I make a little salad with the cucumber, carrot and avocado (rice vinegar-sugar-splash-of-sesame-oil dressing) then use that mix for topping; I mix the mayo into flaked Krab; I reserve a little space for pickled ginger (cheap at the Asian food market – usually by the tofu); and I have this little shaker with nori and sesame seeds in it that I season the bowl with (JFC – Nori Komi Furikake). Man, what a lifesaver these bowls are. I’d have to starve for a week if I ever went out for sushi.
Delicious! Really cheap, healthy, easy, and does satisfy that sushi craving we all know so well! Don’t know what I’d do without these recipes. I’ve saved so much money and don’t have to think too hard about what to make for dinner (on a very busy schedule). Keep on blogging!
The secret imgrident to restaurant seafood sauce (aka spicy mayo) is just a hint of toasted sesame oil. Not enough that it tastes like sesame, just a drop or two
MMMM this looks so good! I should definitely do this with crispy tofu.
Daaaaayum! That was good food! Super cheap too thank you. I made the rice and sriracha mayo and my husband fried us up some crispy tofu. we had a ripe mango on hand to go with the carrot, cucumber, and avocado and it was really really good.
I made something very similar to this tonight, with my own variations to make it low FODMAP diet friendly (sort of.) I topped my sushi rice with the vinegar dressing, chopped hard boiled egg, sesame and poppy seeds for a little extra pop, shredded carrots, green onion tops, chopped cilantro, and a healthy amount of imitation crab. Unfortunately, the imitation crab wasn’t low FODMAP, and neither is sriracha…but I blended some mayo with fine ground red pepper, rice wine vinegar, salt, sugar, green onion tops, and a little garlic infused oil and it tasted nearly the same as a great sushi spot sriracha mayo!
In the future, I would totally riff on this with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts for an extra protein kick, grilled salmon, a nice runny fried or poached egg with some sautéed spinach for a bit of Korean flair, or maybe some decent quality canned skipjack tuna. I might even quick pickle a little bit of shredded carrot and thinly sliced cucumber for some crisp Vietnamese style sweet pickles on top.
Thank you for describing how to make sushi rice! It turned out fantastic!
I love sushi bowls! So easy and quick to make.
I always add some spring onions and sauteed mushrooms with soysauce, which are very umami and make a perfect vegan addition.
Also, some roasted peanuts sound wierd, but give such a nice crunch.
Thanks for the idea, I need to be making these again soon :)
We love these at our house too! Shrimp, canned salmon or tuna can be used in a pinch. Soooo yummy :P
I LOVE sushi and somehow always find that my food budget is disproportionately spent on it. Definitely looking forwardd to trying this out and its so cheap! :)
I know this sound strange, but we love to put tomato in our sushi bowls– but only if they are juicy summer tomatoes. My husband will also often season the shredded carrots with some ginger and sesame oil. At times, we’ve put a soft boiled egg on top… and a few times we actually used a Morning Star “riblet”– shredded– on top (obviously not authentic in ANY WAY, but super tasty with the sushi rice). Ooo, another way to get some vegetation protein in there is to include some shelled edamame. Can’t wait to have sushi bowls again soon!!
What would you swap out the imitation crab for to make this vegetarian?
The crispy tofu Beth mentioned above would be good, but so would edamame or slices of a japanese rolled omlette. Also, if you have access to a asian grocery, you can find the fried tofu skins they use for inari-zushi.
When my husband makes veggie rolls for me he adds tomato along with avocado, cucumber & shredded carrots. I think that would be a nice & colorful replacement for the crab.
I’ve got a couple recommendations for that in the intro to the post. :)
Sushi Bowl! So on board with this! I love sushi but the thought of rolling it at home makes me so nervous – this is such an approachable way to replicate it. Will definitely be making this asap.
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This is such a great idea! I worked at a fantastic sushi restaurant in Chicago for 2 years and miss all the free/discounted sushi I got to eat. I’ve never attempted to make sushi at home since it seems so daunting, but this is very doable and, as you say, would probably satisfy the craving. I’m glad you made the sushi rice with the sugar & vinegar! Makes a huge difference. Also, LOVE the photo of the nori; it looks like stained glass. Can’t wait to try this! <3
As long as you are willing to make easy, basic rolls, making sushi is not hard AT ALL! We tried it for the first time this year and usually only make tuna rolls or salmon rolls – 1lb of fish makes 8 rolls! We just started adding spicy mayo or strips of cucumber. They might not be quick or pretty, but making sushi is not as hard as you have been led to believe!
I sometimes use canned salmon or tuna in my sushi bowls as a cheap, filling and healthy alternative. So yummy! I also make a ginger garlic dressing which gives it great flavor and then whatever I have on hand: rice vinegared rice, shredded carrots, sliced cucumbers, sesame seeds, avocado, etc. The options are endless!