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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Video
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. ;)
Love this recipe. Super tasty and comes together quick.
Great recipe! My 10 year old daughter loves this one!
Loved this recipe! Can envision so many variations with different proteins .The family loved this. What a great weeknight dinner option and my husband can’t wait for lunch tomorrow with the leftovers!
Like Karyn B., love this revamped version of a recipe that has been on repeat here at my house since we discovered it! We now LOVE adding a hefty sprinkle of Trader Joe’s Furikake seasoning!
Yum!! XOXO -Monti
So happy to see the revamped version of this Budget Bytes classic :-) We’ve been making it regularly since it first appeared (when my daughter was young and sushi was her preferred food) and it has saved me hundreds of euros. Thanks, Beth, for yet another great dinner idea!
(I was so excited, I forgot the 5 stars!)
We really enjoyed this recipe! Thank you!
A spectacular idea! I’ve wondered what to do with those little snack pacs of nori–besides munch of them, of course. One additional tip–sushi typically uses “sticky rice,” and although short grain is very good in this recipe, if you have an Asian food market in your town, sticky rice is very affordable. In fact, all sorts of wonderful ingredients are way cheaper than supermarket prices. These stores are usually crowded with merchandise and overwhelmingly confusing–BUT, if you ask for help, an employee–or even another shopper–will find everything on your list in only a couple of minutes, turning it into a fun–and economical–shopping experience. They usually carry all sorts of ethnic ingredients, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, South and SouthEast Asian goodies.
Some people complain about “expiration dates” on some goods in these markets–it’s important to understand that these dates are not always expiration, but “best used by” or “sell by” dates–the package will identify which type the stamped date is. These products have long sea journeys to get to us, and most have shelf life that well exceeds the dates on the containers. While I wouldn’t purchase an “expired” carton of milk, jarred or canned goods can be good for up to several years after the dates on the package; rice and dried noodles will last almost indefinitely. Use your own best judgement
My kids have been on a sushi kick lately, so this recipe hit the spot! Bonus: it was 90 degrees today and making this for dinner didn’t heat up my house.
Has anyone tried sushi rice or arborio rice in the instant pot/pressure cooker? Any info on cook time and water/rice ratio?
You have one carrot and a quarter pound of meat for an entire week’s worth of lunches? I don’t know what magical species you are that requires such low nutrition intake, but this serving info is allll off and it seems dangerous for you to be giving meal advice to humans. 4 servings of this is closer to 1 serving with leftover vegetables.
This is amazing – totally satisfied the sushi craving and for so much less money! Love your work!
I’ve made this a couple of times and decided it’s a good time to review. So delicious! Much more affordable than sushi or a poke bowl. I wonder why it’s so high in sodium? I still enjoy it anyways.
So delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Greetings from Germany
Excellent meal for a really hot day! Made the rice in the rice cooker so didn’t need to hear up the kitchen. Will definitely make again!
We love this recipe. Everyone can customize their own version and we usually add some whipped cream cheese and panko bread crumbs for an extra crunch!