Making vegan sushi at home is much easier than you might think, plus it’s a super fun activity to do with friends or kids. These vegan sushi rolls are packed with 9 different plant foods making them great for gut health. This isn’t the traditional sushi rolls you would find in Japan, but they’re just as delicious!
What’s in vegan sushi?
To make the sushi rolls you will need 3 main ingredients:
These ingredients are now easy to find in most large supermarkets. However, specialist Asian or Japanese supermarkets are likely to have more options for you to choose from.
You can either buy pre-made sushi seasoning or make your own using rice vinegar, sugar and salt.
Vegan sushi filling
I chose to fill my vegan sushi rolls with crispy oyster mushrooms and a variety of different sliced vegetables:
- Carrot
- Cucumber
- Beetroot
- Red bell pepper
- Spring onion
- Avocado
Feel free to add or swap out different veg according to your preferences or what you have in the fridge!
How to make sushi rice
Firstly, wash your rice. It is essential to wash sushi rice to remove the excess starch. If you skip this step your rice will be too sticky. Tip the rice into a pot and add plenty of cold water. Use your hand to move the rice around before draining. Repeat this 3-5 times until the water runs clear.
Next, leave the rice to drain for at least 30 minutes in a sieve.
Add the drained rice to a heavy bottomed pan with a tight fitting lid. Add cold water to the pan – for 200g of rice you will need 220ml of water.
Cover your pan and bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cook the rice for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and allow the rice to steam for a further 10 minutes.
You must never remove the lid during this process. This will allow the steam to escape and your rice may become dry.
Remove the rice from the pan and into a large, flat bottomed bowl. Sprinkle over the sushi seasoning and fold into the rice, fanning the rice as you go to cool it down. Be very careful to fold the rice and not stir it to prevent it from becoming mushy.
Cover the rice with a damp tea towel and allow to cool. You can keep your rice like this for up to 2 hours.
How to roll sushi
Place a nori sheet onto a rolling mat shiny-side down. Wet your hands and add 1/3 of the rice onto the nori. Press your rice evenly over the nori, leaving a 1cm strip clear at one end. You can either lightly dampen the end or squish a few rice grains onto it – this will help you to roll your sushi later.
Arrange your mushrooms and vegetables in strips on the opposite end of the clear part of the nori. Your vegetables will cover around half of the sheet.
Use the mat to gently roll up your sushi, starting from the end with the vegetables. Use your mat to gently squeeze the roll and shape it into a round log.
Wet a large, sharp knife and slice your roll into 8 equal pieces, starting in the middle of the roll.
What to serve with vegan sushi
I like to serve this sushi with wasabi, soy sauce and pickled ginger. You could also serve your sushi with vegan sriracha mayo.
Similar recipes
If you liked this recipe, check out some of my other Asian-inspired recipes:
Vegan Sushi
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Wash your rice in cold water 3-5 times until the water runs clear. Drain in a sieve for at least 30 minutes.
- Add your rice to a heavy-bottom pan with a tight fitting lid along with 220ml of water. Cover with the lid and bring to the boil. Turn the heat the low and cook for 10 minutes. Take of the heat and let steam for a further 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare your mushrooms. Wipe the mushrooms clean and tear into strips. Sprinkle the cornflour over the mushrooms and toss to coat.
- Heat the oil in a medium frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add your mushrooms and fry for 10 minutes, stirring often, until crispy and golden brown in places.
- Stir together the soy sauce, mirin, and brown sugar. Add the sauce to the mushrooms and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring often. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside.
- Once your rice has finished steaming remove it from the pan and place it into a large, flat bottomed bowl.
- Sprinkle your sushi seasoning over the rice and use a large spoon to fold it into your rice, fan the rice as you do so. Be careful not to stir the rice as this will make it mushy.
- Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside until cooled.
- Place a sheet of nori onto your rolling mat, shiny side down.
- Wet your hands and top with ⅓ of your rice and spread over the nori, leaving 1cm clear at one end.
- Add ⅓ each of the mushrooms, avocado and sliced vegetables to the rice. Arrange them in strips across the rice at the bottom of the nori sheet, at the opposite end to the 1cm you left clear of rice.
- Dampen the end of the nori sheet and roll up from the bottom (where the veg is). Use the mat to shape a tight, round sushi roll.
- Dampen a sharp knife and slice into 8 equal pieces, starting in the middle of the roll.
- Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
- Serve the rolls as soon as possible with the wasabi, ginger and soy sauce. You could also drizzle over sriracha mayo and crispy onions.
