If making your own sushi at home sounds daunting, try making an easy vegan sushi bowl. Combine all your favorite vegan sushi ingredients to create a fabulous vegan sushi bowl recipe at home.
I love vegan sushi, but let's be honest: Making veggie sushi at home is somewhat tricky. But making a vegan sushi bowl is quick and easy! Regardless of the ingredients chosen, you get all the fresh, delicious flavors of sushi in convenient bowl form.
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Although I have made vegan sushi at home several times, it requires a lot of time, patience, and a little experience. Paul and I enjoy making sushi as a fun activity, but not a weeknight meal. This vegan sushi bowl recipe is so easy that you won't think twice about making it for a quick meal during the week.
Veggie Sushi Bowl Ingredients
Although sushi is traditionally made with sushi rice, I chose a healthier option by choosing brown rice as my base.
- Brown Rice: I like to use brown rice or jasmine rice in my vegan sushi bowl. Brown rice is generally more nutritious than white rice. It's higher in fiber, magnesium, and other nutrients and isn't artificially enriched with nutrients like white rice.
- Avocado: Ripe avocados taste creamy, earthy, and almost buttery. This yummy fruit is packed with vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats for the body.
- Mame (Shelled Edamame): Shelled Edamame is available in the grocery store's freezer section or is often available in the produce section near the healthy foods.
- Red Cabbage: Red cabbage is purple. Red cabbage has a milder taste and thicker, crunchier leaves with a more uniform purple color. It adds crunch to the vegan sushi bowl.
- Red Bell Peppers: I love red bell peppers. They are sweet and crunchy. I cut them into thin strips consistent with the other ingredients in the bowl.
- Mango: Mangos are creamy and fruity and perfect for a vegan sushi bowl. It adds a sweet taste which works well with the other ingredients.
- Cucumbers: Cucumbers are refreshing! I prefer English cucumbers because they have fewer seeds, which means no sogginess.
- Carrots: I shredded the carrots to make the texture consistent with the rest of the ingredients in the bowl. Carrots also offer a sweet component to the bowl.
- Green Onions: A sprinkle of sliced green onions on the top of the bowl gives it an earthy, mild taste.
- Seaweed: A sushi bowl isn't a sushi bowl without seaweed. Instead of wrapping seaweed around the ingredients, the seaweed is crumbled in the bowl.
- Lime: A fresh squeeze of lime brings everything together in the bowl. I usually serve lime wedges on the side of the bowl for individual preference.
Vegan Sushi Rice Bowl Ingredient Substitutions
- Jasmine rice, white rice, or sushi rice work well. I have also used quinoa instead of rice for a different texture. Or, go a little crazy and combine some rice and quinoa.
- Please choose your favorite veggies; there aren't any rules as it pertains to vegan sushi bowls.
- Some people enjoy citrus instead of mango. Try mandarin oranges for a different flavor.
- I also like pickled red onions in a sushi bowl.
- Try dulse flakes or kelp granules instead of seaweed.
Vegan Spicy Mayo Dressing Ingredients
I love spicy vegan cashew mayo as a sauce, so I concocted a thinner version for the dressing in this vegan sushi bowl recipe.
- Raw Cashews: Soak cashews in water overnight if you don't have a high-quality blender. Skip this step if you have a good blender. Drain and then blend.
- Water: The water is used to thin the dressing.
- Lemon: I prefer fresh lemon juice when possible.
- Sriracha: I love it spicy, so Sriracha is a staple at my house. However, add a small amount and taste before adding the suggested amount. Then, if you want more, you can always add more. But you can't remove it once it's too hot.
- Soy Sauce: Soy sauce provides salt, sweet, umami (savory), and even a little bitter flavor.
- Maple Syrup: Real maple syrup has a clean, complex maple flavor with hints of caramel, vanilla, and prune.
Vegan Spicy Mayo Dressing Substitutions
- Choose a store-bought vegan mayo and skip the first three ingredients.
- Try a different hot sauce that you enjoy!
- If you don't like spicy, skip the Sriracha, which still tastes fabulous! Instead, it's like a creamy soy sauce dressing.
- Use Tamari or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce for a gluten-free option.
- Date syrup or agave is an excellent sweeter when you don't have pure maple syrup.
How to Make an Easy Vegan Sushi Bowl
- First, choose your base. As I said, I chose brown rice for my base and sprinkled it with the crumbled seaweed.
- Add the chopped vegetables, avocado, and mango.
- Then serve with limes and spicy vegan mayo dressing on the side.
- Finally, add some fun chopsticks or a fork if you're inclined.
- See how easy it is?
Recipe FAQs
Unfortunately, most sushi contains either fish or eggs. But vegan sushi is nevertheless widely available in groceries and at restaurants. It's also easy to make at home. So whether you order it at restaurants or make it yourself, vegan sushi is some of the tastiest food you'll ever eat.
Seaweed can provide a unique source of these vital nutrients, acting as a nutritional pillar to a vegan diet. Seaweed contains metabolizing combinations of iron, potassium, magnesium, iodine, calcium, fiber, zinc, and more. Iodine and calcium are two nutrients that are difficult to find in non-meat products.
Dulse is a seaweed—a large category of edible saltwater plants and algae that includes species such as nori and kelp. Like all edible seaweed, dulse provides a wealth of fiber and protein and is also rich in vitamins, trace minerals, healthy fatty acids, and antioxidants.
Tips
- Prepare the rice in advance and reheat it before making the bowl. Or, you can also eat the rice cold if preferred.
- Chope and shred the vegetables and fruits in advance, so you can quickly throw the bowl together for an easy dinner.
- Buy shelled Edamame, called mame, to save a step of shelling the Edamame.
- If you don't like spicy sauce, omit the Sriracha.
- When cooking with Sriracha, always add less than the suggested amount, stir, taste, and then add more. Everyone has a different palate and sensitivity to spicy foods. Spice can always be added, but once it's added to a sauce, it can't be removed. So, tread lightly.
- Choose silken tofu or white beans instead of cashews for a nut-free option in the sauce.
Give this easy, no-fuss vegan sushi bowl recipe a try. It doesn't have to be hard to enjoy homemade vegan sushi at home!
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If you love this vegan sushi rice bowl, give us a 5-star review and comment below. We would love to hear from you!
📖 Recipe
Easy Vegan Sushi Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked brown rice or rice of choice
- 1 cup mame (shelled edamame)
- 1 cup crumbled seaweed, dulse flakes, or sea kelp granules
- 1 cup cucumber, chopped
- 1 avocado, cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup chopped red cabbage
- ½ cup chopped mango
- 2 Tablespoons chopped green onions
- 1 lime, cut into 4 wedges
- 2 Tablepoons sesame seeds (optional garnish)
Spicy Vegan Mayo Dressing
- ½ cup cashews (or subsitute whie benas or silken tofu for a nut-free option)
- ¼ cup water
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon Sriracha (begin with ¼ teaspoon, then taste and add more for preferred spice level
- 1 Tablespoon Soy sauce or Tamari for a gluten-free option
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to package instructions.
- Crumbled seaweed sheets in a food processor.
- Chop and shred vegetables and fruits.
- Add the brown rice, or cooked rice of choice, to the base of the bowl and add crumbled seaweed.
- Add the vegetables, mango, and avocado.
Spicy Vegan Mayo Dressing
- Soak cashews overnight or boil for 10 minutes and drain.
- Add cashews and remaining ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Add a small amount of Sriracha and bled it with the ingredients. Taste and add more to meet your spicy preference.
- Serve the dressing on the side.
- Sprinkle wth green onions and sesame seeds (of desired)
- Add lime wedges to each bowl.
- Serve with chop sticks if desired.
Video
Notes
- Serve with grilled marinated tofu if desired.
- Cook the rice in advance and reheat it, or serve the bowl cold.
- If you don't like spicy food, omit the Sriracha from the dressing recipe for a tasty, creamy soy sauce dressing.
- For a nut-free sauce, substitute the cashews for silken tofu or white beans.
- Try mandarine oranges instead of mango if mango isn't in season or you don't like it.
- The bowl can be served hot or cold.
- Buy shelled edamame as a time saver. It can be found in the produce section or the frozen vegetable section of the grocery store.
- You do not need to boil or soak the cashews if you have a high-quality blender.
- However, if you do not have a good blender, soak the cashews overnight, or a shortcut is to boil them for 10 minutes and drain them before blending.
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
Esther Schmit
Can’t wait to make this for guests next week. I can prep everything and visit with them instead of cooking in the kitchen. So great in this heat too!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Ester, have a great time with your guests. Let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you.
suzi
Super good versatile recipe!! Made this today for the two of us at lunch. Subbed quinoa for rice, Napa cabbage for red cabbage, chickpeas for edamame and added a ton of broccoli sprouts and fresh cilantro. Made your dressing the short cut way with veganaise and the spicy, salty and sweet sauces. Perfect!!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Suzi, I love your substitutions! I'm so glad you enjoyed the vegan sushi bowl. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Have a great Sunday!