Homemade Vegetarian Sushi – Vegan, Easy, and Fun

I know so many people who think sushi is hard, or that it can only be done by trained professionals, or that it takes lots of fancy, hard-to-find, expensive ingredients. Well, that’s *so* not true! Sushi is actually such a very simple, budget-friendly, and incredibly versatile meal that it’s well-worth taking the time to experiment a little and get over any anxieties about messing up. Even your fumbles will be delicious, and every roll you make will make you a better sushi maker! I regularly have people over to make sushi and they are uniformly both surprised and delighted at how easy it is! Bolster your confidence by watching a few YouTube tutorials and then get rolling!

Homemade sushi is my absolute favorite. I find going out for an avocado-cucumber roll to be boring and repetitive. You can put SO MUCH amazing stuff in sushi, and it’s so much better than what you can find in a restaurant! You’re only limited by your imagination, honestly. My favorite ingredients include (but are not limited to):
-Apples
-Salad Greens
-Tofu
-Mushrooms
-Avocado
-Fresh Pineapple
-Grated or Matchstick Carrots
-Nuts and seeds, especially chopped salted cashews and/or sunflower seeds’
-Dried cranberries
-Veganaise/Mayo
-Cream Cheese (or Tofutti Cream Cheese)

You can get sheets of Nori at any grocery store these days, but if you have access to an Asian Market near you, please try going there first. Their nori will be much less expensive, and you will be able to find fun extras like Furikake Rice Toppings, and different kinds of soy sauce and chili sauces that you won’t find at the local grocery store. You should also be able to find a bamboo rolling mat, which isn’t expensive at all, but you really don’t even need that. My husband rolls his without a mat and they work just fine. Me, I prefer a mat. The only other equipment you’ll need are a sharp *non-serrated* knife, a cutting board, and a large bowl of water. Wet hands make spreading the sushi rice much easier and it won’t stick to your hands, and a wet knife makes cutting your roll much easier.

Sushi Rice Ingredients:

1.5 cups sushi rice (will make around 4-5 rolls)
2-4 T rice wine vinegar (approx)
2-4 t table sugar (approx)

To make the sushi rice:

Take 1.5 cups sushi rice and rinse thoroughly. Cook according to package directions. Add a few tablespoons of Rice Vinegar and a few teaspoons of table sugar to the fully cooked rice and mix thoroughly. Taste and make sure it’s not too vinegary or too sweet and adjust accordingly. I like mine to have more of a vinegar flavor, so that’s what I aim for.

Sushi Ingredients:

Nori Sheets
The fillings of your choice

To make the sushi:

Simply spread the sushi rice along the bottom 3/4 of the sheet of nori. Try and make it a relatively thin layer, but if you’re a novice it’s not at all uncommon to make some seriously gargantuan rolls of sushi. That’s okay. You’ll get better with practice. Take the ingredients you wish to use and lay them along the length of the nori sheet centered on the rice area. Once you have the fillings the way you want them, dampen the top of the nori where there is no rice (to help it stick) and use the sushi mat to roll the nori/rice over the fillings. Be sure and tuck the edge over the fillings so that it will roll up all the way to the dampened edge of the nori. Once you’ve got the nori into a log-shape, use the bamboo mat and your hands to firm it up (put the mat over the ‘log’ and gently press along its length). Now with a gentle sawing motion -pressing will flatten your roll- cut the log in half, then each half again, then half again. This will leave you eight delicious, glorious pieces of sushi.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Homemade Vegetarian Sushi

Author: Generations of Savings

Ingredients

• Sushi Rice Ingredients:
• 1.5 cups sushi rice will make around 4-5 rolls
• 2-4 T rice wine vinegar approx
• 2-4 t table sugar approx
• Sushi Ingredients:
• Nori Sheets
• The fillings of your choice

Instructions

• To make the sushi rice:
• Take 1.5 cups sushi rice and rinse thoroughly. Cook according to package directions.
• Add a few tablespoons of Rice Vinegar and a few teaspoons of table sugar to the fully cooked rice and mix thoroughly.
• Taste and make sure it's not too vinegary or too sweet and adjust accordingly.
• To make the sushi:
• Simply spread the sushi rice along the bottom 3/4 of the sheet of nori. Try and make it a relatively thin layer, but if you're a novice it's not at all uncommon to make some seriously gargantuan rolls of sushi.
• Take the ingredients you wish to use and lay them along the length of the nori sheet centered on the rice area.
• Once you have the fillings the way you want them, dampen the top of the nori where there is no rice (to help it stick) and use the sushi mat to roll the nori/rice over the fillings. Be sure and tuck the edge over the fillings so that it will roll up all the way to the dampened edge of the nori.
• Once you've got the nori into a log-shape, use the bamboo mat and your hands to firm it up (put the mat over the 'log' and gently press along its length).
• Now with a gentle sawing motion -pressing will flatten your roll- cut the log in half, then each half again, then half again.
• This will leave you eight delicious, glorious pieces of sushi.

Author: Amy

Amy is a homeschooling mom of two teens that just relocated to a small neighborhood close to downtown Birmingham, AL. She enjoys gardening, travel, crochet, embroidery, and exploring a more urban lifestyle. To contact Generations of Savings for sponsorship, reviews, giveaways, press trips, or general information please email [email protected] View all posts by Amy