Vegan California roll recipe for you to try! I’ll show you how to make vegan sushi, specifically a vegan California roll two ways using tofu or hearts of palm as your imitation crab meat (which is traditionally part of a California roll).
This vegan California roll is quick, easy, tasty and fun to make in 5-10 mins! If you already have rice prepared, this sushi recipe for vegan California rolls takes 5 mins to prep!
Watch my YouTube video below on how to make a vegan California roll or scroll down to see the written recipes with full measurements.
Recipe for a Vegan California Roll
So you’re looking to learn how to make a vegan California roll? Well, you’ve come to the right vegan website!
I’m all about veganizing or creating delicious and easy vegan recipes!
To start making your vegan California roll, you can choose which filling you would prefer to use for your vegan crab meat! You can choose tofu (highly recommend) or hearts of palm (for a soy-free alternative)!
1) Tofu (soft, tender, smooth texture): All you need is extra firm tofu, vegan mayo & salt/garlic salt! You can also add some spice using sriracha sauce.
2) Hearts of palm (pickly, tender, mildly crunchy yet soft): All you need is hearts of palm, vegan mayo and salt.
Once you choose your “vegan crab meat” substitute of tofu vs hearts of palm, all you need to make your vegan California roll is cooked sushi rice or short-grain rice, rice vinegar, sugar, salt, sesame seeds, avocado and nori sheet / dried seaweed. Voila!
This original vegan California roll recipe is actually from my Everyday Asian Recipes ebook and sharing it with you here, so if you end up loving this recipe, definitely check out my Asian recipes e-book for more vegan Asian recipes!
The recipe is vegan, nut-free and has options to make it soy-free (using hearts of palm vs tofu) and gluten-free using gluten-free soy sauce.
Ingredients for California Roll (Vegan)
- Cooked Sushi Rice or Short-grain Rice (sticky rice)
- Rice Vinegar
- Sugar
- Salt
- Sesame Seeds
- Avocado
- Nori (seaweed) sheet
- Vegan mayo
- Tofu or Hearts of palm
How To Make A Vegan California Roll
1. First make sure you have cooked rice. You can cook sushi rice or whatever short-grain rice you prefer. Cook according to instructions and continue to the next step.
2. If your rice is still cooking, skip to the next step but come back to this step once the rice is cooked. Once you have cooked rice, in a mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup warm cooked rice, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 1/4 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp salt. Set aside and cool down to around room temperature.
3. Start making your vegan California roll by choosing which filling you would prefer to use for your vegan crab meat: tofu or hearts of palm!
4. If you choose tofu, use a cheese grater to shred 1/4 block of tofu into small grated pieces. Add the grated tofu into a small bowl along with 1 tbsp vegan mayo and 1/4 tsp salt or garlic powder / garlic salt and mix well. Give it a taste and adjust the salt to taste. You can also make it spicy by adding sriracha.
5. If you choose hearts of palm, finely chop the hearts of palm into small pieces and add them into a small bowl, along with 1 tbsp vegan mayo and a pinch of salt (since hearts of palm might already be salted from being canned). Give it a taste and adjust salt to taste. This option reminds me more of the texture of crab meat as it provides more of a meat-free replica of crab meat.
6. Next, cut 1 nori seaweed sheet in half to create 2 pieces.
7. If you have a sushi rolling mat, lay it down on the counter and place a piece of saran wrap on it. If not, just place a piece of saran wrap down .Then, place one of the halved nori sheet on top of saran wrap.
8. Keep a small bowl of water next to you and dampen your hands slightly while grabbing your cooked rice and placing it on top of the piece of nori. Press down firmly enough to allow the rice to stick to the nori sheet.
9. Once the rice is covering the whole piece, sprinkle a desired amount of sesame seeds on top of the rice.
10. Carefully lift the nori from the saran wrap and flip around: allowing the nori sheet to be on top and the rice to be on the bottom touching the saran wrap.
11. Next, add ½ of your tofu or hearts of palm mixture into the centre of the nori sheet, along with ½ the slices of avocado.
12. To roll your vegan California roll, carefully use the sushi mat (or just saran wrap), from the bottom and covering the insides and pressing firmly (but not too hard) to secure the roll. You can also place your fingers in the middle where your avocado is, press in and close each end by rolling it until it’s together. Press firmly to secure the roll.
13. Once rolled, remove the saran wrap and carefully cut with a sharp knife (tip: wet your knife to help cut better).
Repeat steps one more time to make another roll.
Vegan California Roll
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Grater
- Spatula
- Small bowl
- Knife
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cooked sushi rice or cooked short-grain rice (sticky rice)
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/4 tsp Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Sesame Seeds approx
- 1/4 Avocado sliced into long pieces
- 1 nori sheet seaweed, cut in half
- 1/4 block Extra firm tofu or 1 cup hearts of palm, chopped finely
- 1 tbsp Vegan mayo for both tofu or hearts of palm
- 1/4 tsp salt or garlic salt for tofu crab meat
Instructions
- First make sure you have cooked rice. You can cook sushi rice or whatever short-grain rice you prefer. Cook according to instructions and continue to the next step.
- If your rice is still cooking, skip to the next step but come back to this step once the rice is cooked. Once you have cooked rice, in a mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup warm cooked rice, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 1/4 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp salt. Set aside and cool down to around room temperature.
- Start making your vegan California roll by choosing which filling you would prefer to use for your vegan crab meat: tofu or hearts of palm!
- If you choose tofu, use a cheese grater to shred 1/4 block of tofu into small grated pieces. Add the grated tofu into a small bowl along with 1 tbsp vegan mayo and 1/4 tsp salt or garlic powder / garlic salt and mix well. Give it a taste and adjust the salt to taste. You can also make it spicy by adding sriracha.
- If you choose hearts of palm, finely chop the hearts of palm into small pieces and add them into a small bowl, along with 1 tbsp vegan mayo and a pinch of salt (since hearts of palm might already be salted from being canned). Give it a taste and adjust salt to taste. This option reminds me more of the texture crab meat as it provides more of a meat-free replica for crab meat.
- Next, cut 1 nori seaweed sheet in half to create 2 pieces.
- If you have a sushi rolling mat, lay it down on the counter and place a piece of saran wrap on it. If not, just place a piece of saran wrap down. Then, place one of the halved nori sheet on top of saran wrap.
- Keep a small bowl of water next to you and dampen your hands slightly while grabbing your cooked rice and placing it on top of the piece of nori. Press down firmly enough to allow the rice to stick to the nori sheet.
- Once the rice is covering the whole piece, sprinkle a desired amount of sesame seeds on top of the rice.
- Carefully lift the nori from the saran wrap and flip around: allowing the nori sheet to be on top and the rice to be on the bottom touching the saran wrap.
- Next, add ½ of your tofu or hearts of palm mixture into the centre of the nori sheet, along with ½ the slices of avocado.
- To roll your vegan California roll, carefully use the sushi mat (or just saran wrap), from the bottom and covering the insides and pressing firmly (but not too hard) to secure the roll. You can also place your fingers in the middle where your avocado is, press in and close each end by rolling it until it's together. Press firmly to secure the roll.
- Once rolled, remove the saran wrap and carefully cut with a sharp knife (tip: wet your knife to help cut better).
- Repeat if you have rice / mixture left and make another california roll
Video
Nutrition
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I made these last night and OMG they were so good!!! I made the tofu ones and I couldn’t believe how simple it was but how much it reminded me of California rolls I used to eat before I went plant based. It was easier to make than I thought, although it will take some time to get used to making them pretty! I added sriracha into the tofu and it was absolutely delicious.
Very good sushi rolls!