These simple vegan tofu sushi rolls have sticky sweet chili tofu, onion, and creamy avocado for the perfect sushi combo. Let me show you how to make tofu tasty, quickly, with no marinade time needed!
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⭐Why you’ll love it
- The filling is simple and not fussy.
- The sweet chili tofu is easy and quick to make.
- I’ve included lots of shortcuts.
- It’s much cheaper than takeaway sushi!
- Suitable for vegans and vegetarians.
- It’s gluten-free.
If you are interested in this recipe you might also want to try my easy sweet potato sushi rolls, spicy peri peri tofu, this easy vegetarian sushi, or this tasty simple Indian tofu curry.
🛒Ingredients
Nori: This is a pretty essential ingredient for sushi, but if you don’t want to make it with sheets of nori you could try substituting it with square dampened rice paper wrappers or some sheets of yuba.
Sugar: This is pretty necessary for seasoning your sushi rice and a little goes a long way – I certainly use less of it in this recipe than in most traditional sushi rice recipes.
Rice vinegar: Rice vinegar is another necessary condiment for sushi rice but can sometimes be very expensive or hard to find (hint: it’s usually much cheaper at Asian specialty food stores than in your local supermarket). White wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar can be substituted if needed.
Salt: The last indispensable sushi seasoning ingredient. If you are on a low-sodium diet I recommend substituting with a low or no-sodium alternative rather than just omitting.
Avocado: Creamy avocado goes great with the sharp raw onion and sticky sweet chili tofu, but if you don’t like it or can’t get it, omit it. Try substituting with something creamy like vegan cream cheese, vegan goat cheese, or vegan sour cream.
Vegetable stock: You’ll need this to make the tofu. Make up some with bouillon or stock cubes if you don’t have any.
Tofu: An essential ingredient (you can’t make tofu sushi without tofu!), use firm or extra firm.
Sweet chili sauce: You need a good sweet garlicky brand with some mild heat. If you can’t get a hold of some, you can always make your own. If you’re not a fan of sweet chili sauce, you can substitute it with a nice thick teriyaki sauce.
Onion: I use thinly sliced raw yellow onion in this recipe, but you can use whichever type of onion you prefer.
Sushi rice: This is the absolute best for making sushi with, but if you can’t get a hold of any, pudding rice or risotto rice will do in a pinch.
👩🍳How to make it
I’ve split up the different steps here and accompanied them with some process photos to make it clearer how to do it, but if you’re an experienced sushi maker then you can probably scroll down to the short version in the recipe card
How to make the sushi rice
Step 1: Rinse your sushi rice well. Sushi rice has a lot more starch than normal rice, so it will need to be rinsed several times. Make sure it is drained very well before you add the water for cooking
Step 2: Add the water and a pinch of salt to the rinsed rice. Cover with a tightly fitting lid and turn the heat to high. When the water is at a steady simmer, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and leave for fifteen minutes. I would advise preparing the tofu now.
Step 3: Take the pan off the heat and leave to one side for five minutes. Stir the sugar, salt, and rice vinegar together in a small microwave-safe container and microwave on high for one minute, stirring halfway. Stir until all the sugar and salt are dissolved
Step 4: Remove the lid from the cooked rice, pour in the seasoned vinegar, and use a fork to gently fluff up and mix the rice until the seasoning has been absorbed. Cover and leave to cool to room temperature before using.
How to make the sweet chili tofu
Step 5: Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or dishcloth and apply light pressure for two minutes. Slice the tofu into one-centimeter-wide strips. Heat a large wide frying pan on medium-high with the oil in it. Add the tofu strips when the oil is hot enough to sizzle.
Step 6: Leave the tofu to fry undisturbed for one minute until the bottom is golden. Carefully flip the strips and fry for thirty seconds on another side, and repeat until all the sides are golden
Step 7: Mix the vegetable stock and sweet chili sauce and pour into the pan with the tofu. When the sauce is bubbling and about to boil, reduce the heat to medium-high and allow it to simmer.
Step 8: Flip or gently toss the strips of tofu every few minutes to prevent sticking until most of the sauce is gone and the tofu is nice and sticky which should take between six to ten minutes. Take off the heat and leave to one side to cool.
Assembling the sushi
When everything has cooled down, you’re ready to assemble your tofu sushi.
Step 9: Get a bowl of water and your bamboo mat. Dampen your hands with water, grab a big handful of sushi rice, and drop it on the nori (always shiny side down). Use your hands to spread the sushi rice around, leaving a one-centimeter gap without rice at the top of the sheet.
Step 10: Thinly slice the onions from root to tip and slice the avocado. Just below the middle of the nori and rice sheet, place a line of sliced onions, a line of sliced avocado, and then the tofu strips on top.
Step 11: Dampen the top of the sushi with a little water, tuck the sushi edge closest to you over the filling using the bamboo mat (just push it back in if any filling falls out), and evenly roll with two hands.
Step 12: Roll until the dampened seam side is down. Transfer the sushi roll to a plate or a sheet of baking paper while you make the rest of the sushi rolls. Slice into even pieces with a sharp dampened knife just before serving.
🍽️Serving suggestions
Serve immediately or cover tightly and transfer to the fridge until needed.
Serve with soy sauce for dipping (or coconut aminos if you’re sensitive to soy), wasabi paste, and pickled ginger. Some edamame would make a great starter when having this sushi as the main course.
💡Expert tips
- Spread the cooked seasoned sushi rice out on a large chopping board or a sheet of baking paper for faster cooling within 20-30 minutes.
- Direct a fan at the cooling rice, or place it under an air-conditioning vent for cooled rice in 10-15 minutes.
- If you’d like your tofu a bit spicy, mix one tablespoon or more of Sriracha sauce into the chilli sauce and vegetable stock mixture before braising the tofu in it.
- If you don’t love the sharp bite of raw onion, soak your onions once sliced in a cup of water with a quarter teaspoon of salt added for half an hour, then drain and pat dry.
- Dampening your hands will make it much easier to spread the sushi.
- Dampening the knife you use to cut the sushi rolls will prevent the nori from sticking to the blade.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
This tofu sushi can be kept at room temperature for two hours or stored tightly covered in the fridge for up to four days. It’s perfect to bring in your lunchbox.
No. Nori does very badly during defrosting as it becomes limp and clingy when damp. You can however freeze the rice and toppings separately for a future date for up to three months, then take them out, defrost them in the fridge overnight, and use them to assemble sushi,
Yes, marinated, fried, or smoked firm tofu is great in sushi. Silken tofu is too difficult to use, in my opinion. You can also make inarizushi, by stuffing delicious crisp fried pockets of tofu with sushi rice and other fillings.
You can omit the wrapper altogether and use cling film to aid in rolling up your sushi. Or you can use dampened rice paper sheets, overlapping thin slices of cucumber, or soaked Yuba (a tasty tofu skin).
More tasty tofu recipes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Tofu Sushi Rolls
Equipment
- 1 Bamboo mat (or use a thick towel)
- 1 Medium saucepan with a lid
- 1 chopping board
- 1 sharp knife
- 2 bowls (for rice seasoning, and water when rolling the sushi)
Ingredients
Sushi Rice
- 2½ cups sushi rice uncooked
- 2¾ cups water
- ⅓ cup rice vinegar plus 1 Tablespoon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
Sweet Chili Tofu
- 2 Tablespoons oil canola, sunflower etc.
- 12.5 oz firm tofu 350g
- ½ cup sweet chili sauce 120ml
- 1 cup vegetable stock 240ml
Tofu Sushi
- 1 onion large
- 1 avocado large
- 8 sheets nori
Instructions
Sushi Rice
- Rinse the sushi rice very well to remove the starch, around 7 times.
- Drain the rice and add it to a pot with a tight-fitting lid.
- Add in the water, a pinch of salt put on the lid, and heat on high until starting to boil.
- Lower the heat to the lowest setting, and let cook for 15 minutes (covered).
- Remove from the heat and let sit for five minutes.
- Microwave the vinegar, salt, and sugar together, for one minute stirring halfway, then stir when done until the salt and sugar has dissolved
- Add the vinegar mixture to the rice and stir quickly. Leave to cool completely.
Sweet Chili Tofu
- Wrap the tofu in a clean kitchen towel and lightly press for two minutes. Slice into 1 cm thick strips.
- Add the oil to a large wide skillet or frying pan and heat on high. Add the tofu strips and let cook for one minute.
- Flip the strips to an unbrowned side and let sit for 30 seconds. Repeat twice more until all sides are golden brown (honestly I just do three sides!).
- Mix together the sweet chili sauce and the vegetable stock and add to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-high when the mixture starts bubbling.
- Cook for between 6 – 10 minutes, tossing gently to coat the tofu with the sauce until it has thickened and any remaining sauce just coats the tofu. Put to one side to cool.
Assemble the Tofu Sushi
- Set out a bamboo mat for rolling the sushi. If you don’t have a mat, a slatted placemat or a sheet of baking paper will do in a pinch. Thinly slice the onion and the avocado. If you don't like raw onion or find it too strong I would suggest soaking it in salty water for between 10-15 minutes (ideally do this earlier, for example when you are making the sushi rice).
- Lay a sheet of nori on top (shiny side down) and put roughly half a cup to two-thirds of a cup of sushi rice on it.
- Using wet fingers spread out the rice so that the nori is covered in a single layer with no spaces, leaving a centimeter of nori free for sealing the roll at the top edge furthest away from you.
- Place your filling ingredients just below the middle in a horizontal line. Lay the strips of onion, then the strips of avocado, then the sushi strips (just join them up if they are not long enough or break them up if they are too long).
- Dampen the rice-free nori edge with a little water, grab the mat close to you, lift up the mat and tuck it over quickly the filling to secure it, and continue to tightly roll with pressure from both hands until the dampened end is underneath (seam side down).
- Repeat for all the rolls.
- Using a sharp knife, wet it to stop it from sticking to the nori and slice each sushi roll into eight evenly sized pieces.
- Serve immediately or leave to chill in the fridge until you're ready to eat.
Notes
- To help the rice cool down faster, I spread it out on a large chopping board or sheet of baking paper. It will take about 20-30 minutes at room temperature to cool down if spread out. It will take much less time if you point a fan at it or place it under an air conditioning vent.
- If you’d like your tofu a bit spicy, mix one tablespoon or more of Sriracha sauce into the chilli sauce and vegetable stock mixture before braising the tofu in it.
- If you don’t love the sharp bite of raw onion, soak your onions once sliced in a cup of water with a quarter teaspoon of salt added for half an hour, then drain and pat dry.
- Dampening your hands will make it much easier to spread the sushi.
- Dampening the knife you use to cut the sushi rolls will prevent the nori from sticking to the blade.
Melinda
But how do you make the crunchy fried onion? The recipe doesn’t show that
The Fiery Vegetarian
Hey Melinda, thanks for stopping by! This is an older recipe that needs to be cleaned up a bit, but the crunchy dried onion is the type you can buy in the shops, e.g. Ikea, the kind used to top hotdogs