If you’ve never tried vegan sushi before, I encourage you to give it a whirl! This was my first time making it myself and it was a COMPLETE success. This tomato spicy tuna is healthy, flavorful, and a snap to prepare.
Rolling up vegan sushi rolls with no experience and no mat may seem daunting but fear not dear friends, you only need plastic wrap and a kitchen towel to get compact, restaurant quality rolls in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Trust me, you will feel like a BOSS rolling these up. Also maybe a little silly for paying so much for sushi at restaurants but maybe that’s just me.
Since becoming a vegan, I haven’t really gone out looking for vegan sushi restaurants. Typically a vegan sushi roll consists of cucumber and avocado as fillings. Don’t get me wrong, I love all that but who wants to pay $6 for two slivers of cucumber rolled into rice?
That’s where the tomato spicy tuna comes in. With the right seasonings, tomato flesh tastes remarkably like fish. In fact, the day after making these vegan sushi rolls I had some leftover in the fridge. The flavors had melded together in the way things do overnight and the tomato spicy tuna tasted so much like real fish, I didn’t want to eat it. My husband scarfed it down though!
If you aren’t vegan and still enjoy seafood sushi, I’d like to kindly suggest trying this tomato spicy tuna instead. Two reasons!
1- According to many recent publications, a lot of the fish ordered in sushi restaurants is actually low grade substitutions. So that spicy tuna may not even be tuna. Mystery fish? No thanks!
2- At current commercial fishing rates, experts predict the oceans will be depleted of fish by the year 2048. Missing such a vital element of the ocean’s food chain could have disastrous effects on the environment.
So try this vegan sushi! You will be amazed by the tomato spicy tuna, trust me. It’s a win-win for your taste buds and the oceans!
If you try this vegan sushi recipe, please leave us a comment and tell us how it went and post a photo on Instagram with the tag #carrotsandflowers.  We want to hear all about your tomato spicy tuna adventures!
Easy Vegan Sushi with Tomato Spicy Tuna
The BEST vegan sushi ever, no bamboo mat required. Perfectly seasoned tomato spicy tuna replaces fish in this healthy, plant-based meal. Ready in 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2 large roma tomatoes
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce or gluten-free tamari
- 1/2 tbsp kelp powder heaping
- 1/2 tsp minced ginger
- 1/2 tbsp sriracha
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 3 nori sheets
- 1/2 small cucumber
- 1/2 avocado
Sushi Rice
- 1 cup sushi rice
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
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Combine the sushi rice and water in a rice cooker and cook. When the rice is nearly finished, stir in the rice vinegar, salt, and sugar. Mash the rice with a fork just a bit to ensure it's sticky.
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While the rice is cooking, bring a small pot of water to boil. Have a large bowl of ice water ready. Pierce the tomatoes with a knife then drop them into the water. Boil the tomatoes until the skin begins to peel off then remove them with a slotted spoon. Immediately transfer the tomatoes to the ice water to prevent them from cooking further.
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In a container with a lid, combine the soy sauce or tamari with the ginger, kelp powder, sriracha, and sesame oil. Stir until even. Peel the tomatoes and slice the flesh away from the watery seeds. Dice the tomato flesh into small pieces then transfer it to your marinade container. Place the lid on and shake it up so the tomato pieces are all coated.
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Cut the cucumber and avocado into thin match sticks then prepare your sushi rolling station. On a counter or cutting board, lay out a kitchen towel with a sheet of plastic wrap on top.
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Place a nori sheet on the plastic wrap. With wet fingers, spread a very thin, even layer of sushi rice on the nori. Leave an inch or so of space on either end of the sheet to wrap it.
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Layer your tomato spicy tuna topping on the rice along with a few match sticks of cucumber and avocado. The toppings should only cover 2 inches of the rice or you'll have trouble rolling it up.
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Use your fingers to carefully peel up the edge of the sushi roll. Roll the edge up and over. As soon as the veggies are covered, roll over the plastic wrap then towel, using it to shape and compress the sushi roll. Continue until it’s all the way rolled up. Make sure to seal the edges. Cut the sushi roll with a sharp knife and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*Brown rice may be used in place of sushi rice. Be sure to mash the rice a bit with a fork so it's sticky enough to roll up.Â
* For detailed visual instructions on how to roll your sushi, check out this helpful guide by Minimalist Baker.Â
For more deliciously creative ways to use tomatoes, check out our Vegan Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza or our Vegan NY Style Bagels with Tomato Lox and Cashew Cream Cheese. To save this vegan sushi recipe for later, pin the photo below!
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Any particular type of kelp powder or is kelp powder all the same? I found some on Amazon that I was going to get.
It’s all the same! I also use it to make Baja “Fish” tacos and tomato “lox” if you want more recipes to use it in. 🙂
Link to lox recipe please!
How long should the tomatoes stay in the marinade?
You can use it right away or wait up to 30 minutes or so. The longer it stays in the marinade, the closer it will taste to real spicy tuna, so it’s up to you how strong you want the flavor to be!
We loved it! It was awesome!
Yay, awesome!!! So glad to hear it, Happy New Year!!
Ok this looks brilliant!!!! I can’t wait to try it. I will definitely give you feedback. Also, should #4 say “Cut the CUCUMBER” instead of “Cut the tomato”?
Oof! Yes it should, thank you I will correct it now!
It still says cucumber, by the way 🙂
WOW..this was better than the “real” thing! Even my carnivore boyfriend (who doesn’t like real sushi/raw fish) thought this was delicious. Thank you so much for this kick ass recipe! <3
Yayyyyyy that is fantastic news! Thanks so much Tracey, so happy you both enjoyed the recipe!
Does this make one roll?
It makes three rolls. 🙂
Are all 3 rolls for one person? Or how many servings is this?
I’m really excited about this! Although I think they may just be sushi bowls in the end 😉
Any chance for the recipe of that greeny thing on the side?
is that wakama salad or something like that?
looks good 🙂
Hi Yuli!
I used a store bought seaweed salad for this for styling purposes, although it was very delicious!
Wonderful, I love the photos! Thanks very much. I’ve shared it on the Fish Feel Facebook page and we’ll post a link to it in the Vegan Seafood Resources page of the website, too: http://fishfeel.org/seafood/
Hi! Where does one find kelp powder? (In store, I’m sure Amazon has it, but would like to grab it locally)
Wow, this was absolutely INCREDIBLE! I was super skeptical, because I HATE tomatoes, but I honestly didn’t notice the difference. This was seriously so amazing. THANK YOU! Sushi is the one thing I really missed since going vegan.
We made this last night and it was delicious! The sauce mixture did become rather gelatinous from the kelp powder, which we got in the medicinal herbal section of Central Market. Is that supposed to happen? It didn’t hinder the taste or anything, just wondering if that’s typical with kelp powder.
Same here. I’m in the process of marinating it. It’s so thick I couldn’t toss it. It had to be stirred. Clearly, kelp powders are not the same. Also, putting the pounds of tomatoes would be helpful. I doubled the recipe and there seems to be too much sauce.
I am going to try to make this tonight. Can I use kelp granules instead of powder? I assume they are similar…. I’ve never seen kelp powder at the store but I do have kelp granules in my kitchen and was just going to use that.
Didn’t have kelp seasoning or dulse flakes, so just went with some katsuboshi. Not vegan but tasted pretty good.
I just made this and it tasted just like sushi! I am pregnant but love sushi so this is literally my saving grace. Thanks you for sharing!
I didn’t have any help powder, but a little bit of white miso did the trick! This is amazing. Thank you!
I love your recipes and your site. I also, love that you have a print button with your recipes, but I wish when you click the button it would include the photo in the print version. Just a suggestion.
Thanks for your feedback, I’ll look into that!
Fantastic recipe. I’ve been getting into vegan sushi lately but had never tried actually approximating meat. Can’t wait to give this a try – thank you! (Only request: ditch the single-use plastic wrap.) 🙂
How long will the tomatoes last? Could I make the tomato part ahead of time, like the night before? Can’t wait to try!
It’s good to find different recipes like this one online, I’d rather than just eating lots of meat and fish all the time. I’ll definitely be trying out this sushi recipe so thanks for sharing. I’m actually writing an article about the health benefits of sushi and visiting a dozen restaurants or so around the UK to do some research. I’ve heard about a brilliant one in Birmingham called Rofuto which is meant the be one of the best in the Midlands. Has anyone else tried this place yet? I’d be eager to know thoughts xx
Raw meat often contains a ridiculous amount of parasites per square inch. People who eat sushi regularly typically have a higher amount of parasites inside them compared to others.
Sorry I meant to link through to Rofuto
My kids -all four of them – LOVED the spicy “tuna” #winning thank you!!
So damn good. I make it on the regular.
Anyone know whether I could substitute spirulina powder for the kelp?
This is one of my new favourite things to make. I was so excited to make this for my brother in law who is now vegan and was missing sushi. He loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
This tasted insanely real. I fooled my dad who loves Tuna! Even after I told him it was tomatoes not tuna he didn’t believe me.
Could this be made without the Kelp powder? I have never used it before–what does it do here? flavor? texture? nutrition? Just wondering. Thanks!
The kelp powder provides the fishy flavor. You can also use nori flakes for the same effect. 🙂 Hope you love it!
DANG GIRL!! You knocked this one out of the park. Incredible flavor. I’ve made this many times but am now coming back to comment. THANK YOU!!!
Surprisingly really delicious. I’m not vegan but I love to try new recipes. Of course it doesn’t actually taste like actual tuna but the marinade is so good you don’t miss it. I made mine with some diced avocado and kewpie mayonnaise, their creaminess really complements the spicy marinade.
Thanks so much for the feedback Lucille, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hi!
This looks almost as good as the Ahimi I’ve had in some test market sushi bars. However I wanted to clarify. The Nori sheets are the using are the unsalted ones correct? I eat them as snakes & the only organic ones I can find are pretty heavily salted. Any advice for this vegan?
I’m going to try the lox recipe too! Haven’t had that old fave in decades. So happy I found your site. You’ve offer so many foods I thought I’d never have again. Wish I hadn’t donated my grandma’s waffle iron. I want to try ALL of them too!
You are a rock star!
Thank you & God bless you for bridging the compassionate choice to eat a vegan diet with such dope recipes, we won’t miss anything!
Peace
Good luck with everything!
You are the wave of the future.
I made this today with jackfruit instead of tomatoes. YUM! Will try with tomatoes in the summer when the garden is full of delicious tomatoes. Great flavor! Thanks for the recipe!
Great recipe!! Popular with the whole family! We make build-your-own sushi bowls with lots of different topping choices. I’ve also used shredded Hearts of Palm for spicy “yellow tail”. Let it marinade for a couple days to let the “fish” taste of the kelp powder really get in to the tomatoes or hearts of palm.