Tofu cubes are soaked in a savory ginger-sesame marinade and baked to perfection, then served over a bed of rice and veggies topped with sriracha mayo and sesame seeds to make these scrumptious vegan sushi bowls.
We love vegan sushi rolls in my house! We love ordering them, and I love making them. Particularly during the summer months, I'm all about whipping up recipes like my smoked tofu sushi, sweet potato sushi, and shiitake mushroom sushi.
I do like to change things up once in a while, and that's where these vegan sushi bowls come in. While stuffing a hand roll seems like no more a chore at this point than constructing a black bean burrito or filling a sandwich, throwing the ingredients in a bowl seems like a fun way to shake things up. The fact that it's a tad bit easier than making traditional sushi is just a bonus.
These sushi bowls satisfied my sushi hankering completely. I didn't know if they'd really taste like sushi without the ingredients being tightly packed into nori sheets, but they totally did! They were delicious, and since most of the components store well, they're excellent for meal prep.
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Soy sauce. You can keep the entire recipe gluten-free by swapping this out with gluten-free tamari or liquid aminos.
- Rice vinegar.
- Maple syrup. This can be replaced with another liquid sweetener, such as agave nectar, if needed.
- Toasted sesame oil. You can buy this in the international aisle of most grocery stores.
- Ground ginger.
- Extra-firm tofu. Extra-firm is the best variety of tofu to use for this recipe. It's got a nice firm texture, but is still porous enough to soak up lots of marinade. You could substitute firm or super-firm tofu if absolutely necessary. Read my guide to tofu if you need help navigating these options!
- Rice. If you've got sushi rice on hand, use it! If not, use whatever you've got. I'm using short grain brown rice.
- Carrots.
- Cucumber.
- Nori. Some grocery stores sell this in the international aisle. If yours doesn't, try an Asian market or order it online. Nori chips can be substituted if they're easier to get ahold of — some stores sell them in the snack aisle.
- Vegan mayonnaise.
- Sriracha sauce. Make sure your sriracha sauce is vegan. Some brands are made with conventional sugar, which may be bleached using animal bone char. I used Kitchen Garden brand, which is vegan. You'll find a link to this brand in the recipe card.
- Scallions.
- Rice seasoning. Japanese rice seasonings can be made from a variety of ingredients, and they're not all vegan, so be careful and make sure to check the label! I've linked to a vegan variety in the recipe card. It's basically a mix of toasted seaweed and sesame seeds, and it really does add flavor to the bowls. Plain old sesame seeds will work fine as a substitute if needed.
Tip: I didn't include pickled ginger or wasabi paste in this recipe, as I don't think they're needed. Feel free to use them if you'd like though!
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Marinate your tofu. Make sure to press your tofu first, then dice it. Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup, toasted sesame oil, and ground ginger in, then pour it over the tofu. Let it soak for at least 30 minutes.
Arrange the marinated tofu cubes on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, then stick them in the oven to bake. They should take about a half hour.
Tip: You can let your tofu marinate for up to 24 hours! Just make sure that you cover the container and stick it in the fridge if you're marinating it for any amount of time longer than two hours.
While the tofu bakes, cook the rice and prepare all of your veggies and toppings. To make the dressing, simply stir together vegan mayo, sriracha sauce, and rice vinegar.
Take your baked tofu out of the oven when the cubes have darkened in color and shrunken up a bit.
Time to assemble your bowls! Divide the rice among three bowls, then pile on the veggies, avocado, nori, and baked tofu. Top each bowl with the spicy mayo dressing and rice seasoning or toasted sesame seeds. Serve the bowls with some soy sauce on the side, or just give each one a sprinkle with salt to taste.
Leftovers & Storage
If possible, store the components of these bowls individually in airtight containers, then assemble the bowls before enjoying. If that's not possible, don't worry about it! The bowls will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days. The avocado will turn brown after it's sliced. If this bothers you, hold off on cutting the avocado until just before serving.
More Vegan Bowls
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Sushi Bowls with Sesame Baked Tofu
Ingredients
For the Sesame Baked Tofu
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 7 ounces extra-firm tofu, pressed for at least 30 minutes, then cut into ½-inch cubes
For the Bowls
- 1 cup rice (Note 1)
- 1 medium carrot, julienned
- ½ medium cucumber, sliced
- ½ medium avocado, sliced
- 2 nori sheets, each cut into about 6 squares
For the Dressing
- ½ cup vegan mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sriracha sauce, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
For Serving
- 1 scallion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon vegan rice seasoning, or toasted sesame seeds
- Soy sauce or salt, to taste
Instructions
- To make the marinade, stir the soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup, sesame oil, and ground ginger together in a small bowl or dish. Add the tofu cubes and gently toss them until they're coated in the marinade.
- Marinate the tofu for at least 30 minutes, gently stirring the pieces occasionally to recoat them with the marinade (Note 2).
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the tofu cubes on the baking sheet, spooning any excess marinade over them.
- Place the baking sheet into the oven. Bake the tofu for about 30 minutes, until the pieces have shrunk slightly and darkened in color.
- While the tofu bakes, cook the rice according to the package directions and prep your carrot, cucumber, and avocado. Cut your nori sheets into squares.
- To make the dressing, stir the mayo, sriracha sauce, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
- To assemble, divide the rice among three bowls. Top each bowl with baked tofu, julienned carrots, sliced cucumbers, avocado, and nori squares. Drizzle each bowl with sriracha mayo (Note 3), then sprinkle with scallions and rice seasoning or toasted sesame seeds. Serve with soy sauce or salt to taste.
Notes
- You can use almost any variety of rice you like for these bowls. Sushi rice would be great, but is by no means essential! I'm using a short grain brown rice.
- Be sure to cover the dish and place it in the fridge if you're marinating your tofu for longer than two hours. You can marinate the tofu for up to 24 hours.Â
- This recipe makes a generous amount of sriracha mayo. Use as much as you'd like! Leftover sriracha mayo will keep for at least a week in an airtight container in the fridge and can be used in sandwiches, salads, and wraps, among other things.
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This was really easy and delicious! We added red bell pepper and used wasabi paste because we couldn’t find powder.
Thank you for the recipe!
This recipe is both delicious and easy to make. Totally does the trick when I get my weekly sushi craving. Thank you!!
Yay! I'm so glad you're enjoying it!! Thanks Jennie. :)
I used to make sushi bowls all the time, but totally forgot about them! Thanks for the reminder! I love to do them with some nori crumbled over the top to get that bit of umami seaweedy flavour. Loving the looks of that baked tofu as well. Yum!
This was actually my first time making a sushi bowl. I absolutely loved it and will definitely be making them again with some nori. :)
You had me at tofu :) Such a healthy, easy meal.
That's pretty much how I feel about tofu too. :)