This delicious vegan veggie sushi will be your new favorite sushi! It's packed with delicious vegetables like cucumber, asparagus, and scallions, along with a magical ingredient that makes it over-the-top scrumptious: vegan cream cheese!
We love veggie sushi in my house. It's one of our favorite takeout orders! The hostess at our regular sushi place recently recommended adding cream cheese to our mixed veggie rolls. We had to decline, with dairy being a no-go. But I had to admit, it sure sounded delicious. I was inspired to get cracking in the kitchen and create my own version, using my homemade vegan cream cheese!
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Making homemade sushi is easier than you'd think, and it's often just as delicious as restaurant sushi. I have lots of homemade favorites, like my smoked tofu sushi, sweet potato sushi, shiitake mushroom sushi, and spicy eggplant sushi.
And, confession: I don't generally come up with these delicious ideas on my own. Nope! They're all copycat versions of rolls I've gotten at restaurants. They were all vegan though. Todays recipe is different, because with the cream cheese, it's not vegan by default, so I had to make a homemade version in order to enjoy it.
It was so worth it! This was one the most delicious sushi rolls I've ever had. I think you'll agree, and will want to make it again and again.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Sushi rice. Sushi rice is a short grain variety of rice that has just the perfect texture for making sushi. You can find it in the international aisle of most grocery stores.
- Water.
- Rice vinegar. You should also be able to get this in the international aisle of your supermarket.
- Salt.
- Fresh asparagus.
- Cucumber.
- Scallions. You might also know these as green onions. Chives will also work.
- Vegan cream cheese. I used my homemade vegan cream cheese, but any store-bought variety will also work.
- Nori. This is the type of seaweed used for rolling sushi. Your grocery store may also have this in the international aisle. If not, try an Asian market or buy it online.
- Sesame seeds. I used a mix of black and white sesame seeds, but either variety on it's won will do.
- Prepared wasabi.
- Pickled ginger.
Tip: If you love sushi but can't seem to get the hang of rolling it, try my vegan sushi bowls instead. You can even swap out some of the toppings with the sushi fillings from this recipe.
Variations
- Switch up the veggies. You can replace the cucumber and/or asparagus with other veggies such as carrots, radishes, or zucchini.
- Add avocado. Add a few slices of ripe avocado, or use it as a substitute for one of the vegetables.
- Brown rice sushi. Use brown sushi rice instead of white.
- Quinoa sushi. Use a mix of half sushi rice and half quinoa. I don't recommend using all quinoa, as it isn't starchy enough to hold together when rolled.
- Maki roll. The sushi rolls in this recipe are uramaki, or also known as inside out rolls. You can make them as regular (a.k.a. maki) rolls, by placing the rice on top of the nori, so that the nori ends up on the outside.
Frequently Asked Questions
The sushi itself is gluten-free. The soy sauce that it's served with contains gluten, but can be substituted with gluten-free tamari.
It sure can! It will keep for about five days in the fridge, or about three months in the freezer. Either way, be sure to store it in an airtight container.
You can, but I don't recommend doing so more than a few hours ahead of time. While the rice will keep for a few days in the fridge, it will start to dry out and lose stickiness as it sits.
Leftovers & Storage
As with all sushi, these vegan cream cheese rolls are best enjoyed right away. If you need to make them in advance or have leftovers, they'll keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about two days.
What to Serve with Vegan Sushi
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Cream Cheese and Veggie Sushi
Ingredients
For the Rice
- â…” cup sushi rice
- ¾ cup water
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
For the Filling
- 4 asparagus spears trimmed
- ½ cucumber seeded and sliced into matchstick strips
- 2 scallions
- ¼ cup vegan cream cheese
For Rolling and Serving
- 2 sheets of nori
- toasted sesame seeds
- wasabi
- soy sauce
- pickled ginger
Instructions
- Rinse rice under cold running water for 1-2 minutes. Place in a small saucepan with other rice ingredients and heat to a simmer. Cover and allow to simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.
- Remove from heat and allow to sit for another 10 minutes, covered.
- While your rice cooks and sits, get your filling ingredients ready. Boil some water in large saucepan. Remove from heat and blanch asparagus spears for about two minutes, or until bright green. Transfer to an ice water bath.
- Wrap a bamboo mat in plastic wrap and place nori over top.
- Keep a small bowl of water nearby and wet your fingertips. Distribute half of your rice in an even layer over nori. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Carefully invert your rice covered nori, so that the rice layer sits on the plastic wrap and nori is face up. Arrange half of your veggies in a single strip across the width of your nori, about an inch away from you.
- Using a spoon, pastry bag or even your fingers, distribute a single line of cream cheese right on top of your veggie strip.
- Now carefully roll the end of the nori closest to you over your veggie strip, tucking and squeezing to get it nice and tight. Continue rolling until you reach the end.
- Take your roll and place it seam side down on a cutting board. Using a big, sharp knife, cut into eight pieces.
- Repeat using remaining ingredients.
- Serve with wasabi, soy sauce and pickled ginger.
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I'm a bit intimidated by the rolling too! I'll look up the videos. Thanks!
You should definitely check them out - they really helped me!! Also, you could try practicing on something simple like some cucumber strips. Good luck!
I love sushi! This would be the perfect lunch!! How hard is this?? I feel like my rolling capabilities are somewhat sub par haha. But I have that sushi roller thing!
It's really not too difficult! I'm really not that great at rolling sushi either, and for a long time I didn't even want to try it. I found the videos linked above to be really helpful, along with a little patience. I still do end up with really ugly sushi about half the time, but it still tastes good :)