I have made sushi bowls so many times that this recipe is now on our family’s favorite dinner list AND we had “Sushi Bowl Sunday” going for months. It never gets old! It’s easy to adapt to to your liking and a cinch to make. I’ll show you how!

California Roll in a Bowl

This version is inspired by California rolls, but if you prefer shrimp or another type of fish you can use that, too! We switch up the vegetables, too, and I’ll give you some ideas below of what you can put in these sushi bowls.

If sushi rice sounds intimidating – don’t be nervous. You can make sushi rice out of long or short grain rice that will be good for these rolls if you can’t find sushi-specific rice. All you do is cook the rice like normal and pour a dressing over it that gives it its salty-sweet taste.

California Sushi Bowl Ingredients

Sushi Dressing:

• Rice vinegar
• Raw sugar
• Kosher or sea salt

Sushi Bowls:

• Sushi rice
• Sushi dressing
• Crab meat
• Albacore tuna (optional)
• Avocado
• Ginger Pickled Carrots (optional)
• English cucumber
• Cream cheese
• Green onions
• Wasabi
• Coconut aminos or tamari
• Torn or cut nori or furikake
• Toasted sesame seeds

How to make a Sushi Bowl

1. To prepare the sushi dressing, combine all of the dressing ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl (or in a small saucepan), heat until very warm and stir until the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour into a canning jar or other heatproof container with a tight fitting lid and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month, using as needed.
2. To prepare the California Roll Sushi Bowls, cook the desired amount of rice according to the package instructions. When the rice is done, turn it into a large-ish mixing bowl, fluff it gently and pour the appropriate amount of Sushi Dressing over the top. Fold the dressing in gently, taking care not to smash the rice. Lay damp paper towels over the surface of the rice to prevent it from drying out and let the rice cool to room temperature.
3. When the rice is cool, divided among serving bowls and arrange the toppings in the order listed to taste. Serve immediately.

California Sushi Bowl Recipe Tips

• You can substitute cauliflower rice for the sushi rice if you like. I used some Roasted Cauliflower Rice with fresh ginger added before roasting and it was excellent! I also used coconut sugar in place of the raw sugar in the dressing.
• Instead of crabmeat, I used wild-caught rock fish marinated in coconut aminos, fresh ginger, lime juice, and Asian garlic chili paste, then grilled.
• The cream cheese is, of course, optional, especially if you’re strict paleo or avoiding dairy, but good grief, it’s good. :)
• To make it Whole30 friendly use cauliflower rice and coconut aminos. No sushi dressing is needed — unless you want to throw a splash of vinegar in the cauli rice for extra flavor.

California Roll Bowl storage

Store all the ingredients separately in airtight containers.
The fish, avocado and cucumber can be stored for up to 2 days.
Leftover rice can be stored up to 5 days in the fridge.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of Not Your Mama’s Canning Book for review, but was not compensated for this post. All opinions shared are my own. There is also an Amazon affiliate link in this post. Purchases made by using these links do not cost you any extra and provide Perry’s Plate with a few pennies.