California Roll Bowls

These California roll bowls are a deconstructed version of California sushi rolls. Filled with crab, sushi rice, cucumber, and avocado, these bowls are perfect for a quick, easy, and healthy dinner!

If you like California rolls, this recipe is for you. The combination of creamy avocado, crunchy cucumber, and nori, ensures that these bowls are full of flavors and textures in every bite, and the best part is that they are super easy to make.

As long as you can cook rice and chop veggies, you can make these deconstructed California roll sushi bowls that are sure to please a crowd. Whether you’re enjoying them for a quick weeknight dinner, a build-your-own dinner party, or as an easy meal prep idea for healthy lunches, this sushi bowl recipe is an easy, healthy, and high-protein meal.

Why You’ll Love Them

• Quick and Easy – These California roll sushi bowls are ready in less than 30 minutes making them perfect for a weeknight meal.
• High in Protein – With over 27 grams of protein per serving, these bowls are protein-packed meals.
• Versatile – Once you’ve got the basics down you can mix and match ingredients to make any type of sushi bowls you like!

Ingredients + Substitutions

• Crab – Traditional California rolls use imitation crab meat, but you can use real fresh crab meat, canned crab meat, canned crab meat, or imitation crab in these bowls. Use whatever option suits your budget, you can use cooked shrimp if you like.
• Rice – To create the base of the roll bowls and add some complex carbohydrates. I used sushi rice in my recipe but any white rice or brown rice will work well.
• Avocado – To add some healthy fats.
• Cucumber – If you want to add some more fresh veggies, shredded carrots or thinly sliced bell peppers would also work well.
• Nori – To add some dried seaweed to the sushi bowls. If you can’t find nori sheets, you can use furikake instead.
• Rice Vinegar – To season the sushi rice.
• Soy Sauce – To season the sushi roll bowls.
• Pickled Ginger – To add some acid and cleanse the palate in between bites, although optional.
• Sesame Seeds – To serve, although optional.

Although California rolls don’t typically include spicy sriracha mayo, you can make some to top the bowls for a bit more flavor and heat. You can find the ingredients in the recipe card below.

How to Make California Roll Sushi Bowls

1. Cook the rice. Bring a water and sushi rice to a boil in a small pot and allow to cook as per package direction until tender and fluffy. Once cooked, drizzle of rice vinegar, stir to combine, and allow to cool.
2. Chop the crab. Cut the cooked crab meat or imitation crab into bite-size pieces.
3. Chop the veggies and seaweed. Chop the cucumber and slice the avocado and nori sheets.
4. Make the sauce. In a small bowl, add the mayo and sriracha and stir to combine.
5. Assemble the bowls. Once the rice has cooled, fill bowls with a layer of sushi rice, top with cucumber, avocado, and nori sheets, drizzle with soy sauce, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and top with spicy mayo as desired.
6. Serve and enjoy! The bowls can be enjoyed immediately or stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.

You can find the detailed instructions in the recipe card below.

Serving Suggestions

These sushi bowls are well-balanced meals on their own, as they include a source of protein, carbohydrate, fat, and fiber, however, you can adapt the recipe to suit your personal dietary needs.

• To make them higher in protein, add more crab to the bowls.
• To add more fiber, you can swap the white rice for brown rice and/or add more vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, or
• To make them low carb, you can swap the sushi rice for cauliflower rice.

More Sushi Roll Bowls:

• Spicy Salmon Roll Bowls

California Roll Bowls

Author: Stephanie Kay

These deconstructed California sushi roll bowls are perfect for a quick and easy weeknight dinner or lunch. You can serve them with pickled ginger and wasabi for extra flavor.

• Author: Stephanie Kay
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4 bowls
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: American

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Ingredients

Sushi Bowls:

• 1 pound crab meat or imitation crab meat
• 1 1/2 cups sushi rice, or other short-grain white rice
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced
• 2 nori sheets, thinly sliced
• Sesame seeds, to serve
• Soy sauce, to serve
• Pickled ginger, to serve

Spicy Mayo Sauce (optional):

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon sriracha

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Instructions

1. In a pot, combine the rice with 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and allow to cook covered for 20 minutes, or as per package directions, until it can be fluffed with a fork. Once cooked, drizzle the rice with rice vinegar and toss to combine and allow to cool.
2. While the rice is cooking, chop the crab into bite-size pieces, dice the cucumber, and cut the avocado into thin slices and nori sheets into thin strips.
3. Optional: In a small bowl or jar, add the mayonnaise and sriracha and stir until well combined. Taste and adjust spicy mayo to your liking, adding more sriracha to increase the heat and salt and pepper as desired.
4. Once the rice has cooled, assemble the bowls with a base layer of sushi rice and then top with cooked crab meat, cucumber, avocado, nori sheets, a drizzle of soy sauce, a sprinkle of sesame seeds, and a side of pickled ginger. Optional: Drizzle with spicy mayo sauce as desired.
5. Any leftovers of the crab, rice, and sauce can be stored in separate airtight containers in the fridge for 5 days.