Sushi Choices for Vegetarians and Vegans (2024)

FAQs

Sushi Choices for Vegetarians and Vegans? ›

Popular vegetarian and vegan options for maki-zushi include: kappa: perhaps the simplest form of vegan sushi, the kappa maki includes fresh cucumber, making it an ideal palate cleanser. shinko: the pickled vegetables in shinko maki allow for great variety in taste and texture.

Popular vegetarian and vegan options for maki-zushi include: kappa: perhaps the simplest form of vegan sushi, the kappa maki includes fresh cucumber, making it an ideal palate cleanser. shinko: the pickled vegetables in shinko maki allow for great variety in taste and texture.

In the past, I've made vegan sushi without any sort of “fish.” Instead, I've used medleys of produce like cabbage and shiitake mushrooms and mango and avocado. The rolls are great, but I think the tuna-like look of this vegan sushi is just so fun!

California rolls are traditionally made with imitation crab, and even though it isn't real crab, it is made from fish, so it isn't vegan. My homemade vegan imitation crab is made from hearts of palm. You can find canned hearts of palm easily in most grocery stores.

Arrange tofu strips, avocado, cabbage, carrots, and cucumber in a line along the bottom edge of the sheet. Roll nori and sushi mat over the filling. Remove the mat and wrap the roll with plastic wrap, twisting ends tightly to compress the roll. Refrigerate until set, 5 to 10 minutes.

Kappa maki-cucumber roll-is a safe bet for vegetarians and vegan sushi-eaters, with a slice of cucumber wrapped in a thin roll of rice and seaweed. This is a popular starter or palate cleanser for the regular sushi diner. Shinko is a generic term for pickles, and is a popular order for a change in taste and texture.

Cut all the vegetables and fried tofu into long strips. Place the nori seaweed on the bamboo sushi mat, spread the sushi rice, and place the fillings toward the bottom of nori. Then, roll up the sushi mat and seal the edge.

Vegan sushi can be made with mushrooms and sweet potatoes instead of fish. Other options include tofu, tempeh, hemp hearts, and veggies.

You could replace the crab with salmon, tuna, cooked shrimp, really whatever you want. Or make it completely vegetarian by adding more veggies to the bowl and drizzling everything with that mayo/sriracha/soy sauce combo.

Manufacturers add in some artificial flavoring and sometimes ingredients like starch, sodium, and MSG to the paste, then shape it to mimic the flesh of a crab. So imitation crab is considered pescatarian, but it is not vegetarian or vegan. It's often used in place of crab because of its affordability.

Can you eat sushi if you're vegan? ›

You'll find a mix of traditional vegetable sushi rolls—think cucumber and avocado—and contemporary rolls catered to vegans. These may have several different foods in one roll, like a specialty roll, but with plant-based ingredients.

​ Wasabi is vegan. A vegan dietitian reviewed this note on wasabi for Fig. Check if other ingredients are vegan with the free Fig app!

Yes and no. Seafood tempura will never be vegan, but tempura made with broccoli, bamboo shoots, aubergine, butternut squash, carrots and more can all be made vegan and are utterly delicious.

Many types of sushi are vegetarian. It is often served with pickled ginger (gari), wasabi, and soy sauce. Daikon radish or pickled daikon (takuan) are popular garnishes for the dish.

Just like in the west, lots of sushi in Japan is vegetarian. Look out for treats such as kappa maki (cucumber rolls), takuan maki (pickled daikon rolls) and inarizushi (rice stuffed inside deep-fried tofu pockets).

Seaweed is a possible vegan source of Vitamin B12. The vitamin is obtained from symbiotic bacteria. However, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics considers seaweed to be an unreliable source of Vitamin B12 for human nutrition.

While imitation crab meat isn't crab, it also isn't vegan. The red and white crab stick is called "surimi" in Japanese, which roughly translates to "ground meat." Surimi is composed of white-fleshed fish and other fish body parts that are ground into a kind of paste.