California Sushi Roll Bowls
California roll bowls are deconstructed California sushi rolls served in a bowl for an easy meal. Crab meat, cucumbers, nori, and avocado are served over rice – everything you love about a California roll but turned into a bowl!
California sushi rolls may not be authentic Japanese sushi, but they are delicious. I love the simple combination of crab, avocado, and cucumbers. They also taste great in sushi rice bowl form. You get all the flavors of the roll without having to deal with making them into sushi rolls which is messy and time-consuming.
Ingredients
- Rice
- Seasoned rice vinegar
- Avocado
- Crab meat
- Cucumbers
- Sesame seeds
- Nori sheet
- Scallions or green onions
- Sriracha mayonnaise
Rice:Â You can use cooked sushi rice, regular white rice, brown rice, or cauliflower rice for these bowls. I like cauliflower rice to keep it low-carb and less heavy, so I’ve included instructions for cooking it if you opt to use it instead of rice.
Rice vinegar:Â This is used to season the rice similar to regular Californian sushi rolls. Make sure to use seasoned rice vinegar and not regular rice vinegar. Seasoned rice vinegar is less acidic and sweeter than regular rice vinegar and is used to make sushi rice.
Crab:Â You can use regular crab meat or imitation crab meat which is a lot less expensive.
Sesame seeds:Â I like to use a mix of black sesame seeds and white sesame seeds. They each add different flavors to the bowl, so I definitely recommend adding both.
Nori sheet:Â I wanted to keep the taste of nori in these bowls, so I shredded the sheets into small pieces to mix into the bowls.Â
Siracha mayo:Â I like to garnish the bowls with a simple sauce made with mayo and sriracha. It adds a kick of heat.
Recipe Tips
The only thing you have to cook is the cauliflower rice (or other type of rice you’re using). I like to steam the cauliflower rice.
Once you have that, you can assemble the bowls. Just layer the ingredients over the rice. If you are preparing these bowls in advance, make sure to real the meal prep tips in the next section.
Since you don’t have to roll anything for this recipe, you can easily adjust the amounts of the ingredients to your tastes. Serving it in a bowl is so much easier.
Meal Prep Tips
California roll bowls are perfect for meal prep since there is no raw fish. The imitation crab meat is made of cooked fish.
If you want to meal prep, I recommend using cauliflower rice. Sushi rice usually needs to be consumed right away as it does not store or reheat well, but cauliflower rice tastes just as good the next day.
I also recommend waiting to add the nori and the avocado. The nori will get soggy, and the avocado will brown. So wait to add those until you are ready to eat a bowl.
More Bowl Recipes
- Poke Bowls
- Spicy Tuna Bowls
- ​​Avocado Buddha Bowls
- ​Korean Bibimbap Bowls
- Korean Beef Bowls
- Sriracha Salmon Bowls
California Sushi Roll Bowls with Cauliflower Rice Meal Prep
Ingredients
- 4 cups cauliflower rice
- 2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
- 1 large avocado, pitted, peeled and thinly sliced
- 12 oz imitation crab meat, can substitute with real crab meat
- 2 persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp toasted black sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 1 nori sheet, shredded into small pieces
- 2 green scallions, thinly sliced
sriracha mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 3-4 tsp sriracha sauce
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise and sriracha sauce until evenly mixed. Set aside.
- Steam cauliflower rice until tender. While rice is still hot, drizzle with rice vinegar and mix vinegar into the rice. Taste and add more vinegar if needed.
- Add 1 cup of cauliflower sushi rice to each meal prep container
- Add 3 ounces of crab meat to each bowl. Divide cucumbers and avocados evenly amongst the bowls. Garnish with black and white sesame seeds. Garnish with scallions. Drizzle with sriracha sauce. Keep bowls stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Right before eating, add shredded nori to bowl. You do not want to add the nori ahead of time because it will soften almost immediately.
Notes
- Make sure to use seasoned rice vinegar and not regular rice vinegar. Seasoned rice vinegar is less acidic and sweeter than regular rice vinegar and is used to make sushi rice.
- I used Pakkon round meal prep containers.*
- If you are on a keto or other type of restrictive low carb diet, use real crab meat instead of imitation crab. Most of the carbs in this bowl are from the imitation crab meat which has approximately 13 carbs per serving.
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I made this and it was wonderful. I added shredded carrots & ginger. Yummy!
Love those additions!
How do you keep
Avocado from turning brown?
We don’t have a problem with it browning if you eat the bowls within a few days. You can always leave the avocado off until you’re ready to serve the bowls if yours browns too fast.
How long will these meal preps last for this recipe in the fridge? Also is it possible to freeze them for having this one time each week?
Keep the bowls stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. They won’t freeze well, so we can’t recommend doing that.
My grocery store doesn’t have nori sheets, will it still be okay without them?
You can omit them, but you might want to add a little salt. Nori sheets add a salty flavor.
Allergic to rice, any substitute for the seasoned rice vinegar?
You might want to try white wine vinegar instead.
Is the nutritional information for imitation or real crab?
It is for the imitation crab.
Did you use frozen cauliflower rice?
it can be made with fresh or frozen cauliflower rice
Is this better to eat hot or cold? I want to make this for dinner but I am unclear if it can be eaten warm
Much like a California sushi roll, it’s better to eat cold
Could I add steamed shrimp to this recipe?
yes
Should I store in freezer or fridge?Â
fridge
I made this and it was so good! I have made this 3 times in 2 weeks, and now I’m passing this recipe to my daughter. I have sushi parties once in awhile, I will test this to see if anyone notices.
Wow, so happy you liked this recipe so much! Now I’m totally craving a bowl. haha!
I’m excited to try this thanks!
Hope you like it!
Thank you so much for this recipe, it is excellent! I am a fan of the California Sushi rolls from my local grocery store and this recipe tastes exactly like those. I love that I know exactly what’s in the bowls, that I can make them ahead of time, and that they are healthier because of the cauliflower rice!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe!
Do you eat this cold? Also, won’t the avocados turn brown if prepped ahead of them?
yes this is meant to be eaten cold. If you keep the containers sealed, the avocados should not brown that much. But if you are worried about that being an issue, you can always add the avocados on the day you are going to eat the bowl.