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Maki sushi is a sushi roll with the seaweed on the outside: and they couldn’t be more fun to make! Here’s a sushi recipe that’s easy to make at home.
Sushi is one of my favorite foods ever. When we first started becoming interested in food, sushi quickly jumped to the top of our “best eats” list and has stayed there ever since. While we usually order out for sushi, we’re so, so excited to bring you a recipe for how to make sushi at home!
This maki sushi recipe comes from the new cookbook Aloha Kitchen by our friend Alana Kysar, and it is incredibly tasty and surprisingly doable. Keep reading for the maki sushi recipe and more about the book!
What Is Maki Sushi?
What is maki sushi? Maki sushi is simply a sushi roll. It’s rolled sushi with seaweed on the outside and rice and fillings on the inside. Maki sushi can be filled with raw fish, cooked fish, or other vegetables and sauces. There is also an “inside out” variation on maki called uramaki; it has the rice on the outside of the roll rather than the seaweed.
Nigiri sushi, on the other hand, is raw fish on top of rice, with no seaweed wrap. It’s usually in a sort of rounded oval of rice, and the raw fish sits on the top. This post will show you how to make a sushi roll: maki sushi!
The Fillings You’ll Need
One reason I love this particular maki sushi recipe is that it leans on cooked and pickled fillings, so you don’t have to find sushi-grade fish (though you can, if you like!). Here’s what goes inside:
- Shoyu tuna: Canned tuna stirred together with soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. It’s a cooked roll, which makes it approachable and pantry-friendly. You could also use a sushi-grade raw Ahi tuna. (I’ve found sushi grade fish frozen at our local grocery, which is what I use in my 5 Minute Seared Ahi Tuna recipe.)
- Quick pickled carrots: Blanched, then tossed with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt for a sweet-tangy crunch.
- Omelet: An egg omelet cut into strips adds a rich contrast to the vegetables.
- Watercress: Lightly blanched for a fresh, peppery bite (spinach works too).
- Sushi rice and nori: The foundation.
How to Make Sushi Rice
A good sushi recipe is all about the rice! I used sushi rice and cooked it in our Instant Pot, but you can use the stovetop as well. (Use my Instant Pot Rice recipe with 2 cups sushi rice and 2 ½ cups water, and follow the instructions for white rice.)
While you cook the rice, you’ll heat up some rice vinegar, sugar and salt, then pour this over the rice once it’s done. Then you’ll toss, fan and fluff the rice with a rice paddle to get it to just the right consistency and cool it to room temperature. It sounds a little funky, but it works and makes the perfect sushi rice.
Pro Tip: Let the rice cool completely before you roll. Warm rice steams the nori and makes it tear, and it’s much harder to spread into a thin, even layer.
How to Roll Maki Sushi: Step by Step
Making maki sushi is surprisingly accessible. Though you’ll need to set aside about an hour and a half, it’s well worth it. Sushi is perfect food for celebration, and what is more celebratory than a homemade sushi roll? Here’s what to do:
- Get out your sushi rolling mat. In order to get those perfect tight rolls, you need a sushi rolling mat. Alex and I actually used a bamboo placement that we randomly had on hand — see the photo! But if you’re ready to go all in, here’s a sushi rolling mat I recommend: Sushi making kit $7.
- Spread the rice. Add a thin, even layer of rice about ½-inch thick, leaving a 1 ½-inch margin along the far edge.
- Add the fillings. Line up your omelet, carrots, watercress, and tuna in a row across the rice closest to you.
- Roll it up. Rolling the sushi is a little scary at first. But a sushi recipe is like pancakes: the first one isn’t so pretty, but still tastes good! You’ll get the hang of it as you go. Use your sushi rolling mat to get the roll started, then roll just with your fingers. Make sure to give it a bit of pressure as you roll, which will make for a tight sushi roll.
- Slice and serve. Cut each roll into ½-inch pieces, fan them out on a platter, and serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and spicy mayo.
Variations: Vegetarian and Vegan Sushi
This maki sushi recipe is easily made vegetarian: just omit the tuna and double the omelet filling! An omelet is perfect for vegetarian sushi since it gives a nice texture contrast to crunchy raw vegetables. I’d add a few more pinches of salt into the omelet too if it’s going to be the main filling.
You can also make my Vegan Sushi Recipe with a delicious marinated tofu filling. Or try this Healthy Sushi Bowl!
About the book: Aloha Kitchen
Aloha Kitchen is a beautiful cookbook by Maui native Alana Kysar featuring the beautiful cuisine of Hawai’i! The book is chock full of gorgeous favorites, like poke, shave ice, loco moco and more. Alana explores the cultures that have influenced the local foods of Hawai’i over time, and she graciously let us use her maki sushi recipe as a preview. Thanks, Alana!
Ways to Serve Maki Sushi
It’s easy to build a whole spread around this maki sushi. A few of my favorite ways to serve it:
- Edamame: Start the meal with edamame or a plate of spicy edamame
- Dipping sauces: Keep soy sauce, wasabi, and a quick spicy mayo on the table.
- A cocktail: For a themed dinner, this sake cocktail rounds things out, or you could add one of these beach drinks.
Dietary Notes
This maki sushi recipe is gluten-free and pescatarian. It’s easily made vegetarian by omitting the tuna and doubling the omelet. For vegan, see my vegan sushi.
Maki Sushi Recipe
Maki sushi is a sushi roll with the seaweed on the outside: and they couldn’t be more fun to make! Here’s a sushi recipe that’s easy to make at home.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 8 to 10-piece rolls 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients
For the sushi rice
- 2 cups uncooked sushi rice
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
For the shoyu tuna (or substitute thinly sliced sushi grade Ahi tuna)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons mirin
- 1 4-ounce can tuna, in water, drained
For the omelet (for vegetarian sushi, double this and omit the tuna)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon milk
- Large pinch kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil
For the quick pickled carrots
- 3 carrots, peeled and julienned
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
For the maki sushi
- 1/2 bunch watercress or spinach, ends trimmed (or baby watercress or spinach)
- 4 sheets sushi nori
- To serve: soy sauce, wasabi, Spicy Mayo (optional)
Instructions
- Make the sushi rice: Cook the rice according to the package instructions, or use our Instant Pot Rice recipe (use 2 cups sushi rice and 2 ½ cups water). While the rice is cooking, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly while the rice continues to cook. Pour the sauce over the just-cooked rice, tossing, fanning, and fluffing it with a rice paddle. Be careful; the rice is hot. Let the rice cool to room temperature before using.
- Make the shoyu tuna: In a small nonstick skillet, combine the sugar, soy sauce, and mirin and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sugar dissolves, then add the tuna and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until the liquid evaporates. Remove from the heat and let cool completely before using.
- Make the omelet: In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and salt until well blended. In a small nonstick skillet, heat half of the neutral oil over medium low heat until shiny and shimmering. Pour the egg mixture in and let sit until the edges start to set, about 30 seconds. Push the edges in, toward the center of the pan, with a silicone spatula while tilting the pan to allow the uncooked egg to spread out. Turn the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid. Let sit for 1 to 2 minutes, until almost all the egg has set, then carefully flip the entire omelet over, adding the remaining oil to the pan right before you flip. Cook for a minute or so, with the lid off, then remove from the heat and let cool before cutting into 1/2-inch-wide strips.
- Make the quick pickled carrots: Prepare an ice-water bath by filling a bowl with a handful of ice cubes and water, and set aside. Bring a small pan of water to a simmer over medium heat and quickly blanch the carrots by cooking them in the simmering water for 1 minute, then plunging them into the ice-water bath. Remove the carrots from the bath after a minute or two, reserving the ice-water bath for the watercress. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, and rice vinegar and add to the carrots. Let sit for 15 minutes; drain the pickling liquid before using.
- Make the watercress: Bring the water in the saucepan back to a simmer over medium heat and blanch the watercress by cooking it in the simmering water until it’s wilted, about 30 seconds. Immediately transfer it to the ice bath and let sit until cooled, a minute or two. Drain the watercress and soak up any extra water from the watercress with a couple of paper towels.
- Make the sushi: Place a sushi rolling mat or other flat roll-able item (we used a place mat) on a clean work surface, with the bamboo running horizontal. Add a sheet of nori, shiny side face-down, and align the bottom edge with the edge of the rolling mat. Spread the sushi rice in a thin layer, about 1/2-inch thick, leaving a 1 1/2-inch margin on the end farthest from you. Leave a 1/2-inch margin of rice on the end closest to you, and arrange your fillings in a row in this order: omelet, carrots, watercress, and tuna, with each row touching the previous row. (See the photo above.) Carefully roll the sushi away from you, using the mat to apply pressure. Use one hand to keep the filling in place until you get to the point when the mat touches the rice. At this point, lift the mat away from the rice so that you can continue until the sushi is completely rolled. Repeat this process until all the rice has been used.
- Cut the rolls into 1/2-inch-thick slices, fan them out on a platter, and serve. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and Spicy Mayo (optional).
I made this during the pandemic with Nori dated 2015 and sushi rice with no expiration date. It was amazing! I bought a mat in 2015 also, so glad I had on hand. This recipe is so delicious with pantry items. I served with mayo and the chili paste with the chicken on label mixed in. Ty for such a good recipe.