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I have been meaning to leave a comment on this recipe ever since it was first published. It is hands down one of my favorite dishes of all time and has become a household staple for me and my husband (who btw says it’s the best tofu he has ever had). This dish is bright, nutritious, delicious and oh so fun to assemble in a bowl! Thanks for the creativity!
Clarissa
“Sushi tonight?”
These are the words I live by.
Sometimes people ask me what we actually eat for dinner since, you know, we have a food blog, I cook a lot, there’s always a ton of food around here, that sort of thing.
Okay, friends? In all honesty? Here’s the breakdown of our weekly dinners:
- 15% blog recipes
- 85% sushi takeout
Except do I look like I’m kidding right now?
We have a little sushi place within super- accessible distance from our house that has become our go-to of all go-tos for a happy, lazy takeout dinner. I haven’t tried this yet, but I am so tempted to order THE REGULAR every time I call in our order because we’ve called in at least once a week for the last 52 weeks straight and our order has never changed. 3 Dynamite Rolls plz!
Dynamite Rolls are where it’s at for us middle-of-the-road sushi people.
I mean, good on you, brave sushi souls who buy the raw fish sushi takeout for lunch from those little plastic containers that they sell at fancy grocery stores, but over here in the middle-of-the-road sushi camp we are feeling a little weird about that for some reason (some reason = ummm RAW FISH) so when we do sushi takeout, we stick with things like the very safe, very regular Dynamite Rolls.
Dynamite Rolls: the ones with tempura shrimp, avocado, and cucumber rolled in with that sticky white rice and a sheet of roasted seaweed and topped with spicy mayo and roe. The ones that my dreams are made of.
No raw fish. Tons of flavor and texture. Very safe for takeout and perfect for middle-of-the-road sushi-ers and just begging to be adapted into sushi bowls.
So this recipe? It’s a healthy bowls + dynamite rolls = SUSHI BOWLS and it is my ultimate fave. Rather than tempura shrimp or raw tuna or something, we are going for a kind of soy-glazed tofu as the protein of choice because, TBH, ain’t nobody got time to run around to another grocery store to get special sushi fish for a Thursday night dinner. No thank u. We can, however, pick up some tofu and splash it with soy sauce, rice vinegar, agave, and garlic and then pan-fry it up to golden perfection so it can be served Dynamite-style with cucumber, avocado, carrots, baby micro greens, ginger, brown rice for healthy bonus points, and spicy mayo and sesame seeds on top. Gosh, tofu is just so good.
Just like a Dynamite Sushi Roll, but in the form of sushi bowls, with next level nutrition and, like, previous level skill.
NOTE ABOUT REAL SUSHI: I absolutely don’t want to discourage you from trying to make *real* raw fish sushi at home, especially if you have some kind of sushi wizard in your life to hold your hand and tell you it’s okay as you cut off those little buttery pieces of a raw tuna steak and put them directly in your mouth. ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!!! I know, right? There is no food experience like it, and even the squeamy part of putting the raw fish in your mouth is (I promise you) DIVINELY DELICIOUS and will absolutely make you question the meaning of life.
But in the end, since practicality remains our close companion for weeknight dinners, we ultimately embrace the fake-out sushi bowls zone. We fry up some tofu, we toss it all in bowls with our favorite sushi friends, and we call these things AMAZING DYNAMITE PLANT POWER SUSHI BOWLS. ♡
Isn’t food just the best?
Dynamite Plant Power Sushi Bowls
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Dynamite Sushi Bowls! just like a dynamite roll, but easier and healthier with tofu, avocado, cucumber, ginger, brown rice, and spicy mayo. Vegetarian / easily made vegan.
Ingredients
TOFU
- 12 ounces extra firm tofu
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons agave
- 1 clove minced garlic
BOWLS
- white or brown rice
- carrots
- cucumbers
- avocado
- sesame seeds
- greens – I used microgreens
- pickled ginger
- soy sauce + wasabi for topping
- sriracha + mayo for the spicy mayo drizzle
Instructions
- TOFU: Press the tofu to eliminate excess moisture. Cut into small cubes and marinate in the soy sauce, vinegar, agave, and garlic while you prep the veggies and other ingredients.
- BOWLS: Prep all the veggies, rice, and toppings.
- TOFU AGAIN: Heat a little bit of oil in a skillet. Drain off excess marinade and add tofu to the hot pan, shaking or stirring gently every so often to keep it from over-browning. When the tofu is browned, add to the bowls and serve.
- ASSEMBLY: Divide the tofu, rice, and veggies into bowls. Top with soy sauce, spicy mayo, sesame seeds, and pickled ginger!
Notes
For a vegan version, use a vegan-approved sub for the mayo such as store bought vegan mayo or a homemade version using tofu, etc.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Keywords: vegan sushi, vegan sushi bowl, vegetarian sushi
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our best healthy vegan recipes page. Check it out!
Would you be willing to share the name of your sushi place? I always end up going to Whole Foods when I need a sushi fix.
Okay, so my favorite sushi in the Twin Cities is Obento-Ya (amazing. so good. also their housemade ramen will change you forever.), but we get our takeout from Kyoto Sushi. It’s not super fancy and I wouldn’t say its my favorite sushi of all time, but it’s close to where we live so convenience wins that one! 🙂
ahhhhaha I know this is a few years old, but I have to laugh – I used to go to the Maple Grove Kyoto with coworkers alllllll of the time! I haven’t been in forever, but I have fond memories of ridiculous quantities of mediocre (but still delicious) sushi!
Dynamite Rolls. Every. Single. Time.
I can totally do, and actually love, raw fish… but there is something about the Dynamite Roll that keeps me coming back. I love this at-home version!!
Ok, the title of this post. I mean, way too cute for its own good!!! Dynamite takes me back to my cheerleader days. Oh wait, I wasn’t a cheerleader and just watched from the sidelines. Oh well. Love the avocado is here and bought some cheap ones yesterday at the market.
HA! I posted a sushi bowl recipe today, too 🙂 Great minds! This sounds incredible – I’m usually not a huge fan of tofu, but yours looks absolutely divine!
Sushi bowls!? This is such a good idea. I had no idea that my life lacked something this delicious. I’m making these happen for dinner asap.
I love (/obsess over) all of your recipes, and this looks like the perfect healthy mid-week meal! I love the visual pop of the sesame seeds / micro greens in this. All about that texture. YUM!
Hey! I live here too! What is the restaurant that you are referring to in this blog? I would love to try them out. : )
Oh wow – that soy-glazed tofu is perfection indeed – and for the record, I’d rather have this bowl for 85% of my weekday meals any week!
Oh wow – that soy-glazed tofu is perfection indeed – and for the record, I’d rather have this bowl for 85% of my weekday meals anyweek!
I am a raw fish lover, but I’m totally into these sushi bowls! Sometimes raw fish just isn’t realistic and these look like the perfect one -bowl meal.
Hi Lindsey and Bjork, I enjoy checking what you are cooking every day! I am from Kobe, Japan, growing up eating a lot of asian dishes. Your sushi bowel looks great! I can not wait to try that. I usually add nori flakes, sautéed hijiki (high in iodine), and something spicy – I make my own korean BBQ sauce – the red one comes with Bibimbap using organic sweet miso and mirin.
This is awesome! Thank you Tamie! I would love to learn how to really make more authentically Japanese sushi or food in general… usually the issue is not having ingredients (and not knowing what I’m doing, TBH), but I just found a bunch of great authentic stuff at Whole Foods which is super exciting! 🙂 I think they had nori flakes – I’ll have to look next time I’m there.
not a fan of sushi but i must admit that is looks great !
thank you! 🙂
Well, congratulations … I just finished lunch and my mouth is salivating over this bowl as if I’ve had nothing all day. It looks amazing and I love the sesame seeds sprinkled on top!
haha thanks Megan! love the black and white together – anything for a pretty bowl, right? 🙂
haha I am so glad I am not the only one that likes sushi but totally runs from raw fish…and I am glad Sage’s tofu urges didn’t cause this lovely recipe to not be posted!
oh man. SAGE! Who knew that girl was a vegan?! lols
I’m totally on board with you–I eat sushi takeout really really often! I love the idea of putting pickled ginger into a bowl. Sounds fabulous!
Lifestyle by Joules
it’s so yummy! I love it!
This is such a beautiful recipe Lindsay, I love the vibrant colour. It sounds absolutely delicious!
thanks Puja! appreciate that!
Ummm YES PLEASE! I love sushi, but I find it too hard to make at home. As in my roll turns into a mess that doesn’t stay together. This sushi bowl is the best idea! All of the flavor without the messy roll!
yep – agree. my homemade rolls of dinners past have been a little sad-looking to say the least! 🙂
“Isn’t food just the best?” <– YES. And this food looks freaking incredible. I'm not a *huge* raw fish person (like, I can do it, but I guess I'd rather it were cooked…), but I CAN do these bowls. I'm excited to make them!
you can do them! hope you like them Ellen!
Looks delish, and some ahi tuna would take it over the top. 🙂 I add sliced or grated radish to my sushi bowls, also drizzle 1 spoon of juice from the jar of pickled ginger on top of my rice. Must try making this w your tofu!
ahhhh sounds amazing!! Thanks for the tip Linda!
Love this deconstructed sushi! Anything that can be eaten in a big bowl is good in my books! 😉
Nikki | http://www.nikkibstyles.com
If you can’t tell I LOVE bowl food. to the max! Thanks Nikki!
Can I admit to you that I find it comforting that you eat a huge amount of takeout? (Like us!) I imagined that you created photo-worthy blog dinners every night of the week… I feel less inadequate now 🙂 LOVE the sushi-inspired bowls! YUM!
haha – no, we work so hard on the bloggable photo-worthy dinners that we find ourselves with no time to make them for our real life half the time. 🙂 weird how that works, right?
I think this will be tomorrow’s dinner 🙂
Looks seriously delicious!
yum! enjoy Brittney!
Cant wait to try, this is so light and fresh for the summer. xoxo
thanks Giovanna! enjoy!
If I could, sushi and Indian takeout would be 100% of my dinners. LOL! I can’t get enough! This is one of the most beautiful vegan sushi bowls I’ve seen on any site thus far! The tofu looks so crispy with the colors of the rice, carrots and avocado!!
thanks Cassie! I love dabbling into the plant based world from time to time 😉
That looks and sounds AAAAMMMAAAZZZING!!! Yum!! ;))