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Vegan Onigirazu: Rice Sandwiches
43 min
Main
onigirazu
Total
43 minPrep
30 minCook
13 minFree from
soy
peanut
tree nut
sesame
gluten
Ingredients
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1½ cups (300 g)uncooked Japanese short-grain rice†
-
2 cups (328 g)cooked chickpeas
-
¼ cup (36 g)chopped pickles
-
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3 Tbsp (30 g)minced onion
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2 Tbsp (30 mL)ketchup
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1½ Tbsp (22 mL)rice vinegar (optional)
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1 tsp (5 g)granulated sugar (optional)
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¼ tspsalt (optional)
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6nori seaweed sheets
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½cucumber, thinly sliced using a vegetable peeler
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½ cup (35 g)shredded red cabbage
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6butter lettuce leaves
Serves well with
Make your own
Directions
- Wash the rice and cook it according to the package instructions.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, use a fork to mash the chickpeas. Then add the mayo, onion, pickles, and ketchup and mix to combine.
- Optional step: to make flavoured rice, add the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt to a small bowl and mix until the sugar has dissolved completely.
- When the rice is cooked, transfer it to a large shallow bowl to cool off slightly and gently stir in the vinegar mixture while the rice is still warm. Be careful not to over-stir.
- Take a nori sheet and lay it out with the point towards yourself and rough side up. Place a bowl of water next to you for dipping your fingers into. Wet your fingers with a little bit of water so that the rice won't stick to your hands as much.
- Scoop out a packed ⅓ of a cup of sushi rice and place it in the middle of the nori sheet. Use your hands to shape it into a square of ½ inch (1 cm) thickness. Form the square such that the flat side is facing you (see the photo for guidance).
- On top of the rice square, add a layer of lettuce, followed by 3 packed tablespoons of the chickpea mixture. Using the back of a spoon, spread out the chickpea mixture to align with the shape of the rice underneath it.
- Then add on top a single layer of sliced cucumber and red cabbage.
- Dip your fingers in more water, and then scoop up another ⅓ of a cup of sushi rice. Add this scoop into the palm of your hand, and use your fingers to form another rice square about ½ inch (1 cm) thick. Gently place this on top of the sandwich*.
- Fold in two opposite points of the nori sheet so that they meet on top of the rice, and use a bit of water to help them stick together where they meet.
- Then, as if wrapping a present, tuck in and then fold over and the other two points to fully enclose the rice and fillings inside the nori. Use a little bit of water to close and seal the rice sandwich. Set it aside for 5 minutes while preparing the remaining sandwiches.
- Cut the onigirazu in half using a sharp, slightly wet knife which helps the rice from sticking to the knife. Garnish with black sesame seeds and serve with sriracha mayo and soy sauce!
Notes
- †The rice might be labelled as "sushi rice" at your grocery store.
- * Alternatively, you can place this rice right on top of the pile of veggies and shape it into a square when the rice is on the stack. It might fall apart a little bit this way, but don't worry too much about it. It doesn't need to be perfect.
Storage
- The onigirazu is best when enjoyed on the same day, but can be stored uncut, wrapped in kitchen towel in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
- The kitchen towel will help to prevent the rice from drying out. Just cut the onigirazu in half on the day you're ready to enjoy!
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Watch it step-by-step!
Plate method
The Plate Method is a visual tool that helps us ensure our dietary needs are on track. Touch the image below to see how this recipe measures up.
Grains & Starches 41%
• uncooked Japanese short-grain rice
Proteins 18%
• cooked chickpeas
Fruits & Veggies 41%
• chopped pickles
• minced onion
• nori seaweed sheet
• cucumber
• shredded red cabbage
• butter lettuce leaf
Calcium
No significant sources of calciumFat
• vegan mayonnaise
Nutrition info
Focusing on numbers can harm our relationship with food. Instead, our philosophy is to Nourish the Cells & the Soul. For specific nutrition needs due to a medical condition, consult a dietitian or physician. While we strive to provide accurate nutritional information, we cannot guarantee its accuracy. See our disclaimer for details.
Show nutrition info
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I am going to swap the mayonaise for the soy yoghurt but do you maybe also have a recommendation to swap the ketchup with? Thanks in advance!!!
These are the best! I probably reviewed them before but we haven’t made them in a long time. We didn’t substitute anything. We didn’t make the flavored addition to the rice and it was fine. So delicious!!
New summer obsession, I always debate farting sushi coz of the price, I’m done, I’ll eat this on repeat until I get tired 😂
Delicious
I love this app
Very yummy and fun to eat. Kiddos loved it. I make sushi fairly awesome, so this was a fun change up.
Absolutely loved it! My whole family asked for more so next time I'll have to increase the quantities ahah. I switched cucumber with carrots and added avocados as well. Thanks so much for your recipes, you are making my new vegan life so enjoyable!
So tasty. Will need to work on my wrapping skills.
We really liked it and first I wasn't sure how the wrapping would work out but it was much easier than i thought!
I feel bad to leave a less than positive review here because we normally love the recipes, but this one we found "challenging" to eat. Maybe I did something wrong, or maybe we just really don't care for the store bought seaweed sheets. Or maybe this is taste we haven't acquired yet, but this one won't make it into the rotation.
So so tasty!
I loved this recipe. It is very filling! I loved everything about it. Found the video on the channel for this recipe. Yumm
I made this for dinner as I was having some friends over and this recipe was a hit! Everyone loved it! Definitely will be making this recipe again 😋
Perfect recipe to make for a to-go meal the following day. This was truly so fun to make! And it was sooo tasty!
Also thank you PUL team for creating such awesome ways to follow recipes!!!
My friends were indeed envious of these during lunch!
I have made these burgers countless times and they’re amazing. We use vuna in stead of chickpea puree. And we mix and match the vegetables with whatever we have laying around.
Great recipe!
Love this recipe! Have made it several times also for my meat-eating mom, she loves them as well!
I brought leftovers for lunch the next day, and that was also fine even though they are best served fresh :)
I just love love love PUL.
SIMPLE "CLEAN" Ingredients with the brilliant additional nutritional value...really makes me care for my healthy eating habits...this is the next recipe I'm going to try.Thank you so much.
One of my favorite PUL recipes! And a family favorite! I even use any leftover chickpea filling and rice to make onigiri (rice triangles) 😋 thank you PUL!
Love this!
Variation of the onigiri my mom made when I was a kid.
I never was able to master the nori wrap as well as she can, but this is fool proof!
I've seen onigirazu recipes before, but they always seemed a bit intimidating to me. You made it look so approachable, I had to try it. It turned out great, so thank you for the recipe and the encouragement contained within it! <3
I'm thinking that next time I'd play around with proportions a bit. Do you think it would still work with only one layer of rice and more veggies?
Absolutely perfect! My technique for making the sandwiches needs improving though because after the first bite, I had everything in my plate and no food in my hand anymore 😂 maybe I'll try in "sushi shape" instead of sandwiches.
This was delicious! My husband loved it as well! I ended up making sushi burritos as well. I used these for the veggies: lettuce, shredded carrot, cucumber, and avocado. I never thought of adding beans to sushi! What a fun way to bulk up sushi. Will be adding this to the lunch rotation! Thank you!
I honestly was a little intimidated to try this recipe. Wow! I’m so glad I did. I quickly got the idea of the water and everything turned out so beautifully and delicious! Such a win! Thanks for sharing!!!
Hello, can anyone tell me how much one serving size is for the amount of calories?
I was very nervous trying this at first. But they are delicious and easy to make! You have to take your time at the end and really use water with the nori sheets, but you pick it up very quickly. I change the vegetables inside according to what I have in the fridge or cupoard, and it's always delicious. I would just say I never succeeded with the cucumber slices, but it doesn't bother me. A great sandwich and great recipe!
Would I be able to sub in jasmine rice or glutinous rice instead of the sushi rice? This is all I have on hand ☹️
Easy to make and delicious
Hi!! At my grocery store it only has short grain sweet rice, and the other one is organic short grain brown rice. Which one would you say I use or should I use normal rice??
I added homegrown kale massaged with toasted sesame oil and sesame seed and really enjoyed it! I was hesitant about the chickpea mixture, but it was a crucial addition. I think I'll add some quick-pickled veg next time too.
Thanks for such a fun new recipe!
I was so skeptical when I saw this had pickles in it but holy wow these are good! I added some sriracha to the filling to spice it up a little and I ended up just rolling them like a normal sushi roll because I used a lettuce mix that made it a bit difficult to stack everything. My partner absolutely loved them too. Will definitely be making these regularly - such a quick, easy and tasty recipe!
Love this recipe!!
These onigirazu are the next-level upgraded version of sandwiches. When I was a kid my lunches were super boring and unappetizing. Now, lunch is always enjoyable. Every PUL recipe that I’ve tried so far are always impressive and unique. I’m glad I found PUL. Thank you so much 😊
Beautiful recipe. I’ve just made batch for my 3 children’s school lunches 👍
What an interesting recipe to try ! I must admit that the packing wasn't easy and it needs some practice but the taste Was heavenly ! Especially the vegan 'tuna' surprised me :)
This was so yummy! Made it for lunch on Sunday and had lots of fun doing it! Definitely alittle challenging, but totally worth it and very entertaining. Thanks for another great recipe!
I made this yesterday to enjoy with friends. Even the children loved it. It was a huge success. It took me two tries to get the seaweed pakkaging richt, but even than it looked spectacular. Thank you. I will definetely make this again.
Planning to make this soon but think I may use kimchi instead of the purple cabbage. I love Japanese food and make it quite frequently. Perfect lunch on the go item. Bust out the Bento boxes! 😋🥰
I usually love your recipes, but this was too bland for me. It was also tricky shaping the sticky rice and overall was a bit messy, and not worth it for the taste for me. Anyway thanks for the recipe, it was fun to make, and healthy.
I absolutely love this recipe! 😍
The chickpea tastes exactly like Tuna, you opened a new door to my life 😆
just finished eating. soooo delicious!
we take red cabbage ,,sauerkraut with jalapenos and garlic" instead of forgetting to buy red cabbage.
We loved this
This is so creative and the flavors are so amazing! I am having such a hard time wrapping them haha but I know I just need more practice. I've made two and the second was wrapped much better already. Thank you for this!
This was so much fun to make and it tasted great. I used tuna intead of chick peas.
I used the chickpea 'tuna' for sushi and OMG this is so goood. Excited to try onigirazu next time :D
I enjoyed making these! And both my husband and I enjoyed eating them! We both love to cook and try new recipes, so this was a fun one. Will be making it again!
Hola! I absolutely adore this recipe! thank you so much for sharing it. I was unable to find the same seaweed sheets (I used roasted seaweed sheets and it did not work out very well lol) or the sushi rice (I used jasmine instead) the flavor was amazing!! ♡♡♡♡♡the presentation not much but my husband and definitely loved this recipe thank you so much!!
I am a huge fan of everything you do! I have shared many recipes with friends and family. You make vegan lifestyle so much easier and enjoyable for me and my husband ☺
I will try it again as soon as I can find the right seaweed ^^
Thank you
Any information appreciate it
I usually don't comment but I had to let you all know. Absolutely loved this recipe. It was super easy to follow. The flavor combination was perfect. I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not much of a cook and my partner said I should definitely add this to the list of things I make well. :) I however didn't pay attention to the storage instructions and two of the sandwiches got messed up. Learned a good lesson for next time. Shared this with my coworkers and friends as well. Thank you!
A bit time consuming but very yummy! I was overfilling them at first but number 5 and number 6 turned out beautiful.
The chickpea mixture tastes like the Polish egg spread/salad my mum makes! Gonna use it as a quick and easy bread spread!
I've been wanting to try onigirazu for a long while now, but thought it would be too time consuming and difficult. So when I watched the Youtube video and saw that it seemed easy I decided to give it a try. It was a total hit! I made 12 portions, and hubby and I lived off of them until there were no more. We could easily have had them for several more days, we never got tired of the taste. These are perfect and among the best things I've ever eaten! Thank you so much for creating and sharing this recipe!
Really yummy and easy
I absolutely loved these and they could be my new favourite thing! Making them was a lot of fun as I love trying out new techniques in the kitchen and after my first attempt where I struggled to seal the nori sheet, I added quarter cups of rice to each layer with the rest and it worked a treat. Perhaps my nori sheets were smaller than yours? I enjoyed these so much that I know for sure I will be back for more. 😍
Just a small correction: milliliters are abbreviated "ml", not "mL".
This is something that has been bugging me a tiny bit for years. But don't be upset, your recipes are the best, and I also make the effort for years to translate them into German and save them in my recipe collection. :)
Loved this recipe! I used cucumber, hoisin tempeh in place of the chickpea mixture, sauerkraut and finely chopped red onion. Soooo good. I made miso wasabi vegan mayonnaise to have on the side.
I’m getting more ingredients to make these again as they were so tasty and I think my daughter would love them in her school lunch.
This is so delicious! My picky family members enjoyed helping assemble to their taste (especially the 3 year old) and the “tuna” is amazing!
This was AMAZING! I didn't measure because when I want to enjoy the process, it means not a lot of clean up. I used a sweet onion, untoasted nori sheets, and I did not add the optional sugar. I cannot wait to make this again!
I liked the helpful step-by-step photos and video. My first attempt at wrapping the sandwiches fell apart, but the rest of the sandwiches turned out better. Thanks for a super delicious and creative new on-the-go lunch recipe! :)
Perfect ! I've made a double portion tonight, hoping to have one for tomorrow and it was soooooo goooooood, I eat it all 😂
I would totally make sandwiches with the chickpeas mix !
Thank you so much.
This recipe was delicious. I didn't have cabbage, but I added lettuce, cucumber, avocado, and carrot. I love anything sushi-related so this is definitely a win in my book. It definitely takes practice when finishing the building of the ingredients that go in the seaweed, so mine kind of fell apart, but the main point is that it was super flavorful. I added some sesame seeds and sriracha mayo as garnish/sauce. I will definitely make it again and recommend it to everyone I know.
Fantastic!!!!
Wow 😯 I need to try this