Sushi is one of those things that feels so hard to make at home, but actually is fun and interactive as a dinner idea and cooked sushi is a great option! There are so many types of sushi, maki rolls, hand rolls, inside-out rolls, and just fish rolls or rolls that are rolled in fish! If you’re someone who doesn’t always go for raw fish, cooked sushi rolls are the perfect thing for you.
Different types of sushi offer different experiences to those eating it, and sushi dishes are bright, interesting, and something different to offer your guests or family for lunch or dinner.
We’ve put together the 22 best-cooked sushi rolls to make at home, or to inspire your next sushi party.
What type of sushi is cooked?
Sushi with cooked fish is the best of both worlds.
Fresh and delicious but without any raw ingredients. Cooked sushi is just any sushi roll or nigiri that has all cooked ingredients rather than raw.
Is cooked sushi real sushi?
Sushi, by definition, is rice seasoned with vinegar and cooled slowly to get sticky, then rolled or topped with cooked or raw ingredients and then wrapped in seaweed.
So cooked sushi would be considered real sushi, even if it does not contain raw ingredients.
1. Dragon Rolls
Oftentimes when people are at a sushi restaurant they wonder if cooked sushi is real sushi? The answer is absolute! The dragon roll is the perfect example, often found on sushi menus.
This roll is one of the best-cooked sushi rolls because it has plump tempura shrimp with avocado, eel sauce, and crunchy delicious masago fish eggs on top.
Often served with a spicy mayo drizzle as well.
Sushi with cooked fish does not have to be boring! The dragon roll is named as such because of the red and green design on the top of the roll that resembles the back of a dragon.
2. Volcano Roll
When you’re trying to decide what to make and what sushi rolls are cooked and which aren’t, look no further than the volcano roll.
Hot as a volcano but so delicious, this roll features plump and juicy shrimp that have been tossed in an absolute dynamite sauce that’s just spicy enough to really give you a kick.
This is definitely a different sushi recipe, because it doesn’t rely on traditional sushi ingredients.
Cream cheese is the perfect contrast to the spicy cooked seafood to cool down and make the perfect bite.
3. Baked Salmon Sushi
This roll is a prime example of the question: what type of sushi is cooked? The secret ingredient to this spin on a traditional sushi roll is roasted salmon.
The roasted salmon goes perfectly with avocado, fresh cucumber and bright slivered carrots.
You can make sure everyone is happy with this cooked salmon sushi. It’s so tasty dipped in a little soy sauce and wasabi, and you can even swap out salmon for another fish like cod or trout.
Switch the salmon to shrimp or eel and you’ve got another great cooked sushi recipe!
4. California Roll
If you’re wondering what sushi rolls are cooked and which aren’t on a traditional sushi menu, always look for the classic california roll.
This sushi roll became popular when sushi started to gain momentum in the US restaurant scene.
The roll is all cooked ingredients because it uses imitation crab instead of raw fish.
Imitation crab is made of cooked pollock fish and flavored with yummy savory/sweet ingredients. It’s a classic ingredient in Japanese cooking and especially sushi. California rolls wouldn’t be complete without avocado and this one is loaded with it.
5. “Poor Man’s” spicy tuna roll
This roll is far from poor in flavor and tasty seasoning, but instead of spending a fortune on sushi grade tuna, you use a can of good tuna packed in water.
The tuna is flaked and then zested up with sriracha and other spices to really make it sing.
This sushi with cooked fish is one of so many different sushi recipes.
The great thing about sushi is it’s totally customizable. If you don’t have canned tuna, use canned salmon! Or make it totally vegetarian by using shredded jackfruit or chickpeas.
6. Shrimp Rolls, Easy Homemade Sushi
This recipe is for all those people out there that are nervous to make sushi because it feels so difficult. This roll has only four ingredients and comes together to simply make it over and over again.
The secret to a really good sushi roll is the rice.
Make sure you get sushi rice, also known as California Calrose rice. The rice is best if you add a little sugar and rice wine vinegar when it’s still hot and then stir it around to season evenly.
DIfferent sushi recipes call for different ways to cook rice, but as long as you use sushi rice you can’t go wrong.
The shrimp in this roll could easily be swapped for any cooked fish you like to make it perfect for your tastes.
7. Vegetarian Sushi
If anyone ever tries to ask, is cooked sushi real sushi? Make them this vegetarian sushi roll that can be found all over Japan and in sushi restaurants as well.
Vegetarian sushi is great because you can use many different vegetables you like.
A combination of cucumbers, carrots, avocado, and sprouts make a delicious and satisfying sushi roll.
If you want to think outside the box you can even use things like cooked sweet potato, squash or tempura fried eggplant.
8. California Crunch Roll
This sushi with cooked fish takes the California roll to a whole new level. The California crunch roll is all about textures, and once you make this one you’ll be adding this addictive crunchy topping to all your rolls.
The fillings remain classic, with imitation crab, avocado, and cucumber.
The secret to making these rolls so good? A drizzle of eel sauce mixed with sriracha and mayo.
The crunch is little bits of tempura batter that are fried to perfection, you can make your own or buy them at any Asian market.
9. FireCracker Roll
This roll is all about the firecracker redfish eggs that adorn the top of this. They are so bright and colorful that they make this roll look like an absolute firecracker.
The filling can be anything you choose, cooked or raw.
The secret to making this firecracker roll really pop is to put spicy sriracha sauce as you’re building the rolls so every bite has a pop of fire when you eat it.
These fish eggs are available online from specialty shops and come frozen, you can easily defrost them in your fridge and use them for all your cooked sushi ideas!
10. Unagi Roll
This is a classic and time-honored cooked sushi roll. Unagi means eel in Japanese.
Typically it’s a freshwater variety that has been roasted slowly and glazed with a sweet and savory sauce repeatedly so that it’s juicy and soaked with the delicious sauce.
This roll is simple, which makes it easy to recreate at home and also easy to put together.
Eel gives cooked sushi rolls such a wonderful sweet and savory flavor you will not be disappointed.
11. Philadelphia Roll
This is a newer cooked sushi roll that became wildly popular in the last ten or so years. The” Philadelphia”, in a Philly roll, comes from the cream cheese that’s inside of it.
The cream cheese is such a nice pairing with cooked salmon, shrimp, or even just veggies.
This recipe uses cold smoked salmon for the perfect bite of creamy, salty, and crunchy cucumber spears.
Cream cheese is not traditional in sushi, but for the best-cooked sushi rolls sometimes it’s best to think outside the box.
12. Caterpillar roll
This roll is so fun because you can really make it look like a caterpillar with some bean sprout antennae and little dots of spicy mayo for eyes!
The caterpillar is built with a filling of unagi eel, cucumber, and avocado, then wrapped in the traditional rice and nori seaweed.
The exterior is then rolled in thinly sliced avocado that’s been laid out in a rectangle shape.
This sounds complicated but it’s really quite simple and so tasty.
13. Sushi Pizza
Ok, some might say it’s crazy but sushi pizza is a thing! And it’s just as good as a sushi roll.
Sushi pizza starts with a base of seaweed, then a layer of nice sticky sushi rice to build on top of.
The toppings can be anything from a cooked sushi roll you like best: shrimp tempura, firecracker shrimp, flakey roasted salmon, veggies like cucumbers and avocados, or just keep it simple with imitation crab and avocado.
These pizzas are totally customizable and a great idea for an interactive dinner where everyone builds their own pizza with their favorite toppings.
14. Avocado Rolls
Avocado and sushi go together like peas and carrots. Avocado is the perfect creamy and savory element to add to a sushi roll to keep it light and also give it richness.
So why not make yourself a simple, delicious sushi roll with just avocado!
This sushi roll isn’t technically cooked, but it also has no raw fish, is vegan and vegetarian, and you won’t miss any of those other fillings because it is so delicious.
15. Veggie Sushi with Black Rice
This veggie roll gets a big dose of drama from black forbidden rice used instead of sushi rice. Black forbidden rice has a lot of the starch that sushi rice contains so it holds up really well in a sushi roll.
It’s a delicious variety, with a little bit of a nutty flavor to it and such a deep black color!
Some black rice can even take on a purple hue, which makes for really funky sushi rolls.
Plus, the black rice makes any vegetable you put inside seriously pop, and adds such a level to your presentation your guests will surely be impressed.
16. Deep Fried Sushi
This sushi is cooked in two ways. First off this roll can be filled anyway you like.
Keep it simple with a California roll filling or get really crazy and go with a tempura vegetable, shrimp, and avocado combination.
Once you’ve built your favorite roll, simply dip the roll into some egg wash, roll in flour or cornstarch and fry in hot oil until perfectly crispy on the outside.
The texture of the fried roll is so perfectly crispy and salty with the seaweed you may not cook your sushi again.
17. Oshinko Roll
This is a super traditional Japanese recipe for a sushi roll. The fillings are not so much cooked, but pickled. The main ingredients for this roll is cucumber and pickled daikon radish.
The daikon radish is sweet and immensely crunchy, with a tang from the pickling.
Traditionally, the daikon is left to hang in the wind and sun for a long time to dry out and start to naturally ferment, it’s then mixed with salt, kombu, rice bran, and yellow flowers to dye the pickling mixture.
It’s got a sweet, earthy slight tang to it and it’s delicious with fresh crispy cucumbers.
18. Inari
Inari sushi is another cooked sushi roll that isn’t exactly a roll and is more of a little pillow pocket.
The outside wrapper is made of seasoned soybean, or tofu, sheets that are then deep-fried and chilled into puffy, delicious vessels.
Stuffed inside is sushi rice, and whatever else you want to add.
Inari is great with cooked salmon, cooked shrimp, small diced vegetables like carrot or cucumber, and even sometimes egg. These little pockets of flavor are perfect for lunchboxes or picnics.
19. Cucumber Sushi
This is truly the no-roll sushi roll. An innovative and different approach to sushi roll pieces where you simply scoop out the center of cucumber all the way through and fill it with sushi rice and veggies cut into thin strips.
Then you can slice rounds of cucumber encasing all your fillings and dramatically cut down the amount of rice needed for the roll.
It’s an interesting take on a veggie sushi roll.
20. Sweet Potato Sushi
Sweet potatoes go perfectly in a sushi roll because of their soft, velvety texture after they’ve been roasted.
This paired with the sticky sushi rice and crispy nori make for a delicious combination.
Top off the roll with a drizzle of spicy sriracha mayo and a good helping of black and white sesame seeds. This roll is not only delicious but also quite beautiful.
If you’re ever making sushi for a crowd and need a vegan option, this is the perfect recipe for it.
21. Futomaki
Futomaki is the word for “sushi roll” in Japanese, so traditionally it was fat and thick sushi rolled filled with whatever you had on hand.
This recipe is for a futomaki filled with sweet japanese egg omelet called Tamago, roasted mushrooms, cucumber, spinach, and seasoned cod.
You could really use any fish or combination of vegetables in this roll.
The savory mushrooms paired nicely with the rich egg omelet are a wonderful combination you must try.
22. Shrimp Tempura Godzilla Roll
This roll is everything you could want in a cooked sushi roll all packed into the perfect large bite.
Gigantic prawn tempura is paired with cream cheese and avocado with a drizzle of spicy sriracha mayo.
The roll is then deep-fried to perfection and hit with another drizzle of spicy mayo and some toasted sesame seeds.
It’s a Godzilla strength flavor package in one little roll. You can swap out the shrimp tempura for veggie and make it vegetarian.
22 Most Popular Cooked Sushi
Ingredients
- ¼ c seasoned rice vinegar(60 mL)
- 4 half sheets sushi grade nori
- 4 ounces cream cheese(115 g),
- 2 c sushi rice(460 g)
- 1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- 4 ounces smoked salmon(115 g)
Instructions
- Make your sushi rice by steaming the rice till fully cooked, then seasoning with rice vinegar and fan with a piece of cardboard or a proper fan while stirring to cool the rice to room temperature.
- Roll out your bamboo mat, then lay a piece of nori over top.
- Get your hands just a little wet and then lay out rice over the nori to cover the entire sheet.
- About ¼ inch from the bottom of the nori and rice sheet, layer your smoked salmon, cream cheese, and cucumber
- Grabbing the mat and the nori from the bottom portion, roll the mat over so the bottom of the nori sheet folds over the fillings and onto the upper portion of the roll, press down to secure that shape then roll the remaining portion of the nori sheet so you have a long log-shaped sushi
roll. - Transfer to a cutting board and slice into 6 equal portions.