The 3-Ingredient Avocado Rolls I Make Instead of Buying Sushi

These easy Avocado Rolls need just 3 ingredients and they are so simple to make. If you have never made sushi before, then avocado maki is a great place to start and it's one of the most popular sushi rolls. Much cheaper than buying them in a restaurant too.

Avocado sushi rolls on a wooden board with a small bowl of soy sauce.

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Sushi is much easier to make than you might think and these avocado sushi rolls are a great one to practise your sushi making skills on.

Avocado sushi has just one filling (although it's easy to adapt with more), making it easy to make - it might take a little practise but soon you will be able to make it look like it came from a restaurant! And cheaper too!

Jump to:

What is an Avocado Roll?
Why You Will Love It
Ingredients and Substitutions
Variations
Pro Tip
How to Make Avocado Rolls
What to Serve with Avocado Sushi
Storage
Dannii's Top Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
More Japanese Recipes
Recipe
Feedback

What is an Avocado Roll?

An avocado roll is a type of sushi maki roll made from seasoned sushi rice spread on to nori (seaweed) and then filled with avocado and rolled and sliced into bite sized rolls. Although it is not traditionally Japanese, it has become popular in sushi restaurants around the world.

This type of sushi is known as a maki roll with rice on the inside, but you can roll it inside out, with the rice on the outside if you prefer, just like our Vegan Sushi.

If you are not a fan of fish, then an avocado roll sushi is a great alternative, but avocados also have healthy fats like fish does. It is maybe more suitable for people that aren't used to sushi, like kids.

Why You Will Love It

Easy - You might think sushi is hard to make, but avocado maki is about as easy as it gets. All you need is a pan to cook the rice in and a sushi rolling mat too.
Adaptable - This is a really easy vegetarian sushi roll, with just one filling. However, you can easily adapt it with other fillings - more ideas below.
Cheap - Anything with avocado in is usually really expensive in a restaurant, but these are so cheap to make yourself at home.

Ingredients and Substitutions

All the ingredients needed for this recipe with text overlay lables.

A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Nori - These are the sheets of edible seaweed that sushi is wrapped in. Choose a brand that is dark green in colour. You can find these in the world food aisle of most supermarkets.
Sushi rice - You have to use sushi rice for the best results. Basmati or jasmine rice will not work. Follow our recipe for Sushi Rice for the best sticky rice. The measurements in this recipe are for cooked sushi rice.
Avocado - Make sure that the avocado isn't under or over-ripe. You don't want it to be mushy and brown, but you don't want it to be hard either. Check under the stem cap of the avocado - if it's green or lightly browned, the avocado is good.
Sesame seeds - These are optional, but we love sprinkling these on top before serving for taste and texture.

Variations

The variation options are almost endless here, but we have lots of veggie sushi ideas for you.

Other ingredients that you can add to this maki sushi include cucumber sticks, tofu, pickled radish, roasted sweet potato, red/purple cabbage, fresh coriander (cilantro), tenderstem broccoli, jackfruit, asparagus, cooked mushrooms, vegan cream cheese or jalapeno.

You could even add some mango, as it's lovely and fresh and the creaminess goes well with the avocado.

These are meant to be thin rolls, so try not to add too many fillings otherwise you will end up with a much larger roll.

Pro Tip

This recipe calls for 200g of cooked sushi rice. To make this amount of cooked rice, you will need 70g of raw rice.

If you are altering the serving size in the recipe card, divide the amount of cooked rice by 3 to get how much raw rice you will need.

How to Make Avocado Rolls

Prep: Cook your sushi rice according to our Sushi Rice recipe.

A sushi rolling mat with a sheet of nori with sushi rice on it.

Step 1: Lay a sheet of nori on a bamboo rolling mat, shiny side down. Put the cooked sushi rice onto the nori and spread to cover ¾ of the nori.

Sliced avocado added on top of the rice.

Step 2: Lay the strips of avocado halfway along the rice.

Step 3: Using a bamboo rolling mat, roll up from the bottom, tightly away from you. Leave a small amount of nori unrolled. Wet this part of the nori with water and finish rolling to seal it.

Sliced avocado maki rolls on a chopping board.

Step 4: Dip a sharp knife into some water and then slice the roll. Dip the knife into water each time you make a cut. Slice the roll into 10 pieces.

What to Serve with Avocado Sushi

This avocado maki is great for a light lunch, but are also a great addition to a bigger sushi meal. Try it with some of these sushi recipes:

You could also serve it with an edamame salad and some pickled seaweed.

Of course some soy sauce, wasabi and ginger are a must served alongside sushi. But if you want something with a bit more of a kick, then mix together some mayo and Sriracha to dip these maki rolls into.

We love dipping sushi in our Healthy Teriyaki Sauce too.

Storage

It is best to eat sushi within 1-2 hours of it being made, as the rice will go dry and stale. However, if you do have any leftovers then it can be stored.

Refrigerate in an air tight container for up to 24 hours. If it has gone stale, you can put it in the microwave for 20 seconds to soften it up. Add a little lemon juice to the avocado to stop it from browning.

If you have any leftover nori sheets, it's important to store them properly because they turn stale very quickly. Keep the leftover sheets in your fridge in a freezer bag with the air removed.

Dannii's Top Tips

For easy cleaning, you can put the rolling mat inside a zip lock bag.
Make sure to wet the knife before making each cut. This prevents the rice from sticking to the knife.
Always place the nori shiny side down on the rolling mat. This is because the rice sticks better to the rough side and it looks better for presentation.
With some nori brands, you might not be able to use water to seal the roll. You can use cooked rice grains as the "glue" instead, just squash a few grains across the nori where you want to seal it.
Make sure the sushi rice is fully cooled before adding it to the nori, as the steam of the hot rice can cause the nori to go soggy.
When handling the rice, use wet hands or a spoon, as it is very sticky.

A pair of chopsticks dipping some avocado sushi into a small dish of soy sauce.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I use instead of a sushi rolling mat?

We really would recommend getting a sushi rolling mat, and they are quite reasonable in shops or online. However, if you don't have one then you can use a flexible place mat instead. Just wrap it in clingfilm/saran wrap first.

How much rice do you need per sushi roll?

For each nori sheet, which makes one sushi roll, you need 100g/0.5 cup of cooked sushi rice.

How do you roll sushi tightly?

Using both hands, slowly roll it with the bamboo mat pressing down gently and equally as you roll. The pressure will make it stick together.

More Japanese Recipes

If you've tried this avocado maki recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy - Use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.

Recipe

Seventeen pieces of avocado maki on a wooden serving board.

Avocado Maki (Abokado Maki)

By: Dannii Martin

These easy Avocado Rolls need just 3 ingredients and are so simple to make. If you've never made sushi before, then avocado maki is a great place to start.

Gluten Free

Vegan

5 from 9 votes

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Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: Japanese

Prep: 10

Total: 10

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 129kcal

Allergens:

No Common Allergens

Ingredients

▢ 200 g (1 cups) Cooked sushi rice
▢ 2 sheet Nori
▢ 1 Avocado - thinly sliced

For ingredient swaps, see our Ingredients and Substitutions section

Instructions

Cook your sushi rice according to our Sushi Rice recipe.
200 g Cooked sushi rice
Lay a sheet of nori on a bamboo rolling mat, shiny side down. Put the cooked sushi rice onto the nori and spread to cover ¾ of the nori.
2 sheet Nori
Lay the strips of avocado halfway along the rice.
1 Avocado
Using a bamboo rolling mat, roll up from the bottom, tightly away from you. Leave a small amount of nori unrolled. Wet this part of the nori with water and finish rolling to seal it.
Dip a sharp knife into some water and then slice the roll. Dip the knife into water each time you make a cut. Slice the roll into 10 pieces.

Recipe Tips

For easy cleaning, you can put the rolling mat inside a zip lock bag.
This recipe calls for 200g of cooked sushi rice. To make this amount of cooked rice, you will need 70g of raw rice. If you are altering the serving size in the recipe card, divide the amount of cooked rice by 3 to get how much raw rice you will need.
Make sure to wet the knife before making each cut. This prevents the rice from sticking to the knife.
Always place the nori shiny side down on the rolling mat. This is because the rice sticks better to the rough side and it looks better for presentation.
With some nori brands, you might not be able to use water to seal the roll. You can use cooked rice grains as the "glue" instead, just squash a few grains across the nori where you want to seal it.
Make sure the sushi rice is fully cooled before adding it to the nori, as the steam of the hot rice can cause the nori to go soggy.
When handling the rice, use wet hands or a spoon, as it is very sticky.