Rainbow Sushi

These brightly coloured Rainbow Sushi rolls are packed full of veggies and a fun way to get more vegetables in your diet. Easy to adapt with anything that fits the colours of the rainbow, if you have never made sushi before then this is a great place to start.

Vegetable filled sushi rolls on a serving board next to some chopsticks and wasabi.

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We are on a big homemade sushi kick at the moment and the kids had so much fun making and eating these. They have named it unicorn sushi and I think you can see why.

Bursting with lots of different coloured vegetables, these a super nutritious. Homemade sushi is much easier to make than you might think.

What is Rainbow Sushi?

Just by looking at it you can probably guess. It is sushi rolls filled with the colours of the rainbow. In Japan, these are called Niji-maki.

Use this rainbow roll sushi recipe as a base and then fill it with as many different coloured vegetables as you can.

Jump to:

What is Rainbow Sushi?
Why You will Love Them
Ingredients and Substitutions
Variations
How to Make Rainbow Sushi
What to Serve with Rainbow Sushi
Storage
Dannii's Top Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
More Japanese Recipes
Recipe
Feedback

Why You will Love Them

Easy - You might think sushi is hard to make, but this rainbow sushi 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 sushi roll, as anything goes. You can easily adapt it with other fillings - more ideas below.
Refreshing - This is a real summer favourite for us. A filling, but light, lunch and super refreshing too.

Ingredients and Substitutions

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

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

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.
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.
Bell peppers - Any colour works here. Use a mixture for the best finished dish.
Carrot - These add a nice crunch. We used orange carrots, but you could use rainbow carrots for even more colour.
Cucumber - Traditionally you would use Japanese cucumber, which you can find in more Japanese supermarkets. However, any cucumber will work for this. If you don't like cucumber, you could just use avocado instead.
Avocado - This adds lots of creaminess and some healthy fats to the rainbow roll.
Beetroot - Use raw beetroot rather than the pickled kind.

Variations

The variation options are almost endless here. Other ingredients that you can add to this include, pickled radish, smoked salmon, roasted sweet potato, crab sticks or some tofu.

These are larger rolls, but try not to add too many fillings otherwise you will struggle to roll it up.

You can finish off with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

If you really wanted to give this some extra colour, then you could add food colouring to the rice. You could separate the rice into 4 and add a different colour to each and then add the rice in rows, so when it is rolled you get sections of colour.

How to Make Rainbow Sushi

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

A bamboo rolling mat with nori and 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.

Strips of vegetables laid on top of the rice.

Step 2: Lay the filling halfway along the rice.

Two shot collage of sushi being rolled in a mat, then the fully rolled roll.

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

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 Rainbow Sushi

This rainbow sushi 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 big more of a kick, then mix together some mayo and Sriracha to dip these rainbow maki rolls in.

We love dipping sushi in our Healthy Teriyaki Sauce too.

A sushi roll filled with pepper, cucumber, avocado, carrot and beetroot.

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. Add a bit of lemon juice to the avocado to stop it from browning and keep it fresher for longer.

Dannii's Top Tips

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.
You could also make these inside out rolls by following the instructions for our Vegan Sushi recipe.
You can finish the rolls off by sprinkling them with sesame seeds.
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.

Colourful sushi rolls on a wooden serving board.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much sushi rice do you need per sushi roll?

For each nori sheet, which makes one sushi roll, you need 100g 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.

What can I use instead of a 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/serran wrap first.

More Japanese Recipes

If you've tried this rainbow sushi 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

Thirteen pieces of rainbow sushi on a wooden serving board.

Rainbow Sushi (Niji-maki)

By: Dannii Martin

These brightly coloured Rainbow Sushi rolls are packed full of veggies and a fun way to get more vegetables in your diet.

Gluten Free

Vegan

5 from 6 votes

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Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: Japanese

Prep: 10

Total: 10

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 114kcal

Allergens:

No Common Allergens

Ingredients

▢ 200 g (1 cups) of Cooked sushi rice
▢ 2 sheet of Nori
▢ 0.5 Red bell pepper - cut into thin strips
▢ 0.5 Yellow bell pepper - cut into thin strips
▢ 0.25 Cucumber - cut into thin strips
▢ 1 Carrot - grated
▢ 0.5 Avocado - cut into thin strips
▢ 1 Beetroot - grated

For ingredient swaps, see our Ingredients and Substitutions section

Instructions

Cook your sushi rice according to our Sushi Rice recipe.
200 g of 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 of Nori
Lay the filling halfway along the rice.
0.5 Red bell pepper, 0.5 Yellow bell pepper, 0.25 Cucumber, 1 Carrot, 0.5 Avocado, 1 Beetroot
Using a 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.

Recipe Video

Recipe Tips

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.
You could also make these inside out rolls by following the instructions for our Vegan Sushi recipe.
You can finish the rolls off by sprinkling them with sesame seeds.
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.