This sushi bake combines creamy, spicy salmon and sticky rice with a flavorful spicy sauce for a twist on traditional sushi that you can easily make at home!
Love sushi but don’t have the time or confidence to roll your own at home? This sushi bake is the easiest and most flavorful way to enjoy your favorite sushi flavors anytime the craving strikes. Like our Korean Style Spicy Sashimi Salad and Poke Burrito, you can make sushi-inspired meals at home without all the fuss.
Baking the steamed rice creates a crispy texture that contrasts the creamy salmon filling in the most amazing way. Topping it all off with a sauce of kewie pie, eel sauce, sriracha, and furikake adds the spicy umami flavor you love. All you need is an 8 x 8-inch baking dish, no special tools, to make a baked sushi casserole that just might rival your favorite takeout spot.
What is a sushi bake?
A sushi bake is a casserole with all your favorite sushi ingredients and flavors. Steamed rice bakes at the bottom of a greased pan and is topped with a mixture of cream cheese, mayo, salmon, sriracha, soy sauce, green onions, and furikake. The entire pan is baked and then broiled for a golden, browned, and crispy texture. And with a spicy mayo drizzled on top, you can serve it with any of your other favorite sushi ingredients like avocado, cucumbers, and nori.
Where did the sushi bake originate?
It’s said that Mimi Qui Reyes, a nail artist in the Philippines first started making them around the 2010’s. She then began gifting them to celebrity clients during the 2020 pandemic, where they began going viral and made all over the world!
How to make our spicy salmon sushi bake
Ingredients
Sushi rice
Salmon mixture
Toppings
Process
- Preheat oven to 425˚F. In a bowl, combine all rice ingredients and gently fold them together.
- Press mixture into a lightly greased 8”x8” baking dish.
- Combine all salmon ingredients into a bowl, except furikake, and mix together.
- Top rice with an even layer of furikake.
- Then top with an even layer of salmon mixture.
- Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Then broil for 1 to 2 minutes to lightly brown top. Remove from heat and cool for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Top sushi bake with a drizzle of kewie pie, eel sauce, and sriracha, and finish with a sprinkle of furikake and green onions. Serve with toasted nori, avocado, and cucumber.
Substitutions and variations
Here are some ways to make this sushi bake your own or switch it up to enjoy a new variation each time you make it!
- Swap the rice. Instead of short-grain rice, use cauliflower rice, brown rice, or quinoa for a different flavor and nutrient profile.
- Swap the Salmon. Instead of cooked salmon, you can use cooked tuna, canned salmon or tuna, cooked shrimp, imitation crab meat, or real crab meat for a bit of a fancier spin.
- Make it dairy-free. Use a dairy-free cream cheese in the salmon mixture.
- Top with more veggies. Cucumber and avocado are classic, but you can also top this sushi bake with sliced carrots, radishes
- Swap the furikake. You can create a similar flavor and texture with sesame seeds, seaweed flakes, and sea salt if you don’t have furikake on hand.
- Swap the kewpie mayo. We love using kewpie mayo (a Japanese mayo that’s made with just the egg yolks, not the whole egg, for a richer flavor and texture), but if you can’t get your hands on it, regular mayo can work in a pinch.
How to serve sushi bake
Serve the sushi bake with seaweed snacks or nori sheets. You can cut small pieces of the sushi bake and wrap them into the seaweed sheets like a little taco – much easier than rolling! Inside the nori or on top of the sushi bake, you can include julienned cucumber, carrots, radishes, pickled ginger, or slices of avocado.
Tips and tricks for the BEST sushi bake experience
- Avoid overcooking the rice. Because the rice is steamed and then baked, you’ll want to make sure the rice isn’t initially overcooked. Letting it cool after it’s steamed can also help the rice bake with more of a crispy texture and avoid becoming mushy.
- Use soft cream cheese. Let the cream cheese get to room temperature before making the salmon mixture. This will help the texture be creamy and not lumpy.
- For the best flavor, use fresh, quality seafood.
- Don’t skip the furikake. Adding a light layer of furikake between the rice and salmon mixture helps infuse the rice with flavor as it cooks.
- Don’t skip the broil. While it only needs a minute or two, broiling the sushi bake at the end helps add a crispy texture and deeper flavor to the entire dish.
- Serve warm or cold. We like this dish served warm, but it’s also great straight from the refrigerator, enjoyed cold.
- Cut nori sheets into manageable sizes. If you’re using sheets of nori instead of pre-cut seaweed snacks, cut them into squares or rectangles that can easily hold 2-3 inch squares of the casserole.
Can this recipe be made ahead of time?
This recipe is best when eaten fresh while still warm, but it can be made ahead of time or even enjoyed cold right out of the refrigerator.
To make cooking easier, feel free to prep these parts ahead of time:
- Steam the rice up to three days ahead of time, letting it cool, and store it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Cook the salmon or make the salmon mixture up to 24 hours ahead of time, then store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container until ready to use.
- Preslice your veggies.
To store leftovers, place them in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Enjoy the cold sushi casserole or reheat it by covering a pan in foil and baking at 350˚F until warmed. You can also reheat in the microwave in 30-second increments until the dish is warmed through.
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Sushi Bake
This sushi bake combines creamy, spicy salmon and sticky rice with a flavorful spicy sauce for a twist on traditional sushi that you can easily make at home!
Servings:
INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
-
Preheat oven to 425˚F. In a bowl combine all rice ingredients and gently fold together.
-
Press mixture into a lightly greased 8”x8” baking dish.
-
Combine all salmon ingredients into a bowl, except furikake, and mix together.
-
Top rice with an even layer of furikake.
-
Then top with an even layer of salmon mixture.
-
Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Then broil for 1 to 2 minutes to lightly brown top. Remove from heat and cool for 5 to 8 minutes.
-
Top sushi bake with a drizzle of kewie pie, eel sauce, and sriracha and finish with a sprinkle of furikake and green onions. Serve with toasted nori, avocado, and cucumber.
NOTES
Tips and Tricks for the BEST Sushi Bake Experience
- Avoid overcooking the rice. Because the rice is steamed and then baked, you’ll want to make sure the rice isn’t initially overcooked. Letting it cool after it’s steamed can also help the rice bake with more of a crispy texture and avoid becoming mushy.
- Use soft cream cheese. Let the cream cheese get to room temperature before making the salmon mixture. This will help the texture be creamy and not lumpy.
- For the best flavor, use fresh, quality seafood.
- Don’t skip the furikake. Adding a light layer of furikake between the rice and salmon mixture helps infuse the rice with flavor as it cooks.
- Don’t skip the broil. While it only needs a minute or two, broiling the sushi bake at the end helps add a crispy texture and deeper flavor to the entire dish.
- Serve warm or cold. We like this dish served warm, but it’s also great straight from the refrigerator, enjoyed cold.
- Cut nori sheets into manageable sizes. If you’re using sheets of nori instead of pre-cut seaweed snacks, cut them into squares or rectangles that can easily hold 2-3 inch squares of the casserole.
Calories: 363kcal Carbohydrates: 30g Protein: 12g Fat: 21g Saturated Fat: 6g Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g Monounsaturated Fat: 5g Trans Fat: 0.03g Cholesterol: 47mg Sodium: 578mg Potassium: 279mg Fiber: 0.3g Sugar: 2g Vitamin A: 373IU Vitamin C: 8mg Calcium: 32mg Iron: 2mg
KEYWORD: quick and easy recipe, spicy salmon recipe, spicy salmon sushi bake, sushi casserole
COURSE: dinner, Main Course, main dish
