This uramaki sushi is a Japanese-American creation that is as fun to make as it is to eat! The inside of your Rainbow Roll Sushi will be filled with crab, avocado, and cucumber, and then wrapped in seaweed and sushi rice. Your roll will be topped with mango slices, avocado, salmon, and tuna to achieve a beautiful rainbow effect.
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The rainbow roll is the perfect sushi roll for anyone who loves sushi but has a hard time deciding what to put in it. Why? It basically has it all! Crab, cucumber, avocado, salmon, tuna AND mango! What more could you want?
While this rainbow roll looks colorful and fancy, it is very much possible to make your own at home. Start with flavorful sushi rice and high-quality ingredients and you may find that homemade sushi is even better than what you get at restaurants.
The inside of the rainbow roll is filled with simple ingredients like crab and cucumber, while the outside is layered with colorful tuna, salmon, mango, and avocado. Each bite-sized piece delivers a rainbow of color and flavor!
When you make your own sushi you have the ability to customize it to your exact liking and the rainbow roll is a great one to customize. Don’t like raw fish? Use smoked salmon and imitation crab instead. Not a fan of avocado? Leave it off!
It may take a little patience to learn, but in no time you’ll be impressing all your guests with this inside-out sushi rainbow roll.
Why Make This Recipe
- At Home Sushi Night: It’s so much fun to go out for sushi, but making this recipe was my first time trying it at home! It’s awesome for a unique dinner, especially when you can turn it into a social event!
- Colorful: The best part about this Rainbow Roll is the beautiful colors on the outside! It’s so pretty, you just have to dig in.
- Customizable: There are so many different ways to customize your rainbow roll. If you want to change up the additions, you absolutely can!
What Do I Need to Make this Recipe?
Ingredients
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.
- Nori Sheet: You can buy this from any Asian grocery store. Many grocery stores will also have an Asian aisle. If your sheets aren’t cut in half already, you’ll want to do that before you start rolling your sushi.
- Sushi Rice: Cook the sushi rice according to the instructions on the package. Don’t forget the sushi vinegar to make the sushi rice (you can also make homemade sushi vinegar by heating rice vinegar, sugar, and salt together)! Do not use another type of rice for this recipe.
- Crab Stick: I cut my crab sticks in half so that they fit into the roll better.
- Salmon: I bought pre-sliced sushi-grade salmon from my local Asian market. You can slice the fish yourself if need be, but make sure it is sushi-grade.
- Tuna: I bought pre-sliced sushi-grade tuna from my local Asian market. You can slice the fish yourself if need be, but make sure it is sushi-grade.
- Mango: Cut the cheek off of one side of your mango, then carefully use a paring knife to remove the peel from the mango. Then you can cut the fruit into thin slices!
- Avocado: To get good avocado slices, remove the pit from the avocado. Then, use a butter knife to scoop vertical slices of avocado out of the shell.
Tools
- Plastic Wrap: Because the sushi is rolled with the rice on the outside, the plastic wrap is used to protect the mat and keep it from getting dirty.
- Sushi Mat: The bamboo sushi rolling mat makes it far easier for you to roll your sushi. I definitely recommend using a sushi mat for this recipe.
How to Make this Recipe
Step 1: Prep the Seaweed & Rice
Wrap your sushi mat in plastic wrap so that the rice does not stick to the bamboo.
Put the ½ seaweed sheet on the mat with the rough side up.
Lay the rice across the entire roll (you may not need to use all the rice), then flip the seaweed over so the smooth side is showing.
Step 2: Fill the Sushi
Cut the avocado into thin strips and place the strips lengthwise in the center of the seaweed.
Cut the imitation crab meat into thinner slices if needed. Place them on the seaweed next to the avocado.
Add a few slices of cucumber on top of the avocado and crab, lengthwise.
Step 3: Roll the Sushi
Place your thumbs under the sushi mat. Then lift the edge of the mat closest to your belly up and over the filling in the center.
Use your hands to press the length of the log, making sure that all of the sushi ingredients are staying together. Continue lifting and rolling the edge of the sushi mat until the sushi is in one roll. Gently press with your hands again to make sure that the rice on the outside edge is sticking together.
If you need visual instructions for this process of creating a rainbow roll, I enjoyed watching this video.
Remove the roll from the mat. Remove the plastic from the mat.
Step 4: Add the Toppings
Lay the thinly sliced fish and fruits over the top of the sushi roll with the edges slightly overlapping. Go in this order: tuna, salmon, mango, avocado, repeat.
Lay plastic wrap over the sushi roll and place your mat on top. Squeeze the mat over the roll so that the toppings stick to the rice.
Remove the plastic and use a knife to cut the sushi into 8 pieces. Serve and enjoy!
Now that you’re an expert on rolling sushi, have fun trying a few more flavor combinations – more than 16 different sushi recipes to try! Plus, check out this amazing list of different foods to pair with sushi when you’re serving guests. Your mouth will be watering for sure!
Additional Toppings You Can Use
The inside of this rainbow roll is very similar to a California Roll, but the toppings are very different. There are so many variations of rainbow rolls, which means that you have so many choices when it comes to toppings! If you don’t like the topping options I picked out, you can also choose from the following options:
- Yellowtail
- Snapper
- Flounder
- Sea bass
- Shrimp
- Masago
- Tobiko
You can also enjoy rainbow rolls without any raw ingredients. If the thought of cooking with raw fish makes you nervous, you can leave off the raw tuna and substitute smoked or canned salmon instead of raw. You won’t be able to layer canned salmon on the exterior of the roll but the taste will still be delicious!
Remember, the most important part is choosing ingredients that form a rainbow pattern when laid across the top of your sushi!
Serving Options
Some things I like to have on the table when I am serving my rainbow roll are:
- Eel Sauce
- Japanese Mayo
- Soy Sauce (be careful, as the rice on the outside of the roll does tend to make the soy sauce flavor very strong)
- Wasabi
- Sriracha Mayo
Tips for Easy Sushi Rolling
- Make sure you use room-temperature rice for your sushi. If you are making it fresh, give it time to cool before trying to handle it.
- Keep a small bowl of water nearby when you are rolling your sushi. Keeping your hands wet will keep the rice from sticking.
- It’s also very necessary to keep a moist paper towel nearby as you slice your sushi. Every few slices, take time to wipe off your knife. This will help keep it clean which makes it easier to slice through the roll. If you try to use a knife too many times without cleaning it, you will squish your roll rather than slice it.
- Use a sharp knife to cut your sushi into pieces. Use a quick back-and-forth motion to make the initial slice through the nori, then a slower sawing motion to finish the cut.
Expert Tips
- When shopping for sushi-grade salmon, please note: some packages will say sashimi-grade instead of sushi-grade on the package. These terms are interchangeable, and it means the fish is safe to eat raw. Do not use any fish. It MUST be sushi-grade. Check out this article on Sushi vs Sashimi to learn more!
- You can sprinkle sesame seeds on the rice if you want before flipping it over. The sesame seeds add a delicious smoked flavor to the roll.
- You can make a spicy tuna roll by adding spicy mayo or sriracha.
- You can add a bit of cream cheese to the center of my roll, which makes it more reminiscent of my favorite– Philadelphia Rolls!
- Be careful not to overfill your roll. It makes it difficult to roll and also difficult to eat!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, in this recipe, you will be using raw fish. This dish calls for raw tuna and raw salmon. You can also add imitation crab sticks to the center.
One of the great things about making your own sushi is you can customize it any way you like. If you are not a fan of raw fish, you can skip it or replace it with something else like crab or shrimp.
If you want Sushi vibes but don’t want raw fish, try making this Kani Salad, made with imitation crab meat!
Uramaki Sushi is a type of sushi roll where the rice is on the outside of the roll instead of inside the nori.
In this case, having the rice on the outside of the seaweed helps the fish to stick to the top of the sushi roll!
Traditional sushi is called maki sushi. This is sushi where the rice and fillings are all rolled inside the seaweed.
It is most common to cut a rainbow roll into 8 pieces. You may have more or less depending on how thick you make your slices.
If you need to slice your tuna and salmon into pieces at home, follow these instructions:
Cut the fish against the grain at a 45-degree angle. Make sure the slices are very thin so that they will drape over the top of the rice.
If you are planning on making sushi, you should plan to make several kinds. It is always fun to sample different bite-sized pieces of different rolls. Sushi is very aesthetically pleasing and it’s even more fun when you can fill your table with a wide variety of flavors and colors.
You can also offer guests several different sauces to dip their sushi in like soy sauce, eel sauce, teriyaki sauce, sriracha mayo or Japanese mayo.
It may also be a good idea to serve some miso soup, gyoza or stir fry vegetables to round out the meal.
It’s not up to me to say what’s healthy to you, but rainbow rolls are filled with healthy protein and omega 3s. The fish and vegetables in a rainbow roll are low calorie but it does contain rice.
Like anything else, sushi should be eaten in moderation as part of a healthy diet.
You can make any kind of sushi at home! California rolls are probably the easiest to make at home, and if you make rainbow rolls you already have everything you need to make California rolls as well. Dragon Rolls are also a popular option and easy to make at home. If you want to experiment with something more uncommon, try Gobo Sushi.
Rainbow rolls are not spicy unless you add something spicy to them. This recipe does not call for any spice, but you could make it spicy by mixing your crab with some spicy mayo or adding spicy mayo on top.
Sushi isn’t sushi without good sushi rice. Sushi rice is a short-grain white rice that is sticky and chewy. It is perfect for holding together all these delicious toppings.
Sushi rice is also flavored with vinegar and sugar that adds a unique flavor to your roll.
It’s possible to make sushi with other kinds of rice, but the flavor and texture will not be the same.
Yes I would highly recommend having a sushi mat for this recipe! It would be rather difficult to roll the sushi correctly without one, though you can, of course, try!
Did you enjoy this Rainbow Roll Sushi Recipe? If so, check out these other recipes I picked out just for you:
Rainbow Roll Sushi Recipe
Equipment
- Plastic Wrap
- Sushi Rolling Mat
- Knife/Knives
- Cutting Board
Ingredients
- 1 Nori Seaweed Sheet, cut in half
- ¾ cup sushi rice, Cooked
- ½ Avocado
- 1 Imitation crab stick
- 2 pieces Cucumber, thinly sliced
- 3 slices Sushi-grade salmon
- 3 slices Sushi-grade tuna
- 1 Mango, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Wrap your sushi mat in plastic wrap so that the rice does not stick to the bamboo.
- Put the ½ seaweed sheet on the mat with the rough side up.
- Lay ¾ cup rice across the entire roll (you may not need to use all the rice), then flip the seaweed over so the smooth side is showing.
- Cut ½ an avocado into thin strips and place the strips lengthwise in the center of the seaweed.
- Cut the crab stick into thinner slices if needed. Place them on the seaweed next to the avocado.
- Add a few slices of cucumber on top of the avocado and crab, lengthwise.
- Place your thumbs under the sushi mat. Then lift the edge of the mat closest to your belly up and over the filling in the center.
- Use your hands to press the length of the log, making sure that all of the sushi ingredients are staying together. Continue lifting and rolling the edge of the sushi mat until the sushi is in one roll. Gently press with your hands again to make sure that the rice on the outside edge is sticking together. If you need visual instructions for this process, I enjoyed watching this video.
- Lay the thinly sliced fish and fruits over the top of the sushi roll with the edges slightly overlapping. Go in this order: tuna, salmon, mango, avocado, repeat.
- Lay plastic wrap over the sushi roll and place your mat on top. Squeeze the mat on top of the roll so that the toppings stick to the rice.
- Remove the plastic and use a knife to cut the sushi into 8 pieces. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Nori Sheet: You can buy this from any Asian grocery store. Many grocery stores will also have an Asian aisle. If your sheets aren’t cut in half already, you’ll want to do that before you start rolling your sushi.
- Sushi Rice: Cook the sushi rice according to the instructions on the package. Don’t forget the sushi vinegar to make the sushi rice (you can also make homemade sushi vinegar by heating rice vinegar, sugar, and salt together)! Do not use another type of rice for this recipe.
- Crab Stick: I cut my crab sticks in half so that they fit into the roll better.
- Salmon: I bought pre-sliced sushi-grade salmon from my local Asian market. You can slice the fish yourself if need be, but make sure it is sushi-grade.
- Tuna: I bought pre-sliced sushi-grade tuna from my local Asian market. You can slice the fish yourself if need be, but make sure it is sushi-grade.
- Mango: Cut the cheek off of one side of your mango, then carefully use a paring knife to remove the peel from the mango. Then you can cut the fruit into thin slices!
- Avocado: To get good avocado slices, remove the pit from the avocado. Then, use a butter knife to scoop vertical slices of avocado out of the shell.
- When shopping for sushi-grade salmon, please note: that some packages will say sashimi-grade instead of sushi-grade on the package. These terms are interchangeable, and it means the fish is safe to eat raw. Do not use any fish. It MUST be sushi-grade. Check out this article on Sushi vs Sashimi to learn more!
- You can sprinkle sesame seeds on the rice if you want before flipping it over. The sesame seeds add a delicious smoked flavor to the roll.
- You can make a spicy tuna roll by adding spicy mayo or sriracha.
- You can add a bit of cream cheese to the center of my roll, which makes it more reminiscent of my favorite– Philadelphia Rolls!
- Be careful not to overfill your roll. It makes it difficult to roll and also difficult to eat!
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