Say goodbye to any doubts about vegan sushi because this Vegan Dynamite Roll is about to blow your mind! It features crispy cauliflower, cucumbers, avocado, and carrots, all topped with spicy mayo. The combination of textures and flavours in this roll is simply irresistible. Once you try it, you’ll be hooked!
🧨 All About This Crispy Cauliflower Dynamite Roll
The “dynamite” part comes from the spicy mayo, which adds a fiery kick. If you’ve never tried cauliflower in sushi, prepare to be obsessed. 😍
Before going vegan, I enjoyed dynamite rolls with shrimp tempura, sparking inspiration to replicate that texture using cauliflower. Transforming this humble vegetable, I coated its florets in rice crackers, garlic powder, and nooch for flavour and crunch before baking them until they were tender and crisp. 🔥
📝 Tip: “Nooch” is short for nutritional yeast, a popular vegan seasoning with a cheesy flavour.
🍣 Hungry for more sushi? Explore my go-to vegan sushi recipes listed below!
Recipe Ingredients
The photo below shows all the ingredients for the recipe with helpful notes for guidance.
Rice Crackers – Use original or salt-flavoured rice crackers.
Seasoned Sushi Rice – Please refer to this blog post’s detailed How To Make Sushi Rice (Stovetop or Rice Cooker).
Cauliflower – The star ingredient of this recipe. Choose firm, compact cauliflower heads that feel heavy for their size and without discoloration or brown spots.
Nutritional Yeast (Nooch) – Adds cheezy flavour. Available at major grocery stores, bulk food stores and health food stores.
Nori Sheets – Find dried seaweed sheets, known as nori, at Asian markets or in the international aisle of your local grocery store.
Spicy Mayo – I love the Flying Goose Brand of vegan spicy mayo. Alternatively, you can make your own using just two ingredients: vegan mayo and sriracha sauce.
📸 Visual Guide: Making Dynamite Sushi Rolls
Scroll down to find the recipe card for detailed step-by-step written instructions.
Preparing Sushi Rice
Make a batch of seasoned sushi rice and let it cool to room temperature before starting the vegan dynamite rolls.
Preparing Cauliflower
1 & 2) Pulse the rice crackers in a food processor until they form crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl.
3 & 4) Cut cauliflower into medium-sized florets. In a large bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and water to create a batter. Add cauliflower and toss to coat.
5 & 6) Dip each cauliflower floret in rice cracker crumbs and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spray with oil and bake at 425F for 15 minutes, flip and bake for another 10 mins.
📝 Tip: Cut the baked cauliflower piece in half down the middle. This action will make it easier for the cauliflower to lay flat and fit neatly inside the sushi roll.
Assembling & Cutting Sushi Rolls
- Place a half sheet of nori vertically on a bamboo mat, shiny side down, rough side up. With damp hands, grab sushi rice (about 2/3 cup).
- Spread evenly on the nori, leaving 1/2 inch at the top uncovered.
- Add spicy mayo, crispy cauliflower, cucumber, avocado, and carrots in the center of the rice.
- Lift the edge of the bamboo mat closest to you, fold it over the filling, apply light pressure to tighten the roll, and then wet the uncovered nori with water.
- Continue rolling the sushi to seal completely. Apply gentle pressure with both hands to shape the roll.
- Cut the roll into 5 pieces with a knife and drizzle with spicy mayo & chives.
👩🏻🍳 Jazz’s Tips
- Save time – By purchasing pre-cut bagged cauliflower florets.
- Use oil cooking spray – Coating the cauliflower in oil before baking will help brown it. Or you can lightly brush on oil for a similar effect.
- Cut the baked cauliflower piece – In half down the middle. This action will make it easier for the cauliflower to lay flat in the roll.
- Use a water bowl – Dip your fingers in water before handling sushi rice to prevent it from sticking to you.
How To Store
To keep your vegan sushi rolls fresh, tightly cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate them for up to 2 days. Consuming the sushi on the day it’s made ensures the best texture, as the rice will firm up over time.
🇯🇵 More Vegan Japanese Dishes
- Vegan Tamagoyaki (Rolled Omelet)
- Sunomono (Cucumber Salad)
- Japanese Fruit Jelly
- Teriyaki Udon Noodles
- Vegan Shiso Pesto
- 20 Min Teriyaki Tofu
- Garlic Chili Udon Noodles
- Japanese Curry w/Chickpeas
- Vegan Kakiage Tempura
- Vegan Japanese Egg Sando
DID YOU MAKE THIS VEGAN DYNAMITE SUSHI ROLL?
I would greatly appreciate your feedback. Kindly leave a comment or star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. Also, feel free to tag me on Instagram, as I enjoy seeing photos of your recipes.
Vegan Dynamite Roll
Equipment
- Bamboo Rolling Mat
- Sharp Knife
Ingredients
Crispy Cauliflower
- 100g rice crackers (original)
- 4 cups cauliflower florets
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup water
- oil cooking spray
To Make The Dynamite Rolls
- 1 recipe seasoned sushi rice
- 4 full sheets nori seaweed
- 1-2 ripe avocados, sliced
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 1 cucumber, thin strips
- vegan spicy mayo
- fresh chives (optional)
Instructions
Prepare Rice
- Make a batch of seasoned sushi rice and let it cool to room temperature before starting the vegan dynamite rolls.
Crispy Cauliflower
- Preheat your oven to 425°F.
- In a food processor, pulse the rice crackers until they form crumbs, resulting in approximately 1 1/4 cups. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl and set aside.
- Cut your cauliflower head into medium-sized florets to equal about 4 cups, ensuring they are not too small to avoid becoming mushy during baking.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and water to form a batter. Add the cauliflower and toss until evenly coated.
- Dip each cauliflower floret into the rice cracker crumbs and place them on a parchment-lined baking pan. Spray with oil and bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Cut the baked cauliflower piece in half down the middle. This will make it easier to lay flat and fit neatly in the sushi roll.
To Make The Dynamite Rolls
- Wrap the bamboo mat in plastic wrap. Using scissors, cut the full nori sheet in half to make two half sheets.
- Place a half sheet of nori vertically on your bamboo mat, shiny side down, rough side facing up. Wet your fingers in water and grab sushi rice (about 2/3 cup). Spread evenly on the nori, leaving 1/2 inch at the top uncovered.
- In the center of the rice, add a strip of spicy mayo, baked cauliflower, cucumber strips, sliced avocado, and shredded carrots.
- To roll the sushi: Lift the edge of the bamboo mat closest to you and fold it over the filling. Hold the filling with your middle finger and apply light pressure to tighten the roll. Using your finger, wet the uncovered nori with water to act as glue. Then, lift the sushi mat and continue rolling the sushi to seal it completely. Apply gentle pressure with both hands to shape the roll.
- Cut the roll into 5 pieces with a sharp, slightly wet knife. Keep the blade wet by dipping it in water before each cut and wiping it clean after each slice. Garnish with a drizzle of spicy mayo and fresh chives.
In love! The cauliflower is amazing even just on its own dipped in the spicy mayo. The batter used is so tasty. This was my first time trying a vertical roll and I love how thicccc they are! 11/10 like always