Glue & Glitter

Crunchy Air Fryer Sushi Roll

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Y’all, I am crazy for these delicious Air Fryer Sushi Rolls! They’re crunchy, filling, and so, so fun to make!

hand holding a piece of crunchy air fryer sushi with the rest of the roll in the background
The pretty slate tray in these photos and in the video comes from Slate Plate. They were kind enough to send me one of their dishwasher safe plates to try out, and I love how easy it is to clean and how well it photographs! They did not compensate me for mentioning them, I’m just a fan!

I use white rice to make these rolls, but you can use white, brown, or a mix to make your own favorite version of Air Fryer Sushi Rolls.

These rolls are stuffed with toasted sesame kale salad and creamy avocado, then rolled in sriracha mayo and panko breadcrumbs and air fried. You could really make a whole meal of these babies.

The rolls and the sriracha mayo are much easier to make than you’d think. If you’re new to making sushi, I recommend that you watch the video, so you can see the technique for making sushi rolls at home.

collage of the vegan sushi roll from different angles

Sushi Rolling Tips

Really, there are just a few keys to making good, homemade sushi:

  • Keep your fingertips moist. This helps keep the rice from sticking to your fingers and makes it easier to roll up your sushi. I like to keep a little bowl of water on my work surface, just for my fingertips.
  • Get a nice, even layer of rice. Press that rice down well! It’s an important part of the glue that holds your roll together.
  • Leave a little bit of un-riced seaweed on one end of your nori sheet, so you can seal the rolls.
  • Press gently as you roll. Don’t press too hard, or your nori will split. You’ll see in the video that I pressed too hard on roll #1, and there’s a small tear. Luckily, once it’s coated and fried, you can’t see the little rip in the finished product
  • Use a very sharp knife to slice, and do not press too hard with your knife. Take your time cutting up your sushi rolls! It’s more of a sawing than a slicing.
dipping a piece of air fryer sushi into soy sauce

If you want to see sushi rolling in action, I recommend checking out the recipe video to see how to put your roll together. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be cranking out sushi like a pro!

Guys, I am crazy for these delicious Air Fryer Sushi Rolls! They're crunchy, filling, spicy, and so, so fun to make!

Air Fryer Sushi Rolls

Guys, I am crazy for these delicious Air Fryer Sushi Rolls! They’re crunchy, filling, and so, so fun to make! The prep time includes the time it will take to make a batch of white sushi rice. Stick it into the fridge to cool, so you can get rolling sooner!
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: Air Fryer, Vegan
Prep Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 3
Calories: 469kcal
Author: Becky Striepe

Ingredients

For the Kale Salad

  • 1 1/2 cups chopped kale – ribs removed
  • 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • 3/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 3/4 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds – toasted or not – your call!

For the Kale Salad Sushi Rolls

Make the Sriracha Mayo

  • 1/4 cup of your favorite vegan mayonnaise – I used Vegenaise.
  • sriracha sauce – to taste

For the Coating

Instructions

Make the Kale Salad

  • In a large bowl, combine the kale, vinegar, sesame oil, garlic powder, ground ginger, and soy sauce. With clean hands, massage the kale until it turns bright green and wilted. Stir in the sesame seeds, and set aside.

Make the Kale Salad Sushi Rolls

  • Lay out a sheet of nori on a dry surface. With slightly damp fingertips, grab a handful of rice, and spread it onto the nori. The idea here is to get a thin layer of rice covering almost the entire sheet. Along one edge, you’ll want to leave about 1/2″ of naked seaweed. Think of this as the flap that will seal your roll shut.
  • On the end of the seaweed opposite that naked part, lay out about 2-3 tablespoons of kale salad, and top with a couple of slices of avocado. Starting on the end with the filling, roll up your sushi, pressing gently to get a nice, tight roll. When you get to the end, use that naked bit of seaweed to seal the roll closed. If needed, get your fingertips wet, and moisten that bit of seaweed to make it stick.
  • Repeat steps 2-3 to make 3 more sushi rolls.

Make the Sriracha Mayo

  • In a shallow bowl, whisk together the vegan mayo with sriracha, until you reach the heat level that you like. Start with 1 teaspoon, and add more, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until you have the spicy mayo of your DREAMS!

Fry and Slice

  • Pour the panko breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl.
  • Grab your first sushi roll, and coat it as evenly as possible in the Sriracha Mayo, then in the panko. Place the roll into your air fryer basket. Repeat with the rest of your sushi rolls.
  • Air fry at 390F for 10 minutes, shaking gently after 5 minutes.
  • When the rolls are cool enough to handle, grab a good knife, and very gently slice the roll into 6-8 pieces. When you’re slicing, think of gently sawing, and don’t press hard with your knife. That will just send kale and avocado flying out of the ends of your roll.
  • Serve with soy sauce for dipping.

Nutrition

Calories: 469kcal
Tried this recipe? Share your photo!Mention @GlueAndGlitter or tag #ggveg on Instagram!

About Becky Striepe

(rhymes with “sleepy”) is a vegan food writer and cookbook author. She been vegan since 2006 and developing simple vegan recipes since 2008.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Dreena

    May 13, 2017 at 10:34 am

    Gosh, you are creative with the air fryer! Is there anything that we *can’t* do with it? Maybe ice cream. Wait… maybe?? #deepfriedicecream… ??!!

    Reply

  11. Jenn

    May 9, 2017 at 9:25 am

    They certainly do look crunchy on the outside – just the way I like them. Bonus that they don’t need to be battered and fried! YUM!

    Reply

  13. Kristina

    May 8, 2017 at 10:32 pm

    I CANNOT WAIT TO TRY THESE. we make sushi pretty often, and since the air fryer purchase, I’ve had the tempura sushi (that was always a favorite) in the back of my mind… THIS looks way easier than tempura, and just as tasty if not moreso! 🙂

    Reply

  14. Dianne

    May 8, 2017 at 9:34 am

    I love how easy you make these look. I was just thinking that I need to start making sushi at home, and now I really need to do it!

    Reply

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