California rolls with salmon, avocado and cucumber. This simple step by step guide will show you how to make your own California sushi rolls at home. Usually served without raw fish, this sushi roll is a great option for sushi-newbies, kids, and anyone who really can't stand uncooked fish.

sushi roll with rice on the outside on a black slate platter

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🍣 Making sushi at home
🥘 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
💭 Tips and tricks
📖 Recipe

The great thing about making your own sushi rolls is that you can fill them with whatever ingredients you like and whatever suits you and your family best. Keep it vegetarian, go all out with some lovely sushi grade raw fish, or 'play it safe' and use smoked salmon or crab sticks.

California rolls typically contain cucumber, avocado and crabsticks. This is easy on the palate and also looks very pretty with the bright pinks and greens. In this particular recipe I opted for smoked salmon instead of crabsticks. But feel free to use whatever filling you prefer.

🍣 Making sushi at home

For more detailed information, sushi making tips and a full list of what you will need for making your own sushi at home jump over to my full guide for sushi rolls. Also, have a look at how to make sushi rice and how you can make other types of sushi rolls including maki sushi, dragon roll sushi and nigiri sushi.

🥘 Ingredients

Full ingredients & recipe instructions in recipe card below: Jump to Recipe Card

To make 40 pieces of California roll sushi you will need the following:

600g of cooked and prepared sushi rice
1 pack nori sheets (5 in a pack) (seaweed sheets)
Black sesame seeds
½ cucumber sliced into this julienne sticks
1 avocado thinly sliced (toss in lime juice to keep fresh)
250g smoked salmon or 5 crab sticks

Substitutions: The fish and veg filling can be swapped to suit your taste. Try with other vegetables such as bell pepper, celery, raw carrot, raw beetroot, raw red cabbage. Or if you want to add some sashimi (raw, thinly sliced fish). Try with this Sashimi Kit from The Fish Society . (Includes 60g+ Saba Mackerel, 60g+ Gindara Black cod, 60g+ Maguro tuna, 60g+ Chalkstripe salmon belly, 60g+ butterflied king prawns, soy sauce sachets, wasabi sachets, pickled ginger sachets and chop sticks.

🔪 Instructions

Rice: First prepare the rice by following the instructions in this how to make sushi rice recipe
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Set up your working area: 1 bamboo mat ready to roll your sushi, a bowl of water to keep your hands wet whilst handling sushi rice, sliced fish and veg, bowl of prepared sushi rice, and 5 sheets of nori.
Each roll is made with 1 sheet of nori: Place the nori, shiny side down, on the top of your bamboo mat. Wet your hands and take a snooker ball amount of rice and place in the centre of the seaweed sheet. Then wet your hands again and start to spread thinly and evenly over the nori. Leaving a 2cm gap at the top. Aim for 2-3 grains thick.
Sesame seeds: At this point if you wish, you can sprinkle over black sesame and or black onion seeds.
Flip over: The nori and rice must now be flipped over. The rice will stay stuck to the nori so don’t worry. Pick up the top end and flip over from top to bottom.
Filling: The fish and veg filling can be placed on top of the seaweed sheet, around 2cm up from the bottom. As this is a larger sushi roll (compared to maki sushi) up to 3 fillings can be used. Here I have used salmon, cucumber and avocado.
Now, its time to roll: Pick up the bottom end of the mat and start to fold it over. For the first roll you should be aiming to get the bottom end over the fillings. Then lift the end of the mat up again and roll and tighten. Continue to roll until the sushi comes out at the other side.
Before slicing the California roll: cover with cling film and press to the shape. You can place the mat back over the roll to do this. Then remove mat but leave cling film in place for slicing.
Slicing: Next, wet your knife by dipping the blade into the water. Then hold the knife up and allow the water to run down the length of the blade. Slice the roll into six or eight pieces. Slice firmly through the sushi, moving the blade back and forth so to cut and not to squash. Wet the blade between each slice to prevent the blade from sticking.
Repeat: Repeat with the remaining ingredients
Serve: Present the sliced California rolls with the inside facing up and serve on a platter.

💭 Tips and tricks

Rice: To create the right kind of flavour mix your sushi rice with rice wine vinegar and mirin rice wine, sugar and salt.

Bamboo mat: Get yourself a Bamboo Rolling Mat. The sushi making process is made so much easier if you have a mat to help you roll and tighten your sushi rolls. However, you don’t have to use a bamboo mat. If you can’t get hold of one you can use baking paper to roll your sushi.

Water: Have a bowl of water on hand to keep your hands wet when handling the sushi rice. Sushi rice is extremely sticky and if your hands are dry you’ll find it sticks to you rather than the seaweed. Things can get very messy very quickly.

Sushi grade fish: If using raw fish I'd suggesting using fish that has been frozen to below the right temperature for the correct amount of time, which will be a lot safer to consume raw. See my full guide on sushi rolls for further details on freezing fish and sushi grade fish.

Sashimi kit: If using raw fish I'd suggest buying a sashimi kit that comes with a selection of sushi grade, frozen, raw fish ready for slicing into thin pieces (sashimi). I highly recommend the sashimi kit from the Fish Society, which is what I used for making all of my sushi recipes. And there was some fish left over from this, so it goes a long way. This kit comes with 4 different types of frozen, raw fish, plus cooked, butterflied king prawns. The Fish society guarantees a total weight of 300g of sushi grade fish. The kit also includes sachets of soy sauce, sachets of wasabi, sachets of pickled ginger and 2 sets of wooden chop sticks.

Vegetables: If using veg instead of, or as well as fish, go for bright colours that will look pretty against the white rice. Also choose veg that will last and not go limp. Obvious choices include cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, raw beetroot, radish and red cabbage. I also love to use avocado, which I toss in lime juice immediately after slicing to stop it oxidising and going brown.

Protect your mat: Wrap your bamboo mat with cling film to keep it clean, particularly when making California rolls when the rice is on the outer edge.

Don't use too much rice: Try not to place too much rice on the seaweed sheet. Spread as thinly as possible over your nori sheet and leave a 2cm gap at the top to allow room for sealing.

Knife: Use a long blade, sharp, non serrated knife for slicing your sushi. Before slicing dip the knife blade in water and allow the water to run down the length of the blade. This stops the blade from sticking.

Slicing: When slicing sushi with rice on the outer edge (California rolls) place cling film over your finished rolls first. This will help to keep the roll together and help to keep its shape whilst you slice.

Wrap and chill: Once your sushi are made, plate up cover and chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. This will firstly keep the sushi nice and fresh but will also set the rice and make your sushi easier to handle and eat.

Condiments: Serve with soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi for that extra punch of flavour and touch of authenticity.

Time!: Give yourself plenty of time! Don’t under estimate the mess this can make and the time it can take just to prepare your veg and fish alone.

Let me know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment or star rating below. You can also pin the recipe or if you prefer you can pin the video.

California rolls

🍣 Making sushi at home

🥘 Ingredients

🔪 Instructions

💭 Tips and tricks

📖 Recipe