Crispy Rice Sushi Cups with Spicy Tofu (Vegan)
These crispy rice sushi cups are the viral muffin tin sushi cups, made without fish. Seasoned sushi rice gets pressed into a muffin tin and baked until the edges are golden and crunchy, then each cup is filled with creamy spicy tofu, a drizzle of sriracha mayo, cucumber and sesame. You get everything you like about sushi with no rolling, no bamboo mat and no raw fish.
They come together in about 45 minutes, most of it oven time, and one tin makes twelve, which is the right number for a party plate or two lunches. The rice cups are the part people cannot believe, because they hold together like a little bowl and shatter when you bite them.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
- Sushi rice is the glue. Short grain rice is sticky enough to hold a cup shape and dry enough on the outside to crisp in the oven. Long grain rice falls apart, so this is one place the rice type matters.
- Day old rice crisps best. Rice that has cooled and dried out a little presses firmer and bakes crunchier than fresh rice. This is a leftover rice recipe as much as anything.
- The tofu does the spicy tuna job. Cubed firm tofu tossed with vegan mayo, sriracha, soy sauce and nori flakes tastes like the filling in a spicy tuna roll. The nori is what makes it taste like the sea.
- Contrast in every bite. Crunchy rice, creamy filling, cool cucumber, a hit of sriracha mayo. That is the whole appeal of sushi cups, and it is why they disappear fast.
What You Need (and What to Swap)
- Sushi or short grain rice. About 3 cups cooked, from 1 cup uncooked. Leftover rice from the fridge works and is actually better. Do not use basmati or jasmine.
- Rice vinegar, sugar, salt and sesame oil. The classic sushi rice seasoning, plus a little sesame oil for flavor and to help the cups brown.
- Firm tofu. Cut into small cubes so the filling spoons neatly into the cups. Extra firm works too. Silken does not.
- Vegan mayo and sriracha. For the filling and the drizzle. Kewpie style vegan mayo is richest if you can find it.
- Soy sauce and nori flakes. Nori flakes are crumbled nori sheets. If you only have sheets, cut one up with scissors or crumble it. This is the ingredient that makes the tofu taste like sushi, so do not skip it.
- To finish. Toasted sesame seeds, spring onion and finely diced cucumber. Avocado is a good addition if you have a ripe one.
How To Make Sushi Cups
Here is the quick flow. Full measurements and instructions are in the recipe card below.
Tips for Crispy Rice Cups That Hold Together
- Grease the tin properly. Oil every hole, including the rim. Rice sticks, and a stuck cup breaks when you lift it.
- Pack the rice hard. The number one reason cups fall apart is loose rice. Press with real pressure, then press again.
- Freeze the tin for 20 minutes before baking. Optional, but it sets the shape so the cups keep clean edges and crisp better. If you have the time, do it.
- Let them cool in the tin. Straight out of the oven they are fragile. Five minutes later they lift out clean.
- Fill at the last minute. A filled cup starts softening within 20 minutes. Make the cups and the filling ahead, then assemble when you are ready to eat.
- Run a knife around the edge. If a cup does not want to come out, a thin knife around the rim releases it.
Swaps and Variations
- Line the cups with nori. Press a small square of nori into each hole before the rice for cups that look like little rolls and taste more of the sea.
- Make it a vegan spicy tuna. Mash half the tofu with the sauce instead of cubing it, and you get a texture closer to spicy tuna.
- Different fillings. Mashed avocado with lime and sesame, edamame with a little miso, or leftover crispy gochujang tofu all work.
- Air fryer cups. Silicone muffin cups in the air fryer at 375 F for 12 to 15 minutes, checking for browning.
- Brown rice. Short grain brown rice works but is less sticky. Pack it harder and expect slightly looser cups.
- Gluten free. Use tamari instead of soy sauce and check your sriracha.
How To Serve Them
These are finger food, so put them on a board with a small dish of soy sauce for dipping and let people help themselves, or add a spoonful of my garlic chili oil with peanuts on top if you want more heat. They are the thing I bring when someone says “just bring an appetizer”. For a lunch, six cups with a cucumber salad on the side is a meal. They also pack well for a work lunch if you keep the cups and filling separate and assemble at your desk. If you like the flavors here, my chickpea tuna sushi bake is the same idea in a baking dish, my cucumber sushi rolls are the no cook version, and the same filling is great in a vegan sushi wrap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sushi cups are sushi rice pressed into a muffin tin and baked, then filled with a topping instead of rolled. The viral version uses salmon. This one uses spicy tofu, so it is vegan and there is no raw fish to worry about.
25 to 30 minutes at 400 F, until the edges are golden and the cups feel firm. They keep crisping as they cool, so pull them when the edges are brown rather than waiting for the whole cup to color.
Almost always one of three things: the wrong rice (long grain does not stick), the rice was not packed firmly enough, or the cups were lifted out hot. Use sushi rice, press hard, and cool them in the tin for five minutes.
Yes, in parts. Bake the cups up to a day ahead and keep them in an airtight container at room temperature, and keep the filling in the fridge. Fill just before serving. Assembled cups go soft after about 20 minutes.
They are baked, not fried, and a cup has about 90 calories with 4 g of protein from the tofu. Most of the fat comes from the mayo, so use less if you like. They are also vegan and dairy free.
Yes, and it is better. Cold rice from the fridge presses firmer and bakes crunchier. Warm it slightly in the microwave so the seasoning mixes in, then press.
Cut a nori sheet into small pieces with scissors, or crumble a sheet of roasted seaweed snack. Furikake also works and adds sesame at the same time.
A standard 12 hole muffin tin is easiest. Silicone muffin cups work too and release more easily. A mini muffin tin makes bite sized cups, bake them 5 minutes less.
Storing Sushi Cups
Store the rice cups and the tofu filling separately. The cups keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day, or in the fridge for 3 days, and can be crisped again in a 350 F oven for 5 minutes. The filling keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Assembled cups do not store well, so only fill what you are going to eat. I would not freeze them.
More Vegan Sushi and Tofu Recipes
- Chickpea Tuna Sushi Bake
- Cucumber Sushi Rolls
- Vegan Sushi Wrap
- Crispy Gochujang Tofu
- Creamy Asian Cucumber Salad
Crispy Rice Sushi Cups with Spicy Tofu (Vegan)
Ingredients
Method
- Season the rice. Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C). If cooking the rice from scratch, cook it according to the package, then let it steam and cool slightly. Leftover rice from the fridge works just as well and presses better. Stir the rice vinegar, sugar, salt and sesame oil through the warm rice until evenly seasoned.
- Form the cups. Grease a 12 hole muffin tin well. Press a spoonful of rice into each hole, then use a small jar or glass to pack it firmly up the sides into a cup shape with a well in the middle. Compact it well so the cups hold together after baking.
- Chill (optional). For cups that hold their shape and crisp best, freeze the tin for 20 minutes before baking.
- Bake until crisp. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the rice cups are golden and crisp at the edges. Let them cool in the tin for 5 minutes so they firm up before lifting out.
- Make the filling. While they bake, combine the tofu cubes, vegan mayo, sriracha, soy sauce and nori flakes in a bowl. Fold gently so the cubes stay intact.
- Fill the cups. Spoon the spicy tofu into each crispy rice cup.
- Finish. Drizzle with the sriracha mayo, then scatter over the sesame seeds, spring onion and cucumber. Serve with a small dish of soy sauce for dipping if you like.