Imitation Crab California Roll Burrito

4 servings
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Sushi Burrito cut in halfTry the trend taking over the Bay Area in California! Sushi gets supersized with an imitation crab meat sushi burrito that is filled with imitation crab, cucumber, avocado, carrots and napa cabbage. Serve with spicy mayo, and soy sauce and laugh at all the normal sized california rolls people are still eating. Up here in the Bay Area there is a bit of a craze over “sushi burritos” started by the takeout chain Sushiritto. Every time we head in to San Fransisco we stop for food. Recently a more local chain opened up trying to emulate the success Sushiritto has created but we weren’t nearly as impressed. So instead, I made my own.

There is nothing hard about this recipe, but it does more than a few steps. You’re basically making a jumbo California Roll but instead of eating a huge amount of rice or crab meat, we fill it up with some delicious crunchy veggies to add some texture and some creamy avocado slices to add richness.

Make the sushi rice according to instructions in the recipe card. Put imitation crab meat and mayonnaise in a small food processor and pulse until it is combined and is minced. Alternately you can chop it all together and mix in the mayonnaise. Julienne the carrots (I used a rainbow of carrots), napa cabbage, and cucumber (peel and remove the seeds of the cucumber first) . Slice the avocado thinly.Sushirrito veggies on cutting board

Assembly:
On top of a piece of parchment paper about twice the length of your nori, put one cup of rice on a sheet of nori, Sushirrito serving of rice on nori seaweed wrap spread rice to the edge. Sushirrito rice spread over nori seaweed wrap Sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon sesame seeds. Put ½ cup of julienned vegetables (¼ cup cabbage, ¼ cup of carrots and cucumber – eyeball this since you won’t have a measuring cup to fit the veggies) Put ¼ of sliced avocado along the side of the veggies in a fanned out pattern. Put ¼ of the crab mixture on top in a log.  Sushi Burrito rice, veggies, and crab meat on nori seaweed sheet
Roll the nori into a log with the edges just meeting by a ¼ – ½ inch or so using your parchment paper, to roll it closed and tight.
After the roll meets, fold the parchment in to make bottoms of the burrito and roll the rest of the paper to close it tightly.
Slice the parchment burrito in half.  Sushi Burrito sliced in half

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Imitation Crab California Roll Burrito

Try the sushirrito trend taking over the Bay Area in California! Sushi gets supersized with an Imitation Crab California Roll Sushi Burrito that is filled with imitation crab, cucumber, avocado, carrots and napa cabbage. Serve with spicy mayo, and soy sauce and laugh at all the normal sized california rolls people are still eating.
Yield 4 servings
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine Japanese
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups sushi or short grain rice
  • 2 cups water , plus extra for rinsing rice
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 16 ounces imitation crab meat
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 4 sheets nori
  • 1 cucumber
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 cup napa cabbage or regular cabbage
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Instructions

  • Rinse rice several times with cold water until it runs clear. This helps it become sticky, please don't skip this step.
  • Put the rice and 2 cups of water into a pot and bring to a boil, uncovered.
  • Once it boils, reduce the heat to low and cook covered for 15 minutes.
  • Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Do not peek at it.
  • Put the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds.
  • Add the vinegar mixture to the rice in an even distribution and fold to combine. Try not to make the rice mushy.
  • Let it cool completely in as thin a layer as you can while you prepare and make your rolls.
  • Put imitation crab meat and mayonnaise in a small food processor and pulse until it is combined and is minced.
  • Alternately you can chop it all together and mix in the mayonnaise.
  • Julienne the carrots (I used a rainbow of carrots), napa cabbage, and cucumber (peel and remove the seeds of the cucumber first)
  • Slice the avocado thinly.
  • Assembly:
  • On top of a piece of parchment paper about twice the length of your nori, put one cup of rice on a sheet of nori, spread rice to the edge. Sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon sesame seeds.
  • Put ½ cup of julienned vegetables (¼ cup cabbage, ¼ cup of carrots and cucumber.. eyeball this since you won't have a measuring cup to fit the veggies)
  • Put ¼ of sliced avocado along the side of the veggies in a fanned out pattern.
  • Put ¼ of the crab mixture on top in a log
  • Roll the nori into a log with the edges just meeting by a ¼ - ½ inch or so using your parchment paper, to roll it closed and tight.
  • After the roll meets, fold the parchment in to make bottoms of the burrito and roll the rest of the paper to close it tightly.
  • Slice the parchment burrito in half.

Notes

Using Good ol' Alton Brown's Sushi Rice recipe.
Want this to be even more portable and want some spice? Add sliced pickled ginger and wasabi inside the burrito. Or just add a couple teaspoons of Sriracha to your imitation crab mixture.

Nutrition

Calories: 698kcal | Carbohydrates: 114g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 2506mg | Potassium: 573mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 5415IU | Vitamin C: 15.3mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 4.9mg
Keyword: Imitation Crab California Roll Burrito, sushirrito

Dinner then Dessert TIPS Use this base to make your favorite rolls! Switch in your favorite raw fish, or add tempura fried shrimp to the California Roll. Go spicy by adding Sriracha to your mayo or adding wasabi to your assembly. Want more inspiration, google sushi burrito for more menu ideas.

Sushirrito sliced in half

Sushi Burrito collage

Try the sushirrito trend taking over the Bay Area in California! Sushi gets supersized with an Imitation Crab California Roll Sushi Burrito that is filled with imitation crab, cucumber, avocado, carrots and napa cabbage. Serve with spicy mayo, and soy sauce and laugh at all the normal sized california rolls people are still eating.

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. This may sound like a dumb question, but do you buy the imitation crab that is frozen and just let it defrost completely before using it? Or do you boil it/prepare it in some other way before using it in the sushi burritos? Would love to hear from you! Thanks so much in advance!!! 🙂 Can’t wait to make these.

    1. If it’s frozen, just allow it to completely thaw in the refrigerator before using. I hope you enjoy it!

  2. So wrong but I’d like to try it. We don’t have that here in Southern CA, maybe, not that I know of. Perhaps I’ll make one myself when I make my traditional nigiri and maki rolls. Question is, I like my burrito with hot sauce. How am I gonna tackle this one, with soy sauce? Oooooooh!!!

    1. Eel Sauce babeeeeeeeee! 1/2c sugar, 1/2c Mirin, 1/2c Soy Sauce. Cook down till saucey, let cool put in a squeeze bottle. there ya go! Your CA burrito “hot sauce”

  3. My family really enjoyed these! And I enjoyed not trying to make a million sushi rolls (and cutting them up) to satisfy everyone! The rice seasoning mixture was a little salty but that’s probably because this recipe only called for 2 tbsp of rice vinegar. I usually use 1/4c rice vinegar to 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp salt. We will definitely be making these for kids lunches this year. Always love finding something that will work for that!

  4. Wow this was incredibly delicious! I made this for my kids with the help of Sushi Rollers from Susheff. Never would have been brave enough to attempt this without your recipe but now I feel silly because it was so good. My wife looked at me and said “I’m never making sushi again!”. It was super easy to make and incredibly impressive to serve. Great recipe! Thank you!

    1. Finally, someone actually made this and commented! Ok, now im convinced to make this this week and I hope to God I remember to return and post.

  5. I have never tried making my own Sushi before. This would be fun to make with a few girlfriends. I will have to arrange a sushi party.

  6. I’ve never had a Cali roll. My kids (grown ones) love them though and they make them at home too. 🙂

  7. So I am mindblown!!! How are you gonna just combine my two favs together sushi and a burrito?? OMG OMG OMG I pinned this and this is happening its gonna be in my life!

    1. Ooh, thinking back to my vegan clients, I would do a frozen, defrosted, pressed, marinated (teriyaki), baked tofu. Cool it, 1/2 inch chunks, sauteed with garlic and ginger. Ahh, gotta love the steps of working with tofu.

    1. They got so popular they have a copycat here in Sacramento. They also make these “nachos” with wonton chips, spicy mayo and other sushi toppings I am going to have to make. We would eat there weekly if we didn’t live two hours away.

  8. I’m not a fan of imitation crab (I’ve been spoiled with the real stuff my entire life!) but these look amazing. I may have to try them soon.

  9. That sounds awesome! My husband loves sushi and his birthday is right around the corner. I know this would make for a fun lunch to celebrate.

  10. Shocking but I have never had sushi… my husband loves it though. Might have to give this a try … sure looks delicious!

  11. Now that looks amazing, I need to try this, this weekend. Love crab but never had it in a burrito.

  12. This looks fantastic! I bet it would be delicious with fried tempura shrimp as you suggest as well. I have only made my own sushi rolls in cooking classes and conferences, but for some reason I haven’t at home yet. That needs to change!

    1. I totally made it again with the tempura shrimp and it was amazing! I took sushi classes too, they are so much fun!

  13. That sounds so good. I love the taste of crab, and imitation crab is just fine with me, too.

  14. My husband is a big sushi eater, so he would enjoy this recipe. He and my daughter eat a lot of imitation crab.

  15. I’m going to have to show this recipe to my daughter! She loves sushi but she has to stick to a pretty strict diet.

  16. Oh this looks interesting! I would love to try something like this. I’ve never had a normal california roll so I’m not sure how I’d like this but it looks great!

    1. California Rolls are like the dipping your toe in the pool version of trying sushi, it may be a good introduction! 😉

  17. I love this sushi inspired burrito – what a creative and delicious idea! Your recipe is awesome as always, Sabrina!

  18. What a delicious recipe. The pictures are truly worth a thousand words with the brightly colored veggies.

  19. This sounds great! I love California rolls, but seafood can be so expensive. This is a fantastic alternative!

  20. You make it look so easy! Mine would never look that put together – but I would certainly eat this deliciousness!

  21. That looks like the perfect lunch! I’ve never made rolls at home – that definitely needs to change!