Keto Sushi Rice [Cauliflower]

I make this Keto Sushi Rice out of cauliflower, traditional seasonings, and a bit of gelatin. It's got enough stickiness to work in sushi!

Before going keto, we LOVED to make sushi at home, whether as sushi rolls, or my Sushi Bake casserole.

I’d put on a batch of my Sushi Rice, prepare a bunch of fillings, and just have at it!

Nowadays, I can’t afford all the carbs in sushi rice, so I had to find an alternative.

My first attempt involved making a “sushi burrito” out of celery root. It was GOOD, but there was definitely room for improvement.

I wasn’t super fond of the celery taste in that particular setting, and definitely needed to do something about cohesion. While regular sushi rice is somewhat sticky - which makes it work well for rolling sushi - the celery root had none of that.

I considered using konjac rice, but wasn’t able to make it work as far as stick went. Too bad, as that would have had THE most convincing look!

Cauliflower Sushi Rice

Finally, I settled on using cauliflower for my keto sushi rolls.

This was the “rice” of choice in the keto diet community, but was generally held together with cream cheese.

Not super fond of that idea (Cream cheese doesn’t belong in sushi, outside of Philly rolls, IMHO!), I wanted to figure out a way to make the cauliflower itself act more like actual sushi rice.

The solution?

Gelatin.

No, I wasn’t making a full out aspic or anything... but I figured a little gelatin - judiciously applied - could add a little bit of the needed tackiness, to make low carb sushi rolls.

I decided to use beef gelatin - Great Lakes Unflavoured Beef Gelatin, specifically! - as I find it more robust than other varieties of gelatin.

... a necessary trait, given that I’d be blooming it in acid (the vinegar!).

While the ingredients and technique are a bit different from normal sushi rice, this recipe turns out an acceptable, keto friendly alternative.

As a note: It’s not sticky enough to make “inside out” rolls with. I’m sure - with much more gelatin - we could get it to that point... but I’m not sure the flavour/texture tradeoff would be worth it.

It’s no big deal to keep the “rice” on the inside of the nori, though, IMHO.

Keto Sushi Ingredients

Nori

Nori are sheets of roasted seaweed, and are naturally low in carbohydrates - about 0.5 gram net carb per sheet.

Cauliflower Rice Sushi

There are many different ways to make cauliflower sushi rice. Many involve cream cheese as a binder, I use gelatin - recipe is at the bottom of this post.

Low Carb Sushi Roll Fillings

Once nice thing about sushi is that - once you’ve got the rice figured out - MOST sushi fillings are naturally low carb!

While we went for a fairly basic Philly roll, here are some more options for you:

Proteins:

Cooked Shrimp
Cream cheese
Sashimi grade salmon
Sashimi grade tuna
Smoked Salmon
“Spicy” fish*
Tomago - IF made with sugar substitute.
* I have my Spicy Tuna Maki recipe up on my main blog, Celebration Generation. While I used tuna for that post, you can use the recipe to make spicy salmon, or whatever else you want!

Vegetables:

Asparagus
Avocado
Bell peppers
Cucumber
Green onion
Jalapeno
Radishes

How to Make Keto Sushi Rice

Full recipe follows - at the end of this post - but here is the pictorial overview:

In a small bowl, mix together vinegar, gelatin, sugar substitute, and salt. Allow to gel up for 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime, melt butter in a large pan.

Add riced cauliflower, cook until any moisture has cooked off, and cauliflower reaches a consistency that you like.

Add gelled vinegar mix to the hot cauliflower, stir well to melt the gelatin and combine everything.

Continue cooking - stirring well until all of the liquid has been absorbed/coated the cauliflower.

Remove from heat, cool to room temperature.

Once completely cool, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until you’re ready to use it.

How to Make Keto Sushi Rolls

Note: While this cauliflower rice is sticky enough to use when inside of a sushi roll, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for an inside-out (rice on the outside) style maki roll.

Place a full sheet of nori in front of you, on a parchment-lined work surface.

Spread ¼ of the cauliflower sushi rice over ⅓- ½ of the nori, on the side closest to you.

Lay out your desired fillings on the edge closest to you, as pictured.

Carefully roll your maki tightly, starting from the side with the toppings. Make sure to keep the toppings from spilling out the sides. Also, don’t let your mat/paper get caught in the roll. It may take some practice!

Place your sushi roll on a cutting board, slice into approximately ¾″ – 1″ pieces.

I find that a dampened sushi knife works best. Anything else, and I make a huge mess of my precious maki!

This 8" Nonstick Sushi Knife is what I use.

I actually have a few - including one in my craft room. Not only is the knife fantastic for cutting fish, sushi, and cheese, it's really, really nice for carving foam!

The more you know...

Keto Sushi Recipe

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5 from 4 votes

Keto Sushi Rice

I make this Keto Sushi Rice out of cauliflower, traditional seasonings, and a bit of gelatin. It's got enough stickiness to work in sushi!

1 batch makes enough for 4 sushi rolls.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Chilling time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Japanese

Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free, Low Lactose

Servings: 4 Rolls (3 Cups)

Calories: 67kcal

Ingredients

• 1 ½ tablespoon Rice vinegar
• 3 teaspoon Unflavoured Beef Gelatin I use Great Lakes brand
• 2 teaspoon Sugar substitute
• ¾ teaspoon Salt
• 1 tablespoon Butter
• 500 grams Frozen riced cauliflower thawed.

Instructions

• In a small bowl, mix together vinegar, gelatin, sugar substitute, and salt. Allow to gel up for 5-10 minutes.
• In the meantime, melt butter in a large pan.
• Add riced cauliflower, cook until any moisture has cooked off, and cauliflower reaches a consistency that you like.
• Add gelled vinegar mix to the hot cauliflower, stir well to melt the gelatin and combine everything.
• Continue cooking - stirring well until all of the liquid has been absorbed/coated the cauliflower.
• Remove from heat, cool to room temperature.
• Once completely cool, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until you’re ready to use it.

Notes

1 gram of the carb count comes from sugar alcohols in the sweetener.

Nutrition

Calories: 67kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 504mg | Potassium: 375mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 87IU | Vitamin C: 60mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg

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