This canned tuna salad hand roll is seriously the best sushi for kids, because they can easily make and eat it themselves. Check out our three year old sushi chef!
SUSHI FOR KIDS
Our kids have loved sushi from the womb. They would jump around like crazy every time I’d eat it. For both Corban and Larkin, their first time being old enough to eat restaurant food was at our favorite sushi restaurant, where they each devoured rice and seaweed.
Once they hit a year they were ready to try actual sushi, long rolls, hand rolls, maki, and more. But we found that while they didn’t mind the taste of seafood, the texture of the raw fish was…well…I may have cried over the amount of sashimi that ended up on the floor in those first few attempts.
But any type of cooked seafood salad sushi was a hit! So we determined that a nice canned tuna salad sushi was the perfect introductory sushi for kids.
The good news is, a canned tuna salad hand roll is not only easy enough for your child to make, it’s also super affordable.
We had a blast making sushi for a special video project recently (more on that to come!), so I pulled out a couple screenshots from the footage we got to show you how much fun it is to make sushi with your kids.
You don’t need any special tools to make sushi for kids, or grown ups for that matter, especially with the simplicity of hand rolls. Here’s how Corban made his.
HOW TO MAKE A CANNED TUNA SUSHI HAND ROLL
Start by spreading room temperature sushi rice on a piece of nori. More instructions on that in the recipe below.
Enjoy your hands being “all messy”.
Spread some tuna salad on half of the rice. We like mayo and soy sauce in our sushi tuna salad.
Top with thin slices of avocado…
…a long strip of English cucumber…
…and a couple green onions.
To roll the sushi, tell your child to make a claw hand. Their fingers go over the filling ingredients to hold them in place, their thumbs go under the seaweed, then they start rolling tightly away from them. I typically help Corban with the rolling, and then he squeezes the roll all over by himself to make sure it’s nice and tight.
Once you’ve got the roll nice and tight, slice it in half at an angle. I like to eat mine with some soy sauce for dipping, Corban eats his plain.
Have you ever made sushi with your kids? We’d love to hear about it or see pictures!
THANKS FOR SUPPORTING EATING RICHLY EVEN WHEN YOU’RE BROKE
By clicking one of these links before making a purchase on Amazon, we get a small percentage of your purchase, without it costing you anything extra! Thanks for helping to support our family business.
Canned Tuna Sushi for Kids
A canned tuna salad sushi hand roll is seriously the best sushi for kids. Make sure to keep a bowl of water close by for wetting hands so the rice doesn't stick, or let your little one make it themselves and get covered in rice for a fun sensory experience! For the sushi rice, rinse your rice well before cooking (about 6 times) and then use a ratio of 180% water to rice, or about 1 3/4 cups of water for every cup of rice. If I'm doing my math right. I'm a sleep deprived mom! Let the rice sit in the pot an additional 10 minutes after cooking. Dump it out and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sushi vinegar for every cup of rice. Spread it out in a large bowl or baking sheet to get to room temperature. Then you're good to go!
Ingredients
- 4 sheets of sushi nori, seaweed
- 2 cups cooked sushi rice
- 1 can tuna
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 avocado, thinly sliced
- 1 English cucumber, sliced into long spears and seeded
- 8 green onions, just the dark green parts
Instructions
- Place the sheets of seaweed down and spread about 1/2 cup of rice onto each one, leaving a one inch strip and the end furthest from you. Keep a bowl of water nearby to wet your fingers and make it easier to spread the rice.
- Mix tuna with mayonnaise and soy sauce, then spread some on the rice, keeping it more toward the end closest to you.
- Place avocado slices, a cucumber spear, and a couple green onions on top of the tuna for each roll, right against the edge closest to you.
- Place your thumbs under the edge of the seaweed closest to you, and your fingers over the ingredients to hold them in tightly.
- Roll the sushi up nice and tight, squeezing it gently as you go. Use a little water on the bare inch strip of seaweed to seal it closed.
- Slice each roll in half at an angle.
Notes
Gluten Free: Make sure to use gluten free soy sauce or tamari, or skip it all together if you need to eat gluten free.
This looks great, a perfect idea for kids! I’ve actually seen similar sushi in restaurants here, too! I know a lot of people like canned tuna and it’s a great alternate for kids as well!
What a fun idea! I’d love this for lunch!