We LOVE these Homemade Naruto Cucumber Rolls! These tasty rice and seaweed-free rolls are wrapped with cucumber and filled with fresh seafood! A sushi bar favorite!
So I know it’s technically fall, and all the other bloggers are pumpkin spicing everything from oatmeal to coffee cake right now… but since when do I follow the rules?
I still want cucumber.
Lots of cucumber.
It’s bad enough I had to say goodbye to honeydew and watermelon… don’t make me start on the veggies yet. There’s no telling what I’ll do.
Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time for pumpkin, apples, and cranberry galore. For now, let’s dive face-first into some sushi!
When I set out to recreate my sushi bar favorites, there was one roll I couldn’t fathom making at home. It seemed way too complicated. Wrapping fish and veggies in nori and rice? Easy! Avocado? Piece of cake! Cucumber?
Uhhh… Pass.
Alas, I’m stubborn and relentless and, gosh darn it, I wanted a cucumber roll!
I tried a few different methods to make them at home, each substantially messier than the last, before I finally had an epiphany. YouTube! If it’s not there it doesn’t exist, right?
seriously! there’s even an entire channel devoted to cooking using nothing but fast food — aca-‘scuse me?!
Sure enough, I found exactly what I was looking for: the perfect method for making cucumber wrapped sushi rolls. No rice. No nori. No problem. Cue happy dance.
The tutorial is for a philidelphia roll, which is essentially the same as the japanese bagel roll I whipped up for you kids a few months ago. Let’s skip the redundancy and make something with a little pizzaz!
Let’s do this!
Homemade Sushi: Naruto Cucumber Rolls
Homemade Sushi: Naruto Cucumber Rolls
Ingredients
the fish: choose one or use both!
- sashimi-grade tuna
- sashimi grade salmon or nova-style raw smoked salmon
the veggies:
- 1/2 a standard or english cucumber (peeled)
- 1/4-1/2 a small jalapeno
- 2-4 stalks of green onion
- a few slices of avocado
the toppings:
- chopped green onion
- toasted sesame or chia seeds
extras:
- 1/2 oz cream cheese (to add to the sushi rolls)
- Sriracha (for dipping)
- soy sauce or ponzu sauce (for dunking)
Instructions
- Get your roll on!
- Slice the avocado, green onion, and jalapeno into strips, removing the veins and seeds from the jalapeno. Craving heat? Leave them in for a super spicy roll. If you're terrified of spice, grab a green bell pepper or a few stalks of blanched asparagus instead!
- Next slice your fish into strips and, if you're using cream cheese, simply roll a chilled piece into a log with your fingers and set aside with your vegetables.
- To slice the cucumber into wrap form, check out the video above. It's a bit difficult to explain in text but the video will give you the perfect visual of the technique. I slice mine a little on the thicker side to make things easier.
- Next unroll the cucumber and layer your fish and/or veggies inside as if you were making a standard roll. [see photo below]
- Simply line everything up at one end of your cucumber wrapper and roll it up!
- To form into discs, grab a sharp chef's knife and hold the roll taught as you slice. Inserting a few toothpicks into the roll before can help keep the roll together as you're cutting, but it can absolutely be done without them -- up to you!
- All that's left to do is arrange them on plate, top with a sprinkling of sesame seeds, chia seeds, and chopped green onion.
- Now drizzle with your favorite sauce and dig in!
Drizzle with your favorite sauce (I beeline for the Sriracha) and dig in!
Craving more sushi?
Check out our easy peasy sushi-making tutorial!
This is an amazing idea!! I cant wait to try it and add it to my repertoire. There are so many awesome ways to eat ketogeniccally. This one of the simplest yet best recipes I’ve seen! Thank you!
I haven’t made this yet, but I found it looking for similar ideas. After watching the video, I’m wondering, if, instead of cutting the cuke like that, it might be easier to hollow it out first, then slit down one side, and unroll it like a roll of gift wrap?
Hey Max! You could absolutely try it! Another method I’ll use from time to time is, after peeling the cucumber, taking a veggie peeler down the side from top to bottom vertically to make a long thin slice. Then you can wrap it around a bundle of sushi fillings and secure with toothpick for a rustic but tasty approach.
I am craving this right now!! Your photos look amazing! I hope I can try this recipe soon!
Thank you, Thank you for posting this delicious sushi recipe without rice or seaweed which I cannot eat because of autoimmune diseases!!! YEAH!!!! I usually just eat sashimi alone and this naruto cucumber roll will be soooo tasty even without the (yum) cream cheese!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Bettie! This is one of our favorite rolls to make and I’m so glad it was up your alley! Have you done sashimi salads yet? There’s a restaurant I used to frequent in college that chopped the sashimi into bite-sized pieces and marinated it in a little soy sauce with vinegar and then tossed it with veggies and greens – so good! this salad is also really good with sashimi too! <3
From the few Japanese restaurants where I had Crabmeat naruto, they top the rolls with a white cream sauce. I cannot find any recipes on how to make that sauce. Does anyone know of this sace and ow o mke it?
Thanks
Hey Jason! Are you talking about the sauce they call “Yum Yum Sauce” at Japanese steakhouses? They pair it with some sushi rolls and with the hibatchi entrees, if that’s the one I can help you track down a recipe! xo
Ohh I LOVE naruto rolls!!
Yeah so, this is totally amazing! I can’t wait to make these sometime!
this looks so incredibly delicious! my favorite sushi roll !!
Too cool! I’m pretty sure I need a better knife for this! It looks delicious!! Good job!
This is awesome! I love cucumber rolls but have never been brave enough to attempt them myself. Definitely giving these a go!
Wow these look incredible and oh so fresh!! I love my sushi and I’ve made both brown rice and normal before at home but nothing as fancy as this.
I love naruto rolls and always frantically search for them on the menu when I go out for sushi. Unfortunately, I usually don’t find them, but that is all the more reason to finally make my owe!
Yummy!! I’ve only had sushi once before but this looks delicious… hanging on to this recipe for the next time I have a special occasion… or a taste for fish 🙂
This is SUCH a good idea, because I really don’t like the actual seaweed in sushi – but the rest I love. Yummo!!
As the person who always picks the rice off of sushi rolls, this is perfect. I love this idea! I’m not sure I could get my cucumbers to do that, though.
Favorite roll is the Philadelphia roll, which you might only be able to get near Philly, because I haven’t seen it in Atlanta. It’s got a wonderful spicy mayonnaise and cream cheese and salmon, and it’s fried on the outside. So kind of defeats the health benefits of sushi…but it’s wonderful!
Cucumber rolls are my favorite! This looks so good and surprisingly somewhat simple! Thanks for sharing!
Welcome back Ms. Peas. Nice to see you posting recipes again.
Also let it be known, I haven’t pumpkin spiced sh!t yet, and I’m happy about it too. 🙂
Holyyyy YES ma’am. I love naruto rolls–so fresh and filled with fish! These are beautiful! (and I also wanna stuff my face with them…) 😉
I’ve never had a cucumber roll! I know!! Can I still blog? But I am craving these right now so hardcore! And keep these recipes coming- the pumpkin season will be here for a looong time.
Genius idea! Can’t wait to try this!
My party in DEC, can we make this sans cream cheese? I think we shall. I’ll tell BBaby, and you all can shop for it in Medborg.
This is a very doable sushi! And I love that you gave all the recipes for the sauces as well. I’m definitely craving sushi now.
i always wondered how they did that at sushi restaurants!!! I just bought sashimi this week. Trying this tomorrow for lunch! Thanks for the video… I needed that. 🙂