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The Best Sushi or Sticky Rice Recipe

This Sushi Rice Recipe is really sticky and slightly sweet, which makes it perfect for making your own sushi rolls or sashimi at home.  This sticky rice recipe is easy to make and lasts for days in the refrigerator.  I will teach you how to make sticky rice with all my tips and tricks.  Don’t even think about skipping tip #3, even though you will try to…..

The Best Sushi Rice Recipe - it turns out perfectly seasoned and sticky every time. Use it to make sushi rolls or sashimi. Very easy to make and stores well

Sushi is one of my all time favorite foods.  That statement is one that is newer for me because I would have never thought I was a sushi type of gal, but I am completely obsessed with it.  Now, the price of a handmade sushi roll is what keeps me from eating it as often as I would like but I’ve spent some serious time learning how to make my own at home and now I make it all the time!  This sticky rice recipe is the only one I use because the seasoning is spot on and the end result is super sticky, which is a must to make the perfect sushi or sashimi roll at home.

There are a couple key points for making killer sushi rice recipe and this one hits them all.  Don’t be afraid of trying out your own sushi or sashimi because you will be amazed at how easy this is!

How to Make Sticky Rice or Sushi Rice

  1. Only use sushi rice. Sushi rice, which is a form of short grain rice and that is what makes it so sticky. (This brand is my personal favorite).   Don’t try to use the standard long grain rice you already have in your cupboard or your roll will not work.  At all.  Not to mention the texture will be much too mushy.
  2. Rinse your uncooked sushi rice well.  It may seem odd or an unnecessary step, but be sure you rinse your rice until the water runs clear.  This step is skipped by people in a rush but if you do, you will end up with more of a rice paste than anything.  Nasty!
  3.  Sticky rice comes as it cools.  Allow the finished rice to come to room temperature before using it.  As the finished rice cools, it becomes even stickier so don’t rush this process. If you are in a rush, you can always transfer your cooked sushi rice into a shallow pan and allow it to cool faster.

Stay tuned for my next post which will include my favorite at-home sushi roll recipe and a video that will show the simple step by step process of rolling your own sushi!

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Homemade sushi rice recipe

The Best Sushi Rice Recipe

★★★★★ 5 from 5 reviews
  • Author: Carole Jones
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Description

Sushi rice recipe that is easy to make, super sticky and perfect for homemade sushi and sashimi

Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 C sushi rice
  • 2 C water, plus more for rinsing
  • 2 Tb rice vinegar
  • 2 Tb sugar
  • 1 Tb kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Place the rice in a strainer and rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Use your hands to be sure all the grains are rinsed well. Place the rinsed rice into a medium pan with the 2 cups of water over high heat. Once the water begins to boil, cover the pot and reduce the heat to the very lowest setting. Cook for 15 minutes. Once the rice has finished cooking, remove from the heat, leave the lid on and let it sit for another 10 minutes.
  2. Combine the vinegar, sugar and kosher salt in a small microwave safe cup and microwave for 30 seconds. Once the rice has sat for 10 minutes, toss it well with the seasoning liquid. Allow the rice to come to room temperature before using. Store leftover rice in the fridge in an airtight container for up to one week.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. What sort of rice vinegar do you use? The kind that I have available to me already has some sugar/seasoning in it which makes me worried that if I add more sugar it will make the rice sickly sweet.

    Reply

    • Hey there Tia! I use just standard rice vinegar, not the seasoned rice vinegar. It is a sweeter vinegar but I promise that the level of sweetness is perfect for sushi. Without any sweetness, the sushi roll would be very bland

      Reply

    • Hey there Wendy! For sushi, you don’t want warm or hot rice. It needs to be nice and cold so it sticks together for your sushi or sashimi.

      Reply

    • Hey there Sarah! For the most authentic recipe, you really do need rice vinegar. However, if you are going to make a substitution, the apple cider vinegar would be best since it is the sweetest.

      Reply

    • Hey Michele! I have never frozen sushi but worry a bit about how it would work. I have refrigerated it with each roll wrapped tight in plastic wrap before cutting it.

      Reply

  11. Hey, Carole. I’m learning to make sushi and I used this recipe today. The result was yummy. Thanks for sharing.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  12. Ok! So this is my second time using this recipe and it’s a winner! The first time I used it I promised my kids veg sushi rolls for afternoon snack.. that was before I read to let the rice cool all the way down. . Not to be out done, I threw the rice in a couple of bowls and into the freezer for about ten minutes stirring every so often to get it to cool!! Ha! My ten year old caught a glimpse of what I was doing and was intrigued, although somewhat baffled.. We laughed later as I assured him sushi isn’t *really* made that way lol! Needless to say we went threw the entire pack of Nori (10 sheets!) and my last roll was only filled halfway with rice due to my *ahem* taste testing!
    This time around I’m excited to be making veg sushi rolls again for lunch on the road so I decided to prep the rice ahead. I just finished cooking my rice only to realize that I’m all out of sugar!! AGAIN!, not to be outdone a second time, I subbed confectioners sugar a little at a time until I got what reminded me of the previous batch. The struggle!! Anyway.. I love this recipe and I’m committing it to memory so I can make it for years to come! Thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply

  14. Thank you so much for this recipe!! It came out so perfect and was so delicious!! We plan to make it often!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  17. made this in my instant pot, followed as instructions stated except I didn’t rinse the rice. used the rice setting. turned out awesome!

    Reply

  18. Hi Carole!

    Thanks for sharing this recipe! We are hosting a sushi making party with some friends and I’m wondering if I can make the rice in the afternoon and then keep it in my fridge so it’s ready to go when everyone comes over. Is this adviseable? Will it compromise the texture?

    Reply

  19. Thank you for the recipe! I am trying it now with a rice cooker. I will let you know about the results later tonight. So excited to try this as I got a sushi rolling kit as a gift and wanted to try it out.

    Reply

  20. Hi All, I tried this using a rice cooker and it came out great! Will definitely use it in the future since I love my rice cooker!
    I do need to work on rolling sushi, but not bad for my first time. Love the recipe, it’s a keeper!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  21. Hi Carole! OK – can I use regular salt with this recipe instead of Kosher? I made it once (with the wrong kind of vinegar so it was a wash anyway) and I used 1 TBSP regular table salt and it was SO salty. Would I do say half a TBSP, if you’re using coarse Kosher salt? Thank you!

    Reply

    • Hi Ally! Yes, if you use regular salt, you need to reduce the amount of salt considerably. Kosher salt is light and flaky so it doesn’t take much to fill up a tablespoon.

      Reply

  22. Hey Carole! Can you give me some advice on how to combine the rice vinegar and the rice without smashing the rice? I have to say that I am a beginner at this and I can’t distribute the vinegar well enough without destroying the beautiful rice kernels. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi Ashley! It sounds like your rice might be a bit overcooked if it is getting smashed when you toss in the seasoning liquid. Be sure your liquid measurement is precise using a liquid measuring cup. If that isn’t the problem, try fluffing the rice with a fork before tossing in the seasoning liquid.

      Reply

  23. I want to try making sushi. I’m new to eating sushi. My granddaughter loves sushi. I looked in my regular grocery store for sushi rice and couldn’t find it. Where do you buy your rice?

    Reply

    • Hello Linda! It is a fun skill to learn. If your local grocery store doesn’t carry it, you can always order it from Amazon or another online retailer!

      Reply

  24. I love this recipe, I use it often. Just one question. Why microwave or cook the vinegar mixture before using it?I’m not a huge fan of the overpowering vinegar smell I get from doing that

    Reply

    • Great question Courtney. The warm vinegar will help the sugar dissolve so when you toss it into the rice, it evenly mixes in the seasonings.

      Reply

  27. This recipe sounds amazing! I can’t wait to try it. As far as mixing…. In my experience, it’s better to kind of “slice and fold” rather than stir the rice. If that makes sense. Hope this helps.

    Reply

  28. Great recipe! I only have a technical issue. I found your font to be to small for comfortable reading. Age could not possibly be a factor!

    Reply

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