A rice paper sushi bake is a small-batch take on the viral sushi bake: spicy tinned salmon, seasoned sushi rice and nori layered into a small dish, wrapped in a hydrated rice paper sheet and baked until the outside goes golden and crisp. It takes about 25 minutes start to finish, serves two and gives you 19g of protein a portion, no rolling mat, no raw fish, no unravelling.
This is somewhere around number twenty in my ongoing “100 ways to eat rice paper” project, and it might be my favourite so far. I love salmon sushi. What I do not love is trying to roll it at 7pm on a Tuesday and watching it come apart across the chopping board.
So this is the shortcut: everything that makes a spicy salmon roll worth eating, packed into one small dish and baked. The rice paper does what nori can’t, it crisps into a golden shell while the inside stays creamy.
- One dish, two portions, zero rolling technique required
- 19g protein a portion from a tin of salmon that’s probably already in your cupboard
- Oven or air fryer, both work, and I’ve given times for each
Key ingredients
Rice paper is the whole trick. Hydrated and then baked, it turns into a thin crisp shell that holds everything together. Use the square or round 22cm sheets, spring roll wrappers won’t crisp the same way.
Tinned salmon does the heavy lifting on protein and costs a fraction of a fresh fillet. I used salmon fillets in their own juice (a 170g tin, 119g drained), drain it properly or the filling goes watery. Tinned tuna or leftover cooked salmon both work.
Cream cheese is what makes the filling taste like the inside of a spicy roll rather than a fish sandwich. Full-fat gives the best texture; thick Greek yoghurt works if you want to shift the macros.
Chilli crisp brings heat plus those little crunchy bits of garlic and chilli, which is far more interesting than plain sriracha in the mix. Start with a teaspoon, brands vary wildly in heat. Gochujang or sriracha are fine swaps.
Seasoned sushi rice is the step people skip, and the one that makes this actually taste like sushi. A teaspoon of rice vinegar with a pinch each of salt and sugar, stirred through warm rice, is all it takes.
A coaching note
Tinned oily fish is one of the cheapest, easiest ways to get a filling amount of protein into a meal, and it brings omega-3s along, which research suggests may support heart health. If sushi is something you love but rarely make because it feels fiddly, this is the version that gets it onto a weeknight and the version you repeat usually beats the one you make perfectly once.
If you’re deep in the rice paper rabbit hole with me, the rice paper sushi burrito is the handheld version of this idea, and the spicy hoisin salmon rice paper dumplings are what I make when I want something a bit more delicate.
Alex 🙂
Rice Paper Sushi Bake with Salmon (High Protein, One Dish)
All the good parts of a spicy salmon roll, baked into one small dish and wrapped in rice paper that crisps into a golden shell. Creamy tinned salmon with chilli crisp and cream cheese sits over vinegared sushi rice and nori, then comes out of the oven topped with avocado, spring onion and sriracha. Serves two, 19g of protein a portion, about 25 minutes and not a rolling mat in sight.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Drain the tin of salmon well and tip it into a bowl. Add the cream cheese and chilli crisp and mash everything together with a fork until you have a thick, creamy, flecked filling. Taste it, this is your chance to add more chilli crisp.
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Stir the rice vinegar through the warm cooked rice with a pinch each of salt and sugar. Fold it through gently with a fork rather than stirring hard, so the grains stay separate.
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Lightly oil a small glass baking dish or ramekin. Dip a rice paper sheet in warm water for 10 to 15 seconds until it is pliable but not floppy, then lay it into the dish so the sides overlap the rim.
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Press the seasoned rice into the bottom in an even layer. Lay the half nori sheet on top, then spread the salmon mixture over it right to the edges.
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Fold the overlapping sides of the rice paper over the filling to seal it into a parcel, then spray or brush the top lightly with oil.
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Sprinkle over the sesame seeds. Bake at 180C for 15 to 20 minutes, depending how crisp you want the top, or air fry at 170C for 15 minutes.
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Let it sit for 2 minutes, then top with the avocado and spring onion. Serve with sriracha mayo and tamari or soy sauce on the side.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2 ServingCalories:380kcalTotal Fat:18.5gSaturated Fat: 5.5gSodium:525mgTotal Carbohydrate:32gDietary Fiber: 3.6gSugars: 1.5gProtein:19g
Note
- Hydrate the rice paper for 10 to 15 seconds only. Over-soaked sheets turn gummy instead of crisp.
- Drain the salmon properly. Wet filling is the single most common reason this comes out soggy.
- Air fryer at 170C for 15 minutes gives a crisper shell than the oven, and heats a lot less kitchen.
- Swaps: tinned tuna or leftover cooked salmon for the salmon; thick Greek yoghurt for cream cheese; gochujang or sriracha for the chilli crisp.
- Allergens: fish, milk (cream cheese), sesame, and soy if you serve it with tamari or soy sauce. Chilli crisp brands vary, check the label for soy, wheat and shrimp.
- Naturally gluten free as written, as long as your chilli crisp and soy sauce are gluten free. Tamari is the safe choice.
- Nutrition figures are estimates and will shift with your brand of tinned salmon, cream cheese and chilli crisp.
