Sushi Imitation Crab Bake

I am back, some days I get a hankering for sushi, I went to Sam's club today and ogled the sushi in their case. I refused to actually pay money for something I can make at home. Now a days there are so many recipes on how to make at home. Little quick hacks and all.

Today I did the sushi bake and the flavor was spot on. I am a bariatric sleeve gal, but my family loved this also. I made 4 single servings 4x6 pans and took one of them and broke into thirds which is just my size. 

I’d turn that into a little “What It Cost Me” section for the blog. Based on the prices you remember, the important distinction is between what you paid for the packages and what you actually used. Your actual recipe cost looks surprisingly reasonable. See below after the recipe

I looked over your edited version. I’d keep the personal parts because they make it sound like your recipe, but clean up the wording, put the rice vinegar/sweetener step where it belongs, and make the family-size option clearer.

One correction: I changed “let it cook a bit” to “let it cool a few minutes”, which I think is what you meant after taking it out.

Easy Imitation Crab Sushi Bake

This turned out so good and is surprisingly easy to make and portion for meal prep. I made mine with jasmine rice and imitation crab and baked everything in small individual glass dishes. Then we scooped the warm, creamy sushi bake onto crispy roasted seaweed snack sheets and topped it with avocado and cucumber.

You can make this as four individual sushi bakes like I did, or put everything into one larger baking dish for a family or party-size sushi bake.

Ingredients

Sushi Rice

• 1¼ cups dry jasmine rice, cooked according to package directions

• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

• 1 teaspoon sugar or sweetener, optional

• Furikake seasoning, to taste

The little bit of sweetener is completely optional, but I think it gives the jasmine rice more of that sushi-rice flavor. Any white rice works for this recipe.

Creamy Crab Mixture

• 1 lb Crab Classic imitation crab, shredded or chopped

• ¼ cup Kewpie mayonnaise

• 6 oz cream cheese (¾ of an 8-oz block), softened

• Sriracha, to taste

• Furikake seasoning, to taste

For Serving & Topping

• Avocado, sliced or finely diced

• Cucumber, finely diced

• Green onions, sliced

• Roasted seaweed snack sheets

• Crispy French fried onions, optional

• Extra Kewpie mayonnaise

• Extra sriracha

• Soy sauce or coconut aminos, optional

• Extra furikake, optional

Make the Rice

Cook the jasmine rice according to the package directions.

While the rice is still warm, gently mix in the rice wine vinegar and, if using, 1 teaspoon sugar or sweetener.

Assemble the Sushi Bakes

Divide the cooked rice evenly among four small 4×6-inch baking dishes and gently press it into an even layer.

If you'd rather make one large family or party-size sushi bake, simply spread the rice into one larger baking dish instead.

Sprinkle the rice with furikake.

In a bowl, combine the imitation crab, Kewpie mayonnaise, softened cream cheese, and sriracha to taste.

Divide the creamy crab mixture evenly among the four dishes and spread it over the rice. Sprinkle with a little more furikake if desired.

Bake

Oven: Bake at 350°F for approximately 15–20 minutes, or until hot and creamy throughout.

Air Fryer: Bake at 340°F for approximately 15–20 minutes, checking a little earlier since air fryers can vary.

Optional Crispy Onion Topping

During the last few minutes of baking, sprinkle some crushed crispy French fried onions over the top.

Put the sushi bake back in just long enough for the onions to warm and lightly toast while staying crispy.

Finish It

After removing the sushi bake, drizzle thin lines of Kewpie mayonnaise across the top. Then drizzle sriracha in the opposite direction to make a simple crisscross design.

Let it cool for a few minutes before digging in.

Serve It Sushi-Style

Top your serving with fresh avocado, cucumber, and green onion.

Scoop a little of the warm sushi bake onto a roasted seaweed snack sheet, add some of the fresh toppings, fold it up, and enjoy.

A Few Little Hacks

Avocado cups work too! If you have individual avocado cups instead of a fresh avocado, just spread a little over your serving after baking and then add furikake.

I like to dice the avocado and cucumber really small. That way you can get a little bit of everything onto each of those small seaweed snack sheets.

You can also add extra spicy mayo, Kewpie, soy sauce, coconut aminos, green onions, or furikake to make each bite your own.

Bariatric-Friendly Portion

Being a bariatric sleeve gal, I could only eat about ⅓ of one little sushi bake. I loaded up 6 little roasted seaweed snack sheets with my sushi bake, avocado, cucumber, and crispy onions.

And honestly, they were six of the best little bites ever!

The nice thing about making these in individual dishes is that you don't have to eat an entire serving at once.

Meal Prep

This recipe makes four small 4×6-inch sushi bakes.

I like to bake them all at once, enjoy what I want, and refrigerate the others. When you're ready for another serving, simply reheat the sushi bake and then add your fresh toppings.

Keep the avocado, cucumber, green onion, seaweed sheets, and other fresh toppings separate until you're ready to eat so they stay fresh and crispy.

One small sushi bake can easily make 2 or 3 smaller meals, depending on your portion size.

Approximate Macros

Sushi Bake Only — Before Fresh Toppings

Serving	Calories	Protein	Carbs	Fat
1 whole 4×6 bake	~465	~13g	~61g	~18g
½ bake	~233	~6.5g	~30.5g	~9g
⅓ bake	~155	~4.3g	~20g	~6g

My Smaller Serving

I ate approximately ⅓ of one bake with 6 roasted seaweed snack sheets, ¼ avocado, ¼ cucumber, and about 1 tablespoon of crispy French fried onions.

My meal was approximately:

290 calories • 6g protein • 27–30g carbs • 15–17g fat

Macros are estimates and will vary depending on the exact brands, amounts, toppings, and sweetener used.

It Was a Hit — And Here's About What It Cost

I have to add that this recipe was a HIT! I was already asked to make it again this weekend, so this one is definitely going into our regular rotation.

And one of the best parts? It really wasn't expensive to make, especially considering that several of the ingredients will make more than one batch.

Here's approximately what I paid at Sam's Club and what I actually used:

• Crab Classic imitation crab: The 2-lb package was under $7, and I only used half of it.
  Cost for this recipe: about $3.50

• Kewpie mayonnaise: I already had this on hand. You only need about ¼ cup, and regular mayonnaise will work just fine if that's what you have.

• Cream cheese: I always have this in the refrigerator too. I believe the multi-pack is around $4-ish for four blocks. This recipe uses ¾ of one block.
  Estimated cost used: about $0.75

• English cucumbers: A 3-pack was under $3. You only need part of one cucumber unless you're feeding a crowd.
  Estimated cost used: about $0.50–$1.00

• Avocados: A 5-count bag was about $5.96. How many you use will depend on how much everyone wants on top.
  About $1.20 each

• Roasted seaweed snack packs: A 24-pack was around $8.
  About $0.33 per snack pack

• Jasmine rice: An 8-lb bag is around $11, but this recipe only uses 1¼ cups of dry rice.
  Estimated cost used: well under $1

• Furikake: About $3 a container, and you only use a small amount.
  Don't have furikake? Crumble up a little seaweed instead.

Don't Buy Special Ingredients If You Don't Need To

This is one of those recipes where you can easily work with what you already have.

No Kewpie? Use regular mayo.

No furikake? Crumble some seaweed over the rice.

No little roasted seaweed snack sheets? Cut regular nori sheets into smaller pieces and use those for scooping.

No fresh avocado? Individual avocado cups work too.

So What Did the Whole Recipe Cost?

Based on the amounts actually used, I'd estimate the basic sushi bake itself at roughly $7–$9, before optional toppings and depending on what you already have in the refrigerator and pantry.

Even adding avocado, cucumber, and seaweed for serving, you're probably looking at roughly $10–$13 for the whole batch.

And remember, this recipe made four individual 4×6 sushi bakes for me.

That's roughly $2.50–$3.25 per individual bake, with each little bake potentially making 2–3 smaller meals depending on your portion size.

For something that everyone liked enough to request again a few days later, I'll take that!

Always and most importantly — thank you to my family and friends for all the love and support that has carried me this far. I will be back for me in the days ahead. This is just the beginning. 💛

Let’s Connect

Have an idea?
Share it in the comments — I’d love to hear what’s working for you during your different phases 💛

Till we meet again

love and find joy in your day 

Louise