california roll shrimp stacks;
Originally posted May 22, 2017. Updated August 16, 2025 for content and clarity.
If sushi sounds intimidating to make at home, then try these california roll shrimp stacks as an easy alternative. Layer rice, shrimp, cucumber, and avocado to make a refreshing easy meal, and then top it with a sriracha mayo for a little sweet heat. Shrimp stacks are perfect when you’re craving sushi, but want a cooked protein you can make right at home.
Sushi can be intimidating. At least it is for me. You need to make sure your fish is safe, and you typically need a lot of ingredients and maybe some specialized equipment like a bamboo rolling mat. But this recipe really only uses rice, shrimp, avocado, and cucumber. It does require some additional items like oil and sesame seeds, but it’s honestly pretty simple. Perfect for a weeknight meal that still feels satisfying and can scratch that sushi itch.
The inspiration for this recipe came from Gina at Skinny Taste, and couldn’t be simpler to make. Let’s start with the rice. I’m a huge fan of white rice, and sushi rice always has the perfect balance of mildly sweet and the perfect amount of chew. You could make traditional sushi rice. But I choose brown rice because it’s a bit healthier, and my mom shared a way to make the brown rice closer to sushi-rice texture.
You could make traditional sushi rice, but my mom shared a tip to make brown rice closer to sushi-texture rice.
secret to success
The secret my mom recently discovered–soak your brown rice! To get a better texture and keep the rice from being on the drier side, soak your rice for at least an hour. You can let it soak up to overnight, but I’ve found 1 hour does the trick. I use 2 cups of water to every 1 cup of brown rice to actually add to the rice cooker to cook.. So for these california roll shrimp stacks, I used 4 cups of water and 2 cups of rice.
I use a round 2-2.5″ biscuit cutter (or cookie cutter) for my shrimp stacks. It makes it easy to keep your stacks neat and tidy, though you may get some runaways when you remove the cookie cutter. To amp up the fun-quota even more, consider different cookie cutter shapes! Use a star, or a gingerbread man, or whatever floats your boat. I wouldn’t pick one with an intricate design, or anything too small. Cookie cutters with big areas are ideal, since the chunks of california roll toppings are pretty chunky and subject to run away.
Try fun shapes! Stack your california roll shrimp stacks in any shape cookie cutter.
secret to success
Next up I toss on diced, cooked shrimp. Sometimes I forget how delicious simple can be. It doesn’t have to be complicated. For california shrimp stacks, all I did was sautee up the shrimp with a little bit of oil and let the caramelization on the pan sear some delicious flavor into the shrimp.
I typically mix together my avocado and cucumber, but you could even combine the shrimp, avocado, and cucumber. It’s important to have shrimp in every bite, but I’m more lax about the avocado and cucumbers. So mix or layer the ingredients as you see fit–there’s really no rhyme or reason to the madness.
Make sure when you go to assemble that you have all of your ingredients prepared. Chop the veggies and your shrimp, set aside the cookied rice, and mix together your sriracha mayo. You can leave off the mayo until after the stacks are assembled, but it’s so easy I usually just do it quickly while the rice cooks.
If you don’t feel like meticulously assembling each stack, just build your own bowl!
secret to success
The thing I love most about this recipe for california roll shrimp stacks is the simplicity. Despite simple ingredients it’s packed full of flavor, and even embodies the Japanese aesthetic in presentation. Minimal, highlighting beautiful ingredients. The Japanese take great pride in ther preparation of food. Just google “bento box” to see what I’m talking about. Of course, if you don’t feel like meticulously assembling each stack, just build your own bowl!
secrets to success;
Want all the best tips and tricks to make this recipe a success? Check out the blog post above to find out more!
more recipes;
Looking for other quick and easy weeknight meals? Check out these yummy options~
- One of our go-to easy dinners is hot honey chicken. Bake off some easy breaded and spiced chicken cutlets and drizzle with hot honey before serving. The sweet and spicy combo is hard to beat!
- Another fan favorite, slow-cooker bbq ribs. This recipe requires a slow cooker, but literally has two ingredients.
- Rosemary cream chicken is another simple staple, packed with so much flavor from ingredients I typically have on hand!
california roll shrimp stacks;
Ingredients
shrimp stacks;
- 2 cups brown rice washed
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 lb shrimp
- 2 Tbsp oil (I use olive oil)
- 1 medium avocado
- 1 small cucumber diced
- sesame seeds (optional)
- diced scallions (optional)
sriracha mayo;
- 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tsp sriracha
- 1 tsp soy sauce
Instructions
- Wash and soak the brown rice in water for at least 1+ hour. Cook in rice cooker according to directions (I typically do 4 cups water to 2 cups brown rice). Remove from rice cooker and mix in rice vinegar. Set aside and allow to partially cool.
- Meanwhile heat the oil in a pan, and add the shrimp. Cook 1-2 minutes each side, or until browned and cooked through. Remove to a paper-towel lined sheet and allow to cool.
- Keeping each ingredient separate, dice the avocado, cucumber, and shrimp and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sriracha, and soy sauce and set aside.
- Begin assembling the shrimp stacks. To get perfect circles use a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter and layer ingredients inside. For an easier option, just build a bowl with the ingredients. Layer rice , then chopped shrimp, and top with a mixture of diced cucumber and avocado.
- Top with sriracha mayo and sprinkle with sesame seeds and/or scallions as desired.
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1 Comments
Laura
August 23, 2025 at 5:10 pm
These are great–sinple and delicious! And they go with any sauce.