Enjoy this vegan poke bowl at home anytime with this plant-based, vegan take on the beloved Hawaiian street fare. Perfect for meal prep and loaded with veggies, these vegetarian poke bowls are paired with a sweet soy ginger oil-free dressing.

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The delicious possibilities are endless with poke rice bowls! Top with as little or as much variety as you want. Keep it simple with just cucumber and avocado. Or, get creative with marinated watermelon and fancy sauces and toppings.

If you love veggie sushi, poke bowls, cucumber avocado rolls, vegetable sushi rolls, fresh salads, the taste of the sea or just plain delicious food, you'll love poke bowls.

🧄 Ingredient notes

ingredients: maple syrup, soy sauce, rice vinegar, simply asia sweet garlic ginger seasoning, wasabi powder, ground ginger, toasted sesame seeds

Sushi rice - Look for short-grain sushi rice in the Asian section of your grocery store or Asian market. It's cooked differently than long-grain, so be sure to read the instructions on the bag.
Shelled edamame - Look for shelled edamame in the frozen section, preferably in a steam-able bag. Make sure it's shelled, so you don't have to hand-shell each pod of edamame.
Seaweed snacks - Thin, crispy sheets of toasted seaweed, sometimes with flavors, like teriyaki or wasabi, added. They are so delicious and craveable. Perfect for eating with your poke bowl.
Rice vinegar - Look for the plain rice vinegar, not the one that says "seasoned". It shouldn't have any salt or sugar already in it.
Toasted sesame seeds - We buy toasted sesame seeds in bulk at H-Mart. If you can only find plain sesame seeds, that's fine, but you should toast them first.
Ginger - Using dry ground ginger powder means this dressing will last for 2 months in the refrigerator. Fresh, crushed ginger will give a stronger, brighter flavor but you'll need to use the dressing within 1-2 weeks.
Wasabi - You can use wasabi powder or wasabi paste to give the dressing a little heat.
Toasted sesame oil - Should have a dark amber color. Adds lovely flavor and aroma to the dressing. Use the small amount called for in the recipe if you can, but skip it if you need this to be completely 100% oil-free. (Sesame oil that hasn't been made with toasted sesame seeds is lighter in color, neutral tasting and shouldn't be substituted.)
Simply Asia sweet garlic ginger seasoning - We used to be able to find Simply Asia sweet garlic ginger mixed seasoning at Costco regularly and would add it to this dressing for even extra flavor. But, we can't find it anymore, so we now make it without. If you have it, use it. If you don't, don't stress about it.

📋 Substitutions and variations

Sushi rice: any sushi rice will work for this. Sushi rice is a short grain rice that is sticky when cooked. You can also use brown sushi rice, brown short-grain rice or haiga short grain rice.
Vegetables and fruit: Use whatever vegetables you like!!! Some alternative vegetables and fruit we eat in poke bowls are: spring mix, lettuce, sauteed spinach, cubed mango, cubed watermelon, mandarin orange segments, cooked cubed sweet potato, raw thinly sliced sweet bell peppers, pickled radish, pickled beets. The options are pretty limitless.
Seaweed snacks: for an oil-free seaweed flavor, try using a vegan, plain furikake rice seasoning (it should have just seaweed, sesame seeds and salt), dulse flakes or a sheet of seaweed nori cut up into small pieces or strips.
Soy sauce: Use tamari for gluten-free or coconut aminos for soy-free.
Ginger: If you use dried ground ginger, the dressing will last 1-2 months in the refrigerator. (fresh ginger is stronger and fresher tasting, but only lasts a week, refrigerated.)

More variation ideas:

Make it spicy! Use nanami togarashi, sriracha or chili garlic sauce
Pickled ginger is delicious and perfect in this bowl, as well, if you can source it.

🔪 Instructions

rinsing sushi rice in a large fine mesh sieve with cold water before cooking

Step 1: Rinse rice in a fine mesh strainer for about 30 seconds, agitating the rice with your hand.

cooked sushi rice for poke bowl in a large red dutch oven on the stove

Step 2: Cook rice according to package directions.

microwaving shelled edamame for vegan poke bowl

Step 3: While your rice is cooking, prep the vegetables and dressing. Steam-able microwave bags of frozen shelled edamame and broccoli are easiest. Use fresh produce for the rest of the veg.

Step 2 add asparagus to pan in a single layer

Step 4: To steam-saute the asparagus: Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add cut asparagus and ¼ cup of water. Cook until crisp tender (about 4-5 minutes), then remove from heat and cut into 2-inch pieces.

process step 1 - add all ingredients to measuring cup, bowl or mason jar

Step 5: Combine all ingredients in a measuring cup, mason jar or bowl. (If using sugar instead of honey, combine it with the soy sauce and vinegar, then heat it up for 30-60 seconds in the microwave to dissolve the sugar. Then, add the remaining ingredients.)

process step 2 - whisk dressing together

Step 6: Stir dressing with a fork or whisk to combine well.

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Serving suggestions

meal prep poke bowls with rice, grated carrot, cabbage, cucumber, bell pepper, seaweed snacks, spring mix, pickled beets, oranges, sweet soy ginger asian dressing labeled

This vegan poke bowls work really well for:

Meal prep - this recipe will make four poke bowls, enough for four days of work or school lunches for one person.
Batch cooking (just double or triple everything for a big family) - store it in the refrigerator in separate components for easy meals while working from home.
Serving company or for parties - lay all the components out in a poke bowl buffet and let everyone assemble their bowls, as they like
Picnics and day trips - these bowls can be eaten room temperature or cold, so they work well for picnics, day trips, road trips or taking with you to gatherings where you won't have food you can eat.

☕️ Tea pairing

This vegan poke bowl would be delicious paired with matcha, a delicate, light and floral jasmine oolong tea or jasmine green tea.

🗺 Cultural influences

Poke is one of the main dishes of Native Hawaiian cuisine and is traditionally served with cut up fish or seafood, rice, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili pepper, furikake and other seasonings, which draws influence from Japanese and other Asian cultures.

Sometimes called "sushi bowls", this is inaccurate, because sushi is Japanese and is always served in small pieces or rolls, not deconstructed in bowls.

Poke has gained in popularity in mainland North America in recent years and is served with many non-traditional toppings in poke restaurants.

💜 More recipes you'll love

If you love this vegan poke bowl recipe, check out these other Asian-inspired plant-based recipes!

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