The most delicious vegan crispy rice

The amount of times I have had crispy rice last month should be illegal! I first tried this amazing combination when I visited Nobu in Malibu back in May. I was so amaze and truly impressed with how delicious the crispy rice was there. The only thing that I was not amaze by was the price, $11 for ONE single crispy rice.

I just knew in that moment that I HAD to try making it at home for a fraction of the cost, so that’s exactly what I did. To my surprise, it was must easy than I anticipated it would be. I even tried air frying the rice in the air fryer rather than frying it in oil on the stovetop, and guess what.. it worked!

I have made three versions of this crispy rice, you can find the tuna and stove top version here, and while you’re at it, check out the smoked salmon version that I made as well.

This snack, appetizer, or lunch recipe is so easy to make and you will truly be impressed with your skills once you try it out! As always, be sure to tag me over on Instagram so I can repost your recreations! If you love this recipe as much as I think you will, please be sure to leave a comment and rating below- this helps my business so much!

Ingredients needed to make air fried vegan crispy rice

You won’t need a ton of ingredients to make this recipe, the most important ingredient that you need is of course, the sushi rice which I found at my local Ralphs, which is the Nishiki brand. To make the spicy cucumbers, check out the recipe here, which is located on my website.

For the crispy rice

• sushi rice
• cane sugar
• evoo

Kitchen tools needed to make this crispy rice

This recipe can be made either on the stove top or in the air fryer. I can asked a lot which method tastes better, and to be completely honest, I think the air fryer method does! It gets just as crispy in the air fryer as it does on the stove top, but requires less time and less attention.

Stove Top Method:

• frying pan
• tongs

Air Fryer Method:

• Air Fryer
• Parchment paper

How to make air fried crispy rice

There’s a three step process to making this crisp rice, from start to finish you’ll be enjoying this recipe in about an hour, but I promise it’s really simple and straight forward.

To start, cook the sushi rice according to package. While that’s cooking, prepare an 8×8 baking dish by lining it with parchment paper and set aside.

Add the cooked rice to a large mixing bowl and add in extra virgin olive oil and organic cane sugar. Mix with a fork until each rice is well coated. Next, add the rice to the prepared 8×8 baking dish and using a separate piece of parchment paper press down on the rice until it’s well compacted and in an even layer.

Place the dish in the freezer for 30 minutes-1 hour or until the rice is cold and firm to the touch. This part in important because the rice needs to be chilled in order to be placed in the fryer so it doesn’t fall apart.

Remove the rice from the container and cut into equal bite size pieces. Either heat EVOO in a pan over medium to low heat and cook the rice until golden brown on each size, about 4-5 minutes per side. Or, place the cold rice on a piece of parchment paper and air fry at 350F for 20 minutes, no need to flip!

Once you have your crispy rice, layer it with your favorite toppings. For this recipe I did mashed avocado and my spicy cucumbers and enjoy!

Other crispy rice recipes to try

• Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice