If you love spicy tuna rolls but find sushi a bit fiddly, this sushi burrito is for you. It’s packed with creamy avocado, a spicy tuna mix made with canned tuna for ease, and lots of fresh, crunchy veggies. Inspired by the viral Joe & The Juice Tunacado, it’s a quick, satisfying lunch or easy dinner. Just fill, roll, slice, and you’re done.
Table of Contents
- From Tunacado to Sushi Burrito
- Why You’ll Love This Spicy Tuna Sushi Burrito
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How to Make Your Sushi Burrito
- Four Sauces to Pair With Your Sushi Burrito
- Sushi Burrito FAQs
- Watch How to Make a Sushi Burrito
- Like this recipe? Try these sushi-inspired ideas next
- Spicy Tunacado Sushi Burrito Recipe
From Tunacado to Sushi Burrito
While the Joe & The Juice tunacado sandwich has been doing the rounds on social media for years, I only tried it recently. As a chili girl, I went straight for the spicy version, and it absolutely lives up to the hype!
It works so well because of the wonderful combination of flavors and textures. You’ve got creamy tuna and avocado, fresh tomato, herby pesto, and crispy toasted bread – plus an excellent filling-to-bread ratio. After I tried it, I was itching to recreate it with a little twist, and this spicy tuna sushi burrito felt the perfect option.
Honestly, I’ve never been great at making sushi. I tend to overfill it, which makes rolling tricky and slicing even harder (everything likes to fall out!) This burrito version was a bit of a revelation. Making a larger nori sheet gives you more room to work with, so even with lots of filling, it actually rolls up properly.
This really is such a fun one and would be excellent to get kids involved with – lay out all the fillings and let everyone make and roll their burritos.
Why You’ll Love This Spicy Tuna Sushi Burrito
- So much easier than traditional sushi. No fiddly rolling, slicing, or being worried about too much filling here. It’s very forgiving.
- Made with canned tuna (no raw fish needed). You still get the lovely tuna flavor, but cheaper and easier to find.
- Perfect for lunch, dinner, and meal prep. Packed with protein and super satisfying, this is a meal you’ll definitely look forward to.
- Super easy to customize. Keep it mild by swapping out the spicy aioli and jalapenos for regular aioli, pickles or capers, or add more heat (I like chili oil for this). Swap the tuna for shredded cooked chicken, or even use this high-protein sushi-inspired chicken salad.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Sushi rice. This is key for the recipe – short grain sushi rice is super sticky, which you need to make the sushi burrito work.
- Nori (seaweed) sheets. We’re doing a little trick to make super-long nori sheets by sticking two together with a little water. You should be able to find the nori sheets in a regular grocery store, or an Asian grocery store if you’re lucky enough to have one nearby. You can also pick them up on Amazon.
- Tuna. One regular can of tuna is enough for two burritos here (5oz). Use tuna in brine or oil; either will work.
- Pesto. Use your favorite store-bought one (ideally fresh for the best flavor) or try making your own pesto. It’s super easy, and the flavor is so much better.
- Spicy aioli. I’m using my go-to spicy gochujang aioli here, but use any you like, or egg-free garlic aioli, mayo, or instant Kewpie mayo. You could also use Greek yogurt.
- Pickled jalapenos. These are little gems of flavor and provide both heat and a lovely pickle-ness here. You’ll use both the jalapenos and their brine. You could use capers or regular pickles if you want a non-spicy tuna mixture.
How to Make Your Sushi Burrito
This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the sushi burrito – the full recipe with ingredient quantities is at the bottom of the page for you.
- Cook your sushi rice, then mix it with rice vinegar and salt and set aside to cool.
- While it cools, make your spicy tuna mixture by combining all the ingredients. You can leave it chunky, or make the tuna into more of a mousse. You can also blitz it in a food processor.
- Use a little water to seal the ends of two nori sheets together, to make one long sheet. Spread your rice over about two-thirds of the nori, leaving space at the end.
- Arrange your sliced cucumber, spicy tuna mix, avocado, tomatoes, spicy aioli, and crispy shallots (if you’re using them) in roughly the middle of the rice.
- Slowly roll up the burrito, trying to keep it nice and tight. It will feel quite full, but it will roll up if you keep going.
- Don’t worry if any of the filling falls out at the end – you can easily just pop it back in.
- Slice the sushi burrito in half, then serve with more spicy aioli or your favorite sauce for dipping.
Four Sauces to Pair With Your Sushi Burrito
- My go-to is this 2-minute gochujang aioli – I like to use it in the tuna filling too.
- If you’re not a big fan of heat, go for a garlic mayo (like this egg-free garlic aioli), or Kewpie mayo (try making your own instant Kewpie mayo).
- Sweet chili jam, or sweet chili sauce, brings a little sweetness to balance the other flavors in the burrito.
- An extra drizzle of fresh basil pesto, or sun-dried tomato pesto, works gorgeously too.
Sushi Burrito FAQs
These are ideally best made within 24 hours, as they can get a little soggy after this. But leftovers are absolutely fine for a couple of days when stored in the fridge.
It makes a perfect packed or working-from-home lunch, and a fun, quick dinner idea.
Try adding sliced red onions or scallions, or a drizzle of chilli oil for an extra hit of heat.
You could swap the tuna for shredded cooked chicken, or even mashed chickpeas for a vegan option. You could also swap the filling entirely for this high-protein sushi-inspired chicken salad.
Yes! This recipe uses canned tuna, which makes it a lot easier (and cheaper), but still delivers the lovely, creamy, spicy flavor you want from a spicy tuna roll.
You can use raw sushi-grade tuna or salmon here if you prefer.
I find this is a very forgiving sushi roll – but there are a few things that help:
– While a sushi burrito can take more filling than a regular sushi roll (thanks to the long nori sheet), you still don’t want to massively overfill it. Try to keep it on a wide, thin layer if possible.
– Work slowly as you roll, rolling the burrito back and forth and trying to be as tight as you can.
Watch How to Make a Sushi Burrito
Like this recipe? Try these sushi-inspired ideas next
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.
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Spicy Tunacado Sushi Burrito
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 burritos 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
If you love spicy tuna rolls but find sushi a bit fiddly, this sushi burrito is for you. It’s packed with creamy avocado, a spicy tuna mix made with canned tuna for ease, and lots of fresh, crunchy veggies. Inspired by the viral Joe & The Juice Tunacado, it’s a quick, satisfying lunch or easy dinner. Just fill, roll, slice, and you’re done.
Ingredients
For the rice –
- 1 cup sushi rice
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the spicy tuna mixture –
- 5oz (or 150g) can of tuna, drained
- 1/4 cup spicy aioli
- 2 scallions, finely sliced
- 2 tablespoons pickled jalapenos, finely diced
- 1/2 tablespoon pickled jalapeno brine (or lemon juice)
- 1 tablespoon American mustard
- Handful of dill sprigs, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Black pepper
For the burrito toppings –
- 4 sheets of nori (seaweed)
- 1/4 cup basil pesto
- 1 avocado
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1 large tomato
- 1/4 cup spicy aioli (like this 2-minute gochujang aioli)
- 1/4 cup crispy shallots (optional)
Instructions
- Make your sushi rice. Rinse 1 cup of sushi rice a couple of times (I cover it in water in the pot I’m cooking it in, swirl it around a few times, then drain it in a sieve and repeat), then add it to a small saucepan you have a lid for. Pour in 1.5 cups of cold water, then set over medium-high heat. Once you see foamy bubbles on top of the water, pop the lid on, turn the heat to its lowest setting, and leave for 18 minutes. After this, remove the pot from the heat and leave it to sit for another 10 minutes to finish steaming.
- Season your rice. Remove the lid of your pot, sprinkle over the salt and the rice vinegar, and mix it through the rice. Leave to cool. PRO TIP: Spread the rice onto a tray or plate to speed up the cooling process.
- Make your spicy tuna mix. Add the canned tuna, 1/4 cup of spicy aioli, sliced scallion, diced jalapenos, jalapeno brine, 1 tablespoon of mustard, dill, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and a good grind of black pepper to a bowl. Use a fork to mix well to combine, pressing down with the back of your fork to mash the tuna into the rest of the ingredients. Taste, then season with a little more salt and jalapeno brine if needed.
- Prep your toppings. Slice your cucumber into thin strips, roughly the same length as the width of your nori sheets. Remove the skin and seed from your avocado, then slice. Slice your tomato into thin pieces.
- Make your long nori sheet. Lay one of the nori sheets, rough side up, on a wooden board or your clean surface. Use your fingers (or a pastry brush) to lightly wet the end of one sheet (about an inch), then place the second sheet on top, overlapping to create one long piece of nori. Press down to seal the nori sheets in place.
- Arrange your toppings. Spread half the rice into a thin layer on top of the nori, going right to the edges but leaving a small gap (roughly 1 inch) at one long end, and roughly 4 inches at the other (see the photos in the post above). Spread half the pesto onto the rice, then lay the cucumber strips on top. Spoon half the spicy tuna mixture on top, then the avocado and tomato slices. Drizzle with the extra spicy aioli, then scatter with the crispy shallots if you’re using them. Repeat with the other nori sheets and ingredients.
- Roll your sushi burrito. Slowly roll up your burrito, as tightly as you can. Don’t worry too much if some of the toppings fall out of the ends; you can easily pop them back in. Roll it back and forth to seal the edges, then slice it in half to serve. You can serve it with extra spicy aioli for dipping, too, if you like!
Notes
INGREDIENT NOTES: Swap the spicy aioli for regular aioli, mayo, instant Kewpie mayo or Greek yogurt. Replace the jalapenos with regular pickles or capers if you’re worried about the spiciness.
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: The sushi burrito is best enjoyed the day you make it as it can get a little soggy, but any leftovers will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: fakeaways
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 burrito
