Making sushi at home can be intimidating, what with making sushi rice, rolling it up just right, and dealing with raw fish. With these baked salmon sushi cups, you can skip all that but still get all the flavors of your favorite roll. Baked in mini muffin tins, these also come together fast, making them perfect to eat for a quick lunch or to serve as a bite-sized app at your next party.

To really do these right, use a Japanese mayonnaise—Kewpie is the brand most commonly found in the U.S. It’s got a touch more sweetness and a lot more umami than your regular mayo and is worth seeking out for this recipe. That said, if you can’t find it, whatever mayonnaise you usually use will do just fine too.

Though you might be tempted to build these cups in the muffin pans, we highly recommend placing the rice on the nori before lining the muffin tins with it. The rice helps to soften the nori so it folds rather than cracks when you put it in, making the whole process go more smoothly.

Did you try this? Let us know how it went in the comments!
Baked Salmon Sushi Cups
Baked Salmon Sushi Cups are a quick and easy recipe to make. You get that same sushi quality that you'd get at a restaurant, at home for a fraction of the cost. They are the perfect bite sized sushi cups that are loaded with flavor.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Baked Salmon Sushi Cups are the perfect bite sized recipe to make.
Get that same sushi restaurant quality at home for a fraction of the cost.
These salmon cups are made in a muffin tin and are super fun to assemble.
They are loaded with flavor and have a soft, yet crunchy texture.
You only need a few simple ingredients.
Customize them to your liking by adding on your favorite fish or seasonings.
This recipe went viral for a reason!
Check out my teriyaki salmon bowl for another great dinner recipe.
Ingredients And Substitutions
These are the main ingredients and substitutions for Baked Salmon Sushi Cups. Scroll down to the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and instructions.

First and foremost, you will need fresh salmon or your favorite fish like tuna. Frozen will work as well, however, you will need to defrost it first. The flavor with frozen fish vs fresh is quite distinct, but it will still taste good.

Soy sauce works as a great marinade for the salmon, you can also use coconut aminos if preferred.

Sesame seed oil adds a lovely flavor to any fish recipe.

Use freshly minced garlic instead of garlic powder. This is going to add a ton of more flavor.

Chili flakes is optional, but for this recipe I only added in a touch which brings a great flavor without making the mixture too spicy.

Salt balances out all the flavors.

If you can, use Kewpie Mayo. It’s much more rich and has a very different flavor than regular mayo. I get mine from amazon.

Panko bread crumbs are sprinkled on top of the salmon cups before baking and add a lovely crunchy texture.

Sushi rice is a short grain rice and mimics that amazing sushi taste that we all love. It’s also much more stickier than your traditional long grain rice and can be found at most grocery stores.

Rice vinegar adds flavor to the rice.

Use nori sheets that you will then cut into squares. The nori sheets are much stronger than the seaweed strips that come prepackaged. I have tried using these instead of the nori and my cups fell apart, so it’s recommended to use the nori sheets.

For the toppings, I used more kewpie mayo, sesame seeds, green onions and a touch of chili oil crunch with adds both flavor and texture. I get mine at Trader Joe’s, but most grocery stores sell it too.
How To Make
ONE: Start by preparing the sushi rice according to package. Set aside.

TWO: Next, cube fresh skinless salmon into small bite sized pieces and place in a bowl.

THREE: Add in the salt, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, freshly minced garlic, chili flakes, and kewpie mayo, Mix well and set aside.
FOUR: Next, cut the nori into 12 squares, I used 1 nori sheet to make 4 squares.