Homemade Furikake Seasoning (vegan, gluten free)
Jan 08, 2022 • Updated Jun 20, 2023
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Learn to make your own furikake rice seasoning with simple ingredients and a food processor to flavor everything from rice to soup! Plus, it’s vegan and gluten-free.
If you’re a fan of flavor, crunch, and texture, this recipe is for you. You can make your own furikake seasoning to sprinkle on everything form salads and sandwiches to stir-fries and soups!
What is Furikake?
Furikake is a Japanese seasoning blend that adds umami, saltiness and crunch to a wide range of dishes. There are many different ways to make furikake, but most include seeds (like sesame) and seaweed (like nori). In addition, you might find fish flakes, soy sauce, chili flakes, and other flavorful add-ins.
Ingredients for Homemade Vegan Furikake
To make this easy version of furikake at home that’s totally fish-free, you’ll need:
- Seaweed. Choose unseasoned, untoasted sheets of nori.
- Tamari. Gluten-free soy sauce also works! Or regular soy sauce if you’re not gluten-free.
- Sesame oil. I like toasted sesame oil for the deepest flavor.
- Mirin. This adds a subtle sweetness and acidity to the mix.
- Coconut sugar. You can also use organic cane sugar if you prefer.
- Togarashi. This is a Japanese seasoning you can find at Asian markets and well-stocked grocery stores, like Whole Foods.
- Shiitake mushroom powder. This adds a ton of umami to the furikake!
- Black and white sesame seeds for added nuttiness and color.
How to Make Furikake
Once you’ve assembled your ingredients, it’s a whizz to make your Japanese seasoning blend. You’ll need a food processor or a high-speed blender.
Start by seasoning the nori sheets. Once everything is well mixed and your nori is coated, you’ll want to dry them out. The best way to do this is in a low oven. Bake the nori until dry and toasted. Then, before blending, let the seaweed cool fully. This allows it to crisp up so it breaks down into tiny pieces in the food processor.
Finally, blend it up and enjoy!
How to Use Furikake
You can store your homemade furikake seasoning in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two months. Use it on anything that needs a hit of extra salty, umami flavor. For example:
- Obachan’s Mushroom Kamameshi: Japanese Mixed Rice (vegan, gluten free, wfpb)
- Vegan Japchae (Korean Glass Noodle Stirfry)
- Healthy Teriyaki Tofu and Broccoli Stir Fry (vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free, oil free)
- Garden Poké Bowls (vegan, gluten free)
More Japanese Recipes to Try
- Kashiwa Mochi (Japanese Rice Cake with Oak Leaf)
- Blender Matcha Kakigori: Japanese Shaved Ice (vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free)
- Onigiri Chazuke (vegan, gluten free)
If you make this homemade vegan furikake seasoning, be sure to let me know what you think with a comment below!
Easy Homemade Furikake Recipe (Japanese Rice Seasoning)
Ingredients
- 15-20 sheets unseasoned nori seaweed
- 3 tbsp tamari or gluten free soy sauce
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tsp mirin
- 1 tsp coconut sugar
- 1-2 tsp togarashi
- 1 tsp shiitake mushroom powder
- 3 tbsp black sesame seeds
- 3 tbsp white sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250F.
- Prepare a large bowl and whisk together tamari, sesame oil, mirin, coconut sugar mushroom powder, and togarashi.
- Next, using your hands, shred your nori sheets into small pieces and add to the bowl. Massage into the seaweed and try to make sure as many pieces of nori are coated as possible. The seaweed should be damp, but not super wet.
- Lastly, add your sesame seeds and togarashi to the bowl and mix with your hands again.
- On a lined baking sheet, spread your seaweed mixture as evenly as possible.
- Bake in 5 minute increments, tossing with a spatula each bake. Repeat 3 times, or until seaweed is nice and toasted, and no moisture remains.
- Let cool completely before moving on to the next step.
- Once seaweed mixture is dry, transfer to a food processor and pulse until broken down into fine pieces. It should resemble dried parsley--you want a fine texture so it's easy to mix into rice, but if you prefer it chunkier, leave it chunky!
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
How to Use Furikake
You can store this homemade furikake recipe in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two months. Use it on white rice or anything that needs a hit of extra salty, umami flavor. For example:Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
