Category / Onigiri

A collection of fun, easy, and delicious onigiri (AKA musubi or Japanese rice balls) recipes and tutorials that are perfect for packing into bento boxes. Step by step instructions and video tutorials ensure anyone can become an onigiri master come lunch time!

Salted Rose Onigiri Mother’s Day Bento

These gorgeous Salted Rose Onigiri are sheer edible elegance! Made with homemade pickled rose petals and rose salt, these rice balls are guaranteed to impress with their effortless beauty and taste.

 

Salted Rose Onigiri - WOW your friends with the unique flavor of pickled rose petals, which take these rice balls to a whole new level of edible elegance! Plus, I reveal a super easy, 2-ingredient rose salt recipe perfect for sprinkling on top. These onigiri are absolutely perfect for a Mother's Day or spring bento box - a guaranteed crowd-pleaser! Get the recipe at loveatfirstbento.com

Salted Rose Onigiri - WOW your friends with the unique flavor of pickled rose petals, which take these rice balls to a whole new level of edible elegance! Plus, I reveal a super easy, 2-ingredient rose salt recipe perfect for sprinkling on top. These onigiri are absolutely perfect for a Mother's Day or spring bento box - a guaranteed crowd-pleaser! Get the recipe at loveatfirstbento.com

In honor of Mother’s Day, onigiri is getting an elegant, sophisticated spring makeover, and it’s all thanks to one surprising star ingredient: roses. These beautifully blushing rice balls are flecked with tart yet floral pickled rose petals, and accessorized in a shower of sparkling pink rose salt – a topping capable of turning any food item into a queen. What mother (or female, for that matter) wouldn’t fall head-over-heels for these gorgeous lunchtime jewels? And the best part: they’re super easy to make!

Christmas Lights Onigiri + Easy Chestnut Filling

Fill your bento box with holiday cheer by making these Christmas Lights Onigiri! Filled with a crazy addictive chestnut & brussels sprouts filling, you won’t be able to get enough of these bright and festive little presents of rice!

 

Christmas Lights Onigiri - These bright & festive rice balls are perfect for bento box lunches, holiday parties, and Christmas themed appetizers! Filled with a crazy addictive chestnut & brussels sprouts filling, learn just how fun & easy making and decorating these onigiri are with an easy to follow video tutorial + step-by-step instructions. | loveatfirstbento.com

Christmas Lights Onigiri - These bright & festive rice balls are perfect for bento box lunches, holiday parties, and Christmas themed appetizers! Filled with a crazy addictive chestnut & brussels sprouts filling, learn just how fun & easy making and decorating these onigiri are with an easy to follow video tutorial + step-by-step instructions. | loveatfirstbento.com

Deck the halls with onigiri ~ Okay, maybe not, but why not deck out your bento box with these super colorful, intoxicatingly festive Christmas Lights Onigiri? They’re fun to make, easier to decorate than Christmas cookies, and are guaranteed to fill you with copious amounts of holiday cheer. And, wrapped up inside these little bundles of rice is a delectable filling of savory chestnuts & brussels sprouts, a filling so good, you’ll find it near impossible not to shovel it all into your mouth as soon as it leaves the pan. (But, even if you do, I promise I won’t tell.)

Roasted Tomato Yaki Onigiri (Grilled Rice Ball)

Transform plain onigiri into a tantalizing lunchtime treat with these Roasted Tomato Yaki Onigiri, topped with a runny fried egg for extra decadence! Made using a common kitchen tool found in every household, these onigiri don’t require ANY special tools or molds to get their perfect circular shape!

 

Roasted Tomato Yaki Onigiri with Fried Egg - The ultimate in lunchtime decadence! Toasty golden rice, sweet roasted tomatoes, and a runny fried egg transform your average rice ball into an irresistibly mouth-watering treat! Find out the one common kitchen tool used to make these circular onigiri - I guarantee it's in your kitchen drawers right now! Get this delicious & easy recipe at loveatfirstbento.com | bento box, Japanese food, vegetarian

Roasted Tomato Yaki Onigiri with Fried Egg - The ultimate in lunchtime decadence! Toasty golden rice, sweet roasted tomatoes, and a runny fried egg transform your average rice ball into an irresistibly mouth-watering treat! Find out the one common kitchen tool used to make these circular onigiri - I guarantee it's in your kitchen drawers right now! Get this delicious & easy recipe at loveatfirstbento.com | bento box, Japanese food, vegetarian

Crispy rice is the best kind of rice, in my opinion. Whenever we order bibimbap, I am that person inconspicuously stealing all of the crispy rice pieces (and then vehemently denying my crime). I am also that weird person you’ll find chiseling away at the crusty bits of rice plastered to the bottom of the rice cooker, unapologetically shoveling the pieces into my mouth. So really, it goes without saying that yaki onigiri is my destined rice soulmate. The gentle crunch of the toasty rice, still slightly warm from the pan, is enough to send your mouth into a permanent state of comatose. Combine that with savory-sweet cherry tomatoes, roasted until they’ve become fragrant, golden little rubies of perfection, and you’ve got yourself a taste explosion that will detonate your very soul into blissfully crying smithereens. Mouths of the world, meet the flavor bomb that will lead to your inevitable demise: Roasted Tomato Yaki Onigiri. Oh, and did I mention there’s a fried egg on top? Because fried egg + crispy rice = tastiest BFFs in the world.

17 Must Try Onigiri Recipes + #OnigiriAction

17 Must Try Onigiri Recipes - Featuring traditional onigiri, ultra cute onigiri, and vegan/vegetarian options, this is the ULTIMATE list of onigiri recipes on the internet! With 17 easy, delicious, and unique rice ball recipes to choose from, you'll never run out of ideas for using up leftover rice again! | loveatfirstbento.com {bento box, bento}

17 Must Try Onigiri Recipes - Featuring traditional onigiri, ultra cute onigiri, and vegan/vegetarian options, this is the ULTIMATE list of onigiri recipes on the internet! With 17 easy, delicious, and unique rice ball recipes to choose from, you'll never run out of ideas for using up leftover rice again! | loveatfirstbento.com {bento box, bento}

We already know that onigiri are awesome – they’re cute, delicious, and make the perfect addition to any bento box. But did you know that, just by making or eating your own onigiri, you could help feed children in need? “Change the World with Onigiri #OnigiriAction” is an annual campaign run by Table For Two that is giving you the power to make a difference in a child’s life. How? It couldn’t be any simpler:

  1. Take a picture of your onigiri (either homemade or store-bought).
  2. Post your picture to social media (AKA Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook) with the hashtag #OnigiriAction, OR upload your photo to the campaign website.

 

how to participate in Onigiri Action visual

That’s it! Every time a photo is posted, Table for Two’s partner organizations will donate 5 meals to children in need. That’s right – ONE onigiri can feed FIVE children. (Now that’s some math I can get behind!) In honor of this amazing campaign, I’ve compiled 17 must try onigiri recipes to help inspire YOU to participate in #OnigiriAction and make a difference too! From traditional onigiri to ultra cute to vegan, I guarantee you there’s an onigiri soulmate just waiting for you in the list below 😉

Candy Corn Onigiri

It’s time for Monthly Onigiri! For October, we’re making Candy Corn Onigiri. They’re festive, fun, and guaranteed to get you into the Halloween spirit!

 

Candy Corn Onigiri (Rice Balls) - Easily transform your kid's bento box into a fun-filled Halloween lunch with these fun & festive onigiri! Find out how to make these 100% naturally colored rice balls with step-by-step instructions + video tutorial. A great, healthy alternative to regular Halloween candy! | loveatfirstbento.com [vegetarian, vegan]

Candy Corn Onigiri (Rice Balls) - Easily transform your kid's bento box into a fun-filled Halloween lunch with these fun & festive onigiri! Find out how to make these 100% naturally colored rice balls with step-by-step instructions + video tutorial. A great, healthy alternative to regular Halloween candy! | loveatfirstbento.com [vegetarian, vegan]

If you had to pick one quintessential Halloween candy – a candy that embodies the Halloween spirit and acts as a deliciously edible symbol of the spooky holiday people either love or despise – what would it be? For me, that title would have to go to candy corn. I mean, who can look at candy corn and not instantaneously think of Halloween? I’m pretty sure it’s a visceral, inborn response. And so, it seems fitting that the first Halloween themed bento item I have for you this October are these ultra cute, ultra festive Candy Corn Onigiri.

Pumpkin Spice Onigiri Bento

Onigiri just got a major fall makeover, thanks to the addition of pumpkin spice! A must-try for all pumpkin spice lovers.

 

Pumpkin Spice Onigiri - Learn how to make pumpkin spice rice, which is combined with easy honey almonds for an unforgettable autumn rice ball experience. A must try for all pumpkin spice lovers! | loveatfirstbento.com [bento box, bento, fall]

Pumpkin Spice Onigiri - Learn how to make pumpkin spice rice, which is combined with easy honey almonds for an unforgettable autumn rice ball experience. A must try for all pumpkin spice lovers! | loveatfirstbento.com [bento box, bento, fall]

Yes, I went there. I’m not sure if the rice ball gods will forgive me, but I have gone ahead and paired rice with pumpkin spice, and it’s truly everything you’d expect of a pumpkin spice creation – warm, fulfilling, and inexplicably addicting. Warning in advance though: these are not your typical onigiri. They teeter flirtatiously between savory and sweet. But I have faith that you can all find it in your heart to welcome these little harbingers of delectable fall bliss into your life.

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