Easy Hawaiian Spam Musubi Recipe

Want to make Hawaiian Spam Musubi at home? Scroll down to get my easy Hawaiian Spam Musubi recipe using a mold or without!

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Musubi lovers, this one is for you!

If you’re looking for an easy and delicious snack, look no further than Spam Musubi. This recipe is perfect for anyone who loves rice, spam, and seaweed.

With just a few simple ingredients, you can make your own Spam Musubi right at home – no musubi mold required!

It’s the perfect snack to keep in your fridge for those times when you need a quick bite to eat.

Keep scrolling to get my easy Hawaiian Spam Musubi recipe. You won’t regret it!

Spam Musubi FAQs

Do I need to refrigerate Spam Musubi?

Unless you are going to eat the musubi a few hours after making it, you’ll need to keep it in the fridge. Just be sure to wrap each musubi tightly in plastic wrap. When you’re ready to eat it, simply pop it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to soften up the rice. But, it won’t last more than 2 days in the fridge because the rice will get hard.

Can you make Spam Musubi with jasmine rice?

Not really. The rice needs to be really sticky. If you use jasmine rice, it will be messy and the rice will fall out of the seaweed. You could use jasmine rice for a deconstructed Spam Musubi (where you just place the rice, torn up pieces of seaweed, and diced spam in a bowl).

Is Spam Musubi Hawaiian?

Absolutely! It’s based on Japanese musubi, but using Spam gives it a classic Hawaiian variation.

What Is Spam Musubi?

This spam musubi recipe will become a staple in your home after making it for the first time. It’s basically spam sushi and so delicious!

Made with pantry staples like canned meat and rice, this dish is going to become one of those things you can never live without when visiting Hawaii.

The traditional musubi recipe was created by the Japanese, but it’s now popular all over Hawaii as well as in other parts of the United States.

The thing I love about Spam Musubi is how easy it can be made! You only need a couple of pantry staples to create this dish at home.

However, don’t let the fact that it’s super simple fool you because there are some seriously delicious flavors here thanks in large part from using Spam and covered with an added sweetness with the Spam Musubi sauce.

It’s also slightly caramelized since we marinate the Spam slices in a sweet and salty sauce before frying it. This is seriously one of the best things you can make with spam.

Image of Spam on rice wrapped with seaweed on a plate.

What’s the Best Rice for Spam Musubi

While there are a lot of recipes where it’s easy to use whatever rice you have in your home, this one really does require sticky rice.

We usually use Niko Niko calrose rice because it has a nice sticky and chewy consistency and it stays inside the seaweed wrapper perfectly.

But, if you are looking to make it a little bit “healthier” you can mix in 7 grain rice or brown rice.

How to Shape Spam Musubi

Spam Musubi Mold

There are spam musubi molds available for sale to help you give it its shape. It’s basically a little plastic press that helps in pressing the rice and spam together. Find the best prices here.

This is the spam musubi maker that I usually use when making it at home. It’s got a special shape and makes packing rice easy for kids too!

How to Make Spam Musubi Without a Mold

But not everyone wants to buy another kitchen tool. I get it.

Another easy way to make Spam Musubi is by hand. You can use the Spam slice as a template and grab a scoop of rice and pat it into a rice patty. This works because the rice is sticky. This is what I did in these photos since many people don’t own a spam musubi mold.

Alternatively, you can make a DIY Spam Musubi mold using the Spam can itself. You just need to cut off the ends of the Spam can and then you can push rice into the can to get the right shape. But, it’s important to make sure there are no sharp edges or you can cut yourself.

Now you have two options for how to make musubi without a mold.

How to Make the Spam Musubi Sauce

Some spam musubi recipes don’t use a sauce and I think that is the worst decision. The marinade adds so much flavor!

That’s why I make this simple Spam Musubi sauce recipe to marinate and cook the slices of Spam in.

I make my Spam musubi sauce recipe with soy sauce, sake (optional), rice vinegar, cornstarch, and water.

You’ll just mix all the ingredients together and marinate the Spam slices in it for about 30 minutes before cooking.

As you pan fry the Spam slices, the sugar will caramelize and it will taste incredible. And you can use the pan sauce to drizzle on top of your musubi before wrapping it in seaweed.

Image of a slice of Spam on a bed of rice that's wrapped with a strip of seaweed.

Spam Musubi Recipe Without Mold

Spam Musubi Ingredients:

1 Cup sushi rice (or white sticky rice), cooked according to package directions
½ Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Sheet nori seaweed
5 Spam slices (1 can)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil

Spam Musubi Sauce Ingredients

1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tsp cornstarch
½ Tbsp sake

How to Make Spam Musubi

In a small bowl combine all the spam musubi sauce ingredients. Slice up the Spam and place them into the sauce, making sure each slice is fully coated. Let it marinate for 30 minutes.

If you want to make sushi rice, combine the rice with the rice vinegar. Toss to combine and let it rest for 5 minutes. Otherwise, you can just use sticky rice.

Cut the nori seaweed into pieces so it will wrap around the musubi and set it aside. Sometimes I have it cover the entire musubi and other times I just make a smaller strip.

Heat the vegetable oil and sesame oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the spam musubi slices and fry for around 2 minutes per side. It should look darker and be slightly browned.

Remove from heat.

Shape the Spam Musubi: Press around ⅕ cup rice into the spam musubi press. Remove from the press and top with the cooked Spam. Wrap with a nori seaweed strip.

Repeat the with the rest and serve it.

And there you have it! Now you know how to make musubi with my super easy Spam Musubi recipe!

Musubi Recipe Without Spam Options

If you don’t like Spam, don’t sweat it. There are several variations to this recipe for musubi.

Tuna

If you have a can of tuna in your pantry, this is a really easy option. Just mix the canned tuna with mayonnaise according to your taste. You can even add in chopped pickles or green peas. Another option is to add a scoop of tuna macaroni salad.

Chicken Salad

You can do it the same way as the tuna version. Just get the canned chicken (we like the Costco one) and mix it with a lot of mayo. You can add in some seasoning (like furikake) or leave it plain. Then spread it on the rice.

Egg

You can scramble eggs and cut them to fit the musubi mold. Some people do this in addition to the Spam to make Spam and Egg Musubi. Or you could add a strip of bacon or a piece of Portuguese sausage if you want extra protein.

Leftover Teriyaki

A super easy option is to just put on whatever leftover teriyaki meat you have after you get takeout. Any chicken, beef, or pork works really well.

Kalua Pork

Sometimes we make a big batch of Kalua Pork and use the leftovers to make Kalua Pork Musubi.

Hawaiian Spam Musubi Wrap Up

And now you know my Spam sushi recipe that I’ve been using for years. It’s one of our family’s favorite Hawaiian recipes because it’s so easy to make.

Yield: 5