My 7 year old is a big fan of sushi… and generally he is not going to get it for school lunches, he’s not a cheap date as it is!  And I’ve seen all kinds of cute bento boxes and other clever lunches out there, but most of those seem way to much effort for my life!  But turning a lunchmeat and cheese rollup into sushi rolls is definitely something I can handle.

And no, I did not give these to my 2nd grader with chopsticks on a pretty plate, that’s just for you guys–he gets things like this either wrapped in plastic or in one of our cute cheap little bento containers that I don’t fill with adorable hand shaped creatures.  (My husband thought the photo was pretty funny.)

The base for these is a flour tortilla.  With the medium 8″  ‘taco’ size you can do 4-6 rolls.  Go for burrito size if you want more.  You want to use the nice handmade looking tortillas, not the really thin ones.  These are the ones I buy (note, not a sponsored post!).

Next, and the secret ingredient in keeping these together so they don’t unroll on themselves, is cream cheese.  Spread a thin layer of cream cheese across the entire tortilla, close to the edges.

Now you can just have fun.  If you want to go more traditionally ‘sushi’, then try smoked salmon and avocado.  My son would be in heaven for that combo!  These pictured above are thin cut salami, a little shredded cheddar, and spinach.

If your toppings can lie flat, like mine did, just lay your fillings out on the tortilla in a thin layer, stopping about 1 inch from the right edge.  I sprinkled a little cheddar on the cream cheese (sprinkle it on the cream cheese so it doesn’t fall out), then covered the whole thing with lunch meat and a layer of spinach leaves.

If you’re using something thicker, like avocado, then just put a single line of each item across the width of the tortilla.  Basically you’re using the same technique as sushi, except you’re working with a round, rather than square, base.  Use this as an example.

Then starting at the left side, just roll the thing up tightly!

The cream cheese holds the roll together nicely.  Now slice into 6 thin rolls, or 4 thick ones.  Obviously the ones on the end will not be as pretty, but that’s the way sushi works too.  You can slice the very ends off if you want them all to sit flat.

Of course, you don’t have to use this in kids lunches.  They make tasty party appetizers and quite nice adult lunches too!

Part of our Clever Lunches Series!  Do you have a great lunch idea?  Submit a link or send it to us, here!