Canned tuna mixed with mayo, tucked into seasoned rice, rolled up in seaweed with a handful of vegetables — tuna kimbap is one of the most common ways Koreans fill a roll of gimbap. It's called chamchi kimbap (칺췚각미) at home, and it shows up everywhere from packed lunches to picnic baskets.
The tuna filling itself barely changes across kitchens: drained tuna, a spoonful of mayonnaise, salt and pepper. What surrounds it is where cooks take their own path — some keep it simple with just cucumber, others build it out with egg, carrot, spinach, crab sticks, or pickled radish.
Seasoned rice, crunchy cucumber, and a creamy tuna-mayo filling, rolled up in seaweed.
Prep 20 min
Cuisine Korean
Servings
4
Ingredients
Instructions
Slice the cucumber into thin strips, sprinkle with salt, and let sit for 5 minutes. Gently squeeze to remove excess moisture.
Mix the drained tuna with the minced onion and mayonnaise. Set aside.
Season the warm rice with the kosher salt, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Let it cool slightly.
Place a sheet of seaweed shiny side down on a bamboo mat. Spread a thin, even layer of rice over the sheet, leaving a small gap at the top. Add lettuce on the lower third.
Arrange the tuna mixture, cucumber strips, and pickled radish on top of the lettuce.
Roll the kimbap tightly, lifting the mat and tucking in the fillings as you go, shaping it into a firm, even roll.
Brush the outside lightly with sesame oil if desired. Slice with a sharp knife, wiping the blade between cuts for clean pieces.
Notes & Variations
Use rice cooled to room temperature — rice that's too hot makes the seaweed shrink and turn soggy.
For a spicy version: stir sriracha into the tuna mayo, and swap in avocado and arugula for the lettuce and cucumber.
Egg omelet strips, julienned carrot, crab sticks, or perilla leaves all work well layered in alongside the tuna and cucumber.
No tuna? Canned chicken works as a substitute.
Best eaten the day it's made, or the next day at the latest. Slice just before serving to keep the rice from drying out.
Nutrition (approx., per serving): Calories: 305 kcal · Protein: 6g · Carbs: 50g · Fat: 9g · Saturated fat: 1g · Sodium: 780mg · Fiber: 3g · Sugar: 2g From the source recipe's own nutrition calculator estimate, not lab-tested.
FAQ
What is tuna kimbap called in Korean?
Chamchi kimbap (참치김밥). "Chamchi" means tuna, and "kimbap" refers to the rice-and-seaweed roll itself.
Is tuna kimbap healthy?
Canned tuna is a good source of protein. How healthy a given roll is depends heavily on what else goes into it.
Is tuna kimbap gluten-free?
Not reliably — imitation crab sticks typically use wheat starch, and regular soy sauce is usually made with wheat. A version without crab sticks, using tamari, could work.
How long does tuna kimbap last?
Best eaten the day it's made or the next day. Refrigerated in an airtight container, leftovers are generally good for 1 to 2 days.
Can you eat it cold?
Recipes don't specifically address cold versus room-temperature serving, though several note it holds well at room temperature for hours afterward.
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Jiwon Kim is a home cook from Seoul who studied Food Science and Nutrition. She shares approachable Korean recipes — rice, soup, banchan, and fermented staples — explained simply for cooks outside Korea.
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