When you travel, do you get jealous of other tourists sampling all the local dishes? That's what happened to me on my recent trip to Hawaii. Spam Musubi is a Hawaiian dish traditionally made with teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and often other 'secret' family ingredients - it is not gluten-free and celiac-safe. But it looks so delicious -- I wanted to know what everyone was raving about!

A spam musubi bowl with marinated spam slices, fried bok choy, and brown rice.

So I asked locals for advice, took to the grocery store to find what I could, and came up with a Gluten-Free Spam Musubi bowl! My partner has been asking me to make it again, so spam may be a staple in our camper van pantry.

Related: Gluten Free Hawaii: a perfect day of food and sight-seeing on the Big Island and Gluten Free Weekly Wins & Losses (my Gluten Free Living on-the-go series)

What to know before you make this Spam Musubi Bowl:

This recipe is in our new "on-the-go" category. That means the priority is fast, easy, and minimal ingredient recipes. While the other recipe categories are intended for sharing with friends and family, these would be best served a little 'dressed up' for special gatherings. I offer suggestions in the section below.
Since I am not Hawaiian and this is the deliciously modified gluten-free version, I would never claim that this recipe is authentic. It is easy, delicious, and celiac friendly - I call that a win in my book!

Is Spam Gluten Free?

Name brand Spam is gluten-free! The ingredients include pork, salt, water, potato starch, and sodium nitrite (preservative). The company even puts a gluten-free label on the tin.

A prepared Spam Musubi Bowl on a Hawaiian patio.

Use good gluten free sushi rice. We actually made this with Minute Rice since we were in a hotel room with limited time, but at home we use sushi rice prepared in a rice cooker.
- Pro travel tip: The brown Minute Rice has a nicer texture than the white (though it still doesn't quite compare to rice made in a rice cooker)
Add a little gluten free rice vinegar to your rice for a more authentic twist. We add about 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar per 1 ½ cups of cooked rice.
Wrap the Spam Musubi traditionally. This requires creating a quick rice mold using the spam can -- more details are in the recipe notes below.
Dress up the bok choy with chopped onion or shallots and garlic to give it a little somethin' extra (be sure to use Gluten-Free Soy Sauce for this recipe).

Ready for some quick cooking? Let's go!

Easy Spam Musubi Bowl Recipe

When you make this recipe, please leave a rating and review below. I always appreciate the feedback! ❤️

📖 Recipe

Spam Musubi Bowl

Jamie Monkkonen

This Spam Musubi Bowl is a delicious quick and tasty version of the traditional Spam Musubi. It is gluten-free & dairy free.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Total Time 35

Course Travel, On-the-go, Main

Cuisine Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Hawaiian-inspired, Travel-inspired

Servings servings

Calories 245 kcal

Ingredients

▢ 3 teaspoons vegetable oil or avocado oil, to prevent sticking to the pan
▢ 1 12-ounce can spam
▢ ½ cup gluten-free soy sauce or gluten-free tamari
▢ 3 tablespoons honey
▢ 5 baby bok choy , ends trimmed and cut in half lengthwise (quarter if large)
▢ 5 servings white rice or brown rice

Instructions

Beforehand: Slice the spam cake lengthwise into 10 slices, about ¼ inch thick. Mix the gluten-free soy sauce and honey and stir until the honey is completely dissolved. Marinade the spam slices for at least 20 minutes, either in a ziplock freezer bag or a shallow pan (flip halfway).
Add a small amount of oil to a skillet on medium high heat. Fry the spam slices for 2-3 minutes per side, or until they begin to brown but not burn. Remove spam from the pan.
Add a little more oil to the skillet, followed by the bok choy. Cook over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes per side, until the stalks begin to soften and the leaves wilt. Add splashes of water as needed to deglaze the pan. Pour in the remaining marinade, bring it to a full boil, and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Serve the Spam and bok choy over rice, with an extra drizzle of the cooked sauce from the skillet.

Notes

If you're short on time: you can fry the bok choy while the spam marinades! We prefer to fry the bok choy afterwards because the spam leaves some leftover fat for flavor but we tried it both ways with good results.
Variations: Try serving in traditional Spam Musubi form: create a rice mold by cutting down a spam can and pressing rice firmly inside to make a compact cake. Then top with a spam slice and wrap with a strip of nori seaweed paper.

Nutrition

Calories: 245kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 6gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 0.1mgSodium: 1302mgPotassium: 109mgFiber: 1gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 45IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 1mg

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Enjoy this super easy and delicious recipe, my friend!

❤︎ Jamie

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