Vietnamese Summer Rolls are a healthy, delicious, and colorful lunch or dinner! Loaded with lots of veggies to serve alongside the perfect peanut dipping sauce.
My favorite part about summer rolls is that they are super adaptable and customizable! I include some of my favorite veggies, but you can use your favorites or whatever you have on hand.
I love using a mixture of veggies to get a variety of textures.
What is a Vietnamese summer roll
Vietnamese summer rolls are thinly sliced fresh vegetables wrapped in a rice paper wrapper. They also have rice vermicelli noodles included and those also don't need to be 'cooked'.
This makes an ideal delicious and fresh meal to dip into the traditional peanut dipping sauce.
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Load up the rice paper with fresh veggies and roll tight! The peanut dipping sauce recipe uses mainly pantry staples that you might already have on hand!
Ingredients
- Rice Wrappers
- Rice Noodles or Vermicelli Rice Noodles (traditional)
- Baby Bok Choy
- Carrots - I prefer to use regular carrots vs baby carrots as they’re easier to cut into thin sticks.
- Cucumbers
- Red and Green Cabbage
- Bell Peppers - use your favorite color.
- Radishes
- Pea Pods
- Mint Leaves
- Peanut Dipping Sauce - Creamy Peanut Butter, Rice Vinegar, Tamari or soy sauce, Sriracha or Chili Paste, Sugar (or maple syrup), Toasted Sesame Oil, Garlic, Ginger. Check out the recipe card!
I promise that making homemade Vietnamese summer rolls is easy! No cooking involved and I include all the instructions you need to perfectly roll them. See the steps below:
How to make fresh summer rolls
- Make the Peanut Sauce - Add the peanut sauce ingredients to a blender or small food processor and blend until it is smooth and creamy. You can use a rubber spatula to scrape the sauce out into a bowl and set aside.
- Prep the Ingredients - Cut the veggies into thin sticks, shred the cabbage, and thinly slice the radishes. Dunk the rice noodles in a bowl of hot water - according to the package directions.
- Soak Rice Wrapper - Add warm water to a pie plate or other large, shallow bowl. Dip a rice wrapper in the water for about 10 seconds to soften. Hold down the edges to fully submerge to keep the edges from curling up.
- Assemble Rolls - Remove the softened rice paper from the water and pat dry on a towel. Add some rice noodles and veggies to the lower half of the wrapper. To roll, pull the wrapper over the vegetables, fold in the sides, and roll tightly. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
- Serve with the peanut dipping sauce.
They are so fun to customize! Here are some of my other favorite ingredients to swap-in.
What are some substitutes
- Mango - finely diced mango adds a sweet flavor and juicy texture.
- Cooked Brown Rice - instead of the rice noodles, you can swap in cooked rice.
- Bamboo Shoots - to add a little crunch and tasty texture.
What is the difference between spring rolls and summer rolls
Summer rolls are served cold and wrapped in a rice wrapper. Occasionally, they are also referred to as ‘fresh spring rolls’.
Spring rolls can be served in a rice wrapper also but traditionally they are wrapped in a dough made of flour and then fried and served warm.
Both are popular Asian appetizers, but summer rolls are healthier and lighter for summer. Serve either of the varieties with peanut dipping sauce
FAQ’s
To prepare summer rolls, you can slice and shred up your veggies in advance. You can also mix the peanut sauce up to a few days in advance.
Store the veggies and peanut dipping sauce in the fridge until ready to assemble.
Due to the rice wrappers and fresh ingredients, they cannot be frozen. They are best eaten soon after assembly.
How to store
Enjoy these summer rolls immediately and store the leftovers for up to 2 days.
Store them in the fridge, but you’ll want to wrap each roll individually in plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.
Store the peanut dipping sauce in the fridge in an airtight container. It will keep fresh for up to 5 days. It may thicken in the fridge so you can give it a quick stir after it comes up to room temperature to smooth it out.
More fresh summer lunches
Hot summer days call for fresh and easy meals. Check out some of my other favorite lunches to enjoy all summer long.
- 5 Bean Salad - a classic and it's so easy to mix together. No cooking involved so it’s perfect for hot summer days.
- 3 Healthy Vegan Smoothies - colorful and loaded with good-for-you ingredients. The post includes lots of tips to making a great smoothie.
- Vegan Waldorf Salad - refreshing and filled with crisp apples, juicy grapes, and crunchy walnuts.
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad - Colorful, fresh veggies combined with chickpeas and a delicious lemon dressing make the perfect lunch.
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📋 Recipe
Vietnamese Summer Rolls
Ingredients
Making the Rolls
- 6 Rice wrappers
- 1 cup Rice noodles or vermicelli rice noodles
- 1 cup cup Baby bok choy
- 1 cup Carrots - thinly sliced
- 1 cup Cucumbers - thinly sliced
- 1 cup Red cabbage - thinly sliced
- 1 cup Bell peppers, any color - thinly sliced
- ½ cup Radishes - thinly sliced
- ½ cup Pea pods
- ⅓ cup Mint leaves
Making the peanut sauce
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- ⅓ cup tamari
- ½ teaspoon sriracha or chili paste - more if you like it spicy
- 2 tablespoons organic granulated sugar - or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 clove clove garlic
- ½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Instructions
Peanut Sauce
- Blend all ingredients in a small food processor or blender until smooth and creamy.
- Set aside while you making the summer rolls.
Making the summer rolls
- Cut vegetables in thin sticks, shred cabbage and slice radishes.
- Add rice noodles to bowl of hot water, according to package directions.
- Fill pie plate with warm water. Dip rice wrapper in warm water for 10-15 seconds, making sure to hold down edges so they don’t curl up.
- Remove wrapper and place on towel, gently pat slightly dry.
- Add noodles and any vegetables you like to lower half of wrapper.
- Begin rolling by pulling wrapper over vegetables, fold in sides and roll tightly.
- Serve immediately with peanut sauce.
- Store leftovers in refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
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