Chopping the veggies is the most complicated part of Vietnamese-style spring rolls – make them at home with these hacks!
VIDEO:
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Now…onto today’s featured Healthy Kitchen Hack:
How to Make Homemade Spring Rolls With Peanut Sauce
Ingredient: Three Ladies Spring Roll Rice Paper Wrappers (affiliate link)
I developed my love for Vietnamese food after living in Boston and frequenting their stellar restaurant options. But for some reason, I don’t cook Vietnamese at home much, which is a shame because many dishes are simple to make with a few key ingredients.
That said, I’m so glad I finally tried my hand at fresh spring rolls – the most challenging thing was finding rice paper wrappers (thank you Amazon!)
Here are my Healthy Kitchen Hacks to making simple but DELISH fresh spring rolls:
Prep all your ingredients ahead of time.
The fancy French term is mise en place. That means chop, slice, cook anything you need and line it up in front of you ready to go when you’re ready to wrap and roll.
Use Shortcut Prep
I use bagged shredded carrots vs. cutting them into matchsticks myself, bagged broccoli slaw and/or canned shrimp instead of cooked shrimp if I don’t have raw shrimp in the freezer.
Make Zoodles
Traditionally, spring rolls use thin rice noodles or cellophane noodles but when I don’t have those on hand and want an extra veggie serving, I make ginger flavored zucchini noodles! (Recipe below.)
Use Warm Water
Rice paper wrappers are stiff when you buy them – you dunk them in water to get them pliable to roll. I found that using fairly warm water (warmer than room temperture but not super hot) and dunking gently for about 20 seconds worked best. I used Three Ladies Spring Roll Rice Paper Wrappers (affiliate link.)
Don’t Skip the Dipping Sauce
Because the ingredients in the rolls barely have any seasoning, serving spring rolls with a superb dunking sauce is key. And now I’m in love with this peanut sauce that uses only peanut butter, sriracha sauce and coconut milk – it’s SOOOO good! I’ve used the extra sauce spread over chicken, tossed with noodles and mixed with roasted veggies like broccoli. (Recipe below.)
How To Make Fresh Spring Rolls with 3-Ingredient Peanut Sauce
- Yield: 8 spring rolls 1x
Description
Chopping the vegetables is the most complicated part of Vietnamese-style spring rolls – make them at home with these tips!
Ingredients
For the rolls:
- 1 large zucchini, spiralized into noodles
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 pound cooked shrimp, sliced in half if large
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 large bell pepper, seeded and cut into matchstick pieces
- 8 Romaine or Bibb lettuce leaves
- Fresh cilantro
- Fresh mint
- 8 rice paper wrappers
For the sauce:
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup canned coconut milk
- 1– 1 1/2 tablespoons of sriracha sauce
Instructions
- To make zoodles, toss zucchini, oil, ginger and black pepper in a large bowl.
- Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and put over medium heat.
- Add zoodles and cook for about 5-8 minutes until cooked through, stirring every so often. Let cool.
- Place shrimp through mint in separate piles on a serving board or in separate small bowls.
- Fill a large bowl with warm water.
- Fully submerge rice paper in the bowl (be gentle as not to tear.) Hold it under water for about 20 seconds. Lift and let the excess water drip off.
- On a kitchen counter or marble board, lay rice paper flat. Stack ingredients about 1-inch from the side you are rolling and leave a 2-inch space on each side so you can fold and roll. I first lay down zoodles, and then lay carrots and peppers next to zoodles. I then top with herbs and top that with a lettuce leaf and put 3-4 shrimp slices on top.
- To roll, place the long end over the ingredients and squeeze together. Then fold each side over about one inch so you’ll have an even rectangle to roll. Finish rolling and gently push seem to seal. Repeat process with remaining rice paper wrappers.
- To make sauce, whisk peanut butter, coconut milk and sriracha together. Serve with spring rolls.
Notes
I use Three Ladies Spring Roll Rice Wrappers (Amazon affiliate link.)
Have you ever made spring rolls? Would you try this recipe?
Kathleen
Sunday 17th of March 2019
Spring Roils, thank you for the detailed steps and hints. My dear Korean born, Mama Bee aka BoAe (Kim) Brown introduced me to Spring Rolls. They are so one of my favorite dishes that she makes.
Deanna Segrave-Daly
Sunday 17th of March 2019
I can only imagine all the wonderful dishes you get to enjoy from your Mama Bee - thanks for commenting!
Alison's Allspice
Wednesday 4th of April 2018
You make spring rolls look SO easy!! I definitely need to give these a try!
Deanna Segrave-Daly
Wednesday 4th of April 2018
I was skeptical at first but believe me, they ARE that easy to make!!!