Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce
Published on July 27, 2022
Quick Summary
Fresh spring rolls-colorful vegetables, rice noodles, and herbs wrapped in rice paper. Serve with peanut sauce on the side for dunking the rolls. Enjoy as an appetizer, snack, or light meal.
Fresh Spring Rolls are probably my favorite appetizer of all time! I don’t know if it’s the fresh and colorful veggies or the dreamy peanut sauce that they get dunked in. This peanut sauce is SO good you will want to drink it and lick the bowl clean!
I love to pick a variety of veggies for color, texture, and flavor. A few of my favorites include: lettuce, bell peppers, carrots, cucumbers, and cabbage. I also add avocado because avocado makes everything better.
Spring rolls are fun to make for parties. We like to have all of the ingredients prepped and ready so when the guests arrive they can make their own spring rolls. It is a fun and interactive way to get the party going.
Don’t be scared, they are easy to roll, just like making a burrito, once you get the hang of it you will be a spring roll pro! Practice makes perfect. Rock and roll!
I also like to eat these spring rolls for lunch or a light dinner, especially in the summertime. They are refreshing and full of flavor.
Table of Contents
Spring Roll Ingredients
- Rice paper (spring roll wrappers)– you can find the round spring roll wrappers at most grocery stores in the Asian aisle.
- Vermicelli rice noodles– thin rice noodles also called rice sticks or maifun. The cooking time of the noodles varies across brands so make sure you follow the package instructions.
- Lettuce– I love the texture of butter lettuce, but red or green leaf lettuce will work too.
- Bell peppers– I like to use red and yellow bell peppers for color. Cut them into thin strips.
- Carrot-thinly sliced.
- Purple cabbage– for crunch and color.
- Cucumbers– use Persian or English cucumbers, again, thinly sliced.
- Avocado– I love adding avocado for a creamy element.
- Herbs-fresh mint, basil (regular or Thai), and cilantro leaves.
Peanut Sauce
- Peanut butter– I like to use creamy natural peanut butter.
- Hoisin sauce– adds a nice sweetness.
- Rice wine vinegar– for a little tang.
- Soy sauce– use low sodium soy sauce. If you need the spring rolls to be gluten-free, make sure you use Tamari.
- Garlic– minced fresh garlic.
- Ginger– make sure you use fresh ginger. The flavor is SO good!
- Sriracha– for a little heat.
- Hot water– to thin out the peanut sauce.
- Chopped peanuts– for garnish.
To make the peanut sauce, in a medium bowl, stir together all of the ingredients, except for the water and chopped peanuts. Whisk in the hot water until sauce is smooth. If the sauce is too thick, you can add a little more water until desired consistency is reached. Pour in a serving bowl and garnish with chopped peanuts. Set aside until ready to serve.
Set Up the Work Station
Before you get started, make sure your work station is set up and ready to go.
- Have all of your veggies cut up and your ingredients laid out.
- Cook the noodles, according to package directions.
- Lay a damp, linen-free towel over a clean work surface. You will roll the spring rolls directly on the towel.
- You need to dip the rice paper in water to soften it up. Put warm water in a pie plate or shallow bowl. Make sure the water isn’t too hot.
- Have a platter or plate ready to place the spring rolls on.
How to Make Spring Rolls
- Place a rice paper in the water and let soften for about 20 seconds, or until pliable. Don’t let them get too soggy or they will rip. You want the papers to still feel rigid, it will make them easier to roll. Carefully remove the paper from the water and lay flat on the towel.
- Lay one piece of lettuce over the bottom third of the rice paper. On the lettuce, place about 2 tablespoons of rice noodles, and equal amounts of peppers, cucumber, carrot, cabbage, and avocado. Top with a few fresh herb leaves. Don’t use too many ingredients or it will be too hard to roll.
- Pick up the end of the rice paper closest to the filling and tightly wrap it over the veggies.
- Fold over the sides, like you are making a burrito. The paper will stick to itself, holding everything inside.
- Finish rolling until you have a tight spring roll.
- Place on a platter, seam side down or cut with a sharp knife on the diagonal.
- Repeat the process with remaining ingredients.
- Serve with peanut dipping sauce.
Variations
Spring rolls are fun to make and easy to customize. If you want to mix up the fillings, here are some ideas.
- Use your favorite veggies, just make sure you thinly slice them so they are easy to roll.
- Add tofu, just make sure you squeeze out the excess liquid before using.
- Add shrimp, don’t forget to remove the tails!
- Serve with a different sauce. I prefer peanut sauce, but spring rolls are also good with with nước chấm, a Vietnamese dipping sauce made of fish sauce, chili, sugar, and lime juice.
Can Spring Rolls be Made in Advance?
You can make the peanut sauce and prepare the veggies up to two days in advance, but spring rolls are best the day they are made.
If you refrigerate spring rolls overnight, the rice paper hardens, making the rolls a weird, chewy texture.
More Appetizer Recipes
Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
For the peanut dipping sauce:
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce or Tamari sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha
- 1/3 cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts, for garnish
For the spring rolls:
- 12 rice paper spring roll wrappers
- 6 oz dry vermicelli rice noodles, cooked according to package instructions
- 1 head butter lettuce, washed
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
- 1 cup thinly sliced purple cabbage
- 2 Perisian cucumbers or 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 avocado, pitted, peeled and thinly sliced
- Handful of Fresh mint, basil (regular or Thai), and cilantro leaves
Instructions
- To make the dipping sauce, in a medium bowl, stir together the peanut butter hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and Sriracha. Whisk in the hot water until sauce is smooth. If the sauce is too thick, you can add a little more water until desired consistency is reached. Pour in a serving bowl and garnish with chopped peanuts. Set aside until ready to serve.
- To assemble the spring rolls, fill a wide, shallow bowl or pie plate with warm water. Dip one rice paper wrap in the water and let soften for about 20 seconds, or until pliable. Carefully remove the paper from the water and lay flat on a damp, lint-free dish towel.
- Lay one piece of lettuce over the bottom third of the rice paper. On the lettuce, place about 2 tablespoons of rice noodles, and equal amounts of peppers, cucumber, carrot, cabbage, and avocado. Top with a few fresh herb leaves.
- Pick up the end of the rice paper closest to the filling and tightly wrap it over the veggies. Fold over the sides, like you are making a burrito. The paper will stick to itself, holding everything inside. Finish rolling until you have a tight spring roll. Place on a platter, seam side down or cut with a sharp knife on the diagonal. Repeat the process with remaining ingredients.
- Serve with peanut dipping sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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I LOVE making fresh spring rolls. There are so fun to make and much cheaper than buying them at a take out Thai or Vietnamese restaurant!
Also, your photos are absolutely phenomenal. Great job!
those look amazing!
thus is one of my favorite things to make! i could eat them all summer long. yum!
These look TO-DIE-FOR!
those look good! i’m going to try them this weekend. they look so easy.
These look so good. Great photos too! I like the addition of the peppers. I will try this peanut sauce for sure.
I love spring rolls, these are great!
We love Spring Rolls! And they’re fun to make and clean out the vegetable drawers at the same time! LOL!
Maria, I will eat this peanut sauce with you all day long while Josh is out of town. Thanks for the peanut sauce recipe, I have been searching for a good one that is thick like the one at my favorite vietnamese restaurant, and this one is it!
yum, a lum!
I just discovered you blig recently. The Springrolls with the Peanut-Sauce was the first recipe I tried and I loved it. I made them for me and my boyfriend, and we put tons of peanut sauce on them, because it’s so delicious. Thank you so much for this awesome recipe. I’ve been trying out some other ones as well. I’m hooked to you blog 🙂 Keep up the great work!
Just made these for dinner! Liked it but I think the sauce was too sweet!
So to balance out the flavors I tossed the rice noodles with 1/2 tsp of sesame oil and sprinkled some garlic salt.
But overall we enjoyed it 🙂 Going to try your Nutella cookies tomorrow.
I love spring rolls! I have been on the look-out for those wrappers but haven’t found any. Maybe I will just have to make a trip to the Asian market so I can try out your peanut sauce!
These are amazing. So much yummier and healthier than the fried kind. This is one of my favorite recipes now. Thank you for this recipe!
I like you and I like this recipe. A lot! For a very specific reason. I remember writing about roasted salsa verde and saying that it’s not really a condiment here in California, you just tip your head back and it’s a meal!
I would also like to say I’m not a cook, chef, foodie, anything. I’m an artist, but I know how to cook and was looking for a good peanut sauce recipe for spring rolls and yours fit the bill. Thank you. What a terrific blog!
i like you’re dish from the picture we will try it soon
these spring rolls are absolutely delicious!! and the peanut sauce is beyond delicious! i love that you use lemongrass instead of sweet chili and fish sauces for the flavor. as a vegetarian, i am happy to have finally found a peanut sauce recipe that is suitable for my cooking needs. i am happy to have found you!! keep up the great recipes!!
I just made these tonight and they were spectacular!! I had never actually made spring rolls, or even tasted them before… but they looked good so I tried it out. LOVE! About how much grated ginger did you use? I used a 1/2 inch nub or so. I also found this video to be helpful when teaching me how to wrap the spring rolls: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTOgdljDwa0 Thank you for the awesome recipe!
Hi Casey! I am so glad you liked the spring rolls! They are so fun to make…and eat:)
Yummmm spring rolls are my fav
Thanks for the great recipe! I have made these with shrimp and the peanut sauce several times. Everyone requests it when we go to dinner parties. Absolutely the best peanut sauce and so easy to make.
We really enjoyed these, especially the peanut sauce! I couldn’t find lemongrass in the store, so we left that out but it was still delicious. It’s a keeper in our house. Thanks for the recipe!
love this recipe and your blog! about how many spring rolls does this recipe make!? Thanks!
Are you related to Jim Lichty, a Pharmacist in Sioux Falls,So. Dakota?
Not that I know of:)
Made these as a trial run for a superbowl party. They came out great!
I just made these, they’re amazing! So refreshing! I usually over eat, get full and feel gross but when I ate these and got full I felt like I could do 100 things rather than wanting to sleep/nap! I highly recommend trying this recipe!!
One of my favorite recipes. I love the peanut sauce!