Look no further for restaurant-quality Spring Rolls that are unbelievably easy to make, delicious and healthy! I like to serve them with homemade peanut sauce for dipping and they make a great light lunch, dinner or appetizer.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m completely obsessed with Vietnamese and Thai food recipes, and I’ve loved trying to recreate some of my restaurant favorites in my own kitchen, including Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Pho soup and Panang curry.
My love for spring rolls goes back decades when a neighbor taught my mom and me her authentic tricks for making fresh spring rolls . These are packed with flavorful and taste better than anything I’ve ever found from a Thai Restaurant in the United States. We’ve made them regularly and I think i’ve perfected our method and tips and I’m excited to share them with you!
What I love about this recipe:
- Healthy and flavorful.
- Adaptable: this recipe is extremely forgiving, and easy to adapt to use ingredients that you like and have on hand. I’m sharing what I typically put in them, but the options are endless, including bean sprouts, chicken, lettuce, bell peppers avocado.
- The dipping sauce: a simple peanut sweet chili sauce that puts them over the top!
How to make Fresh Spring Rolls:
Assemble all of your ingredients together, including the chopped veggies, cooked chicken or shrimp, noodles, herbs, and rice paper wrappers. Chop all of your vegetables into long, thin slices. I like to shred the carrot, but you can cut it julienne if you’d like.
1. Dip wrappers in water. Fill a large shallow dish or pie plate with an inch or so of water.
Remove one rice paper wrapper from the package, and place it in the water to soak. Allow it to soak for about 10 to 15 seconds and then remove and place on a cutting board or countertop. The rice wrapper should still feel pretty firm at this point. It will soften as it sits and as you add the filling ingredients. (If you let it soak for too long it will tear more easily when rolled).
2. Add filling. Layer everything on the ⅓ of the spring roll that is closest to you. Add 1-2 of each ingredient, and small pinch of noodles.
3. Wrap. Pick up the sides of the spring roll and fold them in over the toppings. Then pick up the edge closest to you and pull it up and snugly over the toppings. Continue rolling all the way up like a burrito. Practice will make perfect, but just try to keep all of the ingredients in tightly together as you roll everything up.
How to store spring rolls:
If you’re not enjoying the spring rolls right away, wrap each roll individually in plastic wrap. Otherwise the rice wrapper will dry out, and if you wrap them side-by-side they will stick together and the wrappers will tear when you try to get them apart.
They taste best the day they are made, but they can be stored for 2-3 days, wrapped individually and stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Consider serving these with other Thai inspired recipes:
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Recipe
Fresh Spring Rolls
These Fresh Spring Rolls are even better than you'd find at a restaurant, and they're easy to make and healthy!
Ingredients
- 1 package spring roll rice wrappers , found in the Asian foods section at the grocery store
- 1 package vermicelli rice noodles , found in the Asian foods section at the grocery store
- 2 mangos , peeled and sliced into thin strips
- 1 large carrot , peeled and shredded or sliced into thin strips
- 1 large English cucumber , peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 pound small, cooked shrimp , deveined, tails removed, or substitute chicken
- 1 bunch fresh mint leaves
- 1 bunch fresh basil leaves
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro
For the peanut sauce:
- 3/4 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1/3 cup peanut butter , smooth or crunchy
- 1/2 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon hoisin sauce
Instructions
- Cook vermicelli noodles in boiling water, for just a few minutes, according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- Gather all topping ingredients together, including chopped veggies, herbs, cooked shrimp.
- Add about 1 inch of water to a large, deep dish, or pie pan. Place one rice wrapper into the water and let soak for just 10-15 seconds. It should still feel pretty firm as you remove it and lay it on your counter or plate.
- (It will soften up as you add the filling ingredients, but If you let it soak for too long it will get too soft and will tear when you roll it up.)
- Layer 1-2 slices of each veggie, a few shrimp, a few leaves of each herb and a pinch of noodles on the ⅓ of the spring roll that is closest to you.
- Fold the sides of the spring roll in over the ingredients. Then pull the side closest to you up and over the ingredients, sealing everything together tightly, and rolling it up like a burrito.
For the peanut sauce:
- Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.
Notes
Other filling ingredient ideas:
- bean sprouts
- sliced avocado
- cooked, chopped chicken
- romaine lettuce leaf
- sliced bell peppers
Nutrition
Calories: 80kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 1gSodium: 36mgPotassium: 146mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 1905IUVitamin C: 11.7mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 0.4mg
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
*I originally shared this recipe March 2013. Updated February 2020.
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I have made this many times and are delicious but they are called SALAD ROLLS. not spring rolls. Spring rolls are made with spring roll wrappers usually and are deep fried. Salad Rolls are made with rice paper.
I watched my daughter make this recipe on FaceTime from Germany. I was intrigued and thinking I could do a vegetarian version. As my 5-year-old grandson was eating his 2nd spring roll, my daughter said, “Mom, you should try a vegetarian version.” I will be making it soon. It sounds and looks delicious!
Gross! Mangos and sweet chili. Came out so disgusting. Real Vietnamese Spring rolls are not sweet. It’s like putting ketchup on Prime Rib.
I’m sorry you didn’t like this, but these spring rolls are the exact way that our Vietnamese friend taught us to make them.
I use two wrappers for each roll, that way they don’t rip or fall apart!
I needed to store a few of these, since we couldn’t eat them all. I’d had the same issue before, and the plastic wrap sticks to the spring rolls. This time I used a moist paper towel to wrap each spring roll (like “select-a size” or half a towel), then wrap with plastic wrap. Keeps them moist and from sticking together, or sticking to the plastic wrap.
The leftovers are just as good the next day!
Great recipe, and I have considered many. I think that shrimp are essential. The addition of mango is brilliant, and the rest of the ingredients are easily found. I skip the mint, because it reminds me of toothpaste, and others will skip the cilantro, because it tastes soapy to them. We’re all “special” after all!
The peanut sauce is easy, but essential. Thank you once again for a great recipe!
LOVE the flavor and the ingredients were perfect. I came back for comments regarding the wrapping. I could NOT get them to stay together, the wrapper ripped over and over. And, they stayed sticky, very sticky. I think after reading through here I must have left it in the warm water way too long. I’m gonna try again because even sticky, ripped and messy they are so yummy. THANKS
I think 10-15 seconds is too long, and 5 seconds is almost too long, but enough. Just make sure the wrappers get moistened all over, and that’s enough for them to get flexible enough to put the fillings in and wrap.
I’ll be serving this without chicken or shrimp as my vegetable tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe
Fantastic! I wanted to try a different Spring Roll recipe, and this caught my eye. Great mix of flavors and textures. I thinned the sauce with a bit of coconut water, otherwise I followed the recipe as written.
This is a new favorite!