Rice Paper Rolls (Vegetarian)

Fresh colourful crunchy veggies stuffed in rice paper rolls, served with a delicious homemade peanut sauce makes for a perfect heathy snack or appetizer. They are vegan, vegetarian, gluten free and so easy to make.

These vegetable rolls with rice paper are also known by other names like ‘Summer Spring rolls‘, ‘Vietnamese Summer Rolls‘ or ‘Salad Rolls‘. They can be enjoyed with a yummy peanut butter dipping sauce or sweet chilli sauce.

It is such a delicious and nutritious snack or light meal option especially in summer season when you don’t want to turn your oven and looking for a simple fireless cooking recipe. Also, you can always customise its filling by choosing veggies of your choice.

Summer Rolls vs Spring rolls: People often get confused between the two because of similar names but the major difference lies in the outer covering of these rolls.

The spring roll‘s wrapper is made of flour & water, it is deep fried or air fried and served hot. On the other hand, summer roll’s wrapper is made of rice flour and it is served cold.

The vegetable rice paper rolls are:

Vegan
Vegetarian
Gluten free
Easy & quick to make
Wholesome & delicious

Ingredients for Vegetable Rolls:

Rice Paper Sheets: The gluten free rice paper sheets or wrappers are pale white in colour and usually made with rice flour, tapioca flour, salt and water . You can easily find them in an asian grocery store or on Amazon.

Vegetables: I like to use fresh crunchy vegetable in these rolls like carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, capsicum, coloured bell peppers, cabbage (white or red), lettuce or baby spinach. For creamy texture, you can also include avocado in these rolls.

Herbs: Fresh herbs like coriander, cilantro, mint leaves, spring onion greens or chives add wonderful aroma and flavour to these rolls.

To add protein to these rolls, you can add some stir fried paneer strips, tofu strips, mung bean sprouts or non vegetarian options like shrimp or chicken. You can add some boiled rice or rice noodles in rice paper roll to make them even more filling and satisfying.

Please note while making these rolls, we never add salt to the vegetables as it makes them release their water and hence the veggies loose their crunch. You can sprinkle other seasoning on vegetables like chilli flakes or crushed black pepper.

Dipping Sauce:

A yummy creamy peanut dipping sauce perfectly compliments the taste of these vegan rice paper rolls and is made with simple ingredients like peanut butter, honey / maple syrup, lime juice / vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and sriracha sauce or chilli flakes.

If you are making it for kids then skip sriracha or chilli flakes. For having crunchy texture, you can use crunchy peanut butter to make this dip. Instead of peanut butter, you can use any other nut butter of your choice too.

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Ingredients:

Rice paper sheets- 12
Red Cabbage (sliced)- 2 cups
Red Bell Pepper (julienne)- 1
Yellow Bell Pepper (julienne)- 1
Carrot (julienne)- 1
Cucumbers (julienne)- 1
Mint / Cilantro- 1 bunch
For peanut dipping sauce:
- Peanut Butter- 1/4 cup
- Dark Soy Sauce- 1/2 tsp
- Honey / Maple syrup- 2 tsp
- Garlic Powder-1/8 tsp
- Sriracha/ Chilli Sauce- 1 tsp
- Vinegar / Lime Juice- 2 tsp
- Water- 1 to 2 tbsp
- Salt- if required

Directions:

Step 1:
Dip a rice paper sheet in warm water for 5 to 6 seconds (or as specified on packet instructions) in a flat bowl till the sheet becomes soft and flexible.

Step 2:
Lay out this moist rice paper sheet on a flat surface. Keep some sliced cabbage, 2-3 julienne of each veggie and 3-4 cilantro leaves on it.

Step 3:
First fold the bottom edge over the veggies and then fold the left & right edges inwards. Continue rolling from bottom to make a tightly wrapped roll. Following the above steps, make rest of the rice paper rolls.

Step 4:
To make dipping sauce, take peanut butter and rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well and add water gradually to make the sauce of desirable consistency. Taste once and adjust salt or sriracha as per your taste. You can even add some fresh grated ginger or chilli flakes to it.

Serve these delicious rice paper rolls with this peanut dipping sauce or sweet chilli sauce.

Tips:

Feel free to use any crunchy vegetables, herbs or other ingredients of your choice like rice vermicelli noodles, stir fried tofu / paneer.
Replace the veggies in this recipe with fruits like mangoes, apple, kiwi or apples etc and you will have delicious dessert summer rolls ready. Instead of peanut sauce, enjoy them with sweetened greek yogurt or any flavoured yogurt.

Why are my rice paper rolls tearing?

If you dip the rice paper wrapper in water for too long, it tends to get overtly soft and tear easily on folding. Dip them as per the packet instructions. Don’t cut the vegetables too thick and do not overfill the roll as it makes the folding difficult.

Can I make these veggie rice paper rolls in advance?

These rolls taste best when made fresh as otherwise the outer rice paper covering tends to become dry. However, if you still have to store them, then place the rolls in an airtight container, cover them with a slightly damp kitchen cloth or tissue and then close the lid. This way you an easily store them for 1-2 days.

What I do is, I prep the veggies (or rice noodles) in advance and store them in a container in fridge. When I want to make them, I take out the filling from fridge and make these rice paper rolls. This is also a quick way when you just want to make 2-3 rolls for snacking.

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(Note: This post was originally published on 3rd Sep’2017 and has been updated with fresh images and tips.)

If you try this vegetarian summer roll recipe & share pics on social media, then don’t forget to tag on Facebook, Instagram or use #kuchpakrahahai.

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