Fresh vegetable rolls with avocado, carrots, red cabbage, cucumbers and lettuce are so easy to make and perfect for a fresh and light lunch, dinner or snack. Serve these babies with a delicious spicy peanut sauce.
One of my favorite things to order at Thai or Vietnamese restaurants are fresh spring rolls. Not to be confused with their fried counterparts, fresh spring rolls are usually one of the healthiest options on the menu. They’re packed with crisp fresh veggies, herbs and rice noodles and typically served with side of peanut sauce for dipping. I’ve had some great fresh spring rolls here in Richmond, but I think the best I’ve ever had were at Elizabeth St. Cafe in Austin,Texas. I still have dreams about those poached shrimp spring rolls — they were amazing and came with not one, but three different types of dipping sauces. Oh so good!
A few years ago I found out that you can buy rice paper wraps and make fresh spring rolls at home and I’ve been hooked on them ever since! I’ve posted about making them before but never posted a recipe so I thought I should go ahead and make that happen today.
Often times at restaurants the rolls are packed with rice noodles but the version I’m sharing today is all veggies! I made this batch of rolls a little lower in carbs without the rice noodles. These little guys are perfect for warm spring/summer nights when you’re just not in the mood to turn on the oven, which is basically every night here in Richmond during the summer. 🙂 Enjoy!
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Fresh vegetable rolls with avocado, carrots, red cabbage, cucumbers and lettuce. Served with a delicious spicy peanut sauce.
Ingredients
Vegetable Rolls
- 4 rice paper wrappers
- 1 cup romaine lettuce leaves
- 1/2 cup cucumber, cut into strips
- 1/2 cup carrots, shredded
- 1–2 avocados, sliced
- fresh basil and mint
Peanut Sauce
- 1/4 cup peanut butter (or almond butter)
- 2 Tablespoons low sodium tamari
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (Sambal Oelek)
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 3 Tablespoons water
Instructions
- Wet spring roll wrapper with warm water. I usually heat a pot of water on the stove top (not letting it get to a boil) and once it’s warm I put it in a bowl or plate that is large enough to fit the rice paper wrapper in.
- Place wrapper on a hard surface. Place lettuce leaf on far left edge of wrapper.
- Place a little of each ingredient into the wrap. Top with avocado and one or two leaves of the fresh herbs.
- Roll wrapper from left to right, folding in the top and the bottom sides of wrapper toward the middle, just before the wrapper is completely wrapped.
- Complete steps 1 to 4 for each wrapper.
- Whisk all ingredients for the sauce into a small bowl. Serve as a dipping sauce for the rolls.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 rolls with peanut sauce
- Calories: 432
- Sugar: 8g
- Fat: 34g
- Carbohydrates: 25g
- Fiber: 11g
- Protein: 12g
Keywords: fresh rolls, vegetable rolls, fresh spring rolls
Have you ever made your own fresh spring rolls before? If not, I challenge you to try this recipe. It’s way easier than you’d imagine and it’s fun to play a little with your food!
Claire @ Live and Love to Eat says
May 30, 2012 at 9:16 amI had spring rolls last night at a restaurant that were less than impressive – these look amazing! 🙂
Liz says
May 30, 2012 at 9:59 amI keep seeing more and more recipes with PB2 and think I’m going to have to try it. It’s interesting that the tone up plan also calls for limiting starchy carbs at night. Bob Harper’s “skinny rules” says that we should eliminate them altogether after 2 pm (including whole grains like wheatberries), it was something I hadn’t really thought about. The only thing that is hard for me about that is that I’m used to having sweet potates with dinner (or sometimes for dinner).
Minerva says
May 30, 2012 at 11:26 amI love spring rolls! We had a deconstructed bowl verson at a ‘barbecue’ Monday night. So good!
Eating Bird Food says
June 3, 2012 at 12:25 pmI love deconstructed spring rolls and deconstructed sushi. So good!
Kim says
May 30, 2012 at 11:57 amAhh, I love the spring rolls from Mekong and I’ve been wanting to make my own. I think I actually tried once and it was a big failure, but maybe I can tackle these : )
holly says
May 30, 2012 at 1:07 pmooh these look awesome! i can’t seem to perfect the peanut sauce no matter how many times i try, so this one shall satisfy instead 😉
Jessica says
May 30, 2012 at 1:20 pmPerfect timing! I’ve been making rice wraps often lately, but have been looking for the perfect light sauce. Sharing this with my clients! 🙂
Monet says
May 30, 2012 at 2:40 pmI love spring rolls, especially during these hot summer months! All the photos here are making me hungry! Thank you for sharing with me…I’m glad I’m back in action in the blogging world. I’ve been missing your posts. I hope you have a wonderful end to your week!
Eating Bird Food says
June 3, 2012 at 12:26 pmGlad to see you’re back Monet! 🙂
Sam @ Fit for My Fork says
May 30, 2012 at 2:46 pmI LOVE having these when I go out. I will definitely have to try to make them at home sometime. Thanks!
Jo @ LivingMintGreen says
May 30, 2012 at 4:49 pmAh! Perfect timing for you to post this recipe. I just bought rice paper to make these, and needed a reference recipe! 🙂 I love that you used PB2 too!
Gabrielle says
May 30, 2012 at 6:59 pmJust made those for supper! It was amazing!!! Made it with shrimps, cucumber, carrot, onions and red pepper! It was sooo good with the pb2 sauce!
Eating Bird Food says
June 3, 2012 at 12:26 pmHooray! So glad you loved them. 🙂
Catherine @ Rabbit Food For My Bunny Teeth says
May 31, 2012 at 7:49 pmOhhh you have no idea how obsessed I am with spring rolls! And I love adding Braggs to my peanut sauce too! I use it in place of the usual rice vinegar! It give the sauce such a good flavor!
Liz @ IHeartVegetables says
June 1, 2012 at 2:20 pmOh my gosh, YUM! I wonder if I could just leave out the shrimp and maybe add a little extra tofu? That peanut sauce sounds good too! I love the idea of using PB2!
Eating Bird Food says
June 2, 2012 at 11:57 pmYes!! I’ve definitely made them with just tofu. They’re awesome. 🙂
Alex says
June 3, 2012 at 11:31 amThese look so good and I keep seeing recipes using PB2, I’m wondering where you find it? Is it at regular grocery stores or do you have to go to a natural grocers?
Eating Bird Food says
June 3, 2012 at 12:28 pmI buy it at Whole Foods. I think I’ve also seen it at Fresh Market. Most natural grocers should have it.
marisa says
June 4, 2012 at 4:59 pmohhh…love spring rolls..I remember you posting them a while ago and Jon and I scouring how to make them…they’ve become a northside favorite in our household 🙂
Leah says
June 5, 2012 at 9:38 pmOMG these are my fab and you have convinced me to try making my own! Perfect for lunches for next week!
Eating Bird Food says
June 5, 2012 at 11:10 pmAwesome Leah. I hope you love them!
Sarah @ The Chunky Tales says
June 17, 2012 at 8:00 pmI had these last night at a restaurant and you’re right – they are full of rice noodles! I picked some out but these look SOO much better. Such a great idea using the PB2 as well – I will take any excuse I can get to use my PB2! Thanks for the great recipe!
Kelly says
March 2, 2013 at 7:37 amAs a Vietnamese I have to say these look very impressive !
Brittany Mullins says
March 2, 2013 at 8:24 amWow! Thank you. 🙂
April says
February 28, 2014 at 11:27 amThank you so much for this! Especially the PB2 Peanut Sauce! Seriously amazing. I’ve had this for dinner three nights in a row and they taste EXACTLY like my local Thai Restaurant’s Rolls.
Brittany Mullins says
February 28, 2014 at 3:39 pmWoo-hoo! So glad you enjoyed them April.
Charles Penn says
April 30, 2019 at 10:41 amI love all types of spring rolls.YUM. FYI – Sambal Oelek + Garlic = Chili Garlic Sauce. Same ingredients, except no garlic in Sambal Oelek.