These Summer Rolls are healthy, refreshing, and fun to make. FIlled with carrots, red peppers, cucumber, lettuce, avocado, and paired with a creamy Spicy Peanut Sauce. These rolls make for an appetizer, side, or light dinner. These delicious rolls are gluten free and can be made in 30 minutes or less.
With this recipe I used multiple different vegetables that I had in my fridge along with baked tofu that I cut into strips. I wrapped them in the traditional rice paper I found at my local Asian grocery store and dipped them in homemade spicy peanut sauce.
One of my favorite things about these Summer Rolls is that you can be creative with your ingredients. Any type of raw veggies or herbs that you have in your refrigerator will taste just wonderful packed in your Summer Rolls.
Don’t have all the vegetables that I used? No worries, here are some other great veggies to use instead.
- Spinach
- Green Onions
- Green or Yellow Bell Peppers
- Mung Bean Sprouts
- Green Cabbage
- Jalapeno
Feeling extra creative? Cut your veggies into fun shapes like stars, hearts, and flowers before adding them to your Summer Rolls. Not only do adults love making these fun and bright Summer Rolls but so will your kids!
TIPS TO MAKE QUICK AND EASY SUMMER ROLLS
- When you get your rice papers they are dried and hard. In order to roll your Summer Rolls you want to soak the rice papers one at a time in cold water for 15-20 seconds until they become soft. I like to use a medium size bowl and fill it half way with cold water. Slowly put the rice papers in the water individually covering the paper entirely with water. From my experience, putting in more than one rice paper in the bowl of water at the same time will make them stick together.
- After it has become soft, I then lay the wet rice paper flat on a cutting board that has been wrapped in a damp towel. By wrapping your cutting board in a damp towel it will prevent the rice papers from sticking to your board. You will notice the rice papers get super sticky.
- Add your Summer Roll fillings in the middle of your rice paper horizontally stacking them on one another. I like to make two seperate stacks of vegetables (see photo). You will want to make sure that the veggies and herbs are not laid in the direction that they will pierce the rice paper wrap.
- Fold the sides of the rice paper toward the middle of the vegetables and then the top of the roll to the bottom tucking everything. The rice paper will automatically stick together making this process easy. If you are visual like me you will find this video to be very helpful How to Wrap Rice Paper Summer Rolls.
I like to cut the Summer Spring Rolls in half so you can see all of the beautiful filling. Garnish your Summer Rolls with black and white sesame seeds and dunk them in a creamy spicy peanut sauce. You will want to eat your Summer Rolls that day after you make them. Storing them in the refrigerator for too long will cause the wrappers to become dry and hard.
These Summer Rolls with a Spicy Peanut Sauce are:
Bright
Healthy
Colorful
Refreshing
Fun to Make
Gluten-free
When you make these Summer Rolls I would love it if you would snap a photo of your food and share it with me on instagram @itsallgoodvegan.com. I can’t wait to see how you like it.
Summer Rolls with a Spicy Peanut Sauce
These Summer Rolls are healthy, refreshing, and fun to make. Paired with a delicious Spicy Peanut Sauce perfect for dunking.
Ingredients
- 10 rice paper wrappers (GF)
- 2 carrots, peeled and julienned
- 1 cucumber, julienned or cut into thin round slices
- 1 red bell pepper, julienned
- 1 cup lettuce, spring mix or butter lettuce chopped
- â…“ cup fresh cilantro
- ¼ cup fresh mint
- 1 package of baked tofu (optional)
- 1 avocado, chopped (optional)
- 1 lime, sliced (optional)
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
Spicy Peanut Sauce
- 3 Tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tsp agave syrup
- 1 tsp rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp soy sauce or tamari, gluten free
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 2 tsp lime juice
Directions
- Have all of your Summer Rolls ingredients prepped and ready. 2.Combine all of the spicy peanut sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour into a small serving dish and set aside.
- Fill a large shallow bowl with cold water. Place one rice paper in the bowl of water for 15-20 seconds or until it becomes soft. Check the back of the rice paper package to see what they recommend as well.
- Lay the wet rice paper flat on a cutting board that has been wrapped in a damp towel. Place 1 to 2 pieces of tofu, carrots, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce, and rice noodles in the middle of the wrap horizontally. *See my photo in this blog for a visual.
- Sprinkle sliced green onions and cilantro on top of the veggies. Beware that the rice paper rips easily so you want to be very cautious that you lay the veggies in a horizontal direction so that they will not pierce the rice paper.
- Fold the top of the rice paper toward the middle of the vegetables and then the right and left side of the rice paper tucking everything in, then roll it up tightly. It is similar to rolling a small burrito. The rice paper will automatically stick everything together making this process easy.
- Eat your Summer Rolls as is or cut them in half so you can see all of the beautiful vegetables. Sprinkle the outside wraps with sesame seeds. Dunk them in spicy peanut sauce and eat immediately!
- If kept in the refrigerator for too long you will notice that the wrapper will start to get hard. I recommend eating your Summer Rolls the day you make them.
- If you have a peanut allergy skip the peanut sauce and dunk you Summer Rolls in soy sauce, hoisin sauce, or sriracha.
- The first time I made these rolls were at a party. Cut up all of the lovely fillings and place them in the middle of the table. Fill a couple bowls of water and let your guests make their own Summer Spring Rolls. It’s fun and delicious!
Summer rolls are so fresh and vibrant! These are beautiful.