Summer rolls, also known as fresh spring rolls or rice paper wraps, are a delicious and refreshing snack and a wonderful way to add more veggies to your diet. The dipping sauce alone is reason enough to eat them! These veggie-loaded summer rolls with almond butter dipping sauce make a wonderful light lunch, snack, or party appetizer.
If you’ve had summer rolls before you’ll know that there are endless variations to this recipe; you can really add any type of vegetable or protein you like. At most restaurants, these rolls are served with the addition of vermicelli noodles, but I wanted to keep this particular recipe light and fresh so I opted to forgo the extra noodles, and instead, I’ve added extra veggies in the form of leaf lettuce to help provide bulk and crunch. These summer rolls are my go-to party appetizer (someone has to bring the veggies after all!), but I also love making a batch of these on the weekend to use them as simple snacks for the week. And, let’s be honest, it’s really the dipping sauce that makes these summer rolls a winner. The combination of sweet, savory, and salty will make you want to dunk pretty much anything in it!
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Summer Rolls with Almond Dipping Sauce
These summer rolls are vegetarian, but you could add chicken, beef or shrimp if you like. I opted to use almond butter, but peanut butter would also be delicious.
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Prep Time: 30 minutes -
Total Time: 30 minutes
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Yield: 12 servings 1x
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Category: Snacks
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Cuisine: Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free
- Diet: Vegetarian
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Cuisine:Ingredients
Summer Rolls:
- 12 sheets of rice paper
- 1/2 cucumber, julienned
- 1 red bell pepper, julienned
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
- 1/4 red cabbage, shredded
- 2 cups romaine or Boston lettuce, shredded
- 3 sprigs fresh mint leaves
- 1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
Dipping Sauce:
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 cup natural almond butter
- 1-inch fresh ginger, peeled
- 1 lime, juiced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
- 1 tablespoon water, plus more as needed
Instructions
- Make the dipping sauce by adding all of the ingredients to a small food processor and blend until smooth. Depending on the consistency of your almond butter, you might need to add a little more water to the sauce to help thin it out a little; you don’t want it to be runny, but you also don’t want it to be a thick paste. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl, however, ensure that the garlic and ginger are as finely minced as possible.)
- Time to roll. Make yourself a rolling station by laying out all of your chopped vegetables, herbs and rice paper wraps.
- Add hot water to a large bowl and place it on the counter with a damp tea towel next to it, just by splashing a little water on it. (The dampness of the tea towel ensure the wraps don’t stick to it.)
- One at a time, place a rice paper into the bowl of hot water until it is submerged and becomes soft to the touch. This should take about 10-15 seconds depending on the temperature of your water.
- Remove the soft rice paper from the bowl of water and lay it flat on the tea towel. You many need unfold any corners that may have turned up to ensure it is laying as flat as possible.
- Add the fillings of your choice to the centre of the rice paper, about 1/4 of the distance to the top of the paper. Be careful not to overfill it as the paper will tear, begin with a smaller amount and the adjust accordingly on your next one.
- Fold the top portion of the rice paper wrapper over the filling. Holding the whole thing firmly in place, fold the sides of the wrapper in, and roll forward until closed. Everyone has their own technique when it comes to rolling, so find what works best for you! (If you find your paper drying out as you roll it, just add a little water to your fingertips to help keep it malleable.)
- If you mess up, just remove the vegetable filling, discard the faulty rice paper and start over. Once rolled, set your completed rice paper wraps aside until all 12 are rolled, this will also help them to dry a little.
- Serve the rolls with the delicious dipping sauce. Any extra rolls can be stored in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 roll
- Calories: 113 calories
- Sugar: 2 grams
- Fat: 5 grams
- Carbohydrates: 6 grams
- Fiber: 2 grams
- Protein: 3 grams
a great recipe, I added chicken and took it for lunch.
Great idea! I do that myself sometimes too 🙂
I have always been reluctant to make rice paper rolls, thinking it would be difficult. When I saw this recipe on your site, I knew I could do it (your recipes have never failed me!) . The rolls were a big hit at our first summer BBQ. Thank you!
Yay!! Although a little time consuming, they can certainly be done. So happy they worked out for you!
Is the sesame oil dark or regular?
Doesn’t matter, either will work!
Where do you buy rice paper?
It’s found in most major grocery stores in the international aisle or “Asian section”, and it typically next to the rice noodles. They look like large. clear, circular discs in the package.