Fresh spring rolls made with fresh vegetables, shrimp, and cilantro lime avocado sauce and paired with a homemade hoisin-free peanut sauce.
Spring rolls, also often known as summer rolls, is one of my favorite foods from my childhood. This is one dish my mom would make on a regular basis and she never got complaints from us. Traditional Vietnamese spring rolls consist of vermicelli noodles, shrimp and/or pork, and fresh veggies. I decided to take it up a notch and add a cilantro lime avocado sauce. It pairs so well with the shrimp. I also skipped the vermicelli noodles and replaced it with extra fresh vegetables. No one at the table missed them 🙂
The peanut sauce is one thing my mom didn’t serve her spring rolls with. She would make her own mixture of fish sauce and Thai peppers. It wasn’t until my adult life did I realize that peanut sauce was something that you serve with spring rolls. I find the peanut sauce served at restaurants to be a little lackluster. It tends to have a watery peanut flavor. Most homemade recipes call for hoisin sauce, which are typically loaded with unwanted ingredients. So I was on a mission to create a flavorful peanut sauce that doesn’t require hoisin sauce or cooking.
This sauce checked all of the boxes- full of flavor, no hoisin, and super easy to make! Although spring rolls are typically served as an appetizer, I often make it as the main dish and serve it with roasted or steamed veggies.
Tidbits–
Protein– Shrimp and pork (I had leftover lemongrass pork I used for Banh Mi) are the proteins I used for the spring rolls in the pictures. You can also skip the meat all together to make it vegetarian friendly.
Rice Paper Wraps– Not to be confused with the wraps used for egg rolls, these wraps requires no cooking! I have been able to find rice paper wrap in most of the grocery stores near me. I find them in the Asian section, it is not refrigerated or frozen. They come in different sizes. I prefer the large size (12 inch diameter) because it holds more filling and I find it is easier to wrap.
Wrapping– This is probably the most intimidating part of making spring rolls at home. You will get the hang of it after making a few and you will be a pro in no time! Although there are many ways to wrap it, I find the way below the easiest. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect, it will taste great either way!
Dip the rice paper in warm water. Be sure to wet the entire wrapper.
In a row across the center, place 3 shrimp halves and top it with the cilantro sauce. Right below the shrimp place lettuce and other vegetables.
Fold uncovered sides inward. The ends may overlap, depending on amount of filling and size of the rice paper.
Fold the uncovered bottom toward the middle. Tightly roll the wrapper, from the bottom up.
Voila!
Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ lb precooked medium or large shrimp peeled, deveined, sliced in half
- 12 oz rice paper wrap approximately 16 sheets
- 1 head green leaf or romaine lettuce washed and separated into leaves
- 1 large carrot julienned
- 1 bell pepper any color, julienned
- 1 medium cucumber julienned
Optional additional fillings-
- Thai basil
- mint leaves
- cilantro
- bean sprouts
Cilantro Lime Avocado Sauce
- 1 bunch cilantro stems removed, about 1 cup
- half of a medium avocado pit and skin removed
- juice of 1 lime approximately 2 tablespoons
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoon avocado oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon chili garlic sauce
- 1 teaspoon coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons water or broth
Peanut Sauce
- 3 tablespoons natural peanut butter no sugar added
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon Chinese five spice
- 1 ½ teaspoon chili garlic sauce plus additional for topping
Instructions
Cilantro Lime Avocado Sauce
- In a food processor, place all the ingredients listed under the cilantro lime avocado sauce. Pulse until the cilantro has been finely chopped and all of the ingredients have combine completely. Set aside.
Spring Rolls
- Have all of your ingredients in a central location. This will help you make the spring rolls much quicker.
- Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one rice paper into the water until the whole wrapper is wet, it only takes a few seconds to soften. You can also wet the rice paper over a sink with running warm water.
- Lay rice paper flat. In a row across the center, place 3 shrimp halves and top it with the cilantro sauce.
- Right below the shrimp place lettuce and other vegetables. Fold uncovered sides inward, then fold the uncovered bottom toward the middle. Then tightly roll the wrapper, beginning at the end with the lettuce. Be sure be gentle, the rice paper can tear easily. See Tidbits above for step by step pictures.
- Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Peanut Sauce
- In a small bowl combine all of the peanut sauce ingredients. Mix until all of the ingredients have been fully incorporated into the peanut butter. Add ½-1 teaspoon of chili garlic sauce to the top of the peanut sauce if you prefer a spicier sauce.
- Serve spring rolls immediately with peanut sauce.
Notes