Vegetable Spring Rolls with Easy Peanut Sauce

Spring rolls are crunchy, light, full of vegetables, and just fun to make. They elevate any dinner at home by adding color to your plate in the form of your favorite crunchy vegetables like carrots, cucumber, and cabbage. Rolling spring rolls is also an interactive way to get more people in the kitchen to connect with in the dinner-making process since it can take many people to prepare and roll. I like to make these on a lazy afternoon when I have some time on my hands. Making peanut dipping sauce is a crucial step; the spring rolls are really just a carrier for your creamy, salty, and delicious peanut sauce that is super simple to make but is key to this dish. Any leftover dipping sauce tastes great on rice, veggies, or chicken. These vegetable spring rolls are made with rice paper wrappings, that are springy and chewy to eat. The vegetables in these veggie rolls are carrots, cucumber, and cabbage, but there are lots of options to mix and match. I hope you give these fresh veggie rolls are try!

Notes and Tips on How to Make Better Vegetable Spring Rolls:

• This salad roll recipe is truly a choose your own adventure. You get to pick the ingredients, the quantity, and the herbs!

• Cutting the vegetables the night before is a good idea depending on how much time you have. If, like me, you do it all once, give yourself about 30 minutes to cut all the vegetables up.

• The fresh herbs that go well in spring rolls that I have tried are cilantro, mint, and tai basil. Feel free to mix, match, and change it up. Let me know what you use in the comments below!

• There will be leftover veggies! Anything you do not use can be used for salad the next day!

• Do not worry too much about rolling technique. Watch a video or two but know that it is more meant to be fun and if all of your rolls fall apart, then you can try again next time! I am by no means an expert on authentic spring rolls and most of my rolls turn out misshapen on some level but taste great all the same.

Can Spring Rolls Be Made Ahead of Time?

• Spring rolls can be made a few hours ahead of time. For Optimal results, I recommend making them fresh since the wrappings can get sticky and stale if left out too long.

• The best way is to prepare all your veggies, sauce, and herbs a few hours or even the day before. Then, when ready to roll, freshly make the spring rolls so that rice paper wrappings taste the best.

Notes and Tips for The Best Peanut Sauce:

• The peanut sauce can be made prior to starting the vegetable preparation for this dish. I recommend even making it the morning of or the day before to save some time.

• Crunchy or smooth peanut butter works well for your sauce. I like to use roasted and salted peanuts and peanut butter since it has better flavor!

• I have use both lime zest and rice vinegar for my peanut sauce. Both taste great and it can be a toss up on which I use, depending on what I have on hand.

• Peanut sauce can be mixed with just a bowl and a spoon. Immersion blending or regular blending works great as it creates a super smooth sauce but is also unnecessary. I am usually whipping up a bowl of peanut sauce last minute by hand and it turns out great.

What Does Peanut Sauce Go With:

• The short answer is that peanut sauce goes with almost anything!

• Try it with my Restaurant Style Chicken Satay

• Try it with my Homemade Chicken Nuggets

• Try it with my Sheetpan Delicata Squash

• Try it on rice or roasted veggies! One of my favorites is with roasted broccoli and white rice. Let me know how you use your leftover peanut sauce in the comments below!

Directions: Make the Peanut Sauce

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or by hand (see notes above)

2. Taste and adjust as needed. I find that zesting in the lime can add a nice zing to your peanut sauce!

3. Chill until ready for use. Top with crushed peanuts and some more red pepper for serving.

Directions: Vegetable Spring Rolls

1. Cut the cucumbers and carrots into long match sticks or shavings.

2. Cut the cabbage into small strips.

3. Cut any herbs you choose to use into small pieces.

4. Arrange all your herbs and vegetables onto a plate or cutting board so you can easily grab them.

5. Fill a wide bowl or pan with water that is large enough to fit your rice paper wrappers. I use my largest skillet so that I do not have to bend the wrappers at all, and just add more water as I go.

Directions to Wrap Spring Rolls:

1. Begin by dipping the wrapper in water.

1. To wrap, treat the rice paper as you would a burrito, pushing the veggies toward the middle as your begin to roll the paper.

2. As your creations begin to take place, try not to let them touch as the rice paper has a tendency to stick together. Roll as many as you want as the rolls tend not to keep too well.

3. Serve with peanut sauce and enjoy!