• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
A Foodcentric Life
  • Easter
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Living Well
  • Subscribe
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Easter
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Living Well
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Easter
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Living Well
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Snacks and appetizers

    Rainbow Vegetable Spring Rolls

    Published: Jul 30, 2013 · Modified: Jul 6, 2022 by Sally Cameron · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

    16412 shares
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Whether you call them vegetable spring rolls or summer rolls, these little vegetable-filled rice paper wraps are perfect for hot summer days. Make them as appetizers, for snacking or as a side dish to grilled seafood, chicken or meat. It’s a fun way to get more fresh vegetables into your diet. Make them yourself, or have everyone build their own for a spring roll party.

    vegetable spring rolls

    These spring rolls are fresh, cool, and brightly colored from all of the crunchy raw veggies and herbs.

    Spring Roll Wrappers

    When I found brown rice spring roll wrappers at the store, I knew I had to make some. They do look a little different that the traditional white rice spring roll wrappers because of their color. Use what you can find, brown or white. Look for spring roll wrappers in the Asian section of grocery stores and in Asian markets.

    Learning to Make Spring Rolls

    You may feel like you are all thumbs when rolling your first vegetable spring rolls, but don’t give up. They are kind of sticky, but you will get the hang of it. If you mess up the first ones, dump out the filling and start over with a new wrapper.  If your wrap tears, wrap it in a second rice paper. They are fun to make and delicious to eat.

    Rainbow spring rolls
    Spring rolls preparation step-by-step.

    How to Handle Rice Paper Wraps

    Dip the wrappers in warm water briefly,  just a few seconds to soften them. Place wrapper on a cutting board. Working quickly, layer herbs and vegetables on the â…“ closest to you, and start to roll. The wrapper will be sticky. Work with it. Roll part of the way, fold sides in like you are rolling a burrito, then finish the roll.

    What to Include, or Not

    For this recipe, I used a non-traditional combination of carrots, red bell pepper, kale sprouts, zucchini, red lettuce leaves, fresh herbs (mint, basil, cilantro), and red cabbage.

    rainbow spring rolls
    Colorful rainbow spring rolls.

    Many traditional recipes add small shrimp and rice vermicelli (bean thread) noodles. You can add small bites of whatever meat or seafood you like to vary the flavors, or keep them vegetarian.

    For the sprouts, see what your produce section offers. Micro-greens are nice too. That is part of the fun of vegetable spring rolls – playing with a variety of ingredients.

    Dipping Sauce

    For a creamy dipping sauce, whisk together Chinese Hoisin sauce with sesame oil, tamari, lime juice, almond butter, garlic, ginger and rice vinegar. Another option is Asian Almond Dipping Sauce, find the recipe here. 

    vegetables

    Tools to Speed Prep Time

    There are a couple of inexpensive tools that make prepping the vegetables much faster. A julienne peeler and a mandoline slicer. Once you use these tools you will find many more things to do with them.

    I used the julienne peeler to cut the carrots and zucchini, and the handheld slicer to shred the cabbage. You can do this with a sharp knife, but it’s faster and easier with the tools. Find them at local cooking supply stores and online.

    rainbow spring rolls

    Rainbow Vegetable Spring Rolls

    Sally Cameron
    Crunchy, colorful and cool, these little bundles of vegetables make a great appetizer or light meal. White rice wrappers are more common at the store, but look for brown rice wrappers as well. This recipe scales easily up or down depending on how you plan to use it. This recipe is planned for appetizer portions. Optional dipping sauce recipe in notes, or try the Asian almond sauce on this site. 
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 30 mins
    Cook Time 0 mins
    Total Time 30 mins
    Course Appetizer, Snack
    Cuisine Asian
    Servings 6
    Calories 160 kcal

    Equipment

    • Pie plate sized shallow dish to soak wrappers

    Ingredients
      

    • 12  brown rice or white rice spring roll wrappers
    • 1 large zucchini
    • 3 large carrots
    • 1 large red or yellow bell pepper
    • 1 package sprouts of choice
    • ½ small red cabbage
    • 1 bunch fresh herbs - mint, basil, or cilantro
    • 1 small head red lettuce washed and dried
    • lime wedges optional

    Instructions
     

    • Prep vegetables and herbs: Cut zucchini and carrots into long, fine strips with a julienne peeler for the fastest, easiest cutting, then cut the fine strips into pieces about 4″ long. Cut the bell pepper into long, fine strips by hand with a sharp knife. Finely shred the cabbage with a small handheld mandoline slicer, lager mandoline set to fine, or with a sharp knife. Remove the leaves from herb stems. No need to chop them. Tear lettuce leave into small pieces. Place all vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet, large casserole or into small bowls
    • Assemble the spring rolls, fill a large bowl half way with warm water. Working on a cutting board or plate, dip one rice wrapper into the water briefly, just a few seconds. The wrapper will be a bit stiff at first and soften as you work. They get a little sticky. Just go with it and you will get the hang of it. Place the wrapper on a cutting board or plate. Starting at the end closest to you, lay a few herbs down in â…“ of the wrapper, then top with a few strips of each vegetable. Don’t go all of the way to the edges as you will fold the sides in like a burrito. Start rolling the vegetables and wrap snugly until you get about half way, then fold in sides and continue rolling to complete a roll. Place the finished spring roll on a plate. Now make more!
    • To eat, cut the finished spring rolls in half and serve with dipping sauce of choice.

    Notes

    Optional Dipping Sauce
    • ½ cup organic Hoisin (look for no high fructose corn syrup brand)
    • juice of 1 lime (2 tablespoons)
    • 2 teaspoons low sodium tamari (GF) low sodium soy sauce
    • 2 teaspoons finely chopped, grated or pureed ginger
    • 1 tablespoon creamy raw almond butter
    • 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
    • 1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated (use a microplane zester)

    Nutrition

    Serving: 2rollsCalories: 160kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 6gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 266mgPotassium: 512mgFiber: 4gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 8323IUVitamin C: 86mgCalcium: 75mgIron: 3mg
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    « Sparkling Watermelon Juice with Lime
    Cucumber Mint Salad with Feta »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Nicole says

      March 12, 2016 at 9:14 am

      We live in a fairly rural area and I can't find spring roll wraps anywhere. Do you have any suggestions for a wrap replacement?

      Reply
      • Sally Cameron says

        March 12, 2016 at 9:55 am

        Hi Nicole, they are kind of unique, widely available in more urban areas in the Asian section of a market. They come in both white and brown. Best thing would be to order online. Order on Amazon Prime. There is something called a paleo wrap that might work and you can buy them on http://thrv.me/AFoodCentricLife. The rice paper lasts forever in the pantry. Could you get a friend to go in with you on packages and share the cost? Here are the ones I used, but there are 6 packages in the order. http://www.amazon.com/Vietnamese-Brown-Rice-Spring-Wrapper/dp/B006UQUAQC/ref=sr_1_5_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1457803564&sr=8-5&keywords=rice+paper+wraps. Here is another (white rice) that has just 3 packages. http://www.amazon.com/Three-Ladies-Spring-Paper-Wrappers/dp/B00437EN2C/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1457803564&sr=8-1&keywords=rice+paper+wraps

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    chef sally cameron | afoodcentriclifecom.bigscoots-staging.com

    Welcome! I'm Sally, a classically trained chef (but you don't have to be!). My passion is cooking fresh healthy food and sharing it with others.

    More about me →

    Easter Recipes

    • Bark bites on a round display plate for serving.
      Chocolate Bark Recipe (bark bites)
    • pork tenderloin with blackberry sauce
      Pork Tenderloin with Blackberry Sauce
    • hard boiled eggs
      How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs (Easy Peel)
    • seared salmon with raspberry
      Pan Seared Salmon With Raspberry Sauce
    • crispy seared duck breast
      How to Cook Crispy Duck Breast
    • green beans almondine
      Green Beans Almondine with Lemon

    Popular Recipes

    • stamed salmon
      A Quick Lesson on How To Steam Salmon
    • Mushroom Duxelles
      Classic French Mushroom Duxelles
    • Chicken Marsala
      Chicken Marsala Recipe (without cream)
    • creamy cauliflower soup
      Smooth and Creamy Cauliflower Soup
    • white chicken chili
      Easy White Chicken Chili
    • easy chicken parmesan
      Easy Chicken Parmesan Recipe

    Footer

    as seen on

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Accessibility policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Menu

    • Home
    • About
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.