I fell in love with the simplicity of summer rolls or fresh rolls since traveling to Bali. They’re on every menu and they all taste amazing! It might just be the tropical heat that makes them taste so good, but I ate my weight in fresh rolls. It was on my agenda to master making them at home and I decided that to gift you with this recipe for vegan summer rolls from my latest cookbook.
I love that these are all-green vegan summer rolls because, let’s face it, most of my best recipes are brown so it’s nice to change things up. Of course, you can stuff vegan summer rolls with whatever fillings you want. If you want to add protein to the mix throw in some crispy tofu strips too. And just wait until you get that creamy green curry dipping sauce in your mouth. It’s fantastic!
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My second cookbook hot for food all day is a best-seller don't ya know! If you don't have the follow-up to Vegan Comfort Classics, I implore you to check it out. There are over 100 easy vegan recipes and ways to level up your leftovers. Think RECIPE?! but in print form! Some of my favorites in addition to these all-green fresh rolls include classic onion dip, fried artichoke sandwiches, and my very popular egg yolk sauce. Get your copy here.
what you need
For the green curry dipping sauce
- green curry paste
- coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk
- cilantro
- garlic
- lime juice
- seasoned rice vinegar
- sugar
- salt
- chili flakes
For the vegan summer rolls
- rice paper sheets
- green vegetables of your choice (green leaf lettuce, avocado, snap peas, sprouts, cucumber, mint, basil, cilantro)
how to make summer rolls
The green curry dipping sauce is blended and heated until slightly thickened, so it won't take much time. It can even be made in advance. The rolling takes a bit of practice. Even if you can’t quite get the hang of rolling them on your first go, it all tastes the same in the end. So don't be a perfectionist about it!
Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients in a blender until smooth.
Heat the blended sauce for a few minutes until simmering. Reduce until slightly thickened.
Place tepid water on a large plate. Soak one rice paper sheet at a time. It should be softer but still maintain its shape when removed from the water.
Place on a clean surface and fill with vegetables in the center of the sheet.
Roll the side of the rice paper closest to you over the filling, tucking it under the fillings. Tuck in each side and continue to roll away from you until sealed.
Cut in half if you prefer and serve immediately on a large platter with the sauce.
storing summer rolls
These vegan summer rolls are best eaten when freshly made because the rice paper sheets are somewhat soft. When they sit in the fridge the rice paper gets quite hard and it's not as pleasant to bite into. Think of eating super cold rice out of the fridge without heating it first—yuck! I would try to make them fresh and consume them same day. If you must store some leftovers, then I like to just let them sit out a bit before eating them so the paper can soften again. I wouldn't heat these in the microwave because of the fresh raw vegetables.
The green curry dipping sauce can be refrigerated for up to 7 days and easily reheated in the microwave. The warmed sauce actually might help with eating cold leftover summer rolls as the heat from the sauce will soften each bite of the summer roll!
Ingredients
green curry dipping sauce (makes about ¾ cups)
- ½ C canned coconut cream
- ¼ C tightly packed fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoon green curry paste
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoon lime juice (about 1 lime)
- 1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- pinch chili flakes (optional)
vegan summer rolls
- 10 rice paper sheets
- 5 large green leaf lettuce leaves (ribs removed, torn in half)
- 2 avocados, sliced
- ½ English cucumber, ribboned with a peeler
- 1 ½ C sugar snap peas
- 1 ½ C packed microgreens or sprouts
- 1 ½ C fresh mint leaves
- 1 ½ C fresh basil leaves
- 1 ½ C fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- To make the green curry sauce, in a high-powered blender add coconut cream, cilantro, green curry paste, garlic, lime juice, vinegar, sugar, sea salt, and chili flakes. Blend until very smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan and bring it to a low simmer, cooking for about 2 to 4 minutes, until slightly thicker and reduced.
- Once all your vegetables are prepped for the summer rolls, fill a wide shallow dish that’s slightly larger than the rice paper sheets with tepid water so you can soak the whole sheet. Soak one rice paper sheet at a time, for 10 to 20 seconds. You still want to feel the crosshatch pattern on the surface of the rice sheets. Don’t over soak or it will be too soft and hard to roll.
- Assemble the rolls one at a time. Lay the wet rice paper sheet on a work surface. Add a piece of the lettuce and divide the avocado, cucumber, snap peas, microgreens or sprouts, and fresh herbs among the sheets in whatever order you like. Roll one side of the rice paper over the filling, tucking it in as you start rolling again and also folding the sides in. Continue rolling until completely sealed. Place on a plate or cut in half if you prefer.
- Serve with the green curry dipping sauce. Leftover dipping sauce will get thick from refrigeration. Add a teaspoon of water at a time to thin out until it’s a smooth dippable consistency.
Lauren Toyota
Lauren is a plant-based powerhouse, a former TV host turned wildly successful food creator, best-selling cookbook author, and the woman responsible for making vegan comfort food a thing worth craving. Through her blog and YouTube channel, hot for food, she’s amassed a dedicated following by recreating all the nostalgic, indulgent dishes we love—mac & cheese, burgers, cinnamon rolls—but making them entirely plant-based. No compromise on taste, no weird ingredients, just damn good food.