Fresh Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce are light, crunchy, and healthy, and paired with a craveable yet easy dipping sauce!
Fresh Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce are a summer staple at our house.
Not only are they light and refreshing, but healthy and customizable too. Make then devour on demand – they’re perfect for piping not nights where you don’t want to turn on the oven or grill to cook.
Fresh, healthy, crunchy, creamy, and flavorful – you’re going to adore these rolls!
How to Make Fresh Summer Rolls
Start by spiralizing 2 small, thin cucumbers using the thinest blade on your unit. I have a Paderno Spiralizer and love it.
If you don’t have a spiralizer, peel then seed the cucumbers, and then slice them into thin sticks.
Transfer the spiralized cucumbers to a colander to drain while you prep the rest of the ingredients – you’ll be surprised by how much water comes out!
Next cook 15 jumbo shrimp that have been peeled, deveined, and tails removed.
Drop the shrimp into salted boiling water for 1-1/2 minutes, or until cooked through, then slice in half widthwise and chill.
I’ve made this recipe with smaller shrimp kept whole but they tend to slip and slide around when rolling. 16/20 count jumbo shrimp (meaning there’s between 16 and 20 shrimp per pound,) sliced in half make for nice and stable base for the roll.
Next pluck 20 leaves each mint and basil (cut basil leaves in half it they’re large,) peel then slice 2 carrots into matchsticks, and thinly slice 1 avocado.
I really love the combination of mint and basil in these rolls – so refreshing and distinctively “summer roll”.
Last step is to separate the leaves from 1 small head green leaf lettuce. This is just your run of the mill green leaf lettuce found at any grocery store.
Alrighty, time to wrap the rolls, starting with 10 rice paper rounds. You can find rice paper at nearly any grocery store these days in the Asian foods aisle.
Rice paper rounds are textured and firm, and need a 5-7 second soak in warm tap water to become pliable.
You want the wrapper to be pliable but not soggy when transferring it over to a cutting board to fill – you’ll see what I mean when you’re doing it!
Place three shrimp halves cut side up in the center of the wrap, then place a piece of lettuce on top, trimming if it extends past the shrimp.
Fill the lettuce leaf with a couple slices of avocado and carrot, plus two leaves each fresh basil and mint. Finally, add a small handful of cucumber noodles then gently stretch the bottom half of the wrapper over the top, pull the sides over, and then wrap like a burrito.
Rice paper wrappers stretch and hold more than you think, so don’t be afraid to really wrap them tightly.
After all the Fresh Summer Rolls have been wrapped, whisk together the super easy Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce until smooth. You’ll need:
- Gluten-free tamari (or soy sauce if not GF,)
- Creamy peanut butter
- Rice vinegar
- Siracha chili sauce
- Hot water
The next time you get a summer roll craving, I encourage you to try rolling them at home vs going out to a restaurant. You’ll love how fresh and simple they are! Enjoy!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1lb 16/20 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 small thin cucumbers
- 1 head leaf lettuce, core removed then leaves separated
- 2 carrots, peeled then cut into thin strips
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 20 basil leaves, large ones cut in half
- 20 mint leaves
- 10 rice paper rounds
Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce:
- 1/4 cup gluten free reduced-sodium Tamari, or soy sauce if not GF
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon siracha chili sauce, or more or less – I used Lee Kum Kee brand
- 2-3 Tablespoons hot water
Directions
- Add shrimp to a pot of salted, boiling water then simmer for 1-1/2 minutes or until cooked through. Drain, slice in half widthwise, then chill.
- Fit Spiralizer with the thin noodle blade then spiralize cucumbers with the peel on. Transfer noodles to a strainer to drain excess liquid while prepping remaining ingredients. Alternatively you could peel then seed a cucumber, and then cut into sticks.
- Fill a plate with a slight lip with hot tap water then dip a rice paper round in the water and let soak for 10-15 seconds, or until pliable but still with a little texture. Place wrapper on a cutting board then place three shrimp in the center. Top with a piece of lettuce then fill with a couple slices avocado, a few carrot sticks, a small handful of spiralized cucumber, and two leaves each fresh mint and basil. Pull the bottom of the rice paper round over the top of the ingredients tightly, then wrap the sides in and continue rolling like a burrito. Place onto a platter then continue with remaining ingredients.
- Whisk together Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce ingredients then taste and adjust rice vinegar and/or chili sauce if needed, adding more hot water to achieve desired consistency. Serve with Fresh Summer Rolls.
Notes
- If not eating right away, wrap platter tightly with plastic wrap then refrigerate for 1-2 hours. (You can chill longer – we’ve gone 1-2 days, but the wrapper gets a little tough.)
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
I have loved your blog for years and made a lot of your recipes over and over again. My boyfriend is a bit on the picky side but everything I’ve made from your blog has been a hit.
However, I’ve recently made the switch to a plant-based diet, so I’m learning how to “vegetize” some of my favorite meat-based meals. Is there something you might recommend in place of the shrimp for these?
Handheld lunches are a must with my worn schedule, it would be great if I could pack a couple of these to bring with me.
Thanks!
Gracie
Hi Gracie! I would use extra firm tofu that’s been pressed, cut into strips!
Just a quick note- I printed out the recipe and was reading through it when I noticed the time to soak the rice paper was 10-15 minutes, not seconds. Thought I would write so you could prevent any mixups in the future! Love your recipes and so excited to make these, thanks for doing what you do :)
Ahh – great catch! Thanks so much, Allison! :)
Hi! So I loved your summer roll recipe you had years ago on here but I can’t find it now! Any assistance? The one with tofu :)
Here you go, Shanti! https://iowagirleats.com/2013/01/09/super-power-spring-rolls-detox-guide-giveaway/
This recipe jumped out at me because I knew I had some rice paper wraps in my pantry that needed to be used up! I think the problem was that they’d expired (I’m not even going to admit when…) because they totally ripped apart when I was rolling them up. Argh! Never mind though because I just turned the filling into Fresh Summer Roll salads and used the delicious peanut sauce as a dressing! I used everything in your recipe plus some cilantro which I already had….and it was still a total winner for both me and my husband! Thanks!
Love the idea of making this into a salad, Amanda!! Sounds absolutely delicious!
Summer rolls are one of my favorite foods. So glad the weather is finally warming up so I have an excuse to eat them! These look great! Thanks for the recipe.