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These Fresh Summer Rolls are light, crisp, and packed with colorful veggies, juicy mango, and fresh herbs for the ultimate no-cook meal. Paired with a creamy, slightly sweet peanut sauce, they’re the kind of recipe you’ll keep coming back to all summer long!
Why you’ll love this delicious appetizer!
These easy summer rolls are crisp, vibrant bundles filled with crunchy carrots, sweet mango, cucumber, red bell pepper, lettuce leaves, mint and avocado, all wrapped in soft rice paper. Then dip them in creamy peanut sauce for maximum flavor!
We love having these as a light lunch or as an appetizer at parties!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Fresh, crunchy, and super satisfying (but still light)
- No cooking required – PERFECT for hot days
- Totally customizable with whatever veggies you have
- The peanut sauce for summer rolls is next level good
Ingredients needed
The fresh ingredients for this vegan summer rolls recipe are listed fully down in the recipe card but let’s briefly go over the pantry staples needed including a few substitutions you can make as desired!
- Rice paper wrappers. The base of the rolls – rice paper sheets soften in water before they’re used. Doubling up makes them sturdier and easier to roll but I don’t prefer it. These can be found at your local grocery store.
- Carrot. Adds crunch and sweetness. Pre-shredded works in a pinch.
- Mango. Brings a juicy, slightly sweet contrast. You can sub with pineapple or skip if preferred.
- Cabbage. The purple cabbage adds texture and bulk – green or purple both work.
- Cucumber. Fresh and crisp – perfect for that refreshing bite.
- Bell peppers. Adds color and crunch – any color works but I prefer non-gren peppers because they’re sweeter.
- Lleafy greens. Helps structure the roll and adds a fresh layer that I love. Really any type of lettuce works including collar greens, romaine lettuce, and butter lettuce.
- Fresh mint. Bright, herby flavor that makes these feel extra fresh. You can swap with basil or cilantro.
- Avocado. Creamy and rich! It’s optional but highly recommended.
- Peanut sauce for summer rolls. The star dipping sauce! It’s creamy, savory, slightly sweet, and absolutely essential.
- Other filling ingredients. I love bean sprouts and green onion in these for added flavor. But really any crunchy vegetables work well in this recipe!
How to Make It
Just a reminder that you can find the FULL written recipe down in the recipe card, but I want to quickly go over how to make them with visuals for you :)
- Prep wraps: Prepare your rice paper wrappers as you’re ready to roll them but running each wrap in a large bowl of warm water for 5 seconds each. I like to use 2 wraps per roll and run them under the water at the same time. You can do this with just one wrap if desired. Let the excess water drip off and then lay the first wrap down (I find that doing this on parchment paper or wet towel helps it not stick as much). Lay the second wrap down on top of the first so that there’s about an inch over hanging (this just give you more space to work with).
- Add filling: On a clean work surface, lay the green leaves down in the center of the wrapper (I split mine into small pieces to make it easier). Stack up all of the veggies in the center of the rice paper, mango, and the mint so that you’re using about 1/8 per roll. I usually just eyeball it to try and make them all even. Leave 1/2 of an inch clean on the sides.
- Roll: Start rolling the wrap from one end and tuck it gently but tightly over the top of the veggies. Fold over the sides and continue to roll. It may take a little practice but you’ll get it quickly!
- Serve: Enjoy immediately or the next day with a big bowl of peanut sauce or sweet chili sauce!
Recipe Tips
- Don’t oversoak the rice paper! It should still feel slightly firm when you start rolling (it softens quickly).
- Double up the wrappers if you’re new to rolling. It’s not my personal preference but they’re much easier to handle.
- Don’t overfill the rolls or they’ll tear (learned this the hard way 🙃).
- Roll tightly, like a burrito, to keep everything together.
- little practice. Trust me, it makes assembly way smoother.
- little practice with a damp towel so they don’t dry out.
Frequently Asked Questions
They’re typically made with rice paper wrappers filled with fresh veggies, herbs, and sometimes protein like tofu or shrimp.
Not quite—summer rolls (fresh spring rolls aka Vietnamese summer rolls or salad rolls) aren’t fried and are served cold, while traditional spring rolls are crispy and fried.
Yes! Just store them tightly wrapped with a damp paper towel to keep them from drying out.
Storage recommendations
If meal prep is your thing, then you’ll love these rolls. I wasn’t sure how well they would hold up in the fridge but after testing it, they keep extremely well for a couple of days just store them in an airtight container. Even the avocado stays pretty fresh when nestled among all of the other veggies.
More vegetarian appetizers
Easy Summer Rolls
Video
Ingredients
- 8-16 sheets of rice paper, This makes 8 but you will need 16 if you want to double up the wraps for each roll. More about that below.
- 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
- 1 mango, thinly sliced
- 1 cup cabbage, shredded
- 1 small cucumber, julienned
- 1 small bell pepper, julienned
- lettuce leaves, you can use any greens here, I used about 4 large pieces of collard greens
- handful of mint, about 4 medium leaves per roll
- 1 avocado, thinly sliced
- peanut sauce for serving
Instructions
- Prepare your rice paper wraps as you’re ready to roll them but running each wrap under water for 5 seconds each. I like to use 2 wraps per roll and run them under the water at the same time. You can do this with just one wrap if desired. Lay the first wrap down (I find that doing this on parchment paper helps it not stick as much). Lay the second wrap down on top of the first so that there’s about an inch over hanging (this just give you more space to work with).
- Lay the green leaves down in the center of the rice paper (I split mine into small pieces to make it easier). Stack up all of the veggies, mango, and the mint so that you’re using about 1/8 per roll. I usually just eyeball it to try and make them all even. Leave 1/2 of an inch clean on the sides.
- Start rolling the wrap from one end and tuck it gently but tightly over the top of the veggies. Fold over the sides and continue to roll. Watch my video above to see how I do it.
- Enjoy immediately or the next day with a big bowl of peanut sauce!
Notes
Place a damp paper towel over them to prevent drying out.
Peanut sauce can be stored separately in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I personally don’t like carrots but I really really love cabbage, so I’m probably skipping it or replace it. Anyway, this looks really yummy! Thank you for this! This is really going to be perfect for summer.
where can I find the rice paper wraps?
I’e always been able to find them at my local store in the asian foods section. Otherwise a local asian store should have them or even try world market!
I definitely need practice rolling them to make them as lovely as yours but the taste was delish! Do i need to wrap in moist papertowels to save for lunchbox tomorrow?