Vegan Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

This recipe for easy vegan spring rolls is healthy and delicious. Each roll is filled with sesame-flavored rice noodles, cilantro, and sliced vegetables. Enjoy this meal as a snack or light lunch.

Kirsten Nunez, MS

By Kirsten Nunez, MS

3 Ratings

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Vegan spring rolls, filled with lettuce, cabbage, and sliced vegetables, served with a side of peanut sauce.
Photo: Kirsten Nunez

This vegan spring roll recipe is easy, fresh, and packed with healthy ingredients. It also requires minimal cooking, making it ideal for those hot and humid days.

On that note: Yes, spring rolls can be vegan! As long as they only contain plant ingredients, they are considered vegan-friendly.

This particular recipe features crunchy vegetables, fresh cilantro, and rice noodles tossed in sesame oil. The rolls are then served with a creamy peanut sauce to round it out.

To make these easy vegan spring rolls more filling, you can add strips of tempeh or crispy tofu. Read on for the full tutorial, plus tips on how to wrap spring rolls.

Key Ingredients

Vegan spring roll ingredients in individual dishes: rice paper, lettuce, purple cabbage, thinly sliced carrot and cucumber, rice noodles, fresh cilantro, sesame oil, and peanut sauce.
Photo: Kirsten Nunez
  • Rice paper wrappers. You can use circle or square rice paper wrappers. They’re also known as bánh tráng in Vietnamese.
  • Rice noodles. For best results, use thin rice noodles.
  • Thinly sliced vegetables. Cucumbers and carrots are classic choices.
  • Peanut sauce. This spring roll recipe is meant to be paired with our vegan peanut sauce.

How to Make Vegan Spring Rolls

Before starting this recipe, prepare all of your ingredients and lay them out around your work space. This will help expedite the process of making homemade spring rolls.

1. Cook the rice noodles according to the package’s instructions. Toss with 1 to 2 teaspoons of sesame oil and set aside. (The noodles might develop a gummy consistency after this step; that’s okay.)

Tossing cooked rice noodles with sesame oil in a large bowl.
Photo: Kirsten Nunez

2. Fill a shallow baking pan with water. Soak a rice paper wrapper until it becomes pliable, but not mushy. Refer to the wrappers’ packaging for exact instructions.

Soak the rice wrapper in water until softened.
Photo: Kirsten Nunez

3. Place the rice paper wrapper on your work surface. If using square wrappers, position it so that it forms a diamond shape.

Add a layer of cabbage and lettuce about 1 inch from the bottom of the wrapper. Top with a small handful of rice noodles.

Rice paper positioned on a bamboo cutting board in the shape of a diamond, with rice noodles, cabbage, and lettuce placed on top, one inch from the bottom corner of the paper.
Photo: Kirsten Nunez

4. Top with thinly sliced cucumber and carrots, followed by chopped fresh cilantro.

Add cilantro to the spring roll filling
Photo: Kirsten Nunez

5. Fold up the bottom edge or corner so that it lays on top of the fillings.

Using the bottom corner of the rice paper to begin rolling up the vegan spring roll.
Photo: Kirsten Nunez

6. Roll up the wrapper toward the center.

Roll up the vegan spring roll approximately halfway.
Photo: Kirsten Nunez

8. Fold in the sides of the wrapper. Make sure the folds are taut, but not too tight. This will keep the fillings inside.

At the halfway mark, fold in the sides of the rice paper and continue rolling the vegan spring rolls.
Photo: Kirsten Nunez

9. Continue rolling to finish the spring roll. Set it aside on a plate and repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve immediately with peanut sauce.

Completed vegan spring rolls on a plate, served with a dish of peanut sauce.
Photo: Kirsten Nunez

Recipe Variations, Tips, and Substitutions

  • Replace the rice wrappers. Instead of rice paper, you can use large lettuce leaves or seaweed wrappers to make a variation of spring rolls.
  • Avoid soaking the rice paper for too long. Moisten the rice wrappers until they’re just wet enough to be pliable. Otherwise, they’ll become too mushy.
  • Add mint or basil. If you don’t like cilantro, use fresh mint or basil instead. You can also skip the herbs completely.
  • Fill with tofu or tempeh. Both ingredients will add plant-based protein.
  • Use bell peppers. Sliced bell peppers are also delicious in spring rolls.
  • Add some heat. If you like spicy ingredients, add slices of jalapeño to the filling.
  • Make it gluten-free. When made with rice noodles and papers, this recipe is gluten-free. Always double check the packaging. If you’re adding crispy baked tofu, make sure it’s made with gluten-free flour.

How to Store Leftovers

These easy vegan spring rolls are best eaten right after they’re made. That said, consider only making as many as you need. You can store the leftover vegetables and fillings in the refrigerator in an airtight container until you’re ready to make more spring rolls.

Vegan spring rolls sliced in half on a serving dish.
Photo: Kirsten Nunez

Serving Suggestions

Vegan spring rolls with peanut sauce

Vegan Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

This recipe for easy vegan spring rolls is healthy and delicious. Each roll is filled with sesame-flavored rice noodles, cilantro, and sliced vegetables like carrots. Enjoy this meal as a snack or light lunch.
Click stars below to rate, or leave a full review in the comments
3 Ratings
Print Rate it Now Pin Recipe
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Asian
Diet: Vegan
Keyword: spring roll recipe, spring rolls, vegan spring rolls
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 2
Calories: 573kcal
Author: Kirsten Nunez, MS

Ingredients

  • 10 rice paper wrappers
  • 4 ounces rice noodles thin
  • 2 carrots peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 cucumber thinly sliced
  • 1 cup butter lettuce sliced
  • 1 cup purple cabbage thinly sliced
  • cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions

  • Cook the rice noodles according to the package’s instructions. Toss with 1 to 2 teaspoons of sesame oil and set aside. The noodles might develop a gummy consistency after this step; that’s okay.
  • Fill a shallow baking pan with water. Soak a rice paper wrapper until it becomes pliable, but not mushy. Refer to the wrappers’ packaging for exact instructions.
  • Place the rice paper wrapper on your work surface. If using square wrappers, position it so that it forms a diamond shape.
  • Add a layer of cabbage and lettuce about 1 inch from the bottom of the wrapper. Top with a small handful of rice noodles and thinly sliced cucumber and carrots, followed by chopped fresh cilantro.
  • Fold up the bottom edge or corner so that it lays on top of the fillings. Roll up the wrapper toward the center, stopping roughly halfway.
  • Fold in the sides of the wrapper. Make sure the folds are taut, but not too tight. This will keep the fillings inside. Continue rolling to finish the spring roll. Set it aside on a plate and repeat with the remaining ingredients

Notes

  • Instead of rice paper, you can use large lettuce leaves or seaweed wrappers to make a variation of spring rolls.
  • Moisten the rice wrappers until they’re just wet enough to be pliable. Otherwise, they’ll become too mushy.
  • Skip the sesame oil if you don’t like sesame.
  • If you don’t like cilantro, use fresh mint or basil instead. You can also skip the fresh herbs completely.
  • Crispy tofu, tempeh, and sliced bell peppers also work well in this recipe. 
  • If you like spicy ingredients, add slices of jalapeño to the filling.
  • These easy vegan spring rolls are best served immediately, with vegan peanut sauce, so consider only making as many as you need. You can store the leftover vegetables and fillings in the refrigerator in an airtight container until you’re ready to make more spring rolls.

Recommended Tools & Products

Cutting Board
Cutting Board
Baking pan

Nutrition

Calories: 573kcal | Carbohydrates: 117g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 711mg | Potassium: 898mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 14906IU | Vitamin C: 39mg | Calcium: 159mg | Iron: 6mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @CleanGreenSimple or tag #CleanGreenSimple!
Kirsten Nunez

About the Author

Kirsten Nunez

Contributing Writer

Kirsten is a journalist who focuses on healthy food and cooking. Her vegan and plant-based recipes have appeared on VegNews, eHow, Shape, and more. When she’s not creating and photographing vegan recipes for Clean Green Simple, you can find her experimenting in the kitchen and sharing plant-based meals with friends and family. More articles by Kirsten.

Kirsten Nunez, MS
5 from 3 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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