Fresh Spring Rolls, How to Roll and Eat Them

The lightest, healthiest, and not mention prettiest restaurant-quality Fresh Spring Rolls are easier to make than they look in the comfort of your own kitchen. This recipe is filled with crisp vegetables and fragrant herbs and edible flowers if you have them, and are perfect as an appetizer, snack, or light meal. Shall we?

Explore More

• Fresh Spring Rolls Recipe
• What are Fresh Spring Rolls?
• What Kind of Rice Paper is Best for Spring Rolls?
• What Flowers Can I Put in Spring Rolls?
• Are Fresh Spring Rolls Healthy?
• Instructions for How to Make Fresh Spring Rolls
• Pro Tips and Techniques for the Best Fresh Spring Rolls
• Best Creative Filling Ideas for Spring Rolls

What are Fresh Spring Rolls?

Fresh Spring Rolls, called gỏi cuốn in Vietnamese, are a type of roll made from rice paper wrapped around a filling of fresh vegetables, aromatic herbs, and usually a form of protein like shrimp, or grilled pork or chicken, and sometimes vermicelli noodles. Though parts of the filling might be cooked like the protein or noodles, the entire roll itself is served "fresh" and usually eaten right away.

This Fresh Spring Roll recipe goes all-in on the "fresh" and is filled with all vegetables and herbs, going so far as to replace the rice noodles with finely julienned white daikon radish. Because Fresh Spring Rolls are essentially a blank template, you can easily add in a piece of protein with each roll.

What is the Difference Between Spring Rolls and Summer Rolls?

Are Fresh Spring Rolls the same as regular shmegular spring rolls? Why are they sometimes called Summer Rolls? And what are salad rolls and rice paper rolls?

Great questions! For the most part, all of them refer to the same thing—rice paper wrapped around a filling of fresh vegetables, leafy greens, fragrant herbs, sometimes vermicelli noodles, and sometimes a form of protein.

Spring Rolls and Fresh Spring Rolls. I've always called them Spring Rolls, but sometimes "spring rolls" can also refer to the crispy fried spring roll that's made with a flour-based wrapper and a different kind of cooked, mixed filling, or what some might call egg rolls, which are also a different thing, but that's a topic for another day. So, calling these Fresh Spring Rolls helps to distinguish from the cooked ones.

Summer Rolls. The term "Summer Roll" just emphasize the fact that the fresh spring rolls are super refreshing, not cooked/warm, so great to eat in the summer!

Salad Rolls. The Vietnamese word is gỏi cuốn. Gỏi translates to "salad" and cuốn translates to "roll," which is why they're sometimes called Salad Rolls. Makes sense, with all those fresh vegetables they're basically a salad in snackable form.

Rice Paper Rolls. They're made of rice paper, so, you know. This is as opposed to fried spring roll and egg roll wrapper which are made of wheat.

No matter what you call them, you can always call them delicious.

What Ingredients You Need for Fresh Spring Rolls

Refrigerator/fresh ingredients for Fresh Spring Rolls:

• purple cabbage, ¼ small head
• carrots, 2 very fine julienned
• cucumber, 3-4 Persian sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch wide strips
• radish, 4 ounces, fine julienne
• butter lettuce or green leaf lettuce, 1 head 8-10 leaves
• edible flowers like nasturtiums, pansies, and violas

optional: aromatic herbs like cilantro, mint, and Thai basil, red bell pepper fine julienne, avocado slices, bean sprouts

Pantry/dry Ingredients for Fresh Spring Rolls

• rice paper, 16 sheets

Dipping Sauces to Serve, buy or make:

• Hoisin Dipping Sauce
• Garlic Ginger Chili Sauce
• Fish Sauce Vinaigrette

Tools and Equipment You Need to Set Up a Rolling Station

I don't usually specify tool and equipment so heavily for a recipe, but when it comes to Fresh Spring Rolls, having a "station" already set up is important to make the process much smoother!

• Wooden cutting board or extra large plate as a flat surface to roll
• Large shallow bowl or plate with high side for dipping water
• Plate or tray for finished Fresh Spring Rolls
• Damp kitchen towel, these flour-sack kitchen towels have the best no-lint texture, or paper towels to cover the completed rolls
• Chef's knife, worth every bourgie penny, to cut the finished rolls

What Kind of Rice Paper is Best for Spring Rolls?

Rice paper, called bánh tráng, are thin sheets made of rice flour and water that come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes (yes! they're not all round), and even colors. Sometimes they include tapioca to make them sturdier and easier to roll. For these Fresh Spring Rolls, get plain, round rice paper wrappers that are at least 22 cm/8½ inches in diameter. Slightly larger 10 inches will be even easier to roll.

This is a popular brand that you can find in Asian grocery stores where they may have an entire aisle dedicated to spring roll wrappers, or online. Dishes that use rice paper wrappers are so popular now, I've found rice paper at Whole Foods and some bigger grocery stores.

What Flowers Can I Put in Spring Rolls?

Any edible flowers will work, though some are better suited for Fresh Spring Rolls because they have a flatter shape that will press easily into the roll. These Fresh Spring Rolls have pansies, violas, geraniums, nasturtiums, and dianthus. Use whatever edible flowers are in season and available to you.

Here are some flowers that work well for Fresh Spring Rolls because they are brightly colored and are flatter or have larger petals you can pull off and use individually:

• Borage (blue)
• Calendula (yellows and orange), pull the petals
• Dahlias, pull the petals
• Dianthus, pull the petals
• Hibiscus/Jamaica
• Nasturtium (yellow and orange)
• Orchid
• Pansies
• Pea flowers
• Roses, use the petals
• Squash blossoms
• Violas

There are more flowers that are edible beyond this list!

Quick Note: Recently, big gorgeous flowers on whimsical cakes have been trending on social media recently. As beautiful as these flowers are, make sure you double check whether they are truly edible before using them yourself. Lilies, Icelandic poppies, and ranunculus are some I've seen and are actually NOT edible. In fact, they are toxic!

Where to Buy Edible Flowers

Buy flowers that are specifically labeled "edible flowers." Just because a type of flower is considered edible doesn't mean you can just go to the floral department of your grocery store and grab a bouquet to put in your food, even if they are labeled as organic. Actual edible flowers are grown in a specific way that make them appropriate for food. Here's where to get them:

• Grocery store. Edible flowers are usually found where the fresh herbs are.
• Farmers market. I get mine at my local farmers' market.
• Online. You can also get edible flowers online from specialty shops like here.
• Grow your own!

Additional/Optional Ingredients Notes and Resources

The beauty of Fresh Spring Rolls is that they are flexible (literally!) so you can include whatever fresh vegetables and fillings you may already have, or your creativity inspires.

Vegetables. I almost always stick to the same purple cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, and radish because I love the crunch, but here are a few more vegetables to consider:

• red, orange, and yellow bell pepper
• avocado
• mango
• jicama
• sprouts
• cooked mushrooms

Herbs. Traditional Vietnamese spring rolls usually include fresh herbs. Cilantro and mint are available everywhere. Garlic chives, which are long and flat, and Thai basil, are available at Asian grocery stores. I usually get mine at the farmers market when they're in season in late spring and summer.

Vermicelli. These are super thin rice noodles, sometimes called rice sticks or maifun. Cook them according to the package directions.

Tofu. If you want to make the Fresh Spring Rolls a little heartier, add tofu cut into ½-inch wide strips. I like using this all-time fav Ginger Marinated Tofu.

Are Fresh Spring Rolls Healthy?

Yes, yes, absolutely yes Fresh Spring Rolls, filled with fresh vegetables, are nutrient-dense and for most lifestyles, are very healthy! Basically, they're a salad in the form of a roll. To be honest, I can't really think of a case in which Fresh Spring Rolls would not be healthy, barring the usual allergies, sensitivities, etc.

Health and Dietary Considerations of Fresh Spring Rolls

As published, this recipe for Fresh Spring Rolls is:

• 100% plant-based, suitable for vegans
• vegetarian
• dairy-free
• refined sugar-free
• gluten-free and wheat-free

Instructions for How to Make Fresh Spring Rolls

The key to making perfect Fresh Spring Rolls is to have everything—rice papers, dipping water, and all the fillings—prepped and set up before starting.

How to Set Up the Rolling Station

Place the wooden cutting board or large plate in front of you, and the water bowl right next to it. Make sure all of the filling ingredients are within arm's reach.

How to Roll Summer Rolls

The key to rolling Summer Rolls in the easiest way is to set up everything—rice paper, water for dipping, cooked mushrooms, and sliced fresh vegetables—before starting.

Pro Tips and Techniques for the Best Fresh Spring Rolls

1. Set-up: I might have already mentioned at least three times making sure everything is set up before you start rolling. That's because it's that important, so here's the fourth time I'm mentioning that you make sure everything is set up before you start rolling
2. Dip, Not Soak. Dip your rice paper in the water and immediately remove it and set it on your work surface, even if it still feels a little stiff. You do not need to soak the rice paper in the water. It does not take a lot of water for the rice paper to soften.
3. Less is More. Less filling is better (and easier!) to roll than too much, which will be more difficult to roll, and might tear through the rice paper.

Advance Prep, Leftovers, and Storage

Fresh Spring Rolls are best eaten immediately after they are made, as the rice papers will either dry out and/or toughen. This is especially the case for this recipe because it has fresh avocado in it.

So make the Fresh Spring Rolls just before you plan to serve and eat. Even better is to incorporate the making of the Summer Rolls into the meal and eat as you roll!

Tools and Equipment

• Rice paper dipping bowl, a uni-jobber specifically designed for holding rice paper and water for dipping
• Flour-sack kitchen towels, the best no-lint texture
• Garlic press
• Ceramic garlic grater
• Cast iron skillet, the one I have had FOR YEARS and will pass down to my heirs
• Japanese mandoline
• Chef's knife worth every bourgie penny
• Wooden cutting board, extra large surface area and sturdy that I use every day.
• Mini ¼-cup liquid measuring cup
• Measuring spoons specifically stainless steel, narrow so they fit into spice jars!

Best Dipping Sauces for Spring Rolls and Beyond

There is nothing I like better than meal that's built around dips, so here are a few to consider:

• Homemade Hoisin Dipping Sauce
• Fish Sauce Vinaigrette aka Nuoc Cham, a quintessential spring roll dip
• Peanut Sauce
• Miso Ginger, salad dressing or dip!
• Bibimbap Sauce, mix into bibimbap or use as a spicy dip!

Best Creative Filling Ideas for Spring Rolls

Once you pop, or roll that is, you won't be able to stop! And like I said, Spring Rolls are basically a blank canvas begging for your creative filling ideas. Here are some ideas to keep you on a roll, haha:

• "California" Roll style Spring Roll with avocado, cucumber, lettuce, and crab, pictured above
• Spring Green Rolls, with asparagus, avocado, cucumber, shredded snap peas, daikon or pea sprouts, and the usual lettuce
• "Lobster Roll" Spring Roll with fresh cooked lobster, add dollops of caviar to take it over the top!
• Rainbow Roll with every color of the ROY G BIV: red bell pepper, orange carrots, yellow bell pepper, cucumber and shredded green leaf lettuce, and purple cabbage
• Fruit Roll-ups with fresh fruit? Why not! Use sliced strawberries, long slices of mango, sliced kiwi, any fruit that you can slice flat or into long strips!

Food for Afterthoughts

Vietnamese food as a hangover helper is slowly becoming a Delicious tradition. I say “slowly becoming” because at one point in my life, I hated pho with the fury of a woman scorned. In fact, I hated the entire cuisine of Vietnam. Please, if you are Vietnamese or happen to love the whack stank of dead fermenting fish, don’t be offended. It just happened that the combination of cilantro, fish sauce, and a memory of a cheating boyfriend gelled in my first bowl of pho and resulted in a wave of nausea that I will never forget. As for the rest of the cuisine, that was just my being irrational.

But I’m okay now!

And after finally understanding the wonders of long-, slow-cooked beef broth turned firrhea red with sriracha and sambal, I am a huge fan of its medicinal benefits in the late morning that follows an evening with elixirs of a slightly more alcoholic sort. Not only are the rice noodles easy to digest by a system that’s been working overtime to process poison, but the salty soup serve to rehydrate the prune that was once my brain.

East on the Westside

Vietnamese options were at one time limited on the Westside, but in recent years, several places have opened. I had always patronized Pho 99 simply because it was the closest to my house, but I have been known to pop down to Le Saigon every once in a while thinking I should be neither so exclusive, nor so lazy, often forgetting that it isn’t any better and costs slightly more. However, I never ventured to Phoreign on Sawtelle because, admittedly, I was being stupid.

I pho-king hated the name. (Aw, come on. You knew I had to say it at some point, right?)

That of course, made no sense as a reason to avoid a Pho-serving establishment because really now, is Pho 99 any better? Of course not. However, part of the reason is that I couldn’t figure out whether the name of the restaurant is pronounced “foreign,” or if I’m to say “pho-rain.” The bigger part of the reason was that I was a little more than irritated at Phoreign’s perpetuation of people’s mis-pronunciation of the word pho as “pho,” rhymes with “faux,” and not better as “pho,” rhymes more accurately with “duh.”

But now, I have a real reason to avoid Phoreign.

I hate the name, because it should be called “faux-reign.”

Phee Phi Pho Reign

I am not sure what possessed me to suggest Phoreign in the first place, but let’s just suffice it to say that there was mention of “pho” but he with whom I was dining was a danger to my reputation of chastity around Brentwood wherein one or more ex-somethings might live and could potentially result in a close encounter of the unkind. In other words, though I didn’t honestly believe that we could run into an ex, I didn’t want to test fate. I am not sure why I thought that additional mile to Sawtelle would be any more of a buffering precaution.

After the always harrowing experience in the parking lot of the plaza in which Phoreign is located, we headed into the restaurant. Despite the cheesy name, the décor inside the narrow space is pleasant, or at least as pleasant as strip-mall joint can be. I am not sure if superficial nods to Asia, from the narrow floor-to-ceiling murals on the walls to the chairs at the “bar” with little baskets underneath, were Vietnamese, or just things the owners picked up from the Asian section of Cost Plus. We sat down against the wall.

I may not be Vietnamese, but I can smell a perpetrator from the parking lot like it took a steaming hot bath in fish sauce then toweled off with a ripened Spam. The beginnings of something being amiss when I saw the Ribeye Steak with Herbal Tomato Sauce on the menu. I ignored the feeling, however, chalking it up to the Sawtelle standard – serving weird Asianized versions of Western dishes right alongside sushi and ramen. We both ordered our individual bowls of pho and because we’re pimp, spring rolls as a starter.

Roll Call

Our spring rolls were not offensive and were, in fact, quite pleasantly crisp. I avoided the accompanying sauce and ate them with an illegal drizzle of sriracha. What came after the appetizer was two shades lighter than dark disastrophe. I had ordered Tofu Pho, which is no indication of a fear of beef, simply an undying affection for tofu. My bowl looked like an Asian pasta plimavela gone horribly waterlogged. The tofu pho I usually get has broccoli in it, but never before had I seen straw mushrooms, carrots, and julienned red peppers. Please correct me if I’m being ignorant about the type of vegetables in pho. Even if I’m right about the wrong vegetables, I can forgive a little fusion here and there, but I never forget the offensive taste of cilantro. It was already in my food tainting my soup and my experience.

I picked out every gaudy neon shred of parsley’s hateful cousin, but nothing could help how disappointingly bland the broth was. Salt is not the issue, and neither is spice. I am talking about the depth of flavor that comes from simmering a veritable barnyard of four legged animals until every molecule of their animal essence has been rendered into a deep, dark, meaty infusion. Had Phoreign admirably used vegetable broth to keep the Tofu Pho strictly vegetarian? Perhaps. I can’t assume what Phoreign’s kitchen does, but I do know that a proper vegetable broth can have the same type of depth, albeit a totally different flavor. I didn’t bother to ask the staff about it, because I tasted the beef pho, and it was the same bland case.

Next time I come down as far as Sawtelle for a Hangover Helper, I’ll stick with ramen.