Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls are packed with bright, fresh flavours and served with an insanely addictive Vietnamese Peanut Dipping Sauce that takes a minute to make. With a couple of cheeky tricks, step by step photos and an easy to follow video, you’ll be rolling perfect rice paper rolls like a pro in no time!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls – always a hit!!
If I took a platter of these to a gathering with my friends, I guarantee they’d be one of the first things to go. Everybody I know loves these. Even the hardest of hard-core carnivores munch these down as enthusiastically as they would a rack of ribs.
They truly are that good.
Vietnamese food is my idea of the ultimate “accidently healthy” food. Sure, there are a handful of deep fried recipes. But generally, most Vietnamese dishes are super fresh, full of bright flavours, loaded with herbs and salads, with just a bit of protein. Dressings and sauces are refreshingly light and devoid of oil, unlike basically every Western dressing!
I think that Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls are one of those things that people love but always assume are just too fiddly or too hard to make. To dispel of that myth, let me tell you – I am not into fiddly. That’s why you’ll never see fancy decorated cakes on my blog. I simply don’t have the patience or co-ordination for fiddly dishes – sweet or savoury.
I actually posted this recipe way back when I started my blog. A couple of years on, and my photos have somewhat improved but more importantly – VIDEO! I REALLY wanted to remake this with a video, it is so great to be able to demonstrate how to make these rolls.
Serving idea: DIY spread!
Lay out all the ingredients with a large bowl of water for dipping the rice paper in, then make everyone make their own. This DIY approach is a menu item on Vietnamese restaurants here in Sydney which is very popular, I always order it!
Tips to make Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls
In addition to the video, I have 2 little tips that can make your Vietnamese Rice Paper Roll Making Life so much easier:
Bundle up fly-away bits inside a piece of lettuce. I like making these with bean sprouts and vermicelli noodles (other filling suggestions in the recipe notes). Until you get your rolling technique down pat, bundle it up in lettuce before rolling it in the rice paper. This holds the “stuff” together which makes it so much easier to roll the rice paper and it will also prevent things like bean sprouts, carrots, cucumber etc from piercing the rice paper;
Use two rice paper sheets – again, this is a tip while you are an up-and-coming Rice Paper Roll Master. It is much easier to handle when rolling. The downside is that the ends are a touch chewy, because there’s triple / quadruple layers. But it’s not tough chewy, not in the least bit. It’s just chewy compared to how soft and fragile a single layer of rice paper is. It doesn’t deter me at all. My mother noticed it, but it didn’t stop her from hoeing down 4 of these in minutes. Never fails to amazes me that a woman of a certain age can consume so much so quickly. (PS She came over to be my hand model for the video, this was a tough one to shoot by myself!)
PS The reason the prawns and lettuce bundle are laid out in different positions on the rice paper is so there is only layer of rice paper on the prawns once rolled up – makes the prawns more visible. Ie Pretty rolls.
Peanut Dipping Sauce for Rice Paper Rolls
This peanut sauce is everything!! This is a Vietnamese Peanut Dipping Sauce. The 2 key ingredients are peanut butter and hoisin sauce which is thinned out with either milk or water (I prefer milk for colour. With water, the sauce is darker). Plus vinegar for a bit of tang (really needs it), garlic (it ain’t Asian if there’s no garlic in it!) and a touch of chilli if you want (which I love).
It’s different to Thai / Malaysian / Chinese style peanut sauces and I think you and this Vietnamese Peanut Sauce are going to be very good friends. 🙂
So…..what do you think? 🙂 Have I convinced you to try your hand at becoming a Rice Paper Roll Master?? – Nagi xx
PS There are a bunch of other filling ideas in the recipe notes. I’ve kept this fairly classic.
PPS Even if they are wonky, they still taste incredible!!!
Get your Vietnamese fix!
Lemongrass Chicken – one of my favourite things to grill!
Vietnamese Caramel Pork – another iconic Vietnamese food! Also see the Chicken version.
Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Bowls – the super quick version of the above
And some other ways with fresh prawns
5 Prawn Dipping Sauces for a giant bucket of fresh prawns
Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls (this recipe)
Fresh peeled prawns alongside a Corn Salad with Avocado for a quick summer meal
Browse all Prawn / Shrimp Recipes
Watch How To Make It
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls (Spring Rolls)
Ingredients
- 7 – 14 sheets of 22cm/8.5″ round rice paper (Note 1)
- 11 small cooked prawns/shrimp (about 12cm/5″ in length, unpeeled including the head)
- 50g / 1.5 oz dried vermicelli noodles
- 7 lettuce leaves – use a lettuce with soft leaves, like Oak or Butter Lettuce (Note 2)
- 14 mint leaves
- 1 cup bean sprouts
Vietnamese Peanut Dipping Sauce (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp peanut butter, preferably smooth (crunchy is ok too)
- 2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp white vinegar (or lime juice)
- 1/3 cup milk (any fat %) (or water)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 tsp crushed chilli, samba oelak or other chilli paste, adjust to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Peanut Sauce: Combine the Peanut Dipping Sauce ingredients. Mix briefly (it won’t come together), then microwave for 30 seconds. Mix again until smooth. Set aside to cool. Adjust sour with vinegar, salt with salt and spiciness to taste. Thickness can be adjusted with milk or water once cooled.
- Place vermicelli noodles in a bowl and cover with warm water for 2 minutes, then drain (or follow packet instructions).
- Peel the prawns, slice in half lengthwise and devein (watch video).
- Remove the crunchy core of the lettuce leaves (watch video).
- Tip – LETTUCE BUNDLE (Note 4): Place some vermicelli noodles and bean sprouts in a lettuce leaf, then roll it up, finishing seam side down. Repeat.
- Fill a large bowl with warm water. The bowl doesn’t need to be large enough to fit the whole rice paper in one go.
- Place two rice papers together (if using 2). Note which side is the smooth side – this is supposed to be the outside of the spring roll. Submerge the rice papers into the water (both of them at the same time, together) for 2 seconds. If your bowl isn’t large enough to fit the whole rice paper in one go, that’s fine, just rotate it and count 2 seconds for each section you submerge into the water.
- Place both the rice papers (one on top of the other, they will stick together) on a board or the counter with the smooth side down.
- On the top part of the rice paper, place 3 prawns with a mint leaf in between, as per the photo below.
- Place the lettuce bundle with the seam side down onto the middle of the rice paper.
- Fold the left and right edges of the rice paper in, then starting from the bottom, roll up to cover the lettuce bundle. Then keep rolling firmly. The rice paper is sticky, it will seal itself.
- If you placed the ingredients on the rice paper as per the photo below, your rice paper rolls should look pretty with the prawn and mint leaves on the smooth side of the roll and the seam on the side or underside of the roll.
- Serve immediately with the peanut dipping sauce.
Recipe Notes:
* Julienned vegetables like carrots, cucumbers
* Alfalfa, watercress and other similar shaped vegetables
* Thinly sliced tofu
* Shredded chicken and other proteins
* Other herbs like coriander/cilantro, chives (this is classic Viet) 7. ORIGINAL PEANUT DIPPING SAUCE: As requested by a reader! The one provided in the recipe is more authentic and akin to what you get at Vietnamese restaurants here in Sydney. But here is the original one, FYI: ½ cup smooth peanut butter
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis, it’s thick like syrup)
2 small garlic cloves (or 1 large), minced
1 birds eye chilli, finely chopped
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp lime juice
Water Mix together ingredients, using water to thin to a dippable consistency. 8. Nutrition per rice paper roll, no sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Originally posted in July 2014, updated with new words, an even better peanut dipping sauce, new photos and a video!
Life Of Dozer
“WHY is she setting fire to my food???!!!”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOZER!! I want to tell you that he had an extra special day….but honestly? It’s like every day is his birthday….
could use oyster sauce instead of hoisin with the peanut butter ?… hoisin sauce is hard to get where I am
Just a heads up, I tried making the sauce with all natural peanut butter and it curdled. Made it again with Skippy and it came together!
Wow! What a lesson learned! I have been struggling with these for years until I found your post – wrapping the ‘piercing’ ingredients in the lettuce is brilliant!
I still struggle with the wrapping and your post has taught me the correct way to roll 🙂
Blessings! Thank you
So much simpler to make than expected!
I swaped mint for corriander and bean shoots for avocado. Also used whole prawns instead of halves – yum! Look forward to throwing some together to bring for work lunches.
I make this all the time. But it wasn’t until I used Nagi’s idea to wrap the sprouts, rice vermicelli and any other veggie in a lettuce leaf first that I realized how simple this can be. I’ll add shredded carrots or cukes sometimes. And I ALWAYS include mint. Great easy recipe.
My go to recipe for salad rolls! Mahalo😁
Why don’t you guys add some fresh crushed peanuts if you think it lacks zing?
I know I don’t like sour stuff so I just added 1 TBS rice vinegar instead.
I can’t work out the the lack of zing complaints. I’ve bought cold rolls and eaten cold rolls in the restaurants. The sauce is not zingy. Do you want fresh diced chili and fresh nuts in there? There are no herbs to add zing.
The mint in the roll should be the zing on the tongue right? I had mint and coriander leaves in my rolls.
This has been my go to spring roll recipe; loved by all that have enjoyed eating them!
I’ve made this a few times now and it’s always been fantastic. After I finished drinking the rest of the sauce straight from the bowl this time, I figured I should probably leave a review. So good, and so easy! Thanks Nagi!!
Hi Nagi, I’m a mum of 6. Most are adults + moved out. They love food + trying new things. I’ve shared w/ them that you have the recipes ! I’ve even converted my youngest into realising PORK is best for economy, not just chicken or mince.
I loved the rolls and the hints for rolling them but the peanut dressing was a big th UVB’s down in our family. It lacked freshness and tang and flavour Fortunately I was able to go to your Vietnamese prawn noodle salad recipe and get another delicious dressing together quickly.
This is my first negative experience on recipe tin eats. I have a lot of favourites
Thumbs down sorry
Thanks for another great recipe, Nagi. I asked for your cookbook for Christmas and it’s fantastic. The rice paper rolls were great. I left out the bean sprouts and substituted julienned green mango and included Thai basil and coriander leaves. The dipping sauce was delicious.
because i do all the cooking, and my wife gives new meaning to the word PICKY (she is asian but a spoilt brat that I worship) so i spend a lot of time on the internet and invariably now first thing i do is find you and check what you have. I have used so many of your recipes and they are great.
not sure if you have an interest in a special recipe I have for chicken wings (tori niku) once you taste them you will immediately divorce your partner and start stalking me!! – :):):) please drop me a line if you want the recipe, would love to share it?
Delicious recipe. Handling the rice paper nearly beat me but I persevered and it was amazing.
You are my absolute favourite! I always refer to your site for fun new ideas and every single thing I have made has turned out beautifully! Thanks for sharing all your tasty treats! Cheers from Canada!
The peanut sauce let this down big time. Way too much vinegar flavour, not enough peanut. It was also too runny. I salvaged it with an extra tablespoon of peanut butter.
In the middle of prepping your Viet rice paper rolls.
Peanut sauce is scrum diddly.
I swapped out Sambal oulek for my home made Sambal bajak. Basically onion & chilli caramelised reduction. Will swap out bean sprouts for sliced sugar snap peas from the garden. Keep it up Nagi, you make it all so deliciously easy.
Haven’t had a dud yet!
Hello!! What kind of peanut butter do you use? Which one do you recommend? Thank you!
As I can’t eat seafood what else can I use.
It looks delicious!
What a beautiful recipe and dish.
I agree
Help! What am I doing wrong with the dipping sauce? I added all the ingredients but it is like the vinegar curdled the milk almost immediately and before I could get it to the microwave. I persisted and kept stirring after it had been in the microwave but I had what looked like curdled milk pieces floating around – not smooth like it is pictured. Any suggestions?
The milk or water is added at the very end when all the peanut sauce ingredients are incorporated. Milk or water is used to adjust the thickness of the sauce.