Vegan Rice Paper Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Name: Vegan Rice Paper Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 12 pieces rice paper; 2 cups baby spinach; 1 cup matchstick carrots (or 2 large carrots, julienned); 1/2 head purple cabbage (thinly sliced); 1 package firm tofu (drained and sliced in stips); 12 large basil leaves; black sesame seeds (optional)

by Rene on Apr 17, 2018

Jump to Recipe

5 from 4 ratings

This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.

A simple lunch or dinner, these Vegan Rice Paper Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce are packed full of fresh veggies. Served with the best peanut sauce you’ve ever had!

Ok, so rice paper rolls are obviously nothing new. You can buy them pre-made at pretty much every grocery store these days.

And while I love the convenience of buying things pre-made, we all know that homemade is always the way to go when you want the freshest & brightest flavors.

Because I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely bought some pre-made ones where the rice paper had been sitting for too long and were pretty gummy. No bueno.

Now let’s talk about the art of using rice paper.

There is definitely a learning curve. It will probably take you a couple tries before you feel like you have the hang of it. To help you get started here are some tips:

If you’ve never bought rice paper before, it actually starts as a firm, crispy sheet. You can find packages of them in the asian section of your grocery store (or online, here).
To get them soft, you will soak them in some water. I added a little bit of warm water to a plate and soaked each sheet (one at a time) for about 20 seconds. You don’t want to over-soak them, because then they will just fall apart. And you don’t want to under-soak them, because then they will be slightly crunchy. I found that when the rice paper just started to feel soft I would pull it from the water and transfer it to my cutting board. It would continue to soften as I added the filling – so by the time I was ready to roll it up, it was the perfect texture.
You want to place the soaked rice paper on a surface with some grit (so it doesn’t just stick to the surface). I found that a wood or plastic cutting board worked best.
When you go to stuff these, remember that less is more. You will think you need more filling than you actually do.
To roll these up, do it just like a burrito. Pull two sides in, then tightly roll it up, keeping everything inside.

Remember, these don’t need to be perfect. As long as you can get everything to stay inside long enough for you to dip and eat, you are golden.

And speaking of dip. I, of course, opted to use Spicy Peanut Sauce with these. Any reason to eat more peanut sauce, right?

You could also use a sweet chili sauce, teriyaki sauce or even sriracha would do the job.

Make these ahead of time for an easy lunch or dinner – they will last for about 3 days in the fridge.