These crowd-pleasing Vietnamese-influenced summer rolls are filled with colorful vegetables and shrimp. The best part of these fresh rolls is dipping them in the flavourful peanut sauce!

These Vietnamese-inspired summer rolls are refreshing, colorful, and fun to make. The filling options for these rolls are nearly endless so use our recipe for guidance and mix it up to make them your own.  You can always swap the shrimp for other protein sources like tofu or chicken, add extra fillings like bean sprouts, edamame, purple cabbage, or avocado or experiment with flavourful herbs like cilantro, mint, or basil!

Some fresh roll recipes call for noodles but we left the noodles out in our version for a lighter-carb version as we are obtaining some carbohydrates from the rice sheets. You could definitely add noodles to the rolls for a higher carbohydrate version!

Our team of dietitians think that the absolute best part of eating these summer rolls is dipping them in the peanut sauce. See the photo montage below for evidence - ha! 

SUMMER ROLLS WITH PEANUT SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

SUMMER ROLLS

• 24 shrimp, cooked
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 pepper, julienned
• 1 cucumber, deseeded and julienned
• 3 stalks green onion, cut into thin strips
• 8 sheets rice paper
• Optional: cilantro, mint, or basil

PEANUT SAUCE

• 1/4 cup (30g) peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons (30mL) tamari or soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon (12g) honey
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 teaspoon siriacha

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the shrimp or use pre-cooked shrimp. Set aside.
2. Prepare the carrot, pepper, cucumber, and green onion by slicing them into small strips. Set aside.
3. In a large shallow dish, soak a sheet of rice paper in warm water until slightly softened. Note: it's better that the water be a bit cooler rather than too warm. The rice paper will continue to soften even after removed from the water. If over-soaked, or submersed in hot or boiling water, the rice paper will likely break when rolled.
4. Remove the paper from the water and let the excess water drip off it. Transfer the sheet to a large plate, top it with the sliced vegetables, optional herbs, and three shrimp.
5. Wrap the summer roll like you would a burrito.  Continue with all 8 summer rolls.
6. To make the sauce, combine the peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, lime juice, and siriacha in a small bowl. Alternatively, blend the ingredients in a small hand blender. If the mixture is too thick for your liking, add a splash of water until it reaches your desired consistency.
7. Dip the summer rolls in the peanut sauce and enjoy! 

DIETITIAN TIPS

These summer rolls have a beautiful balance of carbs, protein, fat to provide long-lasting energy. Additionally, the colorful vegetables add volume and key micronutrients and electryoltes to support your overall health and wellness. We encourage clients inside our Comprehensive Nutrition Coaching program to build meals around these four food groups. In the summer rolls, we find:

• CARBS: rice wraps
• FAT: peanut butter in the sauce
• PROTEIN: shrimp
• VOLUME: peppers, carrots, cucumbers

 Additionally, these rolls contain calorie-wise flavour boosters like the herbs and tamari, siriacha, lime juice, and vinegar found in the sauce. Yum! 

WE WANNA KNOW!

Did you try this recipe or a variation of it? Comment below! Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram so we can see your creation. Looking for more savoury recipes that use peanut butter? Try our recipes for peanut chicken or Gado-Gado!