What is in veggie spring rolls?

Make the best veg spring rolls just like your favorite Chinese restaurant or café. Spring rolls are a popular appetizer from the Chinese cuisine and is an Asian favorite. In Asian countries you will find these pretty much everywhere from upscale restaurants to food courts, small cafes and hawker shops. These flaky crisp spring rolls are filled with lightly seasoned crunchy vegetables & sometimes even meat is added. In this post I share the simplest way to make yummy vegetable springs rolls that can be deep-fried or baked.

Spring roll is a traditional Chinese savory snack where a pastry sheet is filled with vegetables, rolled & fried. Spring vegetables like cabbage, spring onions and carrots are used for the filling. Since traditionally they were made during the spring festival with spring vegetables, they are known as spring rolls.

This centuries old Chinese food travelled all over Asia and has become a popular snack in almost every Asian Country. Today you will find numerous versions of these rolls made in various countries. Some have meat or eggs along with vegetables. There are also sweet versions and some don’t need cooking at all.

However the vegetable spring rolls made with the frozen spring roll wrappers are hugely popular and are served in most Chinese restaurants and cafes. For some reason in a lot of places you will find the vegetarian version which is also vegan. These are served with various kinds of sauces.

My recipe will help you make the best tasting crispy veg spring rolls using store bought frozen wrappers. The frozen sheets are easily available in the Asian stores and a lot of times even in the Indian stores.

My recipe requires easily available vegetables like cabbage, carrots, spring onions and bell peppers. Some places also use bean sprouts, rice noodles, mushrooms, eggs, shrimp and even other kinds of ground or shredded meat.

These spring rolls make a fantastic appetizer, so you may consider including them in your menu if you are inviting your family or hosting your friends over the weekend. We personally love serving them with Asian sweet and hot red chilli sauce or with this homemade spicy Schezwan Sauce.

A lot of people also have these with a cup of their favorite drink on the side – black tea, coffee, Teh or even with Masala chai. You can also serve these as a side in a Chinese meal consisting of stir fried Vegetable Noodles or noodles soup or Fried Rice etc.

Spring rolls can be made with homemade spring roll wrappers or with readymade frozen sheets. The homemade wrappers do not turn out as good as the readymade sheets.

Since the store bought sheets are machine made, they are uniform and thin. That gives a great crust after they are fried. You can find frozen sheets made with rice flour, wheat flour and plain flour too. I use the wheat flour wrappers and they are preservative free.

I use this Chinese Stir fried Cabbage recipe that makes a very delicious filling. If you have any leftover filling you can also use it for your wraps or sandwiches. There are no noodles used in this recipe. But if you like to then use about 1 cup of cooked noodles or half cake.

These Soups also go well with Spring rollsTomato soupVegetable soupSweet corn soupClear soup

1. Heat oil in a wok or pan. The entire filling has to be cooked on a high flame. Saute spring onions just for a minute.

2. Next add shredded cabbage, carrots & capsicum. You can add bean if you like and can even skip capsicum. The restaurant rolls I ate in Singapore never had beans in them.

3. Saute until the veggies are half done yet crunchy. Add soya sauce.

4. Pour vinegar.

5. Next add spring onions, pepper and very less salt. There is also salt in soya sauce and even in wrappers as well. So take care not to add too much. Turn off the stove and set aside to cool.

6. Follow the instructions on the pack to remove the individual wrappers. I usually place a wet cloth on the bunch of wrappers for 5 to 7 mins. They begin to come out easily when pulled. Place one on the work area. Place the stuffing as you see in the pics.

7. Begin to roll one of the edge wrapping the edge as you see in the pic.

8. Next bring the other side to the center.

9. Repeat that on the other side as well. Dampen the wrapper on the edges.

10. Roll it tightly towards the left over edge.

11. Seal it completely. Finally keep it covered with a damp cloth.

12. Repeat making the same way until you finish the filling. Keep them covered until you fry.

13. Heat oil in a deep pan until hot. You can drop a tiny piece of a wrapper to the hot oil to check. It will rise if the oil is hot enough. Keep stirring for even frying.

14. When golden, transfer them to a kitchen tissue.

Serve veg spring rolls with ketchup, Red chilli sauce or Schezwan sauce or tea.

Ingredients spring roll pastry sheets 12 1 tsp. oil 1 tsp. sesame seeds optional For the stuffing 1 tbsp. oil ¼ tsp. cumin ½ tsp. chopped garlic or ginger garlic paste ½ tsp. red chili powder ¼ tsp. garam masala or coriander and cumin powder Pinch of pepper powder Few coriander leaves ¼ cup of chopped spring onions or regular onions 2 green chilies (optional) ¼ cup of bell peppers 1 cup of crumbled cheddar cheese or paneer or boiled potatoes ¼ cup of chopped carrots 2 tbsp. green peas

1. Heat a pan with oil. Add cumin, garlic or ginger garlic and sauté till it becomes fragrant. Add all the veggies and stir fry on high for 3 to 4 mins. 2. Add all the other ingredients mentioned under stuffing and mix well. The stuffing is ready. Preheat oven at 220 C at least for 15 mins. 3. Place a damp cloth over the frozen sheets for 5 mins. They begin to come out easily when you pull out. Replace the damp cloth on the rest of the sheets. 4. Next place a sheet and add the stuffing as shown in the picture. 5. Roll one edge towards the filling. And continue to roll till the center.

6. Bring the other 2 sides to the center and place them.7. Continue to roll. Apply the flour mix over the edges and gently press it over the roll to seal.

8. This way, finish rolling all. Brush them with a generous amount of oil evenly. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and place them on a parchment paper or greased foil.

9. Bake them for 12 to 15 mins. I do not flip them to the other sides, mine gets baked evenly on all the sides. These can also be shallow fried or deep fried too.

Serve vegetable spring rolls with your favorite sauce or dip.

More Snacks recipesCheese ballsCheese toastBread rollsFalafelSamosa

Related Recipes

If you like these rainbow vegetable spring rolls, then you’ve got to try my baked shrimp egg rolls and my egg roll in a bowl!

After cooking all week, the last thing I want to do on the weekend is cook. Therefore, we end up eating out almost every weekend night. And when I eat out, I have to get the greasiest, cheesiest, highest caloric option. (When in Rome right?)

Well, when the work week rolls back around, I try to hop back onto the healthy eating train. I started my week off with these rainbow vegetable spring rolls to help me get back on track. They’re a healthy collection of fresh crisp veggies layered together in rice paper and served with a sweet and spicy chili sauce. And they’re a cinch to make!

Beautiful, colorful, and super crunchy. These are super fun to make. Perfect for lunch, dinner or as a snack. Add in your favorite vegetables. I added bell peppers, lettuce, carrots, cabbage and my all time favorite mango were also added! These rainbow vegetable spring rolls are paired with a sweet and spicy chili sauce that requires only 5 ingredients.

Rice paper wrappers are easy to work with. All you need to do is place the wrapper in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 seconds until it softens up a bit. Place it on your work surface and add the filling in the top center. Fold the edge closest to you over the toppings, and tuck the sides in and over the portion you just rolled. Roll forward making sure to keep the spring roll tight.

These rainbow vegetable spring rolls will hold up well in an airtight container in the fridge for two days. I recommend pre-slicing all of your veggies ahead of the week and assembling as needed with fresh rice paper for optimal results as the prepared rice paper can tear or dry out sitting in the fridge.

Serve these fresh spring rolls with my sweet and spicy chili sauce or my peanut dipping sauce!

Vietnamese style spring rolls are loaded with tons of fresh veggies and sometimes even fruit. The vegetables get rolled up into a spring roll wrapper made of rice paper and are typically served as an appetizer with a side of dipping sauce!

Here’s a nutrition breakdown of these Rainbow Vegetable Spring Rolls: