Vietnamese rice paper rolls are super quick to prepare! Packed with juicy prawns, vermicelli, crisp lettuce and mint, they’re perfect as a light snack or healthy lunch. Pair them with our peanut hoisin dipping sauce – you won’t want to stop at one!
“As a Vietnamese, thanks a lot for sharing our country’s food. Plus, the sauce is delicious 😛 yum”
Saohoang
In This Post You’ll Learn
Why We Love This
We love rolling our own cold rolls with family – it’s so light and refreshing to enjoy on a warm summer night. It’s fun to lay out the table with platters of rice paper sheets, sliced prawns / shrimp, vegetables and herbs, and get creative with our own filling combinations. There’ll be hands flying everywhere to grab all their favourite ingredients, pop them onto rice paper sheets, and quickly roll them up to start eating!
In Vietnam, we found that rice paper rolls were usually sold by street vendors or at dedicated restaurants like our favourite in Nha Trang – Nem Nuong Dang Van Quyen. We especially loved the rice paper rolls filled with nem nuong (grilled pork sausage) and mountains of fresh herbs all ready to wrap into glorious rolls.
Related: Banh Xeo Vietnamese Pancakes / Bun Cha Gio – Spring Roll Noodle Bowls
Rice Paper Roll Filling Ideas
Okay so while we love the more traditional fillings, there are SO many things you can fill a rice paper roll with.
It’s so adaptable, and great to use up whatever you have in your fridge or freezer.
Here’s some of our favourite combos to get those ideas swirling:
For the Veggies
Use any / all combinations of cucumber, lettuce, grated carrot, Vietnamese pickled carrot and daikon, cabbage, capsicum / bell pepper, bean shoots, Vietnamese mint, coriander – really, whatever you have on hand. Feel free to experiment – we’ve even used silverbeet, beetroot leaves and spinach in ours.
Traditional Ideas
Prawn / shrimp or nem nuong
Banh Xeo – Pieces of Vietnamese crepe. (If you’re in Hoi An – try them at JAN Restaurant).
Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls – What’s better than one layer of rice paper? Two! Add cha gio to your next batch.
Vegetarian Rice Paper Rolls – Use a range of colourful veggies for extra eye catching rolls!
Alternative Ideas
Teriyaki Tofu or Teriyaki Chicken
Tonkatsu (Pork) or Chicken Katsu
Cevapi – Easy Beef Sausages
Fried Tofu Patties – Just slice them up.
Air Fryer Popcorn Chicken
Lao Steamed Fish – Also sliced into strips
What are Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls?
Rice paper rolls, known as gỏi cuốn in Vietnamese, are super popular throughout Vietnam. We ate them in most cities on our travels from Ho Chi Minh City all the way up along the coast to Hoi An and beyond. From street food stalls to restaurants, there were so many different takes on them wherever we went. The essential was always there though – rice paper that was softened and stuffed with protein + veggies and then dunked into some kind of epic dipping sauce.
Bonus: Best Rice Paper Rolls Dipping Sauce
We love to serve our Vietnamese Rice Paper rolls with our amazing 5 minute Peanut Hoisin Sauce. The mouth-watering combination of fresh rolls with creamy, nutty sauce simply bursts with flavour – so fair warning, you might want to grab the entire plate and run!
The best parts:
- Quick Prep. You can easily whip up a batch in minutes while the vermicelli noodles are soaking. That way everything is ready to eat as soon as the rolls are ready.
- Serve warm or cold. It’s delicious either way, so see what works best for you.
- Vary the water you add. Less will make the texture of the sauce super thick (so more sticks to the roll), and more water will thin it out for a smoother texture.
- Make in advance. Up to a day or two beforehand and store in the fridge. Great if you’re making a large batch of rice paper rolls.
Need more sauce recommendations? Check out our full rice paper roll dipping sauces guide!
What You’ll Need
- Rice Paper Wrappers – These often come in two sizes, so we usually buy the larger size wraps. Look for them in the international section of your local supermarket, head to an Asian grocery or buy them online.
- Vermicelli Noodles – Sometimes known as rice stick noodles, these are available in two versions: one made with rice and one made with mung bean thread. They are almost identical once cooked, so you can use either. Just like wrappers, you can possibly find these at your supermarket, otherwise the Asian grocery or online will be your best bet.
- Fresh Herbs / Greens – The most common are fresh mint (regular garden mint is totally fine), coriander/cilantro, and lettuce. You might also like to include some bean shoots for extra texture.
- Protein – Our local Vietnamese restaurants and eateries usually include fresh prawns / shrimp and/or thinly sliced pork or even lemongrass chicken. At home, we’ll often make them with slices of BBQ / rotisserie chicken which makes for super quick prep! If you’re using prawns, we usually buy them pre-cooked, and will either shell them ourselves or you can also buy them already deshelled if you prefer.
How to Wrap Fresh Spring Rolls at Home
First, gather your ingredients: See recipe card below for measurements.
The trick with wrapping Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls is to start with the greens!
To assemble your rolls:
- Grab a rice paper wrapper and rotate it in the warm water until all surface areas have been covered.
- Pop it on your plate and top with lettuce, mint and vermicelli on the edge closest to you, then pop the prawns about 2-3cm closer to the top edge.
- Next, grab the bottom of the rice paper and fold it tightly over the greens.
- Now carefully tuck in both sides.
- Annnnd roll the rice paper up up the rest of the way to the top of your plate.
- That’s it! All that’s left is to dip it in your delicious peanut hoisin sauce and eat. Yum!
- Watch our video to see how to wrap your own rolls in seconds.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Use Lukewarm Water – This softens the paper quickly without them turning into mush.
- Be Quick – Dunk half the rice paper into the water and quickly rotate until the entire surface is covered. Don’t leave it in the water any longer than necessary, or they’ll become too sticky, flimsy and hard to work with.
- Sauce Inside the Rolls – We’ve never seen this done anywhere else! If you’re eating the rolls straight away, why not slather plenty of the sauce between the herb and prawn layers. This way you’ll have extra delicious flavour in every bite, without needing to dip! Try it with the original peanut hoisin sauce, tamarind dipping sauce, nuoc mam cham or our homemade umami sauce.
- Prawns – For that bright orange colour – choose Tiger Prawns!
Storage
We don’t recommend freezing them or storing them as the rice paper is too delicate to be frozen or refrigerated. Plus they’d just never be as good as fresh rolls!
FAQs
It all depends on where you live! They’re known as Gỏi Cuốn in Vietnam, Vietnamese fresh spring rolls, summer rolls or rice paper rolls in America and we usually call them cold rolls in Australia. So take your pick! However you wish to refer them, they’re all just as delicious.
Technically yes – but we don’t recommend it. Rice paper rolls are best eaten straight away, otherwise the rice paper can get a bit tough and chewy, or even take on smells from the fridge.
Rice paper rolls are always great when you’re sharing them with friends and family. As they’re usually a starter, we’d serve them with a main dish such as Vietnamese chicken curry or Vietnamese ginger chicken. Drinks wise, our go to is usually an avocado smoothie, fresh Vietnamese soy milk, or even che ba mau the three bean dessert (yes, we have it as a “drink” haha!).
Try these amazing recipes next:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Equipment
- Plate per person for rolling individual rice paper rolls
Ingredients
- 200 g prawns 7 oz, cooked, sliced in half lengthways (500 g / 1 lb if unshelled)
- 200 g vermicelli rice noodles 7 oz
- 8 sheets rice paper wrappers
- 3 leaves lettuce roughly chopped
- 1 bunch fresh mint leaves
- water boiling, for soaking vermicelli noodles
- water lukewarm, for dipping rice paper sheets
Two Optional Dipping Sauces
- 1 cup peanut hoisin dipping sauce
- 1 cup nuoc mam cham
Instructions
To prepare your ingredients:
- Pop your vermicelli noodles into a large bowl and soak them in boiling water for 5 minutes.200 g vermicelli rice noodles, water
- Pour some lukewarm water in a large, deep bowl – make sure it's deep enough for softening your rice paper.water
- Next, slice your prawns in half and devein them if this hasn't already been done.200 g prawns
- Finally, drain the vermicelli and place all the ingredients on the table. Now you're ready to roll!
To assemble your rolls:
- Take a rice paper wrapper and rotate it in the warm water until all surface areas have been covered.8 sheets rice paper wrappers
- Pop it on your plate and top with lettuce, mint and vermicelli on the edge closest to you, then pop the prawns about 2-3cm closer to the top edge.3 leaves lettuce, 1 bunch fresh mint leaves
- Now grab the bottom of the rice paper and roll it over the greens. Tuck in both sides and continue rolling up the rest of the way.
- That's it! All that's left is to dip it in your delicious peanut hoisin sauce or nuoc mam cham and eat. Yum!1 cup peanut hoisin dipping sauce, 1 cup nuoc mam cham
Video
Recipe Notes
- Rice Paper Wrappers – These often come in two sizes, so we usually buy the larger size wraps. Look for them in the international section of your local supermarket, head to an Asian grocery or buy them online.
- Vermicelli Noodles – Sometimes known as rice stick noodles, these are available in two versions: one made with rice and one made with mung bean thread. They are almost identical once cooked, so you can use either. Just like wrappers, you can possibly find these at your supermarket, otherwise the Asian grocery or online will be your best bet.
- Fresh Herbs / Greens – The most common are fresh mint (regular garden mint is totally fine), coriander/cilantro, and lettuce. You might also like to include some bean shoots for extra texture.
- Protein – Our local Vietnamese restaurants and eateries usually include fresh prawns and/or thinly sliced pork. At home, we’ll often make them with slices of BBQ chicken which makes for super quick prep!
- Other Ingredient Ideas
- Nem nuong (grilled pork sausage)
- Pork belly
- Cucumber – use a mandoline slicer for nice thin strips – not essential, but it’s easier than slicing.
- Carrot – same as above.
- Capsicum / bell pepper
- Cabbage
- Vietnamese mint
Nutrition
28 Comments
Mariel
09/01/2023 at 2:47 pmAmazing!! I could eat this everyday, thank you so much! Do you prefer the rice noodles to be hot or cooled down entirely ?
Wandercooks
09/01/2023 at 3:51 pmWe like to cool them down first, you can run them through cold water once cooked to speed this up. We don’t mind if they’re a little warm still when wrapping. 😀
saohoang
26/08/2022 at 3:53 pmAs a Vietnamese, thanks a lot for sharing our country’s food. Plus, the sauce is delicious 😛 yum
Wandercooks
02/09/2022 at 4:13 pmYou’re very welcome, so glad you enjoyed making it too! 😀
Rogee
22/08/2020 at 11:46 ammost been! Have been making this often now.
Wandercooks
24/08/2020 at 1:26 pmYay! Awesome Rogee, we’re so glad to hear. So many new recipes for you now. 😀
Raia
19/07/2019 at 9:54 pmI looooove rice paper rolls! So easy and so much fun to customize them to your taste. 🙂 Love this prawn and noodle version!
Wandercooks
23/07/2019 at 1:56 pmAgree! Prawns taste amazing in this dish especially when paired with the peanut hoisin. What’s your favourite flavour combo?
SHANIKA
19/07/2019 at 9:10 pmThese rolls looks so amazing! The perfect easy Summer dish!
Wandercooks
23/07/2019 at 1:55 pmThanks Shanika, it’s a handy one to have on hand that’s for sure.
Tatiana
19/07/2019 at 8:10 pmWe love love rice paper rolls! They are not only easy and fun to eat but also gorgeous! Pinned!
Wandercooks
23/07/2019 at 1:55 pmHaha thanks Tatiana, it’s so fun to get creative when making these too, makes it much more than just a meal. 🙂
Chris Collins
19/07/2019 at 8:08 pmThat peanut sauce looks to die for! Can’t wait to make these on the weekend 🙂
Wandercooks
23/07/2019 at 1:55 pmThanks Chris! Hope you enjoy!
Michelle
19/07/2019 at 4:49 pmThese are the perfect summer food! I’d happily eat a whole plate of these!
Wandercooks
23/07/2019 at 1:54 pmI know right, we’d join in with you!
Neli Howard
22/01/2019 at 9:14 pmYour tips will make this favourite snack so much easier. Your recipes and tips are the BEST and always my “go to”
Wandercooks
23/01/2019 at 8:59 amAww thanks Nelly, appreciate your comments. Would love to hear how you go with this one! 🙂
Anna
22/01/2019 at 6:36 pmOh I can just imagine how delicious these are! Such a tasty and fresh snack, perfect for gatherings with friends and family! Your photos are so gorgeous!
Wandercooks
23/01/2019 at 8:59 amThanks Anna, glad you like them!
Cathy
22/01/2019 at 5:18 pmI just love love rice paper rolls! Cannot wait to try these! They look so yummy! Perfect for a light lunch or dinner!
Wandercooks
23/01/2019 at 8:58 amThat’s our favourite part – all the flavour without the heavy feels. ????????
Matt Ivan
22/01/2019 at 4:24 pmI just want to take a big bite out of one right now! Of course with it smothered in that peanut sauce.
Wandercooks
23/01/2019 at 8:57 amOf course. ????????????????
Natalie
22/01/2019 at 3:54 pmLooks so delicious, balanced and perfect for a healthy dinner ♥
Wandercooks
23/01/2019 at 8:57 amThanks Natalie – dinner, lunch, or hey even brekkie… we’d never judge haha 😛
Tracy
22/01/2019 at 2:46 pmGive me a rice paper roll over something fried and greasy any day! This is my kind of comfort food!
Wandercooks
23/01/2019 at 8:56 amHigh five to that Tracy! ????????