Vietnamese Summer Rolls Recipe: Fresh, Light and Refreshing 2026

Vietnamese summer rolls are the cool, no-fry answer to spring rolls: soft rice paper wrapped around tender chicken, sweet shrimp, crunchy vegetables and fresh herbs. They are light, bright and refreshing, which makes them ideal for hot days or a relaxed snack table.

Everything comes together in about an hour, and most of that time is simple prep. The only real rule is to have every filling ready before you start soaking the rice paper, because the wrappers turn sticky fast and need to be rolled right away.

The dipping sauce is a creamy peanut blend with soy, sesame, ginger, lime and a touch of chile heat. Serve the rolls cold with the sauce on the side and let everyone help themselves.

Ingredients for Vietnamese Summer Rolls

This makes 6 servings, or 12 rolls in total.

• 1 chicken breast (about 250 g)
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 200 g cucumber
• 200 g carrot
• 100 g scallions
• 200 g rice noodles
• 6 lettuce leaves
• 12 rice paper wrappers
• 6 cooked prawns
• 100 g peanut butter
• 20 ml soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 10 g fresh grated ginger
• Juice of ½ lime
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon chile flakes

How to Make Vietnamese Summer Rolls Step by Step

1. Cook the chicken breast

Start by getting the filling ready. Put the chicken breast in a small pot with the bunch of cilantro and the teaspoon of salt, cover with water and cook for 20 minutes from the moment it comes to a boil. When it is done, take it off the heat and let it cool completely.

2. Cut the chicken into strips

Once the chicken has cooled, slice it into even strips so every roll gets a similar amount. Set them aside until you are ready to assemble.

3. Julienne the vegetables

Wash and peel the cucumber and the carrot, then cut both into fine julienne. Do the same with the scallions and set everything aside.

4. Hydrate the rice noodles

Put the rice noodles in a pot and pour plenty of boiling water over them. Leave them in the hot water for 4 minutes, then drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.

5. Wash and dry the lettuce

Rinse the lettuce leaves well and pat them dry, since any extra water can make the wrappers soggy. Keep them whole and ready for filling.

6. Hydrate the rice paper wrappers one by one

Now that all the filling is ready, hydrate the wrappers. Fill a bowl with hot, not boiling, water and dip one wrapper in for about 10 to 12 seconds. You will feel it soften, and that is the moment to move it to your work surface and start rolling.

7. Fill each wrapper with noodles and vegetables

Begin with half a lettuce leaf and a small handful of rice noodles. Add 5 or 6 carrot strips and the same amount of cucumber, then finish with a little scallion, using less of it than the other vegetables.

8. Add chicken, prawns and cilantro, then close the rolls

Add 5 or 6 strips of cooked chicken and make the first fold. Then place half a prawn per roll, 6 in total, with 2 cilantro leaves on either side of it. Fold in the sides and roll the wrapper up tightly.

9. Repeat until you have 12 rolls

Repeat the last three steps until all the wrappers are filled. You will end up with 12 summer rolls in total.

10. Mix the peanut sauce

For the peanut sauce, stir together the peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, grated ginger, lime juice, brown sugar and chile flakes. Taste and adjust the chile to your liking.

11. Serve the summer rolls cold with the sauce

Serve the Vietnamese summer rolls chilled with the peanut sauce on the side. They are best eaten the same day they are made, though they can be kept in the fridge until the next day.

Tips for the Best Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Prepare everything before you roll

Have the julienned vegetables, cooled chicken and cooked prawns ready before you touch the rice paper. The wrappers become sticky quickly and need to be used as soon as they are hydrated.

Make the filling your own

These rolls are easy to adapt. You can use only prawns and skip the chicken, or swap the chicken for tofu or pork. If you are not a fan of cilantro, replace it with chives or mint.

Balance the dipping sauce

The peanut sauce is meant to be adjusted to taste. Add more or fewer chile flakes and tweak the amounts of soy, lime and sugar until it suits you.

30 Home Recipes I Keep Coming Back To

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Additional Tasty Recipes to Cook for the Family

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On the sweet side, the rich, smooth Orange Chocolate Mousse Recipe is a go-to when I want something impressive yet effortless. Another favorite is the caramelized Trdelnik Slavic Pastry Recipe, modeled on the well-known Central European chimney cake. If baking is your thing, knowing how to make syrup for better dessert texture helps, and my Inverted Sugar Recipe walks through exactly how I do it at home.

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I'm also big on sharing dishes from across the globe, like the genuine Sorropotún de Bonito Fish Stew Recipe, golden Chilean Pumpkin Sopaipillas Recipe, and the traditional Spanish Cochifrito Segovian Fried Pig Recipe.

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For those steering clear of wheat, my crowd-pleasing Gluten-Free Lasagna Recipe shows that a classic baked pasta can still be rich, cheesy, and deeply satisfying without gluten.

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