An easy appetizer with delicious dipping sauce
Shrimp salad rolls (aka summer rolls) are simple, easy and healthy. A vibrant tasting and brightly colored appetizer or lunch, these salad rolls with peanut dipping sauce are filled with rice noodles, thinly sliced vegetables, herbs and shrimp. Wrapped in a light rice paper wrapper, these are addictive dipped in the delicious peanut dipping sauce.
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Shrimp salad rolls (aka summer rolls) are awesome for packed lunches. For more packable recipes, check out the top 40 day hike lunch ideas. If you're looking for more seafood recipes, spicy kani mango salad and garlic butter sautéed imitation crab are other easy crowd-pleasing recipes.
What makes this the best peanut dipping sauce
The big difference in my recipe is the sauce. Many peanut dipping sauces are too sweet for my taste. My peanut sauce doesn't use hoisin or coconut cream but it does have a distinct savoury peanut flavour spiked with garlic, ginger and soy sauce. This is my favourite version of peanut sauce and I bet you'll love it as much as I do.
If you've got leftover rice paper wrappers, you've gotta check out Best Rice Paper Recipes for lots of great ideas.
Love peanut sauce? Try my Peanut Sauce Baked Chicken for an easy and delicious dinner. And for pure nutty deliciousness, you can make and use Homemade Hazelnut Butter in this too!
Pre marinated shrimp
I used Canadian company Sardo Foods herb and garlic marinated shrimp in these salad rolls for a quick and healthy protein. These shrimp are ready to use and are lightly marinated in herbs and garlic which adds delicious extra flavor to these rolls. You can use these shrimp in my Thai Prawn Salad With Mango and Easiest Seafood Alfredo and these shrimp make wonderful appetizers on their own too.
Sardo is a company that makes high quality Mediterranean foods right here in Canada. (You've gotta try their seafood salad too!) I have been blessed to work with such a wonderful and trustworthy company over the past year and they have kindly sponsored this post.
Warm Marinated Olives-An Easy Festive Appetizer is another easy appetizer I created with Sardo.
How to make salad rolls
The wrapper is a simple rice paper wrapper that is briefly soaked in water and can be rolled ahead of time or set as a family style platter with everyone rolling their own. Once you place your fillings on the ⅓ of the wrapper closest to you, continue to roll it up like a burrito. The 2 sides come in and over a bit of the filling, then thumbs under the front and roll it away from you as snugly as you can.
There are a lot of recipes for salad rolls (aka summer rolls, cold rolls and sometimes spring rolls). So much so, that I almost didn't post this recipe on my blog. I posted it on Instagram after making it one day and so many of you asked for the recipe that I decided I would post it here for you. Although I originally started using the recipe from Nagi at Recipe Tin Eats (another amazing food blogger), I knew that I found the hoisin peanut sauce too sweet and so I created my own recipe.
Make ahead and make with your kids
Salad rolls with peanut dipping sauce can be made ahead and served as an appetizer or as part or the main meal. These hold really well for up to 8-12 hours so you can make them ahead of time in the morning.
Like getting your kids involved in cooking? This is the perfect recipe for that. My 7 year old loved helping and once she did a couple, she was rolling them as good or better than me. She was also eating them as fast as she made them! I don't mind though, when it's healthy food like this.
I love serving all the ingredients on a big platter at the table and letting everyone roll their own. A delicious and interactive starter or dinner.
Salad roll fillings
The fun part of these is that almost any vegetable and even many fruits can be added in. Make them vegetarian or use shrimp like I do.
When I am choosing fillings, I like to make sure I get a good variety of colors. Red/purple cabbage looks stunning as do green herbs like mint, cilantro and basil. Orange carrots, mango or peppers, pink shrimp and green cucumber, avocado or lettuce go well and bean sprouts are a traditional ingredient.
Troubleshooting
Pre cooked rice noodles are a perfect addition to help bring all the ingredients together. In a pinch, you could substitute sticky sushi rice for the noodles and call this a rice paper sushi roll!
Make sure your fillings are soft and bendy enough to roll tightly together. The thinner you are able to slice your fillings, the better they will generally work. If you find your fillings are poking through or the rice paper is tearing, try layering 2 sheets together. To do this, soak each wrapper 10 seconds before placing one on top of the other.
That's all there is to it! I hope you have a blast making these healthy little cold rolls with sauce. If you make them, tag me on Instagram and share your creations!
ox Sabrina
📖 Recipe
Shrimp Salad Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
Salad Rolls
- 2 c Cooked thin rice stick noodles Cooked/soaked as per package directions
- 1 pkg Sardo marinated shrimp, sliced in half lengthwise or 1 c cooked shrimp
- 1 c Carrot and/or cucumber cut into thin matchsticks
- 1 c Soft lettuce (leaf or butter) or bean sprouts Leave lettuce leaves whole for easier rolling
- 1 c Purple cabbage shredded
- ½ bunch each fresh mint, cilantro and/or basil leaves picked off stems
- 20 Rice paper wrappers (1 package) Use 40 if making rolls with a double layer.
Peanut Dipping Sauce
- ½ c Peanut butter any smooth brand or type works
- ½ c Soy sauce or GF Tamari Sauce
- ½ c Sweet chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon Lime juice
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon Fresh ginger minced
- ¼ c Vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoon Water
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 1-3 teaspoon *Optional* Sambel Oelek to taste
Instructions
Salad Rolls
- Prepare vegetables, noodles, herbs and shrimp on a platter or cutting board. Dip 1 rice paper wrapper in a bowl of warm water for 10 seconds, then place on a clean cutting board. For easier rolling, you can stack 2 soaked wrappers together before rolling. Place a few pieces of shrimp at the end nearest to you. Top with some herbs, noodles and vegetables. Fold in the sides of the sheet, then roll up to enclose. Repeat to making 20 rolls. Serve with peanut sauce.
Peanut Dipping Sauce
- Combine first 6 ingredients in small food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Then add oil, water and sambal oelek if using and further blend until emulsified. Keep refrigerated until using. This can be made ahead up to 3 days and stirred before use.
Bernadette
A wonderful recipe, it looks very appetizing and it is filled with good ingredients.
Sabrina Currie
Thanks Bernadette! Have you made salad rolls before? Do you have a favourite type of dipping sauce? Sweet chili sauce is another easy way to serve them up.
Katie T
Made these tonight and they were delicious. I wanted to make the dipping sauce a little healthier so I left out the vegetable oil and sesame oil and just dumped in some avocado oil instead and it still delicious!
Sabrina Currie
Awesome Katie, the avocado oil is a great idea! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Amy
Delicious! Made some for lunch and it got smashed! The peanut sauce was great!
Sabrina Currie
I’m so glad Amy, I also find it’s such a crowd pleaser! Thanks for letting me know.
Anna
They look so fresh and so delicious. I love the ease of this recipe too!
Freya
This look beautiful and I love a peanut dipping sauce!
Alice | SkinnySpatula
This looks absolutely beautiful. The peanut sauce is out of this world.
Sabrina Currie
Thank you Alice!
Toni
Everyone at my house loved this!
Sabrina Currie
Thanks for letting me know! I really appreciate you taking the time, cheers 🙂
Ashley
I am in loooove with this sauce! So amazing!!
Sabrina Currie
Thank you so much Ashley!!! I really wanted to make an easy version that hit all the notes, thanks for letting me know 🙂
Chinese Food
Nice shrimp salad rolls, love it
Sabrina Currie
Aw thanks so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know. Cheers!