Fresh Vegetarian Spring Roll Bowl with Peanut Sauce

Name: Fresh Vegetarian Spring Roll Bowl with Peanut Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 package rice noodles; 1 red bell pepper diced; 2 carrots diced; 1 cucumber diced; 1 cup chopped red cabbage; 1 cup cooked edamame; 1 green onion sliced; 1 package firm tofu; ⅛ cup cilantro; ½ cup peanut butter; ½ cup water; 2 tablespoons Coconut Aminos; 2 tablespoons sesame oil; 1 tablespoon ginger; 3 cloves minced garlic; 1 tablespoon maple syrup; Juice of one lime

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This Fresh Vegetarian Spring Roll Bowl is so refreshing and delicious! This Spring Roll Bowl is perfect for a hot day when you don't want to stand over the stove and is a quick and easy meal the whole family is sure to love!

*Originally published 6/7/21 and updated with new copy and photos 1/26/22.

I don't know about you, but there is something so refreshing about a cool dinner on a hot day. It is Summer here and where we live it gets sweltering. The house that we live in also gets super humid on warm days so it is always a battle of "do we want to pay for an air conditioning bill?" One of the ways that we try to combat the heat is by not turning on our oven. I think the gasket to our oven is broken because our entire house heats up like ten degrees hotter when the oven is turned on. It is no fun.

In our attempt to stay cool in the hot weather, I love to try and make some cold dinners. One of these dinners is this Fresh Vegetarian Spring Roll Bowl. I have always loved traditional Vietnamese-style food and found the flavors to always be so delicious. This is the perfect food for one of those warm weather days. Although they are often called Cold Rolls or Imperial Rolls (even Umperial Rolls) at most restaurants the official Vietnamese name is Gỏi Cuốn.

For some other delicious recipes, check out these Saucy and Spicy Garlic Noodles, this Thai Pad Pak, this 30 minute Crunchy Thai Quinoa Salad or this Gluten-Free Pad Thai!

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Why This Spring Roll Bowl is The Best
Ingredient Notes
Instructions
Substitutions
Variations
Equipment
FAQ's
Storage
Top Tips
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Fresh Vegetarian Spring Roll Bowl with Peanut Sauce
Food Safety

Why This Spring Roll Bowl is The Best

Crunchy Vegetables- This Spring Roll Bowl is full of crunchy and delicious vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, cucumbers and bell peppers. You can add any type of vegetables that you like however these really make this bowl delicious!
Protein Packed- Each Spring Roll Bowl contains 17.8 grams of protein. This protein comes from the edamame and the tofu. This will leave you full for a long time!
Portable and Mess-Free- The best thing about this Spring Roll Bowl is that it is portable and mess-free! Everything is packed into a bowl and drizzled with sauce. You eat it with a fork like a salad so you don't have to worry about the rolls falling apart on you which can happen in the traditional form.

Ingredient Notes

Bowls with ingredients and box of noodles on white counter

Rice Noodles- The base of the Spring Roll Bowl is rice noodles. The rice noodles play the roll of the rice paper that is used to wrap the spring rolls. I used white rice noodles but you can use brown if you prefer!
Vegetables- This salad contains bell pepper, cabbage, carrots, and cucumbers. However you can feel free to add whatever vegetables you like. The more the merrier! I bet this salad would be great with some grilled summer squash or some zucchini!
Edamame- To really make this a protein powered dish, we added edamame. Edamame is whole, immature soybeans. If you prefer to keep this recipe soy-free, feel free to leave out the edamame.
Peanut Sauce- The peanut sauce for this Thai salad is made with a mixture of peanut butter, cilantro, coconut aminos, sesame oil and a few other ingredients. If you find cilantro soapy, feel free to leave it out.

See the recipe card for the full ingredient list and quantities.

Instructions

How To Make the Rice Noodles

Bring a large pot of water to boil.
Add the rice noodles to the boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.
Drain and run under cool water to prevent sticking

6 bowls of ingredients on a green napkin

How To Assemble The Bowls

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
Toss the diced tofu in olive oil and cornstarch
Bake for 30 minutes
Dice the bell pepper, cabbage, carrot, and cucumber
In a high-speed blender, combine all of the ingredients for the peanut dressing and blend until smooth.
Layer the rice noodles on the bottom of the dish and then top with your vegetables and tofu and drizzle the dressing on top.

Hint: If the peanut sauce is too thick for you, you can thin it out by adding a little bit of water to the dressing.

Substitutions

Soy-Free- Skip the tofu and edamame and just load this spring roll bowl up with extra vegetables!
Low-Sodium- The coconut aminos in this recipe have over 70% less sodium than soy sauce, however if you are still looking to make this low sodium, try using an unsalted peanut butter.
Fresh Fruit-Try adding some mango or pineapple for a delicious fresh burst of fruit!

Variations

Spicy- Try making this peanut sauce spicy by adding crushed red pepper flakes to the sauce.
Fresh Herbs Garnish your bowl with some fresh Thai basil before serving.
Lettuce Wraps- Have some fun with these Spring Roll Bowls and turn them into lettuce wraps for an inside out spring roll!

Equipment

Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. See below for the equipment you will need to make this recipe.

Stock Pot
Glass Mixing Bowls
High Speed Blender
Cookie Sheet
Chef Knife

FAQ's

Are These Vietnamese Spring Roll Bowls Gluten-Free?

Yes! These Vietnamese Spring Roll Bowls are Gluten-Free. Rice noodles do not contain gluten.

Are These Gỏi Cuốn Noodle Bowls Low Carb?

No, because they contain rice noodles, they are not low-carb. However for an easy low-carb substitution, you can swap the rice noodles for zucchini noodles or hearts of palm noodles

Should I Press the Tofu?

You do not need to press the tofu for this recipe. If you want extra crispy tofu, feel free to press it, however it will get pretty crispy in the oven on its own.

Storage

Store these Spring Roll Bowls in airtight containers for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

You can freeze the peanut sauce if you have extra. Freeze for up to 3 months in a mason jar or freezer-safe container. Let thaw completely in the fridge before using

Top Tips

To prevent the rice noodles from sticking, rinse the noodles in cold water immediately upon taking them out of the boiling water. The cold water will remove starch and cool the noodles, keeping them from cooking any longer. Once the noodles are rinsed, toss them in a bowl with a small amount of oil, which will provide further insurance against sticking.
These Spring Roll Bowls make for the perfect meal prep lunches. They don't need to be reheated and last all week in the fridge. I like to make them and then portion them out into glass containers and take them with me to work each day!
When prepping the peanut butter sauce, if you find your sauce is too thick to drizzle over the bowls, simply add 1-2 tablespoon of water and mix until combined.

Colorful bowl on white counter with sliced limes and green onions

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