Lettuce wrap summer rolls are the perfect combination of my two favorite summer recipes! They’re everything you love about your favorite restaurant’s lettuce wraps – fresh and flavorful – with all the convenience of a handheld summer roll! These are sure to be a favorite!
lettuce wrap summer rolls
Fresh, easy, and delicious – these rolls are inspired by two of my favorite Summertime recipes – lettuce wraps and summer rolls (if their name didn’t already give that away 😆).
Every single time I make these lettuce wrap summer rolls for a get-together or party, I always make a double batch because I’m certain they’ll be one of the first appetizers to go. Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian or a staunch meat-eater, I can guarantee these lettuce wrap summer will be one of your new favorite summertime recipes!
Grab a drink and let’s get to rolling, shall we?!
what goes in lettuce wrap summer rolls (plus substitutions)
These lettuce wrap summer rolls are my ideal summer appetizer! They’re everything I love about my favorite restaurant-style lettuce wraps, with the convenience of a hand-held summer roll! Here’s what you’ll need to make ’em:
SEASONING MIX:
- Low-sodium soy sauce: you can cub with coconut aminos or low-sodium Tamari
- Hoisin sauce: sub for teriyaki sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, or stir fry sauce
- Sambal Oelek: chili garlic sauce, sriracha, or chili oil crisp work in place of Sambal Oelek
- Coconut sugar: sub for vegan-friendly light brown sugar, maple syrup, or vegan-friendly granulated sugar
- Dark soy sauce: this is mostly for color, so feel free to omit it if you want or sub for a couple dashes Maggi Seasoning Sauce.
- Toasted sesame oil: while I recommend toasted sesame oil, regular works too! Sesame oil adds a beautiful nuttiness to this dish, but if you’re allergic or simply don’t have it, roasted peanut oil or sesame seeds combined with a neutral oil such as canola or avocado oil works! Simply combine 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds with 2 teaspoons neutral oil.
- Chinese 5 spice
filling:
- Avocado oil: I prefer using avocado oil since it’s great for high heat and neutral in flavor, but feel free to substitute for any high heat neutral cooking oil, such as grapeseed or canola
- Cremini mushrooms: sub for button mushrooms or portobello mushrooms. If you’re not a mushroom fan, double the tofu, and omit the mushrooms altogether
- Extra firm tofu: firm tofu works in this recipe too! If using firm instead of extra firm, I take a couple more minutes to drain out as much liquid as I can. Alternatively, if you want to omit the tofu, you can simply double the mushrooms!
- White onion: red, green, or yellow onions work!
- Water chestnuts: I know a lot of people don’t love water chestnuts, but I think they add a nice crunch. Feel free to omit them or replace them with something else that’ll lend a nice crunch, like celery, jicama, daikon, or radish. If you don’t like any of these alternative, feel free to omit it altogether.
- Carrot
- Garlic: fresh is my preferred choice, but granulated works, too
- Ginger: again, I prefer to use fresh, but you can use ginger powder in its place
- Green onion: sub for chives or shallot
Spring rolls:
- Rice paper sheets: I’ve tried a lot of brands of rice paper sheets for summer rolls, and these Blue Dragon Rice Spring Roll Wrappers are by far my favorite!
- Butter leaf lettuce: I like butter leaf lettuce because the leaves cover a good amount of surface area. Not too mention, it’s soft and pliable enough to roll in rice paper sheets. If you use a lettuce that’s crunchier, such as iceberg, it might break the rice paper sheets. If you’re not able to find butter lettuce, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, and romaine lettuce are great alternatives. If using any of those, I suggest removing the stems and using the leaves only.
- Crispy wonton strips: to make this recipe super easy, I just use store-bought wonton strips, but you can most certainly make them from scratch! And to make this recipe entirely gluten free, simply omit the wonton strips altogether!
- Spicy soy sauce: to make spicy soy sauce, simply combine your favorite spicy chili oil or chili oil crisp and soy sauce with a dash of toasted sesame oil! This is my favorite serving sauce, but a classic peanut dipping sauce never hurt anyone either. I have recipe for peanut dipping sauce here that is always a crowd-pleaser!
- Cilantro: Feel free to omit if you have the cilantro soup gene
- Toasted sesame seeds
tips and tricks to making summer rolls
Making summer rolls might be a bit intimidating at first – especially if you’ve never worked with rice paper before! But with some practice and a couple YouTube tutorials, it becomes super easy and you get better with every roll, I promise! Here’s how to make them, plus a couple tips and tricks I’ve learned:
- Use cool water to soften the rice paper. A lot of recipes suggest using hot or warm water, but I’ve found that the warmer the water, the more fragile and breakable the rice paper becomes. Using cool water may take a bit longer to soak them (and by a bit, I mean just a few seconds), but they hold up way better when rolling! I also love using a spring roll water holder like this one for easy cleanup!
- Use lettuce to hold fillings together. Obviously we’re using lettuce for the summer rolls, but I like using this hack FOR EVERY summer roll recipe I make, and this might be my favorite trick … I always use lettuce to hold in the fillings and little pieces of fly-away herbs. It’s like a little blanket that acts as a barrier to hold in the stuffing. Lay down the lettuce leaf first on top of the rice paper, then all the fillings!
- Don’t overfill your summer rolls. This one is hard for me, because I used to think the more filling = a tighter roll, but it’s quite the opposite. Too much filling and you’re likely to tear the rice paper, so keep it minimal!
- Roll it like a burrito! Rolling summer rolls is just like rolling a burrito. Roll up at one end, fold in the sides, then keep rolling to form a mini rice-paper burrito. Go slow and steady and don’t get discouraged if you mess up the first few times.
- Use a second sheet of rice paper. If you’re a beginner and you notice a lot of your rolls are tearing – no need to get frustrated! Just roll it in a second sheet of rice paper! Remember, practice makes perfect!
how to make lettuce wrap summer rolls
Now that you’ve got all the tips and tricks to perfect summer rolls, here’s how to make ’em:
1. Seasoning mix:
Place the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl, whisk to combine, and set aside.
2. filling:
Heat some oil in a large sauté pan. Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and tofu, and cook, stirring often, until most of the liquid has cooked out of the mushrooms and the tofu starts to crisp around the edges. Add the white onion, water chestnuts, carrot, garlic, and ginger, mixing to combine. Season the mixture with the seasoning mix and continue to cook until the white onion is slightly translucent, and the garlic is fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the green onion, give it another mix to combine, and remove from the heat. Let the filling cool at room temperature about 10 minutes before assembling summer rolls.
3. assemble:
To assemble summer rolls, fill a large bowl with cool water. Submerge your rice paper into the bowl, rotating if you need to, until it’s just softened and pliable, about 12-15 seconds. Place the rice paper roll on a lightly dampened, clean work surface. Place a lettuce leaf towards the bottom middle of the rice paper, followed by a couple tablespoons of the filling and some wonton strips. Gently fold over once, tuck in both sides, then continue to gently roll up tightly until the seam is sealed – it’s sticky so it will seal itself. Repeat until you have 10 rolls.
lettuce wraps and summer rolls = the best combo ever
Hearty, fresh lettuce wrap summer rolls are such a staple in our household during these warmer months, and I’m hoping they earn a spot in your summertime recipe rotation as well! If you give this recipe a try, I’d love to see! Snap a photo, take a video, or make a story and post it to Instagram or TikTok and tag me at @eat_figs_not_pigs and #EatFigsNotPigs. I love seeing your recreations of my recipes!
Til next time, friends!
XO!
- • ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- • 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- • 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce, or Sambal Oelek
- • 2 teaspoons coconut sugar
- • 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, optional
- • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- • 1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
- • 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- • 12 oz cremini mushrooms, chopped
- • 8 oz extra firm tofu, drained and pat dry
- • 1 cup onion, diced
- • 1 cup water chestnuts, drained and diced
- • ¾ cup carrot, grated
- • 8 cloves garlic, minced
- • 2 tablespoons minced ginger
- • 1 cup green onion, chopped, plus more for garnish
- • ~15 rice paper sheets
- • 1 head of butter leaf lettuce
- • Fresh chopped cilantro
- • Crispy wonton strips
- • Spicy soy sauce, for serving
- • Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
- Place the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl, whisk to combine, and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and tofu, and cook, stirring often, until most of the liquid has cooked out of the mushrooms and the tofu starts to crisp around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the white onion, water chestnuts, carrot, garlic, and ginger, mixing to combine. Season the mixture with the seasoning mix and continue to cook until the white onion is slightly translucent, and the garlic is fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the green onion, give it another mix to combine, and remove from the heat. Let the filling cool at room temperature about 10 minutes before assembling summer rolls.
- To assemble summer rolls, fill a large bowl with cool water. Submerge your rice paper into the bowl, rotating if you need to, until it's just softened and pliable, about 12-15 seconds. Place the rice paper roll on a lightly dampened, clean work surface.
- Place a lettuce leaf towards the bottom middle of the rice paper, followed by a couple tablespoons of the filling, cilantro and some wonton strips.
- Gently fold over once, tuck in both sides, then continue to gently roll up tightly until the seam is sealed – it’s sticky so it will seal itself. Repeat until you have about 15 rolls.
- Cut in half, and serve immediately with toasted seeds, green onion, and spicy soy sauce! Enjoy!
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