When I opened my former restaurant, AVO, in Nashville, I knew this Kimchi Spring Roll appetizer would make it onto the menu. Not only did it make it onto the menu (and it’s still on the menu with a new chef at the helm and under new ownership!) but it was our best-selling item. The flavor balancing act is perfectly executed in the kimchi filling, so if you follow this recipe to a T, you will be the star at the next book club or potluck you attend, I promise!
What Are FRESH KIMCHI SPRING Rolls?
This recipe is the ultimate crowd-pleaser, whether you’re typically a fan of kimchi or not. Who doesn’t love a fresh spring roll?! The spicy, tangy, creamy filling in a soft wrapping is a great bite to share when you have company over and the filling alone makes a great healthy topping on salad in place of the same old tuna salad. The flavors and textures balance so perfectly in this one.
My original recipe uses raw cashews instead of peanuts, but subbing the peanuts totally worked; they are a great budget-friendly substitute. The sauce packs a flavor punch as well but lets the kimchi filling really shine. I hope you love this recipe as much as I do. This one’s near and dear to my little veggie-loving heart!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make these fresh kimchi spring rolls:
- Dipping Sauce: A sweet, savory, and tangy combination of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sriracha, green onion, garlic, and fresh ginger.
- Kimchi: This gut-friendly, probiotic-packed superfood is tangy, spicy, and a little bit sour. Opt for a mild kimchi if you’re not a fan of spice.
- Peanuts: Roasted unsalted peanuts work perfectly in place of my original cashews to create a thick and creamy filling.
- Peanut Butter: Enhances the peanut flavor and helps create a creamy filling.
- Maple Syrup: Adds a touch of sweetness to balance out the spiciness and richness of the filling.
- Sesame Oil: Toasted sesame oil adds a hint of nuttiness to the filling.
- Veggies: Bell peppers, carrots, and cucumber make up the fresh and crunchy veggie filling of these spring rolls.
- Lettuce: Green leaf lettuce helps create a barrier between the saucy filling and the spring roll wrappers.
- Spring Roll Wrappers: Also called “rice paper wrappers,” these light and translucent wrappers are dry and firm until you soak them. Then, they become pliable and will stay chewy and soft.
What’s the Difference Between A SPRING ROLL, A SUMMER ROLL, and An Egg Roll?
While all these tasty bites are wrapped and rolled, spring rolls may be fresh, baked, or deep fried, where summer rolls are always served cold. An egg roll is a variation on a spring roll that is made with dough that has been enriched with eggs, typically fried. Technically, these fresh kimchi spring rolls could also called a summer roll. They are so refreshing!
Summer Roll Tips
- You don’t need to use all of the spring roll wrappers… just keep rolling until all filling ingredients are gone!
- Don’t overfill your spring rolls. Trying to pack in too much filling will surely make a mess!
- Try to make a bed with the veggies and lettuce for the kimchi filling to lay on top of so your rice paper can firm up.
- They are less likely to tear if the finished spring rolls touch if you sprinkle some sesame seeds on the sides. The rice paper remains sticky for a few minutes after rolling.
- The spring rolls don’t keep particularly well for more than a day, but any extra kimchi filling and veggies will take any salad to the next level!
Fresh Kimchi Spring Rolls
Servings 8 (1 spring roll each)Ingredients
Dipping Sauce:
- 1/3 cup soy sauce ($0.26)
- 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar ($1.44)
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil ($0.32)
- 1 Tbsp sriracha ($0.25)
- 1 minced green onion ($0.10)
- 1 minced garlic clove ($0.05)
- 1 inch ginger, peeled and grated ($0.15)
Summer Roll Veggies + Kimchi Filling:
- 1 cup kimchi ($2.99)
- 1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts ($1.24)
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter ($0.12)
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup ($0.31)
- 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil ($0.64)
- 2 bell peppers, julienned ($2.98)
- 2 carrots, julienned ($0.18)
- 1 cucumber, seeded and julienned ($0.82)
- 1 head green leaf lettuce, cut into 2-inch pieces ($1.97)
To assemble:
- 1 package spring roll rice paper wrappers ($1.46)
Instructions
- Combine the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sriracha, grated ginger, and garlic in a mixing bowl. Whisk together and stream sesame oil in very slowly while whisking to emulsify. Stir in green onions and set dipping sauce aside.
- Add kimchi, peanuts, peanut butter, maple, and toasted sesame oil to a food processor.
- Pulse until a thick, chunky, well-combined paste forms. Texture is a good thing, so don’t process it to the point of being smooth. Set aside in the fridge.
- Julienne bell peppers, carrots, cucumber, and cut green leaf lettuce into 2 inch pieces.
- Fill a shallow cookie sheet with warm water next to a clean cutting board or other suitable, clean work surface.
- Dip the edible spring roll wrapper in the shallow warm water until soft and pliable, but not overly mushy.
- Transfer to your clean work surface and carefully fill the spring roll wrapper with lettuce on the bottom, a 1-2 Tablespoon scoop of kimchi filling in the middle, a few julienned veggies and another piece of lettuce on top.**
- Gently wrap each spring roll, tucking in the sides to keep all of the filling from falling out.
- Sprinkle each spring roll with sesame seeds (optional, but they add a nice texture and help keep the finished rolls from sticking together and tearing.)
- Repeat steps 5-8 until all of your filling is used up.
- Serve fresh kimchi spring rolls cut in half with dipping sauce. Enjoy!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
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how to make FRESH Kimchi SPRING Rolls – step by step photos
Combine the 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp sriracha, 1 inch of peeled and grated ginger, and 1 minced clove of garlic in a mixing bowl. Whisk together and stream 1 Tbsp sesame oil in very slowly while whisking to emulsify. Stir in 1 minced green onion and set dipping sauce aside.
Add 1 cup kimchi, 1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, 2 Tbsp peanut butter, 1 Tbsp maple, and 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil to a food processor.
Pulse until a thick, chunky, well-combined paste forms. Texture is a good thing, so don’t process it to the point of being smooth. Set aside in the fridge.
Julienne 2 bell peppers, 2 carrots, 1 cucumber, and cut 1 head of green leaf lettuce into 2-inch pieces.
Fill a shallow cookie sheet with warm water next to a clean cutting board or other suitable, clean work surface. Dip the edible spring roll wrapper in the shallow warm water until soft and pliable, but not overly mushy.
Then, fill the spring roll wrapper with lettuce on the bottom, a 1-2 Tablespoon scoop of kimchi filling in the middle, a few julienned veggies and another piece of lettuce on top.*
Gently wrap each spring roll, tucking in the sides to keep all of the filling from falling out.
Sprinkle each spring roll with sesame seeds (optional, but they add a nice texture and help keep the summer rolls from sticking together and tearing.) Repeat steps 5-8 until all of your filling is used up. Serve spring rolls cut in half with dipping sauce. Enjoy!
These fresh kimchi spring rolls were a smash hit at AVO for a reason, and I’m confident this budget-friendly version will be a hit for you at home as well!
omigosh, this filling. I want to eat it with everything. I’m a little too lazy to make individual rolls all the time, but so far I’ve used it as a dip for vegetables, and spread it on grilled cheese. I used a mix of what you recommended – peanut butter + whole cashews. Def will make again.
I am new to Kimchi. Is there a brand that you recommend?
Hey, Sarah. Available brands vary from different regions of the country, but in my opinion, you can’t go wrong!! If there’s an International Market in your area, I’d start there for the most authentic kimchi, but I usually look for vegan kimchi (without fish/shellfish involved) just as a personal preference. Enjoy!
I love kimchi so I was really looking forward to making these. I was lucky that I had almost all the ingredients already on hand so I only needed to grab carrots and greens. I went with spinach over lettuce because of cost and I wanted to make sure we would use the whole container (we aren’t big lettuce eaters). Well, that was maybe a mistake because trimming the stems off the spinach was a bit time consuming but had to be done or else they pierced the wrapper. It worked out but if you are in a rush and prone to frustration stick with a big leaf! I loved the rolls. I loved the sauce. I don’t want them together. I think I’m just a sucker for a creamy peanut sauce because that’s what I’m used to getting in Thai restaurants with summer rolls, so I felt like there was a creamy element missing. The peanuts in the kimchi paste were delicious but not enough to opt out of a peanut dipping sauce for me. I will make it again but pair it with one of the peanut sauces on this site. This dip was delicious too and I would love it over some rice noodles like a Vietnamese vermicelli bowl.
Hi, Ellie! I love these with a peanut or nut-based sauce as well (at my restaurant, I served these with a creamy almond butter sauce and the base for the filling was cashews and tahini instead of peanuts for common allergy reasons). I like this non-creamy sauce with these as well; I find the acid really helps cut the richness of the thick and creamy filling and helps the kimchi flavors shine! Please feel free to adapt this recipe and make it your own! <3 I would love to try your version sometime. Yum! (And yes, the stems of the spinach are very annoying to deal with!)
Loved it! The flavors are amazing together and the crunchiness of the roll makes it all a delicious experience.
If I were to use cashews instead of peanuts, would you recommend still using peanut butter?
Unless you just happen to already have cashew butter in your pantry, I’d still go for peanut butter!
Mel, almond butter would be a great substitute. My restaurant was peanut-free and that’s what we did: whole cashews instead of peanuts and almond butter instead of peanut butter. Definitely not as budget-friendly if you do the original recipe, but great if you have a peanut allergy!
In England, we don’t call these wrappers spring roll wrappers. Spring roll wrappers for us are made of wheat flour, are usually sold frozen, and are square. You use them to make rolls which are deep fried or baked to be crispy on the outside.
I would call these ones Vietnamese rice paper wrappers. They are shelf-stable and sold in a round plastic box.
Hey Suzie! Here, they are usually just labeled “spring roll wrappers,” but this is very valuable input for any of our readers in England who might have a hard time finding them. Thank you for your comment! I hope you love the recipe.
It seems like what we would call spring rolls, you would call egg rolls.
Looks appetizing, interesting, deffinately tasty. I may try it, got to warn the allergy folks about the ingredients that are used.
Overall, I will step out of the box and buy the necessary items to complete the mission: make tasty treats for myself, don’t make too many at a time, enjoy the fruits of my labor
Yes, peanuts are a very common allergy. So is shellfish, so it’s important to check your kimchi if you have a fish or shellfish allergy. Luckily, vegan kimchi is easy to find and there are great substitutes for peanuts (any nuts or seeds would work, really!) Thanks for your thoughtful feedback. I hope you love the recipe, Juanita!
We have a peanut allergy . Any ideas for a substitute?
Katie
Hey, Katryn! My original recipe at the restaurant does not use peanuts, so if you can splurge for raw cashews or almonds in place of peanuts and almond butter instead of peanut butter, you will be very happy!! I hope you love it.