Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad
Updated Jul 14, 2021, Published Apr 22, 2017
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Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad is everything you love about spring rolls without all the rolling! Simply toss all the ingredients together for this fresh, amazing Vietnamese-inspired salad, perfect for a light lunch, a refreshing side dish, or a vibrant dinner option. Packed with crisp vegetables, tender noodles, and a tangy, flavorful dressing, it’s a quick and easy way to enjoy all the classic flavors in a convenient and delicious way.
Who doesn’t love spring rolls?
They’re one of my favorites, but they can be labor-intensive! This Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad rocks with shrimp, fresh crunchy vegetables and all the wonderfully bright, herbaceous flavors of Vietnamese cuisine but without all the work.
If you keep a well-stocked pantry with Asian ingredients, you can pull this salad together really easily!
How to make Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad:
Gather up the ingredients for the salad:
- Asparagus
- Rice vermicelli
- Shrimp
- Red bell pepper
- Carrots
- Scallions
- Fresh cilantro and mint
- Cashews or peanuts
Then, gather the ingredients for the dressing:
- Sweet chili sauce
- Rice vinegar
- Soy sauce
- Fish sauce
- Sesame oil
- Sriracha
- Ginger
- Garlic
Because personal chefs cook a lot of things in one day, we have to think ahead and determine which items can be cooked in the same boiling water. We don’t want to have to bring new water to a boil all the time.
We’ll often blanch the vegetables that need blanching, then cook pasta or rice in that water.
- For this salad, start by blanching the asparagus. Scoop it out and transfer to an ice bath.
- Then place the noodles in the hot water. You can keep the water boiling to cook them or you can take it off the heat and let the noodles soften in the hot water.
- If doing that, it’s a good time to finish the rest of your prep.
- Drain the noodles in a sieve, but save that water for a third go-round. Bring it back up to a boil and cook the shrimp.
- The reason I don’t want to cook my shrimp after I take out the asparagus is that I don’t want all the noodles to taste like shrimp. It’s the same reason I don’t toss the shrimp into the hot water with the noodles. And, just to be on the safe side, it’s always best to cook raw proteins separately or last.
- Mix up the dressing. The dressing comes together quickly and you may already have everything you need in your pantry. I love to keep a variety of Asian and Southeast Asian ingredients on hand at all times.
- Add fresh mint from your garden…
- Toss with the dressing….
And serve! Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad for a fun and easy twist on spring rolls.
Hope you enjoy this amazing Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad as much as we did!
Be sure to try these other main course salad recipes:
- Vietnamese Chicken Salad
- Mediterranean Tuna Salad
- Salade Nicoise
- French Lentil Salad
- Sichuan Bang Bang Chicken
Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- Salt
- 1 bunch asparagus, approximately 1 pound, tough ends trimmed, but into approximately 2-inch pieces
- 2-3 ounces uncooked rice vermicelli, about 1/3 of a 6-8 ounce package
- 1 pound large shrimp, preferably wild-caught, peeled and deveined
- 1 large red bell pepper, membrane removed, cut into matchsticks
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned (or use purchased pre-cut matchstick carrots)
- 1 bunch scallions, white and light green part only, thinly sliced diagonally
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup torn mint leaves
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cashews, or peanuts
Dressing
- 1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Sugar, if needed
Instructions
Salad
- Prepare an ice bath. Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Add the asparagus and blanch for 20 seconds or so or until they turn bright green. Scoop the asparagus out and transfer to the ice bath, reserving the hot salted water.
- Place the noodles into the hot water and let stand for 15 minutes or until soft. Drain the noodles in a sieve or colander, reserving the water again. Bring the water back up to a boil, adding more if necessary to cook the shrimp. Add the shrimp and cook until pink and firm. Drain and cool in the cold water with the asparagus.
- Combine noodles, asparagus, shrimp, red bell pepper, carrots and herbs in a large bowl. Add dressing and nuts.Toss and serve immediately.
Dressing
- Whisk ingredients together in a small bowl. Adjust sweetness with sugar if needed. Toss with salad and serve immediately.
Notes
- Have the shrimp cooked, the vegetables prepped, and the dressing made.
- Soak the noodles when ready to serve the combine the salad as directed.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
I made this today. Paired it with gochujang grilled chicken and coconut rice. The dressing was outstanding. I’d actually made the dressing a couple of days ago and used a couple of tablespoons of it in a cold ramen dish. Tossed the noodles in the dressing, them added the proteins and veggies. Yum!
One issue with the salad was the vermicelli. I think about half of it would have been fine. And I subbed toasted sesame seeds instead of the nuts. That went well.
Hi, Bubba, Thanks so much and happy you enjoyed overall. I plan to retest this recipe soon because it’s so lovely for spring. I’ll keep the vermicelli amount in mind. Thanks again and appreciate your taking the time to come back and comment and rate.
Gorgeous looking salad. Vietnamese spring rolls are my favorite food. We dip it in chili fish sauce mix. With the leftover ingredients when the roll skins are finished, this is the salad that I make. Just mix all the ingredients together and pour the fish sauce over it.
Thanks, Leo! I’m totally in love with them, too!
This looks as beautiful as it does beautiful!! YUM!
Thanks, Katie!
This salad looks INCREDIBLE. Seriously. And I’m not even a huge salad person. Cannot wait to try this!
Thanks, Amy!
Made this last night for dinner!!! So flavorful, colorful and just plain amazing! I will definitely be making this again and again and again….
Thanks, Becky! So glad you enjoyed! It’s a wonderful salad!
I am sooo gonna make this! It looks so fresh and colorful! Mu girlfriends would love this ! Beautiful photos as usual :).
Thanks, Kathi! It is and hope you enjoy!