Light and refreshing Chicken Spring Rolls are a favorite warm-weather lunch or appetizer. Heaps of crisp vegetables, fresh mint and cilantro, and shredded chicken are rolled up in rice paper wrappers and ready to dip in a delicious, savory sesame sauce.
I’m really excited to share this recipe Chicken Spring Rolls with you. It’s easy, delicious, and perfect if you are looking for a light snack or appetizer to enjoy during beautiful spring and summer weather. With plentiful vegetable ingredients, these spring rolls taste fresh and crisp as you bite into them. The sesame sauce that goes along with the spring rolls is my favorite part of this recipe. So delectable!
Watch How To Make Chicken Spring Rolls
Delectable spring rolls with carrots, cucumber, mint, chicken, and butter lettuce wrapped in a thin rice paper, dip in savory sesame sauce!
Simple Chicken Spring Rolls
This recipe was actually a deconstructed version of my Bang Bang Chicken (Bang Bang Ji) recipe. It’s a Sichuan dish made with poached chicken that are shredded into small pieces and then poured with a spicy sauce made with sesame paste and rice vinegar. It’s usually eaten with julienned cucumber, chopped scallions, sesame seeds, chilies, etc.
Well, just to clarify, my Bang Bang Chicken (棒棒鶏, バンバンジー) recipe is a Japanese interpretation of the Chinese dish. The Japanese Bang Bang Ji is not spicy at all like traditional Bang Bang Ji. I put a little bit of La-Yu (Japanese chili oil) in the sauce but my children who do not eat spicy food still enjoyed it.
Just like how traditional Bang Bang Ji preps its chicken, I poach the chicken in boiling water and cook it through on low heat. While waiting for the chicken, you can chop other ingredients for the spring roll. The ingredients for this recipe are pretty simple and available everywhere so I don’t think you will need any other substitutes. However, you’re free to substitute my ingredients with your favorite veggies, herbs, or protein (instead of chicken, tofu, for example).
If you plan to serve this dish for a party and need to make it ahead of time, it’s very important that you pick the right brand of rice paper. I’ve tried several brands and this Three Ladies Brand works THE BEST. The rice paper doesn’t become hard after several hours, and the rolls can be easily separated without breaking even when they are touching each other.
Rolling Chicken Spring Rolls
If you haven’t used rice paper before, the wrapping part might be a bit intimidating. However, unlike Harumaki (Japanese egg rolls), you don’t have to deep fry them, so don’t worry too much about tearing or shaping them perfectly. Some people are good at making it neatly even at their first attempt (definitely not me), but this kind of cooking skill just requires several practices runs to make it look pretty. After wrapping 20 rolls, trust me, your will get hang of it and your spring rolls will look awesome! Just take your time, and remember to “tuck in tightly” so the shape will look nice after you cut in half or thirds.
Now if you are very health conscious, the amount of sugar (3 Tbsp sugar) that goes into the sauce might raise your eyebrow. Yes, it definitely doesn’t sound too healthy, does it? I did test this recipe with less sugar, trying to make this dish “healthier” but the result just wasn’t the same. I still like the original sauce recipe and decided to keep it the way it was. So please adjust the amount of sugar as you like. Or dip just a little bit as I do. Remember, you’re not eating the sauce, and the sauce is there to enhance the flavor of fresh ingredients you’re eating.
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Chicken Spring Rolls
Video
Ingredients
- ½ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp sake (in Japan, we use sake to remove the chicken‘s odor; you can skip it)
- 2 green onions/scallions
- 1 knob ginger (1 inch, 2.5 cm)
- 1 carrot
- 2 Japanese or Persian cucumbers (or 1 English cucumber)
- 5 butter lettuce leaves
- 1 bunch cilantro (coriander)
- 2 sprigs mint leaves
- 10 rice paper wrappers (read more about rice paper)
For the Sesame Dipping Sauce
- 2 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- ½ inch ginger
- 1–2 cloves garlic
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp la-yu (Japanese chili oil) (store bought or make my Homemade La-yu)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Make the Dipping Sauce
- For the sauce, grind 2 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds in your mortar and pestle. Transfer the ground sesame seeds into a small bowl. Then grate ½ inch ginger and 1–2 cloves garlic (I used a Microplane grater).
- In a small bowl, whisk together 3 Tbsp sugar, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned), 2 tsp toasted sesame oil, and 1 tsp la-yu (Japanese chili oil). Set aside.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- Chop 2 green onions/scallions into 3 pieces each. Cut 1 knob ginger into thin slices.
- Butterfly ½ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast. Butterflying is a really useful technique to create a uniform thickness throughout a piece of meat so that it will cook more quickly and evenly. First, remove the tender (small inner fillet) by cutting away any connective tissue. Turn the breast over and with the edge of a knife parallel to the cutting board, cut the length of the side of the breast. Carefully slice the breast in half widthwise almost to the other edge. Keep the edge intact and open the breast along the fold.
- In a large pot, add enough water to cover the chicken. Then, add 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and 2 Tbsp sake. Put the sliced ginger and scallions in the pot and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, add the chicken breast and tender to the pot, reduce the heat to the lowest setting, and cover with the lid. Cook the chicken for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, julienne 1 carrot and 2 Japanese or Persian cucumbers. I use a julienne slicer but if you don’t have one, cut into thin sheets first and then cut into matchstick-size strips.
- Remove the chicken from the pot onto a plate and immediately cover with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Once the chicken has cooled, shred the chicken into small pices with your hands.
- Rinse 5 butter lettuce leaves, 2 sprigs mint leaves, and 1 bunch cilantro (coriander) under running water and dry completely. Set all the ingredients on a work surface.
To Assemble the Spring Rolls
- Pour hot water in a large bowl. Work with 1 wrapper (of the 10 rice paper wrappers) at a time. First, soak 1 wrapper in the hot water and rotate 2–3 times, about 10 seconds. The wrapper will still feel slightly stiff but don’t worry, it will become softer. Place it flat on the work surface.
- Lay the butter lettuce, chicken, carrot, and cucumber at the bottom third of the wrapper closest to you. Then, place the mint and cilantro leaves at the top third of the wrapper.
- Pressing firmly down to hold the filling in place, fold up the bottom of the wrapper and start rolling tightly.
- Around the middle of the wrapper, fold both sides of the wrapper in and roll up tightly to the top. Place on a plate and cover loosely with plastic wrap and repeat with the remaining wrappers and fillings. Cut in half or thirds. Serve with the Sesame Dipping Sauce.
To Store
- Keep the spring rolls tightly covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
Every time I have tried to make spring rolls they stick to each other, the plate, my hands etc . . I love them but I don’t know why when I make them they are soo sticky. I don’t remember what brand I had, but I had a lot of them and just stored them between uses. I will look for the brand you use and give it another try.
Hi Jeannie! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post!
Rice paper wrappers are usually sticky, but this brand that Nami used is easy to work with, and we think it’s the best.
We hope your next try will be easier!
made this yesterday and it is very good!!! I use my lemongrass poached chicken instead and cut down a bit of sugar. Love the sauce and how easy it is!!! Thank you for the simple and healthy recipe 🙂
Hi Agnes! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed the Chicken Spring Rolls!
Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your cooking experience with us!
This looks tasty! I’m gonna make this recipe! Also what’s the name of the song playing in the video? I love it!
Hi Renette! Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
We list music in the youtube description.
Music courtesy of Audio Network: “Must Be Dreaming”
https://us.audionetwork.com/track/searchkeyword?keyword=Must%20Be%20Dreaming
We hope this helps!
Hello Namiko!
Thank you for another delicious recipe! As of this comment I’ve actually made two batches of spring rolls (the package of wrappers I found sure comes with plenty!).
The first round I ran out of the herb mix way too quickly and doubled it the second time.
Also for both I added sautéed mushrooms with a little bit of noodle (ramen) to substitute the meat and still have it be filling!
I’m making them again today, but this will be the first round without using cabbage – I finally found some butter lettuce in my local grocery!
Thank you again and happy (almost) spring!
Hi Alexsa, Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
We are so happy to hear you enjoyed the Spring Rolls. Adding the sauteed mushrooms is a great idea!
Happy Spring!
I’ve been following your blog and love your recipes! I recently used your recipe for mommy & me virtual cooking club and everyone loved it. Thank you for the delicious recipe!!
Hi Teresa!
Thank you very much for using Nami’s recipe for Mommy and Me virtual cooking club!🥰
We are glad to hear everyone enjoyed it. Sure it was a fun project during this difficult time too. Great idea!
Thank you for your kind feedback!♥️
Is the spring roll microwave safe, and can I store it in the fridge overnight, and if so how long?
Hi Dami! This dish is not eaten hot, more like at room temperature. You don’t want to microwave lettuce and all the other ingredients. You can store it overnight in the fridge, but any rice product (including this rice paper) will harden in cold temperatures. So I only recommend to store in the fridge for a short time and not overnight for the best result. 🙂
I’d like to make these for a party, but don’t want to have too many things to do at the last minute. I always buy that “three lady” brand of rice paper wraps, but, how far ahead do you think I could make the spring rolls?
Hi Chris! I apologize for my late response. A couple of hours before worked for me, which was enough for me to get started. Make sure to cover immediately and stay away from getting the paper dry or too cold. 🙂
Dear Nami,
I have been following you for such a long time. Before my children were born, it used to make me so happy to ‘hunt’ for the right ingredients and figure out what they were ( I live in Belgium, Europe, not so easy to find everything) and cook your recipes for friends and family forgetting track of time just being happy. When the kids came I became a mother and lost track of what I liked to do for fun. Now my oldest will go to school for the first time, and we were asked to bring a meal to share with other parents and teachers for a get together before the start of school. I found your recipes at the back of a cabinet and it brought me right back. Your e-book was a christmas present from my husband years ago, printed out and neatly bound in a book. So funny that at a time i am trying to figure out who i am besides being a mom i find your website again and remember: ‘I like to cook Japanese food’.
Thank you, please never stop doing this!
Hi Suzanne! Your sweet comment had made my day! I’m happy to hear you found what you truly enjoy. I have more recipes to offer on the site since the last time you visited, and I hope you enjoy browsing and get some inspiration. If there is anything I can do to support or any feedback you have, let me know. Have fun cooking! And sending big thanks to your husband for purchasing my eBook. 🙂 xoxo
Do you caution against using the same knife for cutting raw meat for cutting vegetables? The knife should be washed with soap and water between uses. Thanks.
Hi Lisa! I’m well aware of the contamination between raw meat and raw vegetables we eat without cooking. Thanks for the reminder!
Another good roll for me to try out..LOL!!
Question for a lazy cook for me, I could just poach the chicken breast in IP?? also did you save the water from poaching the chicken breast?
I might do a little shortcut with the dipping sauce by using tahini and mix with the rest of the ingredients, except the sugar since I don’t really eat sugar in my food most of the time.
For low carb, I might just use toasted nori seaweed instead of the rice paper to wrap them. 🙂
Hi Jos! Haha, yes, I remember you mentioned you like anything with rolls. 😉 Sure you can use your IP. Hope you enjoy the recipe!:)
Can these be made ahead and kept in the fridge?
Hi Kimberly! Yes, you can but use the rice paper that I recommended here so they don’t stick each other. It tends to dry up, so… try not to keep it too cold. I recommend to cover with a thick towel so spring rolls won’t get too cold. 🙂
Hi Nami, is it possible for me to bring this food for my lunch? Acctualy i cook at 7am then i will lunch at 12pm, should i put tmy lunch box in a chiller? Need ur advice, thanks
Hi Kenken! If you use the same rice wrapper that I suggested in this post, the rice paper won’t stick to each other like crazy and you can separate each roll easily. You can pack in a lunch box, then in a lunch bag, make sure to put ice pack to cool the entire lunch box.
Hi! This looks really delicous. 🙂 I’m wondering if I can make this in the morning and eat it later at lunch (keeping it in a food storage box) since you wrote at the end to keep it wrapped up for up to 2 hours.
=)
Hi Mona! Yes you can, BUT I highly recommend using the same rice paper as I showed in the post. Other brand of rice paper is so sticky to each other and when you try to separate, it tears apart… so if you use that one, sure, you can make in the morning and eat at the lunch. 🙂
Would you recommend packing this in a child’s lunch or will it fall apart/stick?
Hi Barbara! When you wrap the spring roll tightly, it will not fall apart. And if you buy the brand of rice wrapper I showed in the post, I’m pretty positive that it will not tear when you try to separate the spring rolls that are stick together. The spring rolls nicely separate (other brands just stick each other forever…. lol). So that’s one thing. Another thing is that you need to prevent from drying. I’d wrap each roll (or two) with plastic wrap, not directly in the lunch box (I haven’t done it, so I’m not 100% positive with putting directly into lunch box… anyone here has done it and want to give us feedback?). I believe it’ll work. If it didn’t, would you please let me know? Make sure the spring rolls/lunch box is kept in the insulated bag with ice pack for food safety. Hope this helps!