Whether you're a vegetarian, vegan or neither, this is going to be one of the best spring rolls you've ever had. Bold claim, I know; but with the perfect seasoning, and a generous amount of flavourful ingredients (plus one special one!), you won't even need a dipping sauce. They can also be made in advance and frozen, just fry them up when you're ready to eat!
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Why These Are 100x Better Than Takeout
- Actually flavourful filling. Too many takeout spring rolls are filled with bland noodles and measly shreds of carrots and cabbage. Not these. The filling is packed with tons of veggies and are so perfectly seasoned I sometimes just eat the filling straight up. This is a vegan filling that super tasty, but if you eat meat also check out these classic pork spring rolls and green curry spring rolls as well!
- Dipping sauce not necessary. Most takeout spring rolls are nothing without the sauce. Not these. The sweet-tart sweet chili sauce recipe adds a nice contrast, but these are so flavourful that you can do without.
- Secret ingredient: Taro root! Taro and deep fried foods are a match made in heaven. It adds a unique aroma and a slight creaminess that makes these feel substantial even without any meat.
- Umami and texture. Two types of mushrooms add umami and lots of texture to keep things interesting.
Ingredients for Veggie Spring Rolls + Important Notes
- Glass noodles. The best quality glass noodles are made from 100% mung bean starch, such as Pine Brand (our sponsor!). The noodles have a nicer chewy texture, and are more resistant to overcooking and tearing than ones made with a mixture of starches. Here are some of my other glass noodles recipes.
- Dried shiitake mushrooms. Use dried, not fresh, as they have more umami and are chewier. Not to mention the soaking water is very flavourful and is used as part of the recipe.
- Dried black fungus mushrooms. Also known as wood ear or cloud ear mushrooms, they provide a lovely crunchy texture. You can get them julienned or whole at most Asian grocery stores, but they can be omitted if not available. Also try using them in this ginger chicken stir-fry recipe!
- Taro root. Taro is a root vegetable that cooks up creamy similar to russet potato, but with a unique flavour and aroma that work in both savoury and sweet dishes. If you can, choose the larger taro root, which are creamier, rather than the small hairy ones. Asian stores often sell them pre-cut into chunks. Make sure you wear gloves when peeling taro btw as they can irritate your skin. If you've got taro leftover, use it in this Filipino sour soup recipe (sinigang) or Thai black sticky rice pudding.
- Neutral oil for cooking the filling
- Garlic
- White or black pepper
- Julienned cabbage
- Julienned carrots
- Soy sauce
- Sugar
- Salt
- Cilantro stems
- Green onions
- 8-inch spring roll wrappers for standard size, or 6-inch wrappers for mini spring rolls
- All-purpose flour or an egg for sealing the wrapper
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Sweet chili sauce, for dipping, store bought or homemade (it's very easy to make!)
How to Make Vegetable Spring Rolls
Check out detailed recipes in the recipe card below, but here's a bird's eye view of what you'll need to do.
- Saute garlic and pepper in oil until golden and aromatic.
- Add carrots, cabbage and taro.
- Add rehydrated shiitake mushroom and cook until veggies are done.
- Add the glass noodles, cilantro stems and seasonings.
- Stir fry the filling until the noodles are fully cooked. Let cool to lukewarm.
- Wrap the spring rolls using a little more than ¼ cup of filling per an 8-inch wrapper (see the video tutorial for a demo on how to wrap spring rolls).
- Use a flour slurry or a beaten egg as the glue to seal the wrapper.
- Ready to fry or freeze!
- Fry spring rolls at 350°F (175°C) for about 5 mins, or 7-8 minutes if frying from frozen.
- They should be a deep golden brown and the bubbles should only be coming out the ends, not from the surface of the spring rolls
- Drain on paper towel or a rack and let cool for a few minutes before cutting and eating.
- Cut them on a diagonal for a pro look!
Storing Leftovers
You can freeze uncooked spring rolls in a freezer bag for a few months, and fry them directly from frozen whenever you're ready to eat for fresh-like-new crispiness. They will take just a few minutes longer to fry.
If you have leftover cooked spring rolls, just keep them in the fridge and they will last up to a week. To reheat, you can bake them in a 350°F (180°F) oven for 8-10 minutes until the outside is crispy and the inside is heated through. They can also be reheated in toaster ovens and the air fryer.
Frequently Asked Questions About Spring Rolls
Yes! That's what most restaurants do. Make a whole bunch and freeze in a freezer bag for up to a few months. Fry them from frozen and they will take a few minutes longer, about 7-8 minutes.
Yes, you can also bake these. Brush them generously with oil then bake them on a rack in a 425°F (220 °C) oven, convection if possible, for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. They won't brown nearly as much as deep fried or even air fried ones, so they may look a bit underdone, but they will still be crispy.
Yes, they won't brown as much and will be a bit dryer, but they'll still be great. First brush them with oil and air fry them at 400°F (200°C) turning halfway through, for about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Exact timing will depend on your particular air fryer, so I would check them at 10 minutes to see where they're at, and go from there. Do not crowd the air fryer to allow plenty of air flow around each spring roll.
Yes, if you don't have access to taro or don't like them, you can omit them and add a little more of each of the other veggies to make up for the volume. You can also substitute kabocha squash or another type of squash for a similar creamy texture.
Yes. Check out my original crispy spring rolls with pork recipe for the best version of the classic Thai spring rolls. Or if you want something more interesting, try these amazing green curry spring rolls which are guaranteed to surprise and delight!
Ultimate Crispy Veggie Spring Rolls
Ingredients
- 0.5 oz (about 4 medium pc) dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated , see note
- 0.25 oz dried black fungus mushrooms, rehydrated, see note
- 1.4 oz dry glass noodles (1 small pack)
- 2 tablespoon neutral oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½-1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, see note
- 5.3 oz (2 cups) finely julienned taro root
- 5.3 oz (1¾ cups) finely julienned cabbage
- 4.3 oz (1 cup) packed julienned carrots
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 8-10 cilantro stems, finely chopped
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 12-14 pieces large 8-inch spring roll wrappers or 24 pieces 6-inch ones.
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour or 1 egg for sealing the wrapper
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Sweet Chili Sauce, for dipping, store bought or homemade
Notes:
- You can soak the shiitake and black fungus together in hot off-the-boil water for about 15 minutes. If you have at least 2 hours you can soak them in room temp water. Wash mushrooms before soaking.
- If you’re serving kids 1 teaspoon of pepper might be a bit much so I'd use only ½ tsp.
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FULL VIDEO TUTORIAL
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video to ensure success. If you enjoy them, consider subscribing to the YouTube Channel to not miss an episode. Thank you!
Subscribe to my YouTube ChannelInstructions
- Remove mushrooms from the soaking water squeezing out excess water from the shiitake mushrooms (and do not throw away the soaking water).
- Soak glass noodles in the mushroom water, adding more tap water as needed to submerge the noodles. Soak for 7-10 minutes until softened.
- While the noodles soak, remove the stems from the shiitake mushrooms and finely chop the caps. Finely dice the black fungus; if you find any hard parts (that's the root end) cut around them and discard. Place the mushrooms in a large bowl together with the taro, cabbage and carrots.
- Once noodles are done, drain the water but do not throw it away (yes, we're STILL going to use this!). Don't toss the noodles so that the strands remain in alignment for easy cutting. Use scissors to cut the noodles into 2-inch pieces.
- In a wok or a large non-stick saute pan, add the oil, garlic, pepper and saute for about 2 minutes over medium heat or until the garlic starts to turn golden.
- Turn the heat up to medium high and add the mushrooms, taro, cabbage, carrot and 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce; cook for 3-4 minutes until the taro is done. You can tell that the taro is getting close to done when some of the pieces start to break; you can then taste to see if they're cooked through.
- Add the glass noodles, cilantro stems, the remaining soy sauce, sugar, and about ¼ cup of the mushroom soaking water. Toss until the noodles are fully cooked, adding a splash more of the mushroom water if needed.
- Toss in the green onions and remove from heat. Taste the filling and add the salt if it needs it. (I find it usually does need the extra salt, but it’s always good to taste first).
- Transfer the filling into a large, shallow bowl and spread it out so it can cool quickly.
- While the filling is cooling, peel the wrappers apart so it will be easier when you wrap. (Spring roll wrappers tend to stick together a bit right out of the package.)
- For the spring roll wrapper glue, you can use a beaten egg, or for a vegan glue, mix the all-purpose flour with an equal amount of water so you have a thick but spreadable paste.
- To wrap, follow the instructions in the video. Use a little more than ¼ cup of filling per roll if using a large (8-inch) wrapper. At this point you can freeze the spring rolls and fry them directly from frozen.
- Heat 2-3 inches of oil in a wok or a pot to 350 F. Add the spring rolls, a few at a time so as to not crowd the pot. Fry on medium heat for about 5-6 minutes until golden brown and crispy. You can tell that the surface are crispy when the bubbles are only coming out of the ends, not the surface (more on this in the video). If they are frozen they may take 7-8 minutes.
- You can also bake them: Brush them generously with oil all over and bake (better if you have a rack) at 425°F (convection if you have it) for about 25 minutes or until they’re golden and crispy. If you don’t have a rack, flip them over half way through so they brown evenly. If after 25 minutes you still want them to be more brown, you can put them under the broiler for a minute or so per side; watch them carefully! (They will be lighter in colour than the deep fried ones but will still be crispy.)
- For air-frying: I have not done this personally, but other sources say to brush them with oil and air fry them for 7-8 minutes at 350°F.
Jo Mercer says
Taro root wasn't available in my Maryland store, so I used yautia root. It's the south American versions of taro rot, and it's in the same plant family. It worked great!
Charissa Tynan says
So I can't find taro root here in Spain, but there's Yuca or Cassava (Brazilian Arrowroot)....
I would be interested to know your thoughts in this as a sub?
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Flavour-wise it would definitely work. Though I'm not sure how long cassava takes to cook compared to taro, so just make sure you give it enough time to cook before wrapping.
Nina says
I tried your recipe yesterday with a friend and altough it was pretty hard to find all the ingredients here and it took a very looong time to prepare everything, it was all worth it in the end.The Springrolls were absolutely delicious and I am very much looking forward to try more of your recipes because they are very well explained and detailed.
Pailin Chongchitnant says
SO glad to hear!! Thank you!
Sejal says
Are dried mushrooms preferred for this dish? Both shiitake and wood-ear are available fresh in my area.
Pailin Chongchitnant says
The wood ear you can use fresh, but shiitake you want dried because they have a much more robust flavour that we're looking for. Fresh and dry shiitake are two very different tasting ingredients and are generally not interchangeable.
chris says
Can you please tell me what brand of wrap you used? Trying to find gluten free ones. Thank you from NC
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Hi! I don't remember which brand that was...but it was definitely not gluten free.
Keith says
loved it - i made these as a trial for this years thanksgiving. I did not have the cilantro stems or the green onions and I think they will add more flavor. I also added Thai Basil. loved the taro in there as well.. This one is a keeper and going to surprise my guests !!!
Richard says
Mine don't look at all like yours. Instead of turning golden brown they're more translucent, very sticky until fried and bubbly on the outside. You must be using a completely different kind of wrapper than the rice spring roll wrappers we can get in eastern Canada.
Pat says
Made this today and it’s a hot! Thanks for sharing your delicious recipes ❤️
Ilana says
We made your pad thai recipe and sourced as many of the ingredients as we could at the local Asian market and it was hands down, the best I've ever had! Now I want to make all of your recipes. However, I have celiac disease (allergic to gluten). Can rice paper wrappers be fried? Would this filling be good in a "summer roll"?
Adam The HTK Minion says
Hi Ilana! I asked Pai and she said "Yes rice paper can be fried, and I think it would be good in summer rolls." Cheers! Adam
Jennifer Hughes says
I tried frying the rice wrappers and they fell apart. Am I using the wrong rice wrapper? Is my technique wrong?
Pailin Chongchitnant says
So sorry it didn't work out! Without having seen what you did and what products you used, I can't really say what went wrong here. I suggest looking up recipes for Vietnamese imperial rolls because those use the rice wrappers, and see their technique and maybe that will help figure out the issue.
Jennifer Hughes says
Okay, thanks! That’s actually helpful. I’ll do that. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.