These gluten-free spring rolls are made with thin cucumber strips, crunchy vegetables and paired with a creamy miso-cashew dipping sauce. With cucumber strips as the wrapper, grain free spring rolls are possible!
Although I’m not completely grain-free, Iβm always looking for ways to substitute the grain in my favorite dishes. Spring rolls are traditionally wrapped in rice paper but thinly shaved cucumber is a great substitute. You can fill them with any vegetables (or even some fruits) you have in the fridge. For a traditional spring roll wrapped in rice paper, check out my recipe for Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce and more of my gluten-free appetizer recipes including my collection of gluten-free tartlettes, butternut squash pancakes and gluten-free Thai coconut chicken on baby bok choy leaves.
Here’s a quick video showing how to assemble these spring rolls.
Miso-Cashew Dipping Sauce
I enjoy miso but find that it can be overpowering to all the other ingredients. Many recipes add a crazy amount of honey or sweetener to tone it down. Cashew butter does a better job of balancing the miso and of course itβs totally yummy. Other nut butters or even sunflower butter if you’re nut free, can be used in place of the cashew butter.
Miso is a fermented soybean paste used in Japanese cooking. You’ll often see miso in red, yellow or white forms. The red miso is much stronger in flavor (longer fermentation) and more salty. The recipe calls for red miso but white miso will work too with the addition of an extra 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar. Some brands of miso contain wheat, so be sure to read the label. Hikari Red Miso and Hikari White Miso are both certified gluten-free and organic.
These spring rolls can go in so many different flavor directions with the use of a different dipping sauce. Here are more gluten-free sauces that are perfect with these spring rolls.
Kid-Friendly Spring Rolls
For a sweeter more kid-friendly version of these grain-free spring rolls, you can fill them with apple, pear or even strawberries. I love the combination sweet and savory, so I like these best with apple, bell pepper and carrots. Sweeten up the sauce with more coconut palm sugar, agave or honey if itβs too tangy for your little ones.
How to Assemble the Spring Rolls
Prepare the cucumber wrappers:
Use a y-shaped vegetable peeler to peel a strip of skin (lengthwise) off both sides. Then cut it in half.
Peel 
Cut in Half
Place one of the halves on the cutting board with one of the peeled sides facing up. Starting at the wider cut end, press the peeler down firmly and shave a strip from end to end continuing to press down for the whole strip.
When you get to the seeded center of the cucumber, flip it over and cut strips from that side. The center, more seeded part is too delicate and watery, so save that part to put in a salad.
Place the strips on an absorbent kitchen towel and set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Once ready to use them place another towel on top and press down gently to remove any excess moisture. This will keep the rolls from getting too soggy.
Prepare the filling vegetables
Cut the filling vegetables into thin 2β³ sticks.
Assemble the Spring Rolls
Lay 2 strips of cucumber side by side with a 1/4β³ overlap. Lay a mixture of vegetable strips on one end of the cucumber. Top the veggies with some herbs and about 1 teaspoon of sauce. Roll it up starting at the end with the vegetable strips. Place a toothpick through the end to secure it closed
These spring rolls should be used immediately. They can become soggy when they sit. But, the more time you allow the cucumber strips to sit on the towel the better the rolls will last when stored. If need be, you can get all the ingredients ready ahead of time and assemble at the last minute.
Gluten-Free Vegetable Spring Rolls & Dipping Sauce
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Ingredients
- toothpicks
- 2 English cucumbers aka seedless cucumbers
Sauce
- 3 Tbsps gluten-free red or white miso
- 2 Tbsps cashew butter
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar add 2 tsp extra if using white miso
- 2 Tbsps coconut palm sugar agave, honey or brown sugar can be substituted
- 2 Tbsp warm water
Filling
- Any combination of the following
- shredded carrot
- broccoli slaw
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1/2 granny smith apple
- 12 snow peas
- fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
Prepare the cucumber slices:
- Trim the ends of the cucumber.
- Use a vegetable peeler to peel a strip of skin (lengthwise) off both sides. Press down firmly to get a wide strip. A y-shaped peeler works best for this. Then cut it in half.
- Place one of the halves on the cutting board with one of the peeled sides face up. Starting at the wider end, press the peeler down firmly and shave a strip from end to end continuing to press down for the whole strip.
- When you get to the seeded center of the cucumber, flip it over and cut strips from that side. The center, more seeded part is too delicate and watery so I save it for a salad.
- Lay out the strips in one layer on an absorbent kitchen towel. Place another towel on top and press down gently to blot moisture off the top of the strips. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. This will absorb excess moisture to keep the rolls from getting too soggy.
Make the sauce:
- If you refrigerate your cashew butter, heat it in the microwave for 15 -20 seconds.
- Place all of the sauce ingredients in a small pot and whisk over medium low heat until smooth. You can adjust the flavor to your liking by adding more vinegar or sweetener.
Prepare the filling vegetables:Cut the filling vegetables into thin 2β³ matchsticks.Assemble the rolls:
- Gently pat down on the towel on top of the cucumber strips again to blot excess moisture. If they are too wet they will be difficult to roll up.
- Lay 2 strips of cucumber side by side overlapping halfway.
- Lay a mixture of vegetable strips 1/2" away from the end of the cucumber. Top with cilantro leaves.
- Roll it up starting at the end with the vegetable strips.
- Put a toothpick through the end to secure the roll closed.
- Use immediately. If making ahead, cut all the vegetables and assemble immediately before serving.
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