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Summer Roll Salad Recipe

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This Summer Roll Salad Recipe makes the most delicious make-your-own dinner! Set out all of the ingredients for salad rolls, then let everyone make their own dinner bowl (these are basically deconstructed salad rolls). Serve with a peanut sauce and ginger vinaigrette.

If you’re looking for a fresh, delicious and interactive meal idea, this Summer Roll Salad Recipe is it! Set out bowls of fresh ingredients and let everyone create their own delicious dinner bowl.

a top down image of a bowls of ingredient for Vietnamese roll salads: chicken meatballs, peanuts, cabbage, cilantro, carrots, peppers, shredded chicken, limes, cucumbers, onions and peanut sauce

A simple way to enjoy salad rolls without all the fuss of making them!

I love salad rolls, but what I do not love about them, is making them. It can feel tedious to roll everything in rice paper wrappers, which requires time and patience, which I don’t always have around the dinner hour when everyone is hungry. So instead, I decided to create a make-your-own Summer Salad Roll salad bar! Basically, these are deconstructed salad rolls.

a top down image of a bowls of ingredient for Vietnamese roll salads: chicken meatballs, peanuts, cabbage, cilantro, carrots, peppers, shredded chicken, limes, cucumbers, onions and peanut sauce

Making Summer Roll Salad Bowls:

I love salad bars. Actually, any buffet style serving is the best, there’s just nothing like loading your plate or bowl up with food in a way that you like it. Make-your-own dinners are such a fun way for everyone to create a meal in a way that they love…with toppings that they like. With this Summer Roll Salad Bar, everyone gets to make a bowl that suits their own tastebuds!

an image of a bowls of ingredient for Vietnamese roll salads: chicken meatballs, peanuts, cabbage, cilantro, carrots, peppers, shredded chicken, limes, cucumbers, onions and peanut sauce

Set out and serve!

For this Summer Roll Salad recipe set out all of the delicious ingredients of a Summer Roll, then let everyone serve up their own dinner bowls. This is a perfect meal idea for small parties too!

a close up of a bowl with rice noodles

Summer Roll Salad Recipe Tips:

  • Chicken: You can roast 2 – 3 chicken breasts to shred for these bowls. OR, another simple and delicious option is to buy a rotisserie chicken and shred the meat…this is what I usually do, it’s easy and the meat is flavourful.
  • Peanut Sauce: You can make this dipping sauce ahead of time (1 – 2 days).
  • Ginger Vinaigrette: This dressing can also be made a few days ahead of time. Note: If you don’t have rice vinegar you can substitute apple cider vinegar.
  • Noodles: Right before you are ready to eat, cook the noodles according to package directions. I always cook my noodles last because rice noodles get really sticky if they sit too long.
  • Add Ins:
    • purple cabbage
    • bell peppers
    • carrots
    • cucumbers
    • fresh herbs: cilantro and mint or Thai basil
    • lime wedges
    • roasted peanuts
    • Sriracha
    • hoisin sauce
    • Vietnamese chicken meatball bites: I like to make a batch of these to add to the bowls. They’re so flavourful and are a perfect addition.
    • Optional: cooked shrimp
a hand hovering over a bowl filling it with salad ingredients

Salad Prep Order:

  • First, make the sauces.
  • Then roast the chicken.
  • Prep all of the toppings.
  • Lay everything out buffet-style.
  • Let everyone make their own dinner bowl.
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Summer Roll Salad Recipe

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This Summer Roll Salad Recipe makes the most delicious make-your-own dinner! Set out all of the ingredients for salad rolls, then let everyone make their own dinner bowl. Serve with a peanut sauce and ginger vinaigrette.

  • Author: Jo-Anna Rooney
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 4 – 6 servings 1x
  • Category: Salad

Ingredients

Units Scale

Peanut Sauce:

  • 1 small onion or shallots, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes (depends on how much heat you like)
  • 2 tsp vegetable oil (or canola oil)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 tsp sugar

Ginger Vinaigrette:

  • 1 – 2 tbsp freshly grated ginger including the juice
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 6 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Summer Roll Salad Fixings:

  • 2 – 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (see tips) (plus salt + pepper)
  • 1/2 head of a small purple cabbage, sliced thinly
  • 4 carrots, sliced into matchsticks about 2 inches long
  • 1 cucumber sliced into thin sticks about 2 inches long
  • 4 green onions, sliced thinly
  • 1 small bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1 small bunch fresh mint
  • limes, cut into small wedges for a garnish
  • 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
  • hoisin sauce for additional dressing
  • Sriracha sauce
  • 8 oz of rice vermicelli noodles, cooked

Instructions

Peanut Sauce:

  1. In a small saucepan sauté the onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes in oil until soft, about 4 minutes.
  2. Then whisk in the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. Simmer while stirring, about 2 minutes.
  3. Set aside until right before serving.

Ginger Vinaigrette:

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar, ginger and red pepper flakes. Set aside until right before serving.

Summer Roll Salad:

  1. First roast the chicken. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place the chicken on a sheet of aluminum foil large enough to wrap around the chicken. Season generously with salt and fresh ground black pepper, bake until the chicken is fully cooked, about 15-20 minutes. Then using your hands, shred it. Put it into a serving dish. TIP! If you want to make things really simple, use a grocery store rotisserie chicken (this is what I usually do).
  2. Put the remaining salad ingredients into separate serving bowls and lay them out on your serving table.
  3. Right before you are ready to eat, cook the noodles according to package directions. I always cook my noodles last because rice noodles get really sticky if they sit too long.
  4. Now it’s just up to you and your eaters how to make their own salads! I like to start with the noodles first, then add a little ginger vinaigrette, then the salad fixings of your choice, topped off with fresh mint, cilantro, peanuts, a dollop of peanut sauce and a squeeze of fresh lime juice!
  5. Enjoy!

Keywords: summer roll salad recipe, salad roll bowl

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Have a delicious day!

Please note: This post was originally published in 2013 but I have since updated it with new images and more useful recipe tips!

Summer Roll Salad Bar

Hi I'm Jo-Anna Rooney, the creator, director, baker, maker and home decorator here at A Pretty Life in the Suburbs! I'm sharing a simple home life through fresh and easy recipes and uncomplicated home tips and home decor.

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8 Comments

  1. This is a super great idea and it looks delicious. We kind of do the same thing except we call ours lettuce wraps and instead of using noodles we wash leaves of iceberg lettuce, roll up all of our desired fixings inside the lettuce leaf, and dip the whole thing into the sauces that we like. It resembles a lettuce enchilada.

    Thanks for sharing – I really like the salad idea too that you have shared.

    Best to you,
    Paula – Michigan

    Reply

    1. It really is a great vinaigrette – just simple & light! And me too, I’m with you on being so relieved that it’s finally salad season!

      Reply