Is it possible to make an adaption of a recipe that you’ve never actually tasted?
In my world, yes, yes it is.
I’ve wanted to make a simple, vegan version of Banh Mi – a Vietnamese baguette sandwich traditionally served with seasoned pork and pickled vegetables – for quite some time now. The problem is, it’s not a simple recipe, nor is it vegan. I had some work to do.
On a recent car ride – often when many recipe ideas hit me unexpectedly – I thought spring rolls were the perfection solution. They’re easy, fast, and fresh, and are easy to keep both vegan and gluten free. Yahtzee!
This recipe is simple with just 10 ingredients (give or take a garnish)! Prep and cook time is right around 45 minutes, as well, making this a great option for weeknight dinners.
For dipping sauce, you can either use the vinegar sauce used to quick pickle your veggies for a lighter option, or opt for a heartier sauce utilizing your favorite nut butter.
To keep everyone happy, I include three options below. You’re welcome.
These rolls are a veggie lover’s dream. They’re:
Fast
Fresh
Super crisp
Healthy
Satisfying
Hearty thanks to the tofu
Tangy from the pickled vegetables
& Seriously delicious
These would be a great make-ahead dish to take along for hikes, picnics and work lunches – all things I hope you get to enjoy this spring. Consider these rolls a big hug from us Minimalist Bakers to you.
If you give these a try, let us know! Take a picture and tag it #minimalistbaker on Instagram so we can see. It’s kind of our fave. Cheers!
- 2 cups vegetables (carrots, daikon or red radish, julienned)
- 3/4 cup unseasoned Rice Vinegar + 1 cup water
- 4-5 Tbsp sweetener (i.e. agave nectar, sugar or honey if not vegan)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 block extra firm tofu
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 12 spring roll rice papers
- 1 large bundle cilantro, large stems removed (or sub basil or mint)
- Sriracha or chili garlic sauce
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced and added to dipping sauce (purely aesthetic)
- Leftover vinegar sauce OR peanut butter or almond butter sauce for dipping
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and wrap tofu in a clean, absorbent towel and set something heavy on top to press. Once preheated, slice tofu into medium-sized rectangles (see photo) and place on a parchment-lined (or lightly greased) baking sheet.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown on all sides. Generously brush with soy sauce and set aside.
- While the tofu is baking, prepare pickling sauce by combining rice vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and lime juice in a jar and shaking to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more sweetener of choice for sweetness, or vinegar or lime juice for tanginess. Transfer to fridge to chill.
- Next, prep vegetables by julienning or thinly slicing radish, carrot and any other desired fillings (jalapeño is a common Banh Mi addition). Add to vinegar mixture to quick pickle in the fridge.
- Prepare station for making spring rolls by getting a surface to lay rice papers on, and heat 2-3 cups water to boiling, then turn off heat.
- Drain pickled veggies at this time and reserve liquid for dipping. If opting for a nut butter sauce, prepare at this time (recipe links above).
- To prepare a spring roll, dip rice paper in hot water for 15-20 seconds, or until soft and pliable and transfer to a damp working surface (such as a cutting board). Then add 3-4 pieces tofu, pickled vegetables, 1-2 tsp sriracha or chili garlic sauce, and a large handful of cilantro. Fold over once, tuck in edges, and continue rolling over.
- Lay seam side down on a serving platter or baking sheet and cover with a slightly damp towel to keep moist. Continue until all spring roll fillings are used up - about 10-12 rolls.
- Serve with leftover vinegar sauce OR my favorite almond butter or peanut butter sauce (recipes above). Leftovers store well covered in the fridge for up to 2 days, though best when fresh.
These spring rolls look delicious! I would love to make them for a Vietnamese dinner someday.
Not a vegetarian but I do love my veggies. Makes me hungry just looking at the photos.
I’m not strictly vegetarian/vegan but I’m learning more about these types of lifestyle changes and as I learn, I realize the more veggies you eat, the better off you are! Truly. These spring rolls are seriously gorgeous (how can food be so gorgeous) and so unique. And I’d love to think I could make them! Cross your fingers for me all. I need all the help in the kitchen I can get, even if it’s my 3 and 5 year olds fat little hands!!!
Thanks Laura! Yes, the more veggies/produce I eat, the better I feel, too. The hard part is, remembering to eat more salad than donuts :D Hope you and your family love this one
Wauw these Vietnamese summer rolls are looking delicious! Love the pictures you’ve made. I’m going to try them soon.
Hope you love them, Anne-Marij!
This looks delicious! I am Vietnamese and I eat banh mi often, this is a great way to change it up a bit. Thank you for sharing. Hopefully I don’t sound too critical but the Vietnamese sandwich is spelled as “Banh Mi”.
I KNEW I would miss something on that! Fixing now!
Oh wow!! I love Bahn Mi, I’m going to have to make these!!
Yum! I love great picnic food and this would be so perfect! I was just thinking the other day about experimenting more with tofu. Now I know where to start! Thanks!
Yes! these would be excellent at a picnic. I’d recommend a nut butter dipping sauce in that case. Much more portable!
When we make bahn mi we sometimes make a bean patty, mashed beans with seasonings, to use as the protein. Thanks for sharing! This looks delicious! And if anyone is adventurous add a little slice jalepeno for the perfect kick of fresh and spicy.
Great idea! I will have to keep that in mind for a more “traditional” Banh Mi!
This is such a genius idea! I can’t wait to make these!
You seriously don’t know how much I want one of these right now. I’m obsessed with fresh rolls and these look ridiculously good. :)
I would so feed you one of these. Come see me!
What a coincidence! Just yesterday, I had spring rolls AND bahn mi. I’m a meat eater, so I’d swap the tofu with pork, but this is a great re-mix on two things that I crave. Slurp, Dana!
Thanks Terr! Hope you enjoy this hybrid version in that case!
I don’t care if you’ve ever had a bahn mi or not- these look awesome!
these look like an awesome make ahead meal for work lunches! How many days do you think they would stay in the fridge? I’d love to prepare Sunday to bring for a few days!
I’d guess at least 3!
The rice paper wrappers actually change in texture fairly quickly. I’d eat them fresh before refrigerating. If you have to refrigerate at lunch time, then eat them by dinner time. By the next day, the soft wrappers will now be much harder and the experience/ taste will not be the same.
I love the idea of putting the pickled veggies inside. Sounds delicious! What a great and healthy replacement for the rice noodles that usually go in these. I don’t know whether if you’ve tried these with fresh mint – also delicious.
Up to 3 days!
Every single time I want to learn to make a wonderful and tasty treat – I get an email from you and there it is…… like you are reading my mind. I CANNOT wait to try these – going to make your peanut butter sauce too! Yum! and Thanks!
spring rolls are one of my favorite things ever!!
If you want to try banh mi, there is definitely an authentic tofu version (Buddhism is very prominent in Vietnam) that you might be able to find. You might find it under Banh Mi Chay?
These look great! We just had spring rolls with Harissa peanut sauce for dinner last night. But my spring roll rolling skills leave something to be desired.
I love Banh Mi. You can actually use the same filling in your banh mi rolls to make a Vegan banh mi, instead of rice paper just slap everything into a french baguette minus the sauce instead put a couple squirts of soy sauce & you have a banh mi dau hu (tofu banh mi). Your rolls look yummy! I’m Vietnamese & I make this quite often tofu summer rolls. In Vietnamese its called goi cuon dau hu. The traditional tofu summer rolls have rice noodles & herbs but I make them the same way that you make yours minus the noodles (less carby) + more different types of herbs. (Mint,cilantro,perillas,etc.)
Great tips! Thanks Jenn!
BEAUTIFUL photos. I am drooling all over the keyboard right now. Thank God I’m traveling to Southeast Asia tomorrow! All I can think about is Vietnamese food now ;)
Vietnamese spring rolls are my favourite! This is awesome, thank you!
These rolls are gorgeous! They look so fresh and bright tasting, perfect Spring recipe!
Stunning photos and love your three sauces :) Delish!
There’s a great restaurant that sells vegetarian bahn mi sandwiches in Dallas! But seeing as how I live out in the country, these are way more accessible. Can’t wait to try them!
One suggestion-the restaurant I visit has a killer lemongrass sauce on the tofu. I’ve tried to recreate it, but have not had any luck yet. Might be something to experiment with! It’s almost like the sweet onion sauce from Subway, but waaaay better.
Ooh, great idea! I’ll add it to my list!
SO MUCH YES.
Hey long lost internet friend! Are we still besties? Please say yes. Kthanksbye.
Hello?? Of course! I’ll even forgive you for that time you came to SF and didn’t tell me. ;p
Deal! I’ll never do that again. Promise!
lol <3 <3 <3
Such beautiful photographs that I can actually taste the spring rolls right out of my screen! :)
As a Vietnamese girl, I approve!
Hmmm I’ve never had anything Banh Mi related before but I keep seeing all this Banh Mi stuff around the internet so I guess I’m missing out on something! I love all of the individual ingredients in these so I think I’d like this recipe! The photos are amazing as usual!
Thanks Nicole! I hope you give these a try!
Healthy and delicious?!?! Can’t go wrong!
This looks amazing Dana – love the idea and I’m sure I’d be able to eat about 20 haha!
Wow amazing photos! it looks like that I was there and pick one of this delicious spring rolls:-)
Loved your recipe so much that it inspired me to make my own spring rolls for the first time. I added some chicken to it and I am absolutely in love with all the flavors in there. I thought while eating them (right now) I need to complement you on this wonderful recipe.
//Valérie
These are my fav!
I have been making summer rolls for a long time, and always used shrimp, rice noodles, bean sprouts, etc. But trying to keep things as healthy as possible as I have had a 250# weight loss, (bypass surgery)and I want to keep that ball rolling because I still have about 75 pounds to go. So I did the recipe as is with just the one change: I don’t care for cilantro at all, so I used a combination of basil and mint. The tofu was amazing, and I love all of the fresh veggies. I love Thai food! The dipping sauce I did as is, but added two tablespoons of natural organic peanut butter to it as I love the peanut taste. This is on my meal rotation, & I have served it at a family get together, and everyone loved it! now I don’t need to use rice noodles or anything that had serious carbs in it anymore. Keep up the good work, and thank you!
These look so fresh and..springy. Love it! Can’t wait to try them!
These are lovely. Will try them soon.
I have to make these Vietnamese spring rolls, they look super healthy and delicious. I love the banh mi flavour too!
Banh Mi literally means “bread” in Vietnamese. Your title means “bread spring rolls.” If you’re referring to the sandwich that everyone’s been talking about as of recent (even though it’s been around for ages), then you’re referring to “Banh Mi Dac Biet.”
Yours truly,
a Vietnamese person.
p.s. There’s no tofu in banh mi dac biet.
These spring rolls look delicious, Dana! I’m definitely adding these to my to-make list… with the peanut butter dipping sauce, of course. Yum!
I just went to Vietnam and was looking for a great recipe to recreate what I had there, can’t wait to try! I follow all your recipes and love them all, my favorite especially the Funfetti cupcakes :)
Your pictures are gorgeous and your spring rolls look SO yummy! I love fresh spring rolls and your pickled veggies sound like a great addition. I love to use all different herbs in mine; cilantro, basil, mint, plus a few slices of avocado and a big pile of arugula.
I will definitely be trying your version next!
I made these yesterday and they were great! Immediately I was thinking of how nice the leftovers would be as a after-work snack. Unfortunately there is only one left now thou! I ended up only getting 8 rolls because I ran out of the pickled veggies so I will up it to 3 cups when I remake it (probably tomorrow for a movie night with friends!). I made the red thai curry sauce from pinch of yum as a dipping sauce, which was delicious. Thank you for another awesome recipe!
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention – hot water did NOT work for my rice paper. It instantly shriveled into a little ball. I found that lukewarm water worked best and I soaked each for 20-30 seconds. I’m guessing it just depends on the brand thou! It’s probably best to follow the directions on the package.
These look delicious! That said, making them for lunches more than a day in advance will probably not work as the rice paper will get tough and dry… I’ve done it.
I love Banh Mi. I usually eat as a salad with grilled chicken at my local Vietnamese café. For this recipes, I cannot eat tofu or soy (doctor’s orders) so could the spring rolls do without any meat/tofu? Or should I put some chicken in there?
Yes! Any protein would be great.
Amazing photos! I was wondering how much is 1 block of tofu?
About 12 ounces?
They’re fabulous-looking, but it’s not right to call them Banh Mi spring rolls, because Banh Mi specifically refers to a baguette (usually a single-serving size).
What you’ve made is, as far as I know, Banh Hoi – rice wraps. In the Vietnamese restaurants I go to, Banh Hoi implies making the rolls yourself, but that’s fine print. Banh Hoi comes with an assortment of fillings of your choice – noodles, meat, veg (some are pickled), lettuce, mint, lime wedges and so forth.
Banh Hoi is very sociable in its own right, so enjoy!!!!
Actually, u know there are a lot of vegan bahn mi on the Vietnamese streets (they are called “banh mi chay”) but they’re usualy made of tons of mock meat (all of it has some neutral taste of soy meat for me but I haven’t eaten any meat for so long, I can’t remember it taste at all x)), but it feels so strange being vegan and eating meat even if you know it’s not real, so, I think I’d prefer your version %)
These look really good! ! My husband and I are obsessed with fresh summer rolls. We make ours with Gardien mandarin “Chickn” http://gardein.com/product-type/chickn/ with peanut dipping sauce (I use PB2 to lower fat content)
Next up we will create Indian style with curry dipping sauce, Mexican style with salsa and a American spin with coleslaw BBQ Chickn. You really can never get sick of these, They are so easy, fresh, and delish! Someday I’ll quit the job and open my own spring roll cafe! Vegan diets are so much easier with a plethora of new products and thank you nutritional yeast.
BTW Amazing photography!
Thanks Robin! Hope you enjoy these! :D
My boyfriend and I have been prettttty obsessed with making vegan banh mi lately, and we’ve always got some marinade and pickled veggies left over that would be great for throwing these together. I actually have some in the fridge right now — can’t wait to try! (Should you be interested: If you’ve never seen it, Serious Eats has an incredible recipe for vegan banh mi…we use it mostly for the tofu marinade, which has tricked my boyfriend into thinking I’m a culinary god http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/02/grilled-lemongrass-coriander-marinated-tofu-vietnamese-sandwich-vegan-recipe.html )