These chicken spring rolls are light, flavorful and fantastic. Loaded with fresh vegetables and a light rice paper wrapper, these chicken summer rolls or salad rolls are a great healthy meal. They’re way better than what you can order in a restaurant without added sugar in the marinade.

plate of cut garlic chicken spring rolls

Chicken Spring Rolls : Fresh & Healthy

I know I’m not the only one who has gone through this, so I thought I’d finally say it publicly after years of food blogging. Food blogging made me chunky-er, pleasantly plump or what ever you want to call it. My jeans didn’t zip anymore. My love of blogging  has pretty much changed my life, my obsession with food and everything related. But if I wanted to continue doing this and still stay healthy,  I knew I had to make a lifestyle change again. Eating these healthy chicken summer rolls along with regular exercise was the answer.

Video: Garlic Chicken Spring Rolls Recipe

Difference Between Spring Rolls, vs. Summer Rolls?

These words terms to describe these healthy and delicious rice paper rolls are used interchangeably. They are all pretty much describing the same dish. Often times the deep fried crispy rolls are called spring rolls as well so it can be often confusing. But we’ve always used the term fresh spring rolls to differentiate from crispy spring rolls. Summer Rolls are the same as these fresh spring rolls. Rice paper salad wraps are often used as well so there’s another term to remember!

Why We Eat Low Carb Spring Rolls

How to keep my mental spirits happy and my body in check? I started to eat more fresh spring rolls. Fresh vegetables, light proteins and fresh herbs rolled in a rice paper is like a salad in a roll. It kept my meals interesting, versatile and most importantly, spring rolls kept my mental state happy.

I am, after all, Vietnamese and spring rolls are a comfort food that always satisfies. This garlic chicken spring roll is one of the many that I munched on for lunch and dinner. After a few weeks dedicated to the gym, weekly meals of garlic chicken spring rolls and taking care of my body again,  I started to shed some pounds. The best news of all this is that my jeans are finally start to zip all the way up again. Yes!! Hope you enjoy these garlic chicken Summer rolls just as much as I do! Here’re more of our How to Roll Spring Roll Tutorials.

Best Rice Paper Wrappers for Chicken Spring Rolls

Three Ladies Round Spring Roll Wrappers
Three Ladies Round Spring Roll Wrappers
Brown Rice Spring Roll Wrappers
Brown Rice Spring Roll Wrappers
Three Ladies Square Spring Roll Wrappers
Three Ladies Square Spring Roll Wrappers
cut bites of garlic chicken spring rolls
Healthy Garlic Chicken Spring Rolls

Garlic Chicken Spring Rolls Recipe

Yield: 6 Servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Marinate Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Fresh basil, fresh mint or any herb will be a wonderful addition. For the crunch factor, you can add raw carrots, celery, bell peppers or cucumbers. In this recipe, I added pickled Vietnamese carrots and daikon that I always have on hand. Here's a helpful photo tutorial on How to Roll fresh Spring Rolls.
4.93 from 14 votes
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Ingredients

  • 2 pounds (907 g) boneless chicken , we prefer thighs but use what you like
  • 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) grape seed oil or vegetable oil
  • 4 cloves garlic , minced or crushed
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) minced or grated ginger (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) sesame oil
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) fish sauce or soy sauce (use Tamari for gluten free)
  • 12 rice paper
  • 1 head fresh lettuce , chopped or torn in small pieces
  • 1 bunch fresh basil , mint or other herbs
  • carrots, celery, cucumbers, daikon radish or bell peppers , optional – use what you like

For Garlic Soy dip:

  • 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) soy sauce (use Tamari for gluten free)
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) water
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon (10 ml) sesame oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) sugar , optional if you like sweeter dips
  • 1 clove garlic , minced or crushed
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) minced or grated ginger (optional)
  • 1 small chili , minced (optional for spice)

Equipment

Instructions 

  • For the Chicken: In a large bowl, combine chicken, 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, minced garlic, optional minced or grated ginger, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, and 1 Tablespoon fish sauce or soy sauce.
    marinated chicken in bowl
  • Cover well and allow to marinade for at least 20 minutes or overnight.
    covering chicken
  • Heat frying pan on medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until it's cooked through and a nice crust is formed, usually about 3 minutes per side, depending on your heat and chicken thickness.
    cooking chicken
  • Let chicken cool for a few minutes. Slice in chicken in thin slices, about 1/2 inch thick for rolling.
    sliced chicken
  • For the Dip: combine all ingredients well (2 Tablespoons soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon water, 1 Tablespoon lime juice, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon optional sugar, minced garlic, optional minced ginger, and optional minced chili). Set aside
    garlic soy dip

For Rolls:

  • In fill a large bowl or rice paper dipper with warm water (if should be about bath temp warm). Gently dip each rice paper wrapper in warm water for a few seconds or until damp. Don’t over soak the rice paper. Place rice paper on plate, or working surface. As rice paper begins to absorb the water and become more soft and pliable (about 5 seconds, depending on wrappers and water temp.), begin to add the fillings.
    dipping rice paper in water
  • On the 1/3 section of the rice paper wrapper closest to you, start layering your fillings of lettuce, herbs, and vegetables.
    lettuce and herbs on rice paper
  • Add the sliced chicken.
    adding chicken
  • Start rolling the wrapper over the fillings away from you.
    rolling
  • Tuck and roll the wrapper with your fingers
    rolling chicken rice paper
  • Make sure all the fillings remain tight and round within the rice paper wrapper.
    finished roll
  • Serve immediately with soy dip, or cover with plastic wrap to eat a few hours later.
    cut rolls

Video

Nutrition Information per Serving

Calories: 368kcal, Carbohydrates: 27g, Protein: 37g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.02g, Cholesterol: 100mg, Sodium: 986mg, Potassium: 751mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 5302IU, Vitamin C: 16mg, Calcium: 46mg, Iron: 2mg
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: Asian, Vietnamese
Calories: 368

Traditional Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dip

Diane's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dip Recipe Nuoc Mam Cham | @whiteonrice

These chicken spring rolls are great with the garlic soy ginger dip, which is below in the recipe box. But if you want something more traditional, here’s my Vietnamese fish sauce dip recipe. click here for all our popular Vietnamese Recipes that are sometimes traditional and definitely sometimes not. 

Our Favorite Fish Sauce Brands:

Flying Lion Fish Sauce
Flying Lion Fish Sauce

This has been our house fish sauce for decades. Great stuff! We’ll use it to make our dipping sauces as well as marinades.

Red Boat Fish Sauce
Red Boat Fish Sauce

100% all-natural first press extra virgin Vietnamese fish sauce. One of the best artisan fish sauce producers.

Three Crabs Fish Sauce
Three Crabs Fish Sauce

Another good fish sauce. Clean flavors, good depth. It’s the one Diane’s mom most often uses for cooking.

More Spring Roll & Vietnamese Recipes:

plate of cut spring rolls with chicken