Spring Rolls with Leftover Roast, Carrot and Mint

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What do you do with leftover roast? For many years I used to put it into salads, sandwiches or stir-fries and then one day I simply wrapped them in rice paper with some vegetables and glass noodles, making very unorthodox version of spring rolls. Since then this is the first thing I think about when I take out the leftover roast from the fridge. Spring rolls with leftover meat proved not only easy, quick and healthy, but most of all extremely versatile and convenient. They can be made with any vegetable found in the fridge, while rice paper and glass noodles can be stocked for long months or even years. If you have ever made spring rolls you probably know that they can be served for any meal of the day, as a starter, a snack or a main dish. They are also an excellent choice for a picnic, for packed lunch at work and I often prepare them for long car journeys instead of traditional sandwiches. (If you are not the one who drives, you can even dip them in a bowl of sauce!). Last but not least, they can be made well in advance and kept in the fridge for several days (as long as they are tightly wrapped in cling film).

The rolls can be served with any sauce of your choice, but my absolute favourite now is a mixture of soy sauce, chili oil and vinegar. It’s hot and slightly acid thank to the vinegar.

Preparation: 30 minutes

Ingredients (serves two):

2 big slices of roast chicken, turkey, pork, beef, lamb…

6-8 (22 cm or 8 3/4 in) rice paper sheets

1 small individual package of glass noodles (40 g)

2 big carrots

mint leaves

(roast sesame seeds)

Dipping sauce:

5 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce (or less if using standard soy sauce)
1 tablespoon chili oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Cover the noodles with boiling water. Put aside for 15 minutes.

In the meantime cut up the carrots into matchsticks and cut the roast slices into rectangular pieces.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl.

Fill a big wide bowl with warm (not hot) water.

Dip rice paper sheets one by one in the water, immersing them delicately so that you don’t break them.

As soon as the sheet softens ( after about ten seconds), put it onto a chopping board.

Rinse the noodles.

Place horizontally a stack of the carrot and roast pieces, a bit of the noodles and the mint leaves close the the rice paper edge (the
one which is closest to you).

Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you like them and roll tightly starting from the edge which is closest to you.

Proceed in the same way with the remaining rolls.

Serve them immediately as they are or cut in two horizontally.

If you wish to serve them later, wrap them individually in cling film because they dry out very quickly.

 

 

Published by Sissi

48 Replies to “Spring Rolls with Leftover Roast, Carrot and Mint”

  1. I have recently made leftover roast tacos, but these rice paper rolls seem even more wonderful and light with fresh herbs and crunchy carrots. Another way I like using up leftover roasts is in pies.

  3. Mmmm leftover roast! These look lovely, I’d love to have some for my lunchbox! Great post – I always end up with leftovers and I think this would be a good base for a lot of them!

  7. Gorgeous Sissi and would you believe I made something very similar yesterday (minus the roast ;-))… I especially love the mint in these vegetable bundles. There is something so uniquely spring tasting about that herb and it combines well with your lovely dipping sauce… your picture is beautiful with the vibrant orange carrots peeking out!

    1. Thank you so much, Kelly. Mint leaves were really fantastic here. I used my balcony mint and I didn’t have enough for the whole batch. The last roll was made with basil leaves and frankly it wasn’t half as good.

  8. What a great idea, Sissi, and I have some chicken left overs which would be delicious! I think I’ll make these on the weekend at the cottage!

    1. Thank you so much, Eva. I’m sure you can also make it with some other vegetables. I hope you will like them!

  9. What a great idea in saving leftovers and stuffing them in a rice paper wrappers. Like you, I just either put them all in a soup or stir fry them. Now I have another methods to prep the leftovers. Thank you Sissi for the idea, it will really help.

    ~ ray ~

    1. Thank you so much, Ray. I hope you try making these simple leftover rolls one day.

  12. That’s so clever! I’ve never thought of using leftover roast meats for spring rolls. It’s usually made into sandwiches, fried rice, salad ….. this is brilliant! Now you’ve got me wanting to make this and I don’t have leftover roast meat. Gotta roast some just to make this. LOL!!

    1. Thank you so much, Ping. Actually I often put a seasoned chicken breast to roast quickly in the oven only to make these ๐Ÿ˜‰

    1. Thank you so much, Barb. This sauce is very light and simple, but chili oil and vinegar give a nice “kick” to the soy sauce.

  14. Dear Sissi,

    This looks like an awesome idea. Sometimes, the leftover roast can almost be as delicious as the main meal before because the meat has absorbed all the beautiful flavours. Still a roast beef, chicken or lamb sandwich the day after is truly heaven!

    1. Thank you so much, Chopinand. I totally agree. There are some roasts I actually prefer when they are cold… (Pork is my favourite when hot, but when I make turkey breast roast it’s only to be used as coldmeat).

  16. Sissi your Spring Rolls look so much better than mine, hahahaahh! I love that you make them for road trips instead of old boring sandwiches, bet it makes the car ride that much better!

    I just replenished our rice paper and glass noodles, Actually I am a bit confused as which type of noodles to use, there are so many varieties at the local Asian market, with different shapes and ingredients. I ended up with Vermicelli, which should work. Do you have any particular brand that works best?

    1. Thank you so much, Jeno. I don’t think they look better (I haven’t managed to cut them neatly alas…). I am always very hungry when I travel for a long time by car, so I would be able to devour lots of sandwiches. After these at least I don’t feel heavy and guilty ๐Ÿ˜‰ They are also delicious of course! I also use the finest glass noodles (made from mungo beans), they are sold in individual packages, I don’t remember the brand, but there is only one brand of tiny packages, so I don’t even have to choose. For me the most important is that I don’t have leftovers or that I don’t have to fight with the dry noodles trying to cut the bunch in two pieces before soaking them… Otherwise I think I prefer the mungo beans one from the rice noodles.

        1. You are welcome, Jeno. (Although this is only my personal preference: I find mungo bean noodles “lighter” and more neutral).

  17. Sorry Sissi I’m late here again. =P I love your healthy option of using rice paper! I asked my husband to pick up new package of rice paper (rose brand is my fav) and he picked a Taiwanese rice paper with rose picture on the package. Oviously this company is trying to cheat us by putting the other famous company’s rose logo on it. I gotta try the rice paper to see if the quality is good. I don’t make roast at home but I’m VERY inspired to make rolls now. And I bought kanten thanks to your inspiration. I’ve been so busy I haven’t tested it out yet. Hope all is well with you. Hugs!

    1. Hi, Nami. I don’t even know the rose brand, it’s incredible that they copy the logo! I admit some brands are really awful. I once threw away the whole package because the sheets were full of big holes (they were very low quality but the price was similar). I should have written the name of that brand to remember… You know, you can put any cold meat here. As I told Ping, I often season a chicken breast and put it into the oven only to treat it as leftover roast in these rolls ๐Ÿ™‚
      Good luck with kanten experiments! I have some new posts coming ๐Ÿ˜‰ (I keep on experimenting with different flavours).

  18. What an inventive way to make spring rolls! It’s always fun to develop a recipe exactly the way you like it.

  20. I love taking leftovers and totally reinventing them! What you have done here is amazing! So simple, healthy and gorgeous! Great idea for any leftover meat!

  22. I’m one of those rarebreeds who actually love love leftovers. I get excited thinking what I can do with them, it’s like readymade yumminess already in the fridge. Actually even just reheating and eating it is good for me, as i don’t tire of the same taste if it tastes good (: I love what you did with the rice paper rolls, and the dipping sauce sounds great for dumplings even (:

    1. Thank you so much, Shuhan. I also love leftovers and I always try to avoid answering when I buy turkey breast or pork loin at my butcher’s and he asks me for how many people I will prepare the roast…(I have noticed people rely on his judgment often!) For me first the amount depends on our appetite and apart from that it’s obvious the freshly roasted meat will be just one of the meals ๐Ÿ˜‰

  23. Heh, that’s a really great idea – normally, if it’s leftover beef I make it into a salad with pasta, rocket, avocado and garlic sauce but I really never thought of doing this before – thanks for the inspiration Sissi… it looks like a deliciously novel way of using “yesterday’s” stuff ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Thanks, Charles. I hope you can try it one day. Such rolls are really easy and light.

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