Pork Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce

The first time I made these Pork Spring Rolls it was for some dinner guests that requested both a gluten-free and dairy-free menu. These were such an amazing meal though that I’ve since made them many times for parties or, honestly, just as a meal for my family because they are SO good.

I usually think of spring rolls as packed with crunchy veggies and loads of herbs, and these spring rolls have all of those requirements, but they also pack in marinated and pan-seared pork chops. The pork chops kind of take the spring roll game to another level. Like whoa.

Like any spice-loving dude, I tend to serve these with a spicy peanut sauce, but you can leave that out if you’re serving kids. My kids just pick dissect these anyway.

And don’t be intimidated by the spring roll rolling. If you can make a burrito, you can make a spring roll and actually I find that rice paper is more forgiving then tortillas.

So look. You have no excuse to NOT make these.

• Updated March 4, 2019 to add new photos and re-write a few directions for clarification!

Pork Spring Rolls

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5 from 2 votes

Author: Nick Evans

Servings: 12 Servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Marinaded pork chops grilled, sliced thin, and stuffed inside spring roll wrappers with lots of fresh veggies.

Ingredients 

• 1 pound boneless pork chops, marinated
• 1 red pepper, sliced very thin
• 1 English cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 Handful of basil, julienned
• Lettuce
• Rice Papers for rolling
• Note: You could add tons of things to these rolls like other herbs, bean sprouts, etc.

Marinade:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 Thai chilies, diced (or a jalapeno)
• 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce, gluten free
• 1 Teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 Teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

Dipping sauce:

• ½ Cup hoisin sauce, gluten free
• ¼ Cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sriracha
• Warm water until it reaches desired consistency, probably a few tablespoons

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Instructions

• For marinade, combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Then add pork chops to a plastic bag with marinade and let sit for at least an hour.
• To cook pork chops, grill on high heat or cook in a cast iron skillet or grill pan for 4-5 minutes per side depending on pork chop thickness.  Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing into them.  Slice them thinly.
• Prep all over veggies for rolls.  Be sure to spend time slicing thinly and evenly.
• For dipping sauce, combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.  If you don’t have a food processor, just mix everything really well in a bowl.
• To make rolls, start by pour some warm water on a large plate.
• Add a spring roll wrapper to the plate.  Flip it over once or twice until it relaxes and becomes flexible, probably about 15-20 seconds.
• Move wrapper to a clean work surface.  Add a few strips of pork along with a few strips of all other veggies to wrapper.  Don’t add the fillings to the middle of the wrapper.  Add them about 2/3s down the wrapper, closer to you.  Leave about 1/2 an inch around the filling.
• Fold the wrapper over the filling, working away from you.  Fold the edges in and continue to roll.  As you roll, pull back on the filling to keep it snug and tight in the wrapper.
• Once you have all the rolls wrapped, slice them in half and serve them with the sauce!

Nutrition

Serving: 1Spring Roll | Calories: 153kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 26mg | Sodium: 543mg | Potassium: 293mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 416IU | Vitamin C: 25mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg

Course: Appetizers, Snack Time

Cuisine: Asian

Marinating the Pork Chops

The marinade for this pork is really flavorful and pretty important to the final taste. Luckily it’s easy to make. Just roughly dice up your garlic and chilies and stuff and add them to a bowl with all the other ingredients.

It’s a pretty dark marinade.

Add your boneless pork chops to the marinade and let them sit for at least an hour. Longer would be just fine. If you are doing this overnight you could put them in a bag.

I cooked my pork on my grill before over a medium-high heat, but on this day I cooked them in a cast iron skillet. The brown sugar in the marinade will create a great crust on the pork, but it might cause some smoking if you cook them indoors.

Depending on the thickness of your pork, the chops will probably need 4-5 minutes per side on high heat. Ideally, you are shooting for about 140 degrees F. in the thickest part of the pork chop. Near the end of my cooking, I added the marinade to the pan as well to really get the flavors going. Be careful if you do this as the marinade can easily burn.

Then let them rest for 10 minutes or so and slice them pretty thin.

These pork chops would be great by themselves!

Making the Pork Spring Rolls Sauce

The dipping sauce for these rolls couldn’t be easier. Just add all the ingredients to a food processor and give it a quick pulse to combine everything. Depending on your peanut butter and hoisin sauce, you might need to add a bit of warm water to thin it out some.

It shouldn’t be clumpy at all.

If you don’t have a food processor, you could easily just stir everything together in a bowl. Just make sure to mince your garlic really finely if you’re using it. You definitely don’t need a food processor to make this recipe.

Making the Pork Spring Rolls

I’ll be honest. I was nervous about these pork spring rolls the first time I made them.

I wanted to make sure that I had everything ready, which I recommend, so at some point before you start rolling, slice up your red peppers, cucumbers, and basil. You could use lots of veggies for these guys, but these were really good as a start.

Spend some time to make sure you get nice evenly sized sticks.

Ok. Now it’s time to tackle the beast.

Spring rolls wrappers.

These guys kind of scared me because they look impossibly thin and fragile.

To use them, pour some hot water on a plate and set a wrapper on the plate to soak up some of the water and soften up a bit. Flip it over once or twice and after maybe 15 seconds it should be loose and flexible.

Here’s the thing that I wasn’t expecting about these wrappers that took me a minute to get used to: They are a lot stronger than they look. Once they’re wet, you can tug on them and really stuff them full and they are surprisingly strong.

So once your wrapper is wet, lay it out flat on your work surface, add a few strips of pork and veggies. I also ripped up some lettuce that I added to the rolls.

To key to making these work is where you put the filling. DON’T put it directly in the center of the wrapper. Put it about 2/3s toward the side closest to you and leave a good 1/2 inch to an inch around the sides of the filling.

This one is gonna be pretty stuffed.

Then fold over the end closest to you, tuck in the ends like you would a burrito and continue to roll the wrapper away from you.

Try to keep the filling as tight as possible during the rolling. As you roll, pull the filling toward you which will keep it nice and snug.

If it’s your first time making spring rolls, it’ll take you one or two to get the hang of it, but it’s completely doable.

I decided to slice all my rolls in half which showed off the pretty fillings.

Once you roll them all, slice them up, and stack them on a plate, you’ll have a really beautiful presentation that’s healthy and very delicious.

It’s kind of a show stopper appetizer if you ask me.

I would guess that with all the prep time and everything these guys took me about an hour to make (but you need to marinate the pork earlier) and they were completely worth it.

I think pork spring rolls are going to be my new thing and it isn’t even spring yet!

Are you a spring roll fan? Have you tried making them? Leave a comment!

Here are a few other great Spring Roll Recipes!

• Chili Mango Shrimp Spring Rolls
• Quinoa Spring Rolls
• Sriracha Chicken Spring Rolls
• Pad Thai Spring Rolls by Eazy Peazy Mealz