Bright, fresh flavors, packed with healthy veggies, peanut sauce chicken and a delightful dressing with hints of lime and fresh mint.

I was introduced to a deconstructed spring roll in the form of a salad. So delicious! I still love to eat it that way. My husband was looking for more substance, like a meal, so I added chicken sautéed in peanut sauce, plus some rice. Now it’s a healthy Thai Fresh Spring Roll Bowl—rice topped with a variety of thinly sliced vegetables, chicken with a subtle peanut flavor, and a simple dressing made with peanut butter, lime juice, maple syrup and mint leaves. It will be showing up on your menu every week!

Ingredients for Thai Fresh Spring Roll Bowl

Ingredients for the Thai Fresh Spring Roll Bowl:

Rice: I prefer sushi rice (glutinous rice), but Jasmine rice will work perfectly as well. I like cooking either type of rice on the rice setting of the Instant Pot, with a 1:1 ratio of water to rice.
Chicken: Boneless, skinless and cut into bite sized pieces. Add some great protein to the meal.
Coconut Oil: Used for sautéing the chicken in a healthy way. And the slight coconut flavor fits perfectly with the meal. You can also use any oil you typically have in your kitchen.
Peanut Sauce: The Asian food section of your grocery store has several choices. I like the San-J brand. It has a subtle flavor. Instead of buying peanut sauce, you can also make an extra recipe of the peanut dressing and use it for sautéing the chicken.
Cabbage: The recipe calls for Napa or Savoy cabbage, as well as green or purple cabbage. I like combining several different types of cabbage because of the texture differences, as well as color. The Napa or Savoy cabbages have a leafy texture, and when cut thinly, have a shredded look that is amazing! The green or purple cabbage is more firm when chopped thinly and that texture is needed too. Of course, the purple cabbage adds a burst of color. Mix and match as desired, but try to have a mixture of textures and color.
Lettuce: Choose the lettuce variety you love most: romaine, green leaf, red leaf, etc. Just like cabbage, lettuce is adding a texture and some color to your bowl.
Carrots: I have become a whole, fresh carrot lover. It’s hard to shred baby carrots, so you may prefer the whole, fresh variety for this bowl.
Zucchini: I choose zucchini for this recipe because when cut thinly or spiralized, it is the closest in texture to bean sprouts. Fresh, good-tasting bean sprouts are often hard to find, but zucchini is not. I really like the taste and texture of zucchini in this recipe.

Spiralize the zucchini and chop/shred the cabbages lettuce carrots

Cucumber: I often choose an English cucumber for this recipe so I don’t have to worry about all the seeds. If you choose a cucumber with a lot of seeds in the center, that works also, just scoop out the seeds before you thinly slice it.
Mango: You can purchase a fresh, ripe mango for this recipe. Or you can use frozen, defrosted mango just as easily.
Fresh Mint Leaves: This ingredient really adds a burst of flavor to the bowl. It is a must for the dressing, however, in the dressing I prefer dried mint leaves.
Cilantro: I know there is a love-hate relationship with cilantro. Some people love cilantro and think it tastes amazing. Other people think cilantro tastes like soap. You know which camp you live in. This can be an optional ingredient!
Green Onions: Chopped finely, both the white part and the green part adds so much flavor to this bowl.
Peanuts: Salted or unsalted can be up to you. Definitely don’t leave them out of the garnish on the top!

Ingredients for the Peanut Dressing:

Lime Juice: You need 3-5 limes, depending on how juicy they are. Some tips for getting more juice out of your lime: first press or roll your lime on the countertop, heat your lime in the microwave for about 15 seconds, store your limes in the crisper.
Olive oil: Any type of oil will work for this recipe. Use a preferred oil that stays liquid at room temperature.
Maple Syrup: This is 100% pure maple syrup—not pancake syrup.
Soy Sauce: Low-sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos work as well.
Garlic: You can mince your own or buy it already minced.
Peanut Butter: Smooth. You could substitute peanut butter for another type of butter if you have allergies. Cashew butter would probably be the best flavor substitute.
Mint: I prefer dried mint for the Peanut Dressing. The combination of fresh mint leaves in the veggies/salad portion of the bowl and the dried mint in the dressing helped me taste the mint in almost every bite.

How to Prepare the Thai Fresh Spring Roll Bowl:

Cook rice according to directions. For sushi rice or jasmine rice, I prefer using the rice setting on the Instant Pot and a 1:1 water to rice ratio.
Prepare Chicken: Cut chicken into bite sized pieces.

Put chicken in a medium-large skillet with 1 TBS coconut oil. Stir fry on medium-high heat for 5-10 minutes, until still slightly pink.
Add 5-8 ounces (1/2-2/3 bottle) of peanut sauce to the chicken. Toss to coat each piece of chicken and continue to cook until chicken is cooked thoroughly and sauce has thickened around the chicken. Set aside to cool.

Chop and shred cabbages, lettuce and carrots. Mix together in a large bowl.
Each in separate bowls:
- Peel and Dice Mango—without peeling, cut off front and back of fleshy part of the mango, plus as much on each side as you can. Use a paring knife to cut through flesh to the peel (but not through the peel) in horizontal and vertical cuts—creating a diced pattern. Then use a drinking glass to scoop the flesh off the peel: Use one hand to cradle the mango, with the other hand place the edge of the glass between the peel and the flesh of the mango. Press the glass up the edge of the peel with one hand, while the hand cradling the mango presses toward the glass. The flesh will scoop right into the glass and be diced perfectly. Continue with the other cut pieces of the mango.
- Spiralize or Match-stick Cut the Zucchini—don’t make the spirals or the match-sticks too long, 2-3” works.
- Spiralize or Thinly Slice the Cucumber—scoop out if middle is full of seeds, then slice. If an English cucumber, don’t worry about the seeds.
- Chop Fresh Mint Leaves—only chop the leaves
- Chop Cilantro—leaves with a few branches
- Chop Green Onions—the white and the green parts
Make dressing by mixing all ingredients together with a whisk until fully incorporated.

To Serve the Thai Fresh Spring Roll Bowl:

Prepare for serving by setting out bowls of the separate foods in salad bar style.

To make the bowl—add each in amounts as desired:

Put rice in bottom of bowl.
Add lettuce-cabbage-carrot mixture.
Top with zucchini and cucumber.
Add chicken pieces.
Add mango.
Garnish with mint leaves, cilantro, green onions and peanuts.
Drizzle with peanut dressing.

Mix it all together. Enjoy the Thai Fresh Spring Roll Bowl!

–Kim

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5 from 1 vote