Sweet Ginger Tempeh Pineapple Summer Rolls

Rice paper wrappers are stuffed with sweet marinated tempeh, juicy pineapple slices and crisp veggies in these mouthwatering vegan pineapple summer rolls.

I know, summer is still about two months away, and while I'm not one of those people that gets all psyched up about 90+ degree temperatures, I was at least pretty happy to have a sunny and mild weekend in which my husband and I were able to visit some of our favorite nearby trails, which we hadn't seen for a few months.

So, in celebration, I'm sharing a summer roll recipe today. I'd gladly eat these suckers any day of the year, but while summer rolls are plenty summery on their own, summer rolls stuffed with pineapple and gingery tempeh are like a beach party in your mouth.

The sauce and flavor combination is loosely adapted from this recipe that I posted a while back. It remains on of my favorites to this day, and I spent the last year or so itching to do something new with the it. When I got it into my head a couple weeks ago that a new summer roll recipe was coming due, pineapple seemed the perfect filling.

These were a little tricky. I realized a while back that parchment makes the whole rice paper rolling process easier. I discovered while making these rolls that the bigger and clunkier your fillings, the more challenging it will be to create a pretty and tear-free roll (which close inspection of some of my photos may reveal). If you want to start with some beginner level rolling, these were super easy. If you want to tweak this recipe to ease things up a bit, perhaps try scrambling your tempeh and finely chopping all of your other filling ingredients.

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Sweet Ginger Tempeh Pineapple Summer Rolls

Rice paper wrappers are stuffed with sweet marinated tempeh, juicy pineapple slices and crisp veggies in these mouthwatering vegan pineapple summer rolls.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American, Asian-Inspired

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 6 -4

Author Alissa

Ingredients

For the Marinated Tempeh

• 3 tbsp. lime juice
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tbsp agave
• 1 tsp. fresh grated ginger
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1-8 oz. package tempeh
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil

For the Summer Rolls

• about ¼ medium pineapple peeled and cored (or about 1 ½ cups pineapple chunks)
• 6-8 rice paper wraps
• 6-8 small green leaf lettuce leaves
• ½ red bell pepper cut into strips
• 2 scallions cut into 3 inch sections

For the Dipping Sauce

• 2 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
• 2 tbsp. agave
• 1 tsp. Asian chili paste

Instructions

Prepare the Tempeh

1. Whisk lime juice, soy sauce or tamari, agave, ginger and garlic together in small bowl. Slice tempeh into 12-16 strips, height wise. Strips should be about 3 inches long and ½ inch wide. Place in a shallow dish and cover with marinade. Toss gently to coat. Optionally, allow to marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature.
2. Coat a large skillet with oil and place over medium heat. Arrange tempeh strips in a single layer. Pour half of marinade into skillet. Cook about 4 minutes, until marinade is thick and sticky and tempeh strips are browned on bottoms. Flip and add remaining marinade. Cook again until browned on bottoms, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate.

Cook the Pineapple

1. Cut pineapple into ½ inch by 3 inch strips. Add to skillet that you just removed your tempeh from (should still be over medium heat). Cook about 3 minutes per side, or until tender and lightly coated with sauce. Remove from skillet and transfer to a plate.

Prepare the Summer Rolls

1. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on countertop.
2. Place about 2 inches of warm water into a large shallow dish. Place 1 rice paper wrapper into dish and submerge. Allow to soak until pliable, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Carefully remove from water and lay flat onto parchment. Place 1 lettuce leaf in center of rice paper wrap, then arrange about 2 tempeh strips, 2 pineapple strips, 2 red bell pepper strips, and 2-3 scallion strips in a line across center of lettuce leaf. Fold top side of rice paper wrap over fillings, towards you, then fold sides inward. Roll towards you to seal the bottom edge over fillings. Repeat until all fillings and wrappers are used.

Prepare the Dipping Sauce

1. Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl.

Recipe Notes

Have a few extra wrappers on hand if you're a beginner at this, and start with less filling per roll. You can also cut your ingredients up more finely as I've suggested in the recipe, as I find that smaller pieces of filling make rolling easier.