How to Buy and Use Rice Paper Wrappers

How to buy rice paper wrappers. Plus, suggestions for using them, in addition to summer rolls.

How to Buy and Use Rice Paper Wrappers

What are Rice Paper Wrappers?

If you’ve ever had a summer roll (or salad roll) from a Vietnamese restaurant, you’ve eaten a rice paper wrapper. They are super thin wrappers traditionally made from rice, water and salt that can be filled with almost anything. Since they are so thin, the wrappers are almost translucent so you can see whatever is inside. They also have a nice chewiness to them.

We’ve most often seen rice paper wrappers wrapped around shrimp, pork, fresh vegetables and noodles. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t wrap them around other ingredients — we have even filled rice paper with bacon, lettuce and tomato for BLT Summer Rolls.

Buying and Storing

Depending on where you live, you might get lucky and find rice paper wrappers sold in the International food aisle of your local grocery or health food store. Otherwise, the best selection will be at Vietnamese or Chinese food market. Online is also an excellent option.

Red Rose and Three Ladies Brand

Tips for Choosing Rice Paper Wrappers

  • Avoid wrappers that are made with 100% tapioca since they are trickier to wrap. Instead, look for wrappers made with rice or with a combination of rice and tapioca. (By the way, rice paper wrappers should be gluten-free. Some packages say wheat is an ingredient. It is likely an error in translation).
  • I really like the 8 1/2 inch wrappers since they are easier to work with that wrappers that are smaller/larger.
  • Look for the Three Ladies brand or one with a red rose on the label. We’ve had great success with these and they are widely accepted as quality options.
  • If there are multiple options, choose the most expensive option. Rice paper won’t cost a lot anyway, so reaching for the option that’s 50 cents more isn’t too much of a stretch.

How to Store Rice Paper

Once the package has been opened, place it into a resealable plastic bag and store in the pantry or cupboard.

How to Use Rice Paper

Rice paper is sold in dried sheets. Before using them, you will need to rehydrate them to make them pliable.

Once rehydrated, rice paper can be eaten as is — like with summer rolls — or fried. Fresh rolls are the most common way we work with rice paper in our kitchen. It isn’t something we recommend you bake with, though. When it comes to frying, rice paper becomes incredibly crisp and light. For more tips on frying rice paper rolls, we recommend reading through Andrea Nguyen’s article.

Dipping the rice paper

How to Wrap Rice Paper Rolls

Wrapping rice paper is easy — just as easy as wrapping a burrito. You will also get better the more often you do it. Even so, they don’t need to be perfect!

I mentioned before that rice paper is sold in dried sheets. To make them more pliable and ready for rolling, you will need warm water.

Add warm water to a shallow dish or baking tin that is wider than the rice paper you are using. Working one rice paper sheet at a time, slide the sheet into the warm water. Leave the sheet in the water for a few seconds — anymore and it will become too soft and start sticking to itself. You are really just dipping it into the water.

Remove the moistened, but still slightly firm rice paper sheet and place it onto a flat work surface. Leave it for a minute or two — in this time the paper will become even more pliable. It is ready to fill and roll when it’s pliable and a little sticky.

Now, all you need to do is wrap. Remember, it’s just like wrapping a burrito.

  1. Place the filling in the middle of the bottom third of the wrapper.
  2. Bring the lower edge up and over the filling.
  3. Fold in the two sides.
  4. Firmly, roll the whole thing up, using your fingers to keep the fillings pushed towards the middle of the roll and tight.

When working with or rolling the wrappers, you might find one tears. If the rice paper tears a bit, don’t worry, just overlap the two torn edges and continue on like nothing happened.

Don't worry if it tears when rolling

How to Store Fresh Summer Rolls

Fresh summer rolls are best eaten straight away, but you can store them wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge for a few hours. Just keep the rolls away from one another as they tend to stick to each other over time.

If you are storing overnight, you might want to add a layer of damp paper towels before the plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

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37 comments… Leave a Review
  • Chris April 14, 2018, 1:17 pm

    I noticed the rice paper we have at our local paper has a bad after taste. Any way to eliminate that after taste?

    Reply
    • Joanne May 2, 2018, 2:48 pm

      Hi Chris, I’m not really sure how to eliminate this. I’d try a different store and see if you can find another brand sold in your area.

      Reply
  • Ramona June 8, 2017, 2:09 pm

    Do you dip them in a sauce?

    Reply
    • Joanne June 8, 2017, 3:03 pm

      Hi Ramona, For traditional spring rolls, we love a peanut sauce, although we do not have a recipe for one on Inspired Taste.

      Reply
  • Missy Gold February 12, 2017, 11:19 pm

    A Vietnamese friend taught me to lay a damp kitchen cloth down to work on and use one to cover the rolls while you work if you are making a large number it does help. Her recipe used one red lettuce leaf, rice noodles, Thai basil, cilantro, mint leaves, shreads of carrots, cucumber sticks and chicken or shrimp.

    Reply
    • Natalie August 16, 2017, 12:34 pm

      Excellent tip – thanks

      Reply
  • Annetjie Rogers January 5, 2017, 2:43 am

    Can you deep fry a spring roll after softening the rice paper, filling and rolling it?

    Reply
    • Joanne January 5, 2017, 1:46 pm

      Yes, you can deep fry the rice paper rolls. Since rice paper is so fragile, quite a few people prefer to use wrappers that are labeled as spring roll wrappers (which often have a bit of wheat flour added). These hold up a little easier.

      Reply
  • Annie October 12, 2016, 1:45 am

    Omg
    I should have read this site before I put all the rice papers in the water all at once! Very embarrassed now?It wasn’t so easy slowly separating them, but I managed and they were delicious
    5 stars

    Reply
  • Janet September 7, 2016, 7:16 am

    Just embarking on trying my next burger on a rice wrap. I’m tired of losing all the good juice from a delicious burger (pickles, GF sauce, lettuce, onion). The BLT will be first on my ‘to-do’ list.
    Thanks for your good work on this subject!

    Reply
  • Maureen Donovan July 22, 2016, 1:50 pm

    Yes, I also thought this was a great way to enjoy a BLT especially during this hot weather. I plan on taking them to a cookout. Can these be made the night before and stored in the refrigerator? Thank you for your wonderful help. I have never used rice paper wrappers before.

    Reply
    • Joanne July 28, 2016, 4:57 pm

      Hi Maureen, Rice paper tends to dry out when left overnight. If you can, make them the day of and then wrap them with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

      Reply
  • Karen July 16, 2016, 1:04 pm

    Thank you for this info. I just saw a recipe I want to try but had no idea where to buy the rice paper or really how to use them. Now I do and cannot wait to try the recipe!

    Reply
  • Lachlan December 14, 2015, 3:49 pm

    Hi, I opened my rice paper rolls a while ago! I put them in a zip lock bag in my cupboard, and recently wanted to make some Again! They’re the exact brand as that. I was wondering if you know if they exprire or not as I can’t read the package! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Joanne December 22, 2015, 1:02 pm

      If the wrappers were stored in a bag (we like using a resealable bag) then they should last a couple years.

      Reply
  • Barbara August 30, 2015, 8:06 pm

    I made theses today and all went well until I put then in a container to store and the stuck together. Any sugesstions for keeping them from sticking together. I rubbed olive oil on my hands and sort of got them unstuck but just wondering if there’s some sort of trick?

    Reply
    • Joanne October 16, 2015, 12:55 pm

      Hi Barbara, We’re not sure of any special tricks on this one. Placing a piece of parchment paper in between the rolls or individually wrapping with plastic wrap is probably your best bet.

      Reply
    • john September 6, 2016, 3:08 pm

      I wrap them and leave them whole then wrap lightly in saran wrap. I cut the rolls into smaller pieces just before I am ready to eat them. I even make them the night before and take to lunch the next day. love that little chew.

      Reply

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