15 Minute Spring Roll Bowls for Dinner in a Flash

Fifteen minutes to make dinner is about all I have most week days after the kids get home from school, work finally calms down and we still need to get out the door all over again for after school activities. I'm always on the lookout for fast, kid friendly and delicious meals with a good amount of veggies thrown in and these 15-Minute Spring Roll Bowls check all those boxes.

Think taco night where everyone gets to choose their own toppings except this is the deconstructed spring roll version.

If you’ve tried any of my other recipes you know I typically take step-by-step pictures. I fully intended to start taking photos after the meat was cooked (it’s really hard to make raw ground meat look Pinterest-worthy in photos), but by the time it was cooked, the meal was pretty much done and my kids were starving. So I fed them and then took photos of the one bowl I was about to eat. How's that for a selling feature — it came together too quickly for me to snap some photos!

Three out of the four kids at my dinner table that night ate this dinner happily. The one who wasn’t so sure about a deconstructed spring roll was my son (which is not surprising to those who know him). So instead, I made him a small bowl of white rice and topped it with the sesame-teriyaki chicken and turkey. Then gave him a side plate and he made his own salad from the toppings set out on the table. So technically all the kids ate this dinner (two asked for seconds), one just needed a bit of a modification.

15 Minute Spring Roll Bowls

Ingredients

Directions

• Over medium-high heat, heat sesame oil in large pan, add ground meat and cook, breaking into small pieces with wooden spoon, until done.
   
• Meanwhile, cook rice noodles according to package directions.
   
• While everything is cooking, chop up your veggies and put on a platter or in individual bowls (think taco night and everyone gets to choose their own toppings). Some of our favourite toppings are lettuce, cucumber, match sick carrots, sliced pepper, avocado a few mint leaves and then squeeze a wedge of lime over the whole bowl. I usually buy the lettuce pre-cut and pre-washed and the carrots already cut into matchsticks so slicing the remaining veggies is easy and fast.
   
• Once meat is cooked (no pink inside!), reduce heat to low and add crushed ginger, teriyaki sauce, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
   
• To serve, add cooked noodles to individual bowls and top with meat mixture. Then let everyone choose their own toppings. My kids say the lime goes on last and makes everything extra delicious.

TIP: Use the leftovers to make these Fresh Spring Rolls for lunches the next day. I omit the avocado (even with lime it can go brown in lunchboxes) and send with a small container of soya sauce or Asian sesame salad dressing for dipping.

SWITCH IT UP: Use pre-sliced chicken breast strips instead of ground beef, chicken or turkey.

BONUS: This is yummy hot or cold in your lunch the next day as a noodle salad. 

FREEZE ME: The meat can be frozen for up to 3-4 months to make this meal come together even quicker. You can also freeze in individual portions and easily pull out for a fast and easy thermos lunch over rice, toss in a salad or roll into a fresh spring roll.

IMAGES SOURCE: COURTESY OF MAIJA MOMENTS

Looking for more fast and easy weeknight dinners? Try my Cheesy Perogies, my super fast Broccoli Cheddar Soup, my One Pot, Lazy Cabbage Rolls and my kid's favourite Wonton Soup.