Egg rolls. They’re the quintessential Chinese takeout food. This easy egg roll recipe is a copycat of the basic version you’ll find in takeout places and Chinese buffets, with cabbage and roast pork in the filling.
It’s been a very long time since I was regularly making them in my parents’ takeout restaurant, when we’d crank out hundreds of egg rolls at a time. With this recipe, however, we’ve recorded the ingredients and method we used, so we can make them anytime at home!
This recipe was originally published on November 10, 2014. We have since updated it with new photos, metric measurements, clearer instructions, additional details, nutrition information, and more. The recipe remains the same. Enjoy!
Fillings. As far as the difference in fillings, egg rolls are typically filled with cooked cabbage, some other vegetables, and pork, while spring rolls typically contain only cooked vegetables.
What Are Egg Rolls?
Egg rolls are fried, savory rolls, generally filled with cabbage, chopped Chinese roast pork, and sometimes shrimp.
The wheat flour-based wrappers form small bubbles when fried, giving them their signature look.
Try our Vietnamese fried spring rolls, which use rice paper wrappers instead of wheat flour based egg roll wrappers or spring roll wrappers.
It is an American creation that evolved from Chinese spring rolls (check out our Shanghai Style Spring Roll or Cantonese Spring Roll recipes to see the difference), sometime in the early 20th Century.
Contrary to the name, the filling does not actually contain egg, and there may or may not be eggs in the wrapper! Like other fried foods, they’re often served with duck sauce, a sweet condiment popular in Chinese-American takeout restaurants.
I first attempted to make these beside my father, who was a Chinese chef working at the Holiday Inn restaurant in upstate New York. He later became a business owner with his own Chinese restaurant in New Jersey.
Back then, chefs and kitchen hands were judged by how many pounds of egg roll wrappers they could go through in one hour. If you were any good, you could tear through 25-30 pounds of wrappers per hour, and all the egg rolls would look like perfect little clones of each other.
I wasn’t particularly good at it (25 pounds an hour was a far off dream), but I could make them well enough. It’s a relatively easy process, and you’ll get the hang of it quickly.
While my father is no longer here to give us his exact recipe, I’ve developed this one from memory. It’s very close to what we used to make at the restaurant, both in flavor and execution!
You could use the traditional ingredients in this recipe, or get creative with just about any fresh vegetables and meat.
Just make a good-sized batch. They freeze well after frying, and reheat nicely for after school or party snacks. You can even cut the wrappers into smaller squares, and make minis for a delightful appetizer. Need I say more?
Egg Rolls in the Air fryer
We’ve had many questions over the years about whether you can cook egg rolls in an air fryer.
We think that egg rolls are definitely best when deep-fried. The air fryer is a great tool for reheating!
That said, you CAN cook them in an air-fryer if desired. They will have a drier appearance and won’t be as crispy, but if you would really rather not deep-fry, this is an option.
Brush the egg rolls thoroughly with a neutral oil, and place in the air fryer basket.
Air fry at 350°F/175°C for 6 minutes. Flip the egg rolls, and cook for an additional 6 minutes.
You can serve them after they’ve cooled a bit, either by themselves, or with a dipping sauce: perhaps a little duck sauce, Chinese hot mustard, sweet and sour sauce, or hot sauce.
Make Takeout-Style Egg Rolls
FAQ
What do eggrolls contain?
Which is healthier spring roll or egg roll?
What is the crust of an egg roll made of?
Do egg rolls contain onions?