My entire family loves egg rolls (although my oldest son prefers the pizza rolls that our local Chinese restaurant sells) and I wanted to try making them and know exactly what was going in to my egg rolls! I wanted an easy eggroll recipe that would be quick to make and would freeze well so that, when I get a craving for Chinese food, I can just grab one out of the freezer and heat it up quickly!
Now, I could have spent time chopping up a bunch of carrots and cabbage for the filling, but it was just easier to buy a bag of cole slaw mix in the produce section of the grocery store. It's already all cut up for me and my family honestly didn't notice a difference! I found this recipe and started off to make it exactly the same way, but after I started cooking and tasting, I made some tweaks that I really think made it much better! Pair these egg rolls with my egg roll dipping sauce recipe and you have a great appetizer to serve at parties!
A few things to keep in mind:
- These egg rolls can be frozen, but you must cook them first. Egg roll wrappers do NOT freeze well, especially after they have been filled, unless they are cooked.
- They can be baked instead of fried. To bake them, just spray them with cooking oil and bake at 400, turning once, until they are crispy on all sides.
- To reheat frozen egg rolls, just place them on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until they are heated through (you can also thaw them first).
- This recipe will also work great for "bite-size" egg rolls. Just substitute wonton wrappers for the egg roll wrapper and you should get 28 - 30 mini egg rolls instead of 14 full size ones.
- You can use ground pork sausage (the kind that comes in tubes) or fresh ground pork. I chose the fresh ground pork and the next time I make these, I will make sure to chop the pork with my spatula a bit more to get the meat pieces a little smaller.
Ok - let's get to my easy eggroll recipe. To make them, you will need:
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb pork sausage or ground pork
- 4 cups cole slaw mix
- 3 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Hoisin sauce
- 1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 - 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
- Oil for deep-fat frying
Directions:
- In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat, breaking up well, until no longer pink. Drain fat and return pork to the pan
- Stir in the coleslaw mix, water chestnuts, onions, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, garlic and ginger. Saute until cabbage starts to wilt, but is not mushy.
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- Position an egg roll wrapper with one point toward you. Place about 1/4 cup filling in the center.
- Fold bottom corner over filling and tuck under filling.
- Gently fold the sides toward center and over the filling. Roll toward the remaining point.
- Moisten top corner and any other "loose areas" with beaten egg yolk and press to seal.
- Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
- Heat deep fat fryer (or oil in a heavy skillet) to 375.
- Fry egg rolls, a few at a time, for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- Drain on paper towels.
- Serve with sweet-and-sour sauce.
These were so easy to make, I can't believe I had a fear of making egg rolls for so long! I think I am soon going to try making the pizza egg rolls that my son loves so much as well as experiment with a few dessert egg roll recipes!
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb pork sausage or ground pork
- 4 cups cole slaw mix
- 3 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Hoisin sauce
- 1 can 8 ounces sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 - 2 egg yolks slightly beaten
- Oil for deep-fat frying
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat, breaking up well, until no longer pink. Drain fat and return pork to the pan
- Stir in the coleslaw mix, water chestnuts, onions, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, garlic and ginger. Saute until cabbage starts to wilt, but is not mushy.
- Season with salt & pepper to taste
- Position an egg roll wrapper with one point toward you. Place about 1/4 cup filling in the center.
- Fold bottom corner over filling and tuck under filling.
- Gently fold the sides toward center and over the filling. Roll toward the remaining point.
- Moisten top corner and any other "loose areas" with beaten egg yolk and press to seal.
- Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
- Heat deep fat fryer (or oil in a heavy skillet) to 375.
- Fry egg rolls, a few at a time, for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- Drain on paper towels.
- Serve with sweet-and-sour sauce.