Air Fryer Egg Rolls

published on February 22, 2021

Homemade air fryer egg rolls are a tasty version of your favorite takeout food without all of the oil. They will satisfy your craving for takeout!

Chinese food is a favorite treat for both of us.

Any time we order it, you can bet we get a smorgasbord of lo mein, sweet and sour chicken and of course, egg rolls!

While we make a lot of stir fry at home to satisfy our cravings without needing to leave the house, we usually skip the homemade egg rolls because frying stuff in oil is just such a pain.

This air fryer version is delicious, tastes just like the kind you would get at a restaurant and is a lot lighter since we use an air fryer instead of deep frying these.

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Ingredients You’ll Need

To make these at home, you’ll need:

Oils – You’ll need vegetable oil, toasted sesame oil., and peanut oil. I really like the peanut oil for crisping the outside of the egg rolls but you can use vegetable in place of vegetable oil or substitute canola oil for vegetable oil. You’ll want to keep the toasted sesame oil for the flavor.
Cabbage – You will use very thinly sliced green cabbage for this recipe. Alternately you can purchase a bag of cabbage mix at the grocery store. If you do this you won’t need to add the extra carrots called for in the recipe.
Shredded carrots – I buy the pre-shredded but you can also grate carrots with a box grater.
Green onions – Green onions add a bit of flavor and garnish too.
Soy sauce – You can use either regular or lower sodium versions.
Sugar – Sugar adds a little sweetness to the egg roll filling.
Five spice powder – You should be able to find this spice blend at your local grocery or speciality shop. If not, you can order online. Though they can vary, they often contain ground cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise, Sichuan peppercorn, and cloves.
Cooked shrimp – I like the tiny shrimp like they use at Chinese restaurants. You can find them in the aisle with canned tuna fish in similar cans. If can also use steamed, baked, or pre-cooked shrimp from the grocery store all can work. You just need to chop it into small pieces. You could also substitute small pieces of cooked chicken, pork, or tofu if you prefer.
Egg roll wrappers – Egg roll wrappers are often sold in the Asian aisle of the grocery store or you can order them online if needed.
Egg – You’ll need a large, beaten egg.

We use this Cosori Air Fryer to make our egg rolls.

Instructions

Step 1 – Cook the filling. In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat.

When it gets hot, add the cabbage and shredded carrots to the skillet. You’ll need to stir it frequently as it softens. It should take about 7-10 minutes for it to soften up.

Once the cabbage and carrots are tender, add the green onions, soy sauce, sugar, toasted sesame oil, five spice powder, and cooked shrimp to the skillet. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir everything together until it is well combined.

Step 2 – Roll the egg rolls. Once the filling has cooled enough to touch, you can get filling your egg rolls. Follow the steps in the section “How to Roll an Egg Roll”. Once they are all rolled, preheat your air fryer for 5 minutes at 400 degrees.

Step 3 – Cook. Once the rolls are ready lightly brush each roll with a very thin layer of peanut oil. If you have an oil sprayer you can fill it with peanut oil and spray the eggrolls. Make sure to use a very light layer of oil on each side.

Place the rolls in the pre-heated fryer basket so that there is a bit of room between each. Cook at 400 degrees F for 5 minutes then stop and flip over and continue to cook for 5 minutes more.

Serve immediately.

How to Roll an Egg Roll

Here’s how to roll an egg roll. Don’t worry if they are not perfect! You’ll get better each time you make them.

Place an egg roll wrapper on a flat surface with a corner facing up so that it is in a diamond shape.
Spoon about 3 ounces of the cabbage filling just below the centerline of the wrapper.
Lift the bottom corner and fold it up and over the fling tucking it underneath the cabbage. Use your fingers to gently press down on each side of the filling. You want to make sure it is packed in and tightly sealed.
Fold the side corners into the middle. It will look sort of like an envelope.
Dip a brush in the beaten egg and lightly brush the egg over the top corner of the wrapper. The egg will make it stick when you roll the wrapper up and will help keep the filling in place.
Roll the egg roll up so that the remaining corner wraps around the egg roll sealing it all together.
Repeat the steps until all of the filling is used up. Once they are ready to go, you can follow the steps for cooking them in an air fryer.

Frozen Egg Rolls in the Air Fryer

Let’s face it. Sometimes you just want egg rolls and don’t want to make them yourself or order take out again. The good news is you can make crispy egg rolls in your air fryer, which is just one more reason you should get one if you don’t have one!

An air fryer can make even frozen egg rolls crispy and fresh tasting.

Here’s how to use your air fryer to make frozen egg rolls nice and crispy:

Preheat the air fryer to 390 degrees F for 3 minutes.
Add the frozen egg rolls to the air fryer basket in a single layer. Make sure to leave a little room between each egg roll for the air to go. If you have a large number to make, you may need to do this in batches. You can keep them fresh by placing them on a cookie tray in a warm oven.
Cook for 5 minutes and then turn them over. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
When the timer goes off and the air fryer stops, leave the basket in the air fryer for an additional 5 minutes so that everything heats through. Serve hot and enjoy!

dipping Air Fryer Egg Rolls in duck sauce

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Servings: 12

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 50