Chicken Egg Rolls

Chicken egg rolls are something you hardly ever see in restaurants, as most egg rolls are made with pork. However, for those of you who don’t eat pork, or who just happen to have chicken on hand instead, this chicken egg roll recipe is for you! 

You can even be creative and mix and match fillings, making some with pork, some with chicken, and perhaps some with shrimp or other proteins. 

A chicken egg roll is delicious, and while it takes some patience, none of the recipe steps are difficult. Worried that it won’t taste like a traditional egg roll? No need! I have an exciting shortcut method for giving the chicken that “Chinese BBQ Pork” flavor. Read on!

How to Make Chicken Egg Rolls

If you’ve made our restaurant-style takeout egg rolls, you’ll recognize many of the steps in this chicken egg roll recipe. We usually use chopped pork char siu as most restaurants do. But for this version, we cook a shortcut wok-fried version of our char siu chicken. Simply marinate the chicken, sear it in the wok, and add it to the egg roll filling!

We call for boneless chicken thighs here, since they’re more flavorful than chicken breast and stay juicy when cut into small pieces and cooked in a hot wok. That said, you can use chicken breast. Just add a couple tablespoons of water to the chicken after you cut it, and mix until the liquid absorbs into the meat. This will help keep it moist.

As with any egg roll recipe, we have shredded cabbage, carrots and celery. It can be quite a bit of chopping and slicing for most. However, if you have a food processor with a shredding blade, it just takes a few minutes to shred all three ingredients for this recipe. For convenience, you can also buy pre-shredded cole slaw mix. However, it’s more expensive and tends to be less fresh. (Plus…you still have to chop that celery!)

I usually shred with a cleaver or chef’s knife to keep my knife skills sharp (no pun intended). That said, I do see the merits of using the food processor whenever Sarah and Kaitlin step in to make egg rolls or cole slaw. The food processor is a very handy tool to have in your kitchen!

How to Cook Egg Rolls

We’ve had many questions about how to cook egg rolls—whether you can skip the frying and bake, or pan-fry, or air-fry them. My answer has always been that the best way to cook a tasty Chinese egg roll is to deep fry it. Peanut oil is best, but it’s a bit of a luxury, so canola or vegetable oil will also do the job. 

Some readers have reported that brushing the egg rolls with oil and then baking them in the oven or putting them in the air-fryer is a decent an alternative to deep-frying. 

Again, I recommend deep frying for the best results. If you’re trying to reduce your consumption of fried foods, I say make egg rolls more of a special occasion food! Here are some tips for frying your egg rolls: 

• Use less oil by frying only 3-4 egg rolls at a time in a small, deep pot. Fill the pot only to the level required to submerge the egg rolls.
• Don’t overcrowd the egg rolls. You will have to keep them moving in the oil for even frying.
• Use a thermometer to check your oil temperature. Frying at too low an oil temperature will yield greasier-tasting egg rolls. The oil temperature will drop quickly after adding the egg rolls, so adjust the heat to maintain the oil temperature while frying.
• Respect the oil, but don’t be afraid of it! Place each egg roll into the oil slowly. Gently dip it about halfway into the oil, then drop it away from yourself. Dropping them from a height because you’re afraid to get close to the oil is dangerous. You may splash hot oil onto yourself!
• Fry each egg roll until golden brown. If they sound like they’re sputtering or sizzling, it means the wrappers are cooked through, and the filling is hot and releasing some steam.
• Use a spider or a metal strainer to drain the egg roll of oil before transferring to a cooling rack or pan. I recommend placing the fried egg rolls on a metal cooling rack, or lined vertically in a pan with paper towels to let the oil drain thoroughly.

How to Store and Reheat Egg Rolls

One of the most pressing egg roll questions we get?

Can egg rolls be frozen? If so, do you freeze them before or after frying?

While you can do either, I always recommend that you cook them first and then freeze them. Freezing uncooked egg rolls may result in the egg roll skins cracking, and they are harder to cook after coming out of the freezer. They may get a bit soggy after thawing and are more prone to uneven frying. The wrapper may also not bubble up as much as a fresh egg roll. 

So here’s what you should do:

Fry all the egg rolls. After they have cooled, place them in freezer bags and freeze. To reheat,  bake them in the oven at 350°F/175°C, or air-fry them at 350°F/175°C—for 10 to 15 minutes, until crispy. You can deep-fry them again for a few minutes in 325°F/160°C until crispy, which is how we would reheat them at the restaurant. 

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Don’t forget to serve your chicken egg rolls with some homemade duck sauce or Chinese mustard, and enjoy!

Recipe Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine the chicken pieces with the garlic, sugar, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, salt, molasses, sesame oil, five spice powder, white pepper, and optional red food coloring, if using. Marinate overnight or for at least 2 hours.

Heat your wok until just smoking, and add 2 tablespoons of neutral oil around the perimeter of the wok. Add the marinated chicken, and spread it out in one layer around the wok. Let it sear for 2 minutes on each side. Then stir-fry the chicken until it is evenly cooked and you begin to see some light charred marks.

Remove the chicken from the wok, and cool completely.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare an ice bath. Put the cabbage, carrots, and celery into the boiling water and cook for about 2 minutes (you may have to do this in a couple batches depending on the size of your pot). We used our very large wok!

Use a Chinese spider strainer to transfer the veggies to the ice bath and drain. 

Thoroughly squeeze out all the excess water from the vegetables by hand or put the drained veggies on a clean kitchen towel to squeeze out the water. This is a very important step. If the filling is too wet, you’ll have soggy egg rolls!

Once dry, transfer the veggies to a large mixing bowl. Add the scallions, sesame oil, salt, sugar, and white pepper.

Also add the cooked chicken, and toss everything together. The filling is ready to be wrapped!

Now it’s time to wrap the chicken egg rolls. Take a small fistful of filling. Squeeze it gently in your hand until it is compressed together, and place it on the wrapper.

The wrapping method is similar to making a burrito. Add a thin layer of beaten egg to seal. Line them up on a lightly floured surface, and continue assembling until you run out of ingredients.

Now you’re ready to cook the egg rolls. Fill a small, deep pot about halfway to ⅔ full with neutral oil and heat to 325°F/160°C. You need just enough oil to submerge the egg rolls. 

Carefully place a few egg rolls into the oil, and fry them for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Keep them moving in the oil to make sure they fry evenly.

Cool for a few minutes and serve! Freeze your leftover chicken egg rolls in freezer bags, ready to reheat for your next party or whenever the mood strikes!

Video music credit: The Orange Tree / Wendy Marcini & Elvin Vanguard / EpidemicSound