Easy Egg Rolls/Deconstructed Egg Rolls Two for One Recipe!

Easy Egg Rolls with Orange Chicken and Asian Slaw

Making egg rolls always seemed like a very daunting task.  It was so much easier to buy frozen egg rolls, pop them in the air fryer and call it a day, or so I thought.  David said we should make our own eggs rolls.  They are extremely easy, just time consuming.  The daunting part for me was rolling the wonton wrappers.  Sure, I've seen chefs rolls them on TV all of the time, but that's TV.  When I really got into cooking more and enjoying it so much, I decided to give it a shot!  I can tackle these little egg rolls.

I knew putting the filling together was going to be simple.  The kids already love it when I make Deconstructed Egg Rolls, that recipe will be a separate post, so putting the filling together would be to follow that recipe.  For us, ground turkey is cheaper than ground pork, so I generally use ground turkey in my deconstructed egg rolls, a.k.a. filling.  When I see ground turkey on sale, I stock up.  It doesn't go on sale all too often, but I take advantage when it does.

Have you begun to relax a little and think, hey!  I can make these!  Make them to have alongside your Chinese food dinner, as an appetizer for a party or fun appetizer dinner, or even lunch.  A little secret...I prepared and rolled them in the morning, put them in the freezer, pulled them out as I preheated my air fryer oven, and put them in the air fryer when it was ready.  You can definitely shallow fry these, but I try to use our air fryer as often as possible.

Seasonings and spices for egg roll filling

Getting ready to roll!

Follow the pictures below to roll the egg rolls

From this point, depending on when I make the rolls, I will either start the air fryer or place in my freezer on a flat surface (so they don't roll).  Remove from the freezer about 10 minutes before cooking, while your oil is heating your the air fryer is preheating.  

I was so intimidated when thinking about making my own egg rolls, I never figured I would be able to accomplish it so easily.  We LOVE egg rolls, and we also LOVE Deconstructed Egg Rolls which is the egg roll filling in this recipe over rice.  This is why I'm calling this a two for one recipe for you!

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 lb ground turkey or pork
• 1 bag coleslaw mix
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 green onions, diced
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/4c. soy sauce
• salt and pepper
• 1 pkg wonton wrappers
• Sweet Chili Sauce, optional

Note: If making this as the Deconstructed Egg Rolls, double to recipe and make two cups of rice to serve with your mixture.

Directions:

1. Add sesame oil to a skillet.  Sprinkle the ginger into the skillet with the oil.  Brown turkey in the sesame oil over medium high heat.  Season with salt and pepper.  
2. Once the meat is browned, added the garlic powder and onion powder.  Stir to combine.  Add in the coleslaw mix.  The cabbage will cook down a lot.  Stir to combine with the meat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  
3. Add the green onions, honey, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce.  If you have it and want a little kick of spice, add the sweet chili sauce.
4. Stir well to combine.  Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.  Adjust any seasonings with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat.  (If you are not making egg rolls, this is ready to serve with rice.)
5. Fill a small bowl of water to help seal the edges of the wonton wrappers.
6. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking oil so the egg rolls don't stick.  
7. **See pictures above!!!! Taking one wonton wrapper at a time, place it as a diamond on a clean surface.  Place 1 tbsp filling into the center of the wrapper.  Dip your finger into the bowl of water and line the edges of the wrapper.  Fold the bottom corner up over the filling.  Press edges down.  Fold a side corner, then the other side corner over.  Your egg roll should resemble an envelope.  Fold the last corner over sealing the egg roll.  Gently press to make sure no filling will leak out.  Place onto baking sheet.  Repeat the steps.
8. You now have two options, fry/air fry the egg rolls or put into the freezer to cook later in the day.  Do not freeze longer than one day if not cooked.
9. If frying, heat vegetable oil into a deep skillet.  The oil needs to be at at least 350 degrees to fry.  When frying, do not overcrowd the skillet.  Fry no more than 4 egg rolls at a time.  You will need to flip the egg rolls once during the frying process.
10. If air frying, set air fryer temp to 400 and cook for 15 minutes, flipping once to brown on both sides.
11. They are now ready to enjoy!!!

Note: If frying, place a cooling rack on the baking sheet you used to prepare the egg rolls.  This will help drain the oil after coming out of the skillet.