Baked Egg Rolls with Two Sauces

Source

Baked Eggrolls

I love egg rolls and spring rolls of all varieties, but I don't really care for deep-frying them. I'm not much of a fan of the process of deep-frying, to tell the truth. (I'll happily eat someone else's cooking however!) When I had a craving for egg rolls, I had to find something that was baked and still good.

These egg rolls are crunchy enough to be interesting, easy to make and (most importantly) good. Since they're baked, sealing the filling inside isn't as essential -- I'm fairly loose on my wrapping myself.

Baked Egg Rolls [printable recipe]

Serves 2 as a main, 4+ as an appetizer or side
Adapted from Cooking Light

  • 2 cups shredded Napa or China cabbage (or bok choy)
  • 2/3 cup shredded carrot (about 2)
  • 2/3 cup shredded onion (about 1/2 medium)
  • 1/2 tsp grated ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast1, ground/minced (about 1/2 pound)
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce, divided
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red chili flakes
  • 8 - 16 egg roll wrappers2
  • cooking spray
  • Basic Dipping Sauce (recipe follows) and/or
  • Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 425F.

Shred cabbage and carrot together using the grating disc of a food processor. Remove to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, vent, and microwave for about 5 minutes. Drain.

Shred onion in food processor, remove. Switch to the chopping blade and chop up chicken until minced finely.

In an oiled medium skillet set over moderate-high heat, saute onion, garlic and ginger for about 2 minutes. Add chicken, pepper, chili flakes and 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce and continue to saute for about 3 - 4 more minutes until cooked through. Remove from heat and stir into cabbage mixture. Let cool slightly.

Place a wrapper in front of you so it looks like a diamond. Spread about 2 - 3 tbsp chicken mixture in the center horizontally. Fold in right and left corners over the filling, bring up lower corner. Moisten top corner with water, roll up towards the top (as a jelly roll). Place seam-side down onto a lined sheet pan. Repeat.

Lightly spray egg rolls with cooking spray. Bake at 425F for 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes:

  1. Have leftovers? Use shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken or leftover meat from another meal instead of ground chicken. Throw all of the veggies through the shredding disc of a food processor and microwave them with some soy sauce for five minutes. Stir it all together and get the rest of the family involved in rolling up wrappers. You should be able to get dinner on the table in under 30 minutes this way with little fuss.
  2. Look for the refrigerated egg roll wrappers. They're often in the deli section of grocery stores and can be frozen for later use. One packet usually makes at least two meals worth of egg rolls, sometimes more.

Basic Dipping Sauce [printable recipe]

From Cooking Light

  • 3/4 cup soy sauce
  • 6 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp minced ginger
  • 2 green onions, sliced thinly

Combine all.

Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce [printable recipe]

  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp crushed chili flakes
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tbsp teriyaki or soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp hot sauce

Combine all in a small skillet or saucepan over low heat. (Don't let it boil, just warm it up.) Taste, adjust spice as necessary, then serve.