Whenever I whip up a batch of my Mom’s famous Chinese egg rolls, it feels like a special family gathering, even if it’s just a Tuesday night! They’re perfect as a great snack or appetizer to wow a crowd. And guess what? They’re surprisingly easy to make! I’ve got step-by-step photos to guide you through, making it an easy recipe to follow for the best egg rolls at home. 

Authentic Chinese egg rolls should be smooth, light, crisp-crackly skin and small enough to enjoy in 4 bites. The filling should also be light, and you should be able to taste and distinguish every single ingredient in the filling. The beauty of these homemade egg rolls is that they freeze beautifully, making them a convenient make-ahead treat. So, let’s dive into the world of classic egg rolls and bring a bit of my family’s kitchen into yours!

Chinese Egg Rolls Recipe

Why This Chinese Egg Rolls Recipe Is So Good

  • Authentic Family Recipe: This isn’t just any recipe; it’s Mama Ruthie’s authentic Chinese egg rolls recipe. Handed down through generations, it’s steeped in tradition and packed with the kind of love and care only a family recipe can offer.
  • A Crowd-Pleaser: There’s a reason why egg rolls are a super popular classic in Chinese food. They’re universally loved, making them the perfect dish for parties. Whether your guests are familiar with authentic Chinese cuisine or not, they’re sure to fall in love with these.
  • Perfect for Big Gatherings: The best part about these crispy egg rolls? You can batch make a ton! They are ideal for large gatherings because they can be made in advance and easily frozen, ensuring you’re always party-ready.
  • Crispy Perfection: Forget the massive, chewy spring rolls you might find at some Chinese-American takeout joints. These homemade rolls are all about crispy perfection. They boast a light, delicate skin that crackles with each bite, and a non-soggy filling that’s just divine.
  • Ideal for Quick Snacks or Meals: Not only do they taste incredible, but these crispy egg rolls also freeze exceptionally well. You can cook them straight from frozen, making them a convenient option for when those cravings hit. It’s a hassle-free way to enjoy the best results, with simple ingredients and minimal prep whenever you want a taste of authentic Chinese cuisine.

Ingredients

  • Spring/Egg roll wrappers
  • Cornstarch
  • Cooking oil (canola oil, vegetable oil, or olive oil work great)
  • Soy sauce
  • Ground pork
  • Cabbage
  • Shitake Mushrooms and carrots
  • Garlic, ginger
  • Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
  • Sugar
  • Sesame oil
  • Black

 

How To Make This Egg Rolls Recipe – Step By Step 

To Make the Filling

  1. In a large bowl, mix together the soy sauce, cornstarch and pork. Marinate at least 10 minutes. In the meantime, shred the cabbage and the carrots using your food processor or by hand. Slice the mushrooms into very thin strips (or you could use your food processor and pulse a few times to get a fine dice.)
  2. Heat a wok or large saute pan over high heat. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the marinated pork and stir fry until no longer pink, about 2-3 minutes. Turn heat to medium-low, push the meat to one side of the pan.
  3. Add the garlic, cabbage, carrots, ginger and the mushrooms and stir fry for 1 minute, until the vegetables are softened. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and black pepper. Continue to stir fry for another minute.
  4. Scoop out the filling to a baking sheet and spread out to cool. Prop up one end of the baking sheet so that it tilts and will allow all the moisture to drain to one end. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Wrap Egg Rolls

  1. Discard all of the accumulated juices. Use paper towels to blot the filling to rid of extra oil or juice. Now, you’re ready to wrap (see step by step photos in the post for instructions on how to wrap).
  2. IMPORTANT: Only use 1 heaping tablespoon of filling for each egg roll. These are slender egg rolls, the width of the egg roll should only be 1.25″ diameter.
  3. Keep the rolled egg rolls in neat, single layer and covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. If you want to stack the egg rolls, make sure you have layer of parchment paper in between the layers to prevent sticking. Keep wrappers also covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Refrigerate up to 4 hours until ready to fry or freeze.

To Fry the Egg Rolls

  1. Fill a wok or large pot with 2 inches of high-heat cooking oil. Heat the oil to 350°F (175°C) or until a cube of bread will fry to golden brown within 10 seconds. Gently slide in or lower the egg rolls, frying 4 to 6 at a time, turning occasionally until golden brown about 1½ minutes. Place on wire rack to drain and cool.
  2. NOTE: To fry frozen egg rolls, do not defrost the egg rolls – just add them to the oil frozen, frying 4 to 6 at a time. Add an additional 1½ minutes to the frying time since they are frozen.

Mama Ruthie’s Chinese Egg Rolls Recipe Rules

Mama’s Rule #1: Your egg roll filling ingredients must be drained of excess moisture and cooled before rolling. Soggy, hot filling makes soggy egg rolls.

Mama’s Rule #2: Use the right kind of Chinese spring roll wrappers. The size I get is 8 x 8 inches (20 x 20 cm) around and come 25 wrappers to a package. These wrappers are light, paper-thin and fry up to a shatteringly crisp crunch.  Oh yes, before I forget – “spring roll” and “egg roll” are interchangeable and mean the same thing. Sometimes my big-name local grocery store will have “spring roll pasta sheets” that are in the refrigerated produce section. Do not use those – they are way too thick! Let’s just say that if it has Italian writing on the package, it probably ain’t the good stuff for Chinese egg rolls.

Here are photos of my 2 favorite egg roll wrapper brands, found in most Asian markets.

Chinese Egg Rolls Recipe wrapper brandChinese Egg Rolls Recipe wrapper brand

Mama’s Rule#3. Treat the wrapper right. You also want to keep the wrappers covered with a damp towel at all times to prevent the edges from drying and cracking.

Mama’s Rule #4: Roll small and tight! Sloppy and loosely rolled egg rolls will break apart and allow oil to seep into the inside of the roll. Mama says baaaad. One time I was watching a celebrity chef on television making monster egg rolls the size of a cola can. Who in the heck can wrap their mouths around that thing? It looked hideous. Mama’s egg rolls are elegant and skinny. Don’t be too greedy and overstuff them!  And roll them tight so that the filling doesn’t fall out while frying! Remember the days when you were younger and rolled your own… um… cigarette? Channel those rolling skills back.

Mama’s Rule #5: Lay the rolled egg rolls neatly with a piece of parchment, foil or wax paper in between each layer if you are stacking them on top of each other. Keep them covered with plastic wrap or a towel to prevent drying. If you are freezing, freeze them in like this first. Once frozen, you can gather them up and transfer them to a plastic freezer bag. If you roll them out and jumble them all together in a big pile, they’ll eventually stick to each other and you’ll tear the delicate skin trying to pry them apart.

How To Wrap Egg Rolls

The printable Chinese Egg Rolls recipe is below, but here are step by step photos on how to wrap. This Chinese egg rolls recipe is specifically for ground pork egg rolls, but as you can see in these photos, the filling is very flexible. I’ve used chopped shrimp, ground chicken, ground beef, ground turkey, very thinly sliced pork (almost like matchstick sized). In these photos, I used crawfish and diced Chinese sausage!

These photos are just a guideline to teach you how to wrap (and the wrong way to wrap Chinese Egg Rolls!)

After you fry the filling, you’ll want to spread it out to cool on a baking sheet. Tilt the baking sheet and prop it up so that all the juices and excess oil accumulate. You’ll discard this as well. Too much juice in filling makes soggy egg rolls.

Chinese Egg Rolls Recipe drain filling

Lay the wrapper on a clean, dry surface as shown. Spoon just a heaping tablespoon of filling near the bottom corner. Resist the urge to over stuff with too much filling!

 add filling

Lift the bottom point up and begin rolling until you reach halfway up from the edges of the wrapper.

 fold like envelope

Fold over the left side, and then the right side towards the center.

Roll Wrapping Step 3

Continue folding up with a tuck-roll-tuck-roll motion. Dip your fingers into the cornstarch slurry and brush all over the final top corner. Finish up the roll, seal and place seam side down.

Roll fold like envelope

See how tightly the egg roll wrapped? Any holes or large air pockets will allow oil to seep in, resulting in a greasy egg roll! The width or diameter of the egg roll should ONLY be 1.25-inches. If you make them any larger (i.e. too much filling) you’ll end up with less egg rolls.

 sealed roll

Wrong Ways to Roll 

A common mistake is to not fold over and tuck good enough. Oil seeps in and will make your egg roll greasy. Plus, big holes = your egg roll will fall apart while frying.

Can You Freeze These Egg Rolls?

If you want to freeze the egg rolls, lay the rolls in a single layer inside a gallon freezer bag. If they overlap, they might freeze and stick together. They can touch side by side, but try not to overload bag. When ready to cook, do NOT defrost, or they will be a soggy, deformed mess. Fry the egg rolls frozen (see below).

You can make a big batch of them and freeze them. I usually call a couple of my girlfriends over and we have an egg-rollin’ party where we’ll make a massive batch of them, enjoy them fresh that night and have enough for all to take home and freeze. If you are making these with friends, I’d suggest doubling the recipe so each person has some to take home to freeze. I promise you they will taste just as good fried after frozen and you will never taste better egg rolls than these.

Top Tips For These Egg Rolls

  • Lay the cooked filling ingredients out on a baking tray, so they cool quickly. You don’t want your filling hot when wrapping your egg rolls, or the rolls will be soggy.
  • Do not over stuff your rolls or they will burst.
  • These freeze well, make a big batch!
  • You can pop the frozen rolls straight into the fryer.

More Asian Recipes To Explore

Chinese Egg Rolls Recipe

Mother's Famous Chinese Egg Rolls Recipe

Jaden
Once you make these egg rolls, you'll never make them any other way! Make sure you get the correct egg roll wrappers. They should be FROZEN and very thin, almost paper thin. Do not use egg roll wrapper found in the refrigerated section (usually near tofu) in Western supermarket - they make starchy, thick, gooey egg rolls with big bubbles on outside when you fry. It's important to make sure you keep your wrapper and rolled egg rolls under plastic wrap so that they do not dry out!
4.77 from 26 votes
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Chinese
Servings 50 egg rolls
Calories 85 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 50 Spring/Egg Roll Wrappers about 2 packages, defrosted unopened at room temperature for 45 minutes or in the refrigerator overnight
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with ¼ cup of cool water to seal egg roll
  • Cooking oil for frying
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • ½ head of cabbage about 11 ounces
  • 6 fresh shiitake mushrooms stems discarded
  • 1 cup julienned carrots
  • 2 cloves garlic very finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
 

To Make the Filling

  • In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, cornstarch and pork. Marinate at least 10 minutes. In the meantime, shred the cabbage and the carrots using your food processor or by hand. Slice the mushrooms into very thin strips (or you could use your food processor and pulse a few times to get a fine dice.
  • Heat a wok or large saute pan over high heat. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the marinated pork and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 2-3 minutes. Turn heat to medium-low, push the meat to one side of the pan. Add the garlic, cabbage, carrots, ginger and the mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute, until the vegetables are softened. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and black pepper. Continue to stir-fry for another minute. Scoop out the filling to a baking sheet and spread out to cool. Prop up one end of the baking sheet so that it tilts and will allow all the moisture to drain to one end. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Wrap Egg Rolls

  • Discard all of the accumulated juices. Use paper towels to blot the filling to rid of extra oil or juice. Now, you're ready to wrap (see step by step photos in the post for instructions on how to wrap).
  • IMPORTANT: Only use 1 heaping tablespoon of filling for each egg roll. These are slender egg rolls, the width of the egg roll should only be 1.25" diameter.
  • Keep the rolled egg rolls in neat, single layer and covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. If you want to stack the egg rolls, make sure you have layer of parchment paper in between the layers to prevent sticking. Keep wrappers also covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Refrigerate up to 4 hours until ready to fry or freeze.

Want to Freeze?

  • If you want to freeze the egg rolls, lay the rolls in a single layer inside a gallon freezer bag. If they overlap, they might freeze and stick together. They can touch side by side, but try not to overload bag. When ready to cook, do NOT defrost, or they will be a soggy, deformed mess. Fry the egg rolls frozen (see below).

To Fry the Egg Rolls

  • Fill a wok or pot with 2 inches of high-heat cooking oil. Heat the oil to 350°F (175°C) or until a cube of bread will fry to golden brown within 10 seconds. Gently slide in or lower the egg rolls, frying 4 to 6 at a time, turning occasionally until golden brown about 1½ minutes. Place on wire rack to drain and cool.
  • NOTE: To fry frozen egg rolls, do not defrost the egg rolls – just add them to the oil frozen, frying 4 to 6 at a time. Add an additional 1½ minutes to the frying time since they are frozen.

Nutrition

Calories: 85kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 3gFat: 2gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 167mgPotassium: 72mgVitamin A: 440IUVitamin C: 3.5mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 0.8mg
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