You only need FOUR ingredients to make these delicious fried spring rolls: the peanut ginger sauce (which is already on the blog if you remember my peanut chicken stir-fry recipe!), coleslaw, chicken (or turkey), and spring roll wrappers!! These might seem complicated to make, but I can assure you they honestly take no time at all from start to finish. I even tested these spring rolls with THREE different cooking methods: air fryer (best results), oven (second best results), and pan-fried on the stove (my least favorite option, as these are so delicate they fell apart while pan-frying. This was also the most hands-on method and I love popping these in the air-fryer or oven and multi-tasking on something else!
Have you tried my peanut ginger stir-fry yet? A blog follower recently made that recipe, and after seeing her picture it reminded me it’s been quite awhile since I’ve made that peanut ginger sauce! If you’ve been following the blog for any length of time, you likely know that I LOVE nut butters and use them often in recipes.
While most recipes that use peanut butter are sweet, I cannot explain how addictively delicious this savory peanut ginger sauce is. It MAKES this recipe. It’s actually 100% the same recipe I used in the stir-fry recipe. I love making the peanut ginger sauce ahead of time too…it’s the perfect thing to prep over the weekend or the night before so these are even simpler to make the night of cooking!
I initially never even set out to make fried spring rolls. I remembered making this recipe several years ago back when my husband and I were first married and living in an apartment. I initially was going to make my peanut sauce and use cabbage (honestly, just making it easier versus using lots of different veggies, which would still be delicious) along with leftover frozen turkey I had in the freezer to make a version of those fresh spring rolls.
BUT. Then I got the idea to FRY the spring rolls in my air fryer….life changed. But seriously. And I realize that many of you might not have an air-fryer, so I am happy to report these spring rolls can get crispy in the oven too!! To be honest, I don’t see myself ever eating raw spring rolls again…this crispy fried version is just SO yummy.
Ingredients
As mentioned, you really only need a few main ingredients for these peanut ginger chicken spring rolls:
Chicken
You can use any leftover chicken you have on hand, whether it’s baked, grilled, shredded, rotisserie, etc. If you want a vegetarian version, you could sub tempeh or tofu, although I haven’t tried this myself. In full discloser, I actually have also used leftover cooked turkey we had in our freezer that needed used up which also worked out great!
Cabbage
I used a pre-shredded bag of coleslaw mix (14 ounces) from my grocery store…kept it pretty simple! Before adding the cabbage to the spring rolls, I mix some of the peanut sauce with it…it creates the most perfectly cooked texture in the final product and trust me, the cooked cabbage is delicious when coated in the peanut ginger sauce!
Before cooking in air-fryer
after cooking in air-fryer
Peanut Ginger Sauce
Speaking of the peanut ginger sauce, as I mentioned I used the same recipe as I used in this peanut ginger stir fry. The only change I made was adding 1-2 tbsp lime juice to thin out the sauce just a bit and create a vibrant taste. This is optional though! If you’ve never tried a savory peanut sauce before…it is seriously SO yummy you’ll want to eat it on everything!!
Peanut butter, fresh ginger (I usually buy the paste in produce section to make life easier), fresh garlic (again, I often buy pre-minced garlic or fresh garlic paste), soy sauce, pure maple syrup, and a touch of sesame oil (if you don’t have sesame oil, you can use any other variety of oil…but I love the taste the sesame oil adds!) all combine to create the most delicious sauce perfect for both the filling of these fried spring rolls, as well as dipping the spring rolls in too!
before baking in oven
after cooking/pan-frying on stove top
Spring Roll (Rice Paper) Wrappers
So I’m far from an expert with Chinese food/cooking, but traditional egg rolls use a thicker egg wrap and spring rolls are much thinner and made out of rice. It sounds strange, but they have a paper-like texture/consistency when you buy them, and then you soak them in water a few seconds to hydrate them. Then you add the filling ingredients, and the wet spring rolls will roll up and stick together then!
Cooking Methods
As I mentioned, I tested three different cooking methods as I know not everyone has an air-fryer. Our favorite method is air-fryer, as this created the crispiest/best final texture. Baking was the second-best texture/taste, although this takes quite a bit longer than the air-fryer method to create a crispy final product. The least favorite method was pan-frying these spring rolls in a bit of oil on the stove-top, as they seemed too fragile and fell apart too easily. To summarize, if you own an air-fryer, I’d definitely use that. But if you don’t, the oven works great as a the second best option!
- 1 lb. chicken or turkey, cooked and chopped
- 1 (14 ounce) bag coleslaw
- 1 batch Audra’s Appetite peanut sauce (see recipe below)
- Spring roll (Rice paper) wrappers*
- Peanut Ginger Sauce
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- First, make the peanut ginger sauce by adding all ingredients to a blender or small food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Take some of the peanut ginger sauce (honestly, I didn't measure) and toss with half of the bag of coleslaw.
- Following package instructions, hydrate the spring roll rice paper wrappers in water for a few seconds. Don't leave it in the water too long or it will be too difficult to work with and wrap up.
- Next place a spoonful of chicken and spoonful of coleslaw (covered in the peanut sauce) and then wrap up the spring rolls like a burrito, folding sides in so they are closed together. I didn't measure how much chicken and coleslaw I added; it's not an exact science but just don't overfill them so you can roll them up!
- Repeat this process to make desired amount of rolls. Since I am only cooking for two, I typically only make half a batch at a time as they taste the best the first day.
- If baking in oven, bake at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden brown, flipping once halfway through to ensure even cooking/browning.
- If cooking in air-fryer, cook at 380 degrees for about 15 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
- If cooking on stove-top, heat oil of choice (I used avocado oil) in a skillet over medium heat. Add spring rolls and cook until golden brown, flipping very gently (to avoid breaking open) and cook until golden brown and crisp on all sides.
- Serve spring rolls hot served with additional peanut ginger sauce for dipping!
Looks delicious!
Thank you! Hope you give this recipe a try.