Easy Gluten Free Egg Rolls – Eggrolls (BBQ Pork)

Though an authentic-style filling may not be easy, you can use leftover chicken and veggies to make these delicious gluten free egg rolls. The  making of the outer shell is extremely easy. Even gluten-eaters enjoy them.

I have seen a recipe or two online that calls for rolling your own dough. I was just not up for that! Number one, gluten free dough is difficult to work with, in most cases, and number two, simply put, it’s too much work if you’re going to make 2-3 dozen egg rolls. Remembering my batter that I use for my onion rings, I tweaked it and used it for these gluten free egg rolls. The egg yolks and the sugar help the browning and crispness. And after trying a number of batter thicknesses and cooking temperatures, I finally came out with the perfect crispness I desired. I hope you enjoy this gluten free recipe as much as we did. They are addictive, especially if you haven’t had any in awhile!

*Update – Feb. 12, 2015 – I recently experimented with using a higher ratio of sparkling water. I used one 8.45 ounce bottle of sparkling water (Perrier) and 1 cup milk. It was a little thin. So, I added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of rice flour. It turned out crispier, but not as brown. See the below image for the results.

These egg rolls also make the perfect leftover turkey recipe around Thanksgiving!

Gluten Free Egg Rolls and Dipping Sauce

Easy Gluten Free Egg Rolls – Eggrolls (BBQ Pork)

51

Prep Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 4 hours, 50 minutes

Yield: About 30 Gluten Free Egg Rolls

Easy Gluten Free Egg Rolls – Eggrolls (BBQ Pork)

No need to make any dough, roll it or cut it out. Just use rice papers and an easy batter recipe to make these crispy gluten free egg rolls. Yummy!

Ingredients:

    For the Filling
  • 1 head Napa cabbage, finely sliced, shredded or chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon + 1-1/2 teaspoons cooking oil, divided
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1/2 carrot, julienne (cut into matchsticks)
  • 2 tablespoon minced yellow onion (optional)
  • 2 scallions (green onions), thinly sliced
  • 1/3 cup sprouts (optional)
  • 1/3 cup mushrooms, julienne sliced (optional)
  • 1 recipe Chinese Barbecue Pork, julienne cut, or even left over chicken w/BBQ sauce
  • 1 tablespoon gluten free soy sauce (If needed, use soy-free soy sauce recipe)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar or evaporated cane juice
  • 3/4 teaspoon superfine sea salt or salt
  • 1 large egg, beaten (optional)
  • For the Batter:
  • 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons white rice flour, or more as needed
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt or salt
  • 2 cups cow's milk, raw almond milk or almond milk (or 1 1/2 cups + 1 Tablespoon sparkling water for extra crispness)*
  • For the Wrappers:
  • 1 package Square Three Ladies Rice Papers (or round)
  • Filtered water, for soaking the papers
  • 2 quarts or more of cooking oil for deep-frying

Instructions:

    To Make the Filling:
  1. Set your chopped cabbage in a colander; toss with salt, squeeze out as much excess water as you can.
  2. On medium heat, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of oil in a wok or large skillet.
  3. Pour in beaten eggs and scramble. Set aside to cool and then chop.
  4. Add 1 tablespoon of oil in the same pan and preheat.
  5. Add the carrots and yellow onion, if using; cook 2 minutes.
  6. Squeeze out the water from the cabbage and add to skillet along with sprouts and/or mushrooms, if using; cook 3 more minutes.
  7. Add the pork, green onions (if using), soy sauce, salt, and sugar. Alternatively, use barbecue sauce mixed with gluten free tamari or soy sauce. Continue cooking until the vegetables soften, about 6 minutes.
  8. Add chopped egg and toss.
  9. Spread the mixture out onto a baking sheet and refrigerate to cool, about 1 hour. You'll find the juices will be absorbed once cooled. If not using immediately, cover once cooled and keep refrigerated. Use within 2-3 days. Just prior to rolling and cooking, combine the filling with one beaten egg (optional). (This helps keep the filling together instead of falling out after each bite.
  10. To Make the Batter:
  11. Add the flour to a large bowl.
  12. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, salt, and sugar; add milk and whisk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk thoroughly; set aside. After resting for 15 minutes, add more flour if the batter is too thin and add more liquid if the batter is too thick.
  13. Fill a baking sheet with about 2 cups of room temperature water. Soak one rice paper in the water, right before you are about to fill one, for 5 seconds (as suggested by Three Ladies brand). Do not over soak. The paper will still appear hard, but will soften very soon. Place it on a damp tea towel. Do not use paper towels or they will stick to it. Re-wet the towel as needed.
  14. If using square rice papers, place one in front of you so that it appears as a diamond shape. If using round ones, it doesn't matter. Add 3-3 1/2 tablespoons of filling close to the bottom. An ice cream scoop with spring action works well for this. Roll towards the middle and stop. Fold in the left and right corners. Then roll all the way to the top edge.
  15. Refrigerate the egg rolls, if you have time. They become stiff and are easier to deep-fry this way. Alternatively, you may fry them immediately, but they bend easily.
  16. Preheat a deep-fryer or pan filled with a minimum of 2 inches of oil to 375°F. (A deep-fryer works best, as it is difficult to keep the temperature even over the stove. However, it can be done. Just note that when you add the egg rolls to the oil the temperature drops significantly, especially if the egg rolls just came out of the refrigerator.)
  17. Using metal tongs, dip one egg roll at a time in the batter. Turn it around so not to allow all of the batter to drip off. Gently drop as many as can comfortably fit into the oil; turning occasionally. Deep-fry for about 7 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. They may look brown enough at 5 minutes, but they will not be crisp enough.
  18. Drain on paper towels, and serve warm with your favorite sauce. I used half of the thickened sauce from my Chinese BBQ Pork recipe and half of my Tomato-Free Barbecue Sauce recipe.

Tips

When deep frying, the more salt you use in the batter, the less oil will be absorbed during frying. Base your decision on any dietary restrictions.

The Three Ladies brand of rice papers I only had 26 papers, but if you fill them with about 4 tablespoons filling it should work out well with the filling above.

The use of sparkling water instead of milk creates a crisper roll, however, milk creates a darker crust. The darkness of the milk effects the color as well. In the photo above, I used homemade almond milk.

To freeze uncooked,unbattered egg rolls place them on parchment lined baking sheet, without any of them touching, and freeze. Then store in a freezer bag. To defrost lay them out separately so they do not stick to each other.

My deep-fryer used 7 1/2 cups of oil to fill to the top line. Do not place more egg rolls in than what can float to the top without touching each other.

Usually, it is suggested to hold the egg rolls in the hot oil until they are no longer raw. You may do this, however, it will leave marks in the batter. I suppose it's better then taking the chance that they will stick to the basket of your fryer. Do whatever works best for your method of frying.

The reason why I suggest using Three Ladies Rice Papers is because I heard that they are free of gluten cross-contamination. You may find them online or at Asian markets or at Amazon.com (see below).

39 Replies to “Easy Gluten Free Egg Rolls – Eggrolls (BBQ Pork)”

  1. I have been trying to get these right for years
    Thank you so much for this
    Finally – something that tastes close to the real thing and doesn’t fall apart… THANK YOU

  2. I attempted making gf wrappers a few times (with more than a few tears), I also have tried the rice wrappers but the texture was a bit wrong and the flavor missing… the batter AROUND the rice wrapper is GENIUS!!! Thank you, bless you, so excited to try this!

    1. Andrea,

      I advise that you make them, without the batter and then dip them in the batter and fry them right before serving. Otherwise they will be become soft on the outside and egg rolls do not taste well when they’re cold.

      Enjoy!
      Carla

  3. I am lost as to why you have a batter and rice papers that you soak? The directions do not say what to do with the batter mixture?

    1. Rita,

      See step no. 16, “Using metal tongs, dip one egg roll at a time in the batter…” You see, you soften the stiff as cardboard like rice papers. You stuff them and wrap them up tight. They will be see-through, but soft. To create a crispy texture, you dip them in the batter which creates a crust much like onion rings.

      I hope that helps.

      Carla

  4. Facebook Comment – Feb. 1, 2015,

    “I made these a while back with leftover chicken for my girl (she’s 19), they were WONDERFUL! Even the one person in our family that (still) eats gluten loved them. These + the orange chicken [http://glutenfreerecipebox.com/gluten-free-orange-chicken/] = perfection! Dang it, now I’m going to have to make them ”

    ~B.J.

  5. My son and I are battling Lyme Disease and have to be GF and Dairy free. We have really been missing some of our favorites. We tried a receipe and the transparent spring roll wrappers just fell apart so I am excited to find this recipe! Can you use brown rice flour instead of white? Or any gluten free flour? Thank you so much!

  6. Can I use a n egg replacement, instead of the egg yolk. I’m looking to make a vegan version of lumpia.

    1. Hi Chalise,

      The egg yolk in this recipe is used as a binder. It helps the ingredients of the filing stick together. You can either omit it or try the recipe for tapioca gel here: glutenfreerecipebox.com/gluten-free-egg-substitute/.

      Enjoy!
      Carla

  7. I have been looking for a good gf egg roll recipe since 2007. I will give this one a try soon. Thanks!! I use raw coconut aminos by Coconut Secret for all my recipes calling for soy sauce. Lower in sodium, gf, df, and non-gmo. The taste is just like soy sauce to me. Available at health food stores and on line.

  8. Oh my goodness I cant wait to try this. I am half Filipino and have been making lumpia with my mom since I was a little girl. Ive had to go gluten free for 4 yrs now due to health and have really been missing these. My mom tried to use the rice papers and fry them but fell apart! I make lumpia for my boys often and im always left out in eating them . You’re a genius in thinking about the batter!

  9. Maybe I am missing something…step 11 has me making a batter, between steps 13 and 14 I’d think I dipped the roll in, but it doesn’t say anything else about this batter. Am I overlooking or not understanding a step? After step 11 there is no mention of this batter….Help! I really want to make egg rolls….

  10. I have been looking for an “easy” GF egg roll recipe! I found ready-made ones in the freezer section, but am not willing to spend $6+ for three little egg rolls. I am a Celiac and have 4 Celiac grandchildren that I cook GF foods for – I am SO going to try these this weekend! They look wonderful! Thanks for the recipe!!

    1. Hi Joyce!

      I made these a second time and they didn’t turn out as crisp. I suppose it was because I had refrigerated the first batch after wrapping them for at least a couple of hours. Just like french fries, I believe you anything you deep-fry turns out crispier when cold.

      Enjoy!
      Carla

  11. Can’t wait to try this! I’ve been doing fried crispy spring rolls, but every now and then miss the scrumptious browned outer batter of a traditional eggroll. This is on my to-make list for this week!

    1. Hi Becca,

      Egg whites help things brown, but egg yolks help them brown more. And both egg yolks and egg whites help to bind batters and dough together. Egg yolks also act as a gluten-free dough enhancer, but because this recipe calls for rice flour, it is pretty light already – not to mention the fact you don’t have to worry about anything rising. Because this recipe calls for tapioca starch, it also helps food brown, not to mention the deep frying alone. I would definitely give them a try without the egg yolk if you are intolerant.

      I found that at 5 minutes of frying, using whole eggs, they did not crisp enough. Perhaps additional frying time will also help with the use of egg yolk.

      Hope they turn out well.

      Carla

      1. Hi Carla,
        Has anyone written back with their experiences trying this egg-free? I’m intolerant of both the whites and the yolks and I’d love to be able to eat eggrolls again. Thanks so much!
        Margo E.

  12. Wow, great post! I have been a gluten and lactose free Chef for 27 years and have never thought of putting a batter on rice wrappers. You rock! I am going to post this on my blog!

    1. Hi Millie,

      Thanks for stopping by!

      I see you’re a nutrition coach, as well. How talented you are! Congrats on your wonderful works!

      When I developed this recipe it was definitely a light bulb moment! Wish someone could have taken a picture of me, as I felt like I had discovered something truly wonderful, and here’s it’s just food. However, food is my passion. Well, at least gluten-free food.

      Thank you for your generous compliment.

      Carla

  13. I have some Banh Trang Spring Roll Skins that are big like a tortilla with a plastic type texture (until I soak them in sugar water). Is that the same kind of wrapper? I find they are a bit chewy. Would love to know if your wrapper is more on the flaky side. ?

    1. Rebecca,

      Rice papers are have a chewy texture once moistened. Rice usually crisps up more than a starch, which is what Banh Spring Roll Skins are made of – tapioca starch. However, once deep-fried, I believe they will work just as well, as they are called, spring roll skins. Hope this helps!

      Carla

    1. Hi Joyce, I get them on Amazon. You’ll find links to the round and square ones below the recipe. You can also buy them in Asian markets, but these are the only ones that I know of that are free of cross contamination (someone with celiac suggested them).

      Carla

  14. I thought I was too tired to cook tonight, but my stomach started growling when I saw these and now I can’t resist the temptation to try them! My boyfriend and I haven’t had egg rolls in a long time so this will be a wonderful treat. Can’t wait to make them! Thanks for posting the recipe!!

  15. These look challenging, but worth it. I have a cabbage that I need to turn into dinner tonight. A rainy day, so this could happen! Thanks for sharing.

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