Baked Egg Rolls

I love to make Chinese food at home. But I wanted to try baking egg rolls instead of frying them. Who needs the extra calories from frying anyway?

Here's what you need:

1 lb ground pork, cooked and drained
1 pkg cole slaw mix
2 TBSP soy sauce
1/4 teas ground ginger
1/4 teas garlic powder
1/4 teas salt
1 pkg egg roll wrappers (you'll find these in the produce section of your grocery stores)


Combine the cooked pork and cole slaw mix in a pan and cook until the cabbage in the slaw mix is softened. Add the soy sauce and spices and stir well.


Remove the wrappers from the package and fill one at a time. They dry out easily, so keep them covered until you're ready to use them. Place the wrapper in front of you so it looks like a diamond. Arrange about 2 TBSP of filling across the widest part of the diamond.


Fold the sides and bottom to cover the filling. It will look like an envelope. Wet the edges with a little water so they stick together.


Now start at the bottom and roll up tightly. Add a little more water around the edges if necessary.


Place on a greased baking sheet seam side down. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling. I think the package has 20 wrappers and I only used 14. If you used less filling in each egg roll, you could probably stretch it to make all 20.


Brush the tops of each roll with a little olive oil. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Then flip over and bake an additional 10 minutes or until the egg rolls have reached desired level of crispiness.


The kids devoured these! They were just the right mix of meat and veggies. You could, of course, leave out the meat and add in more cole slaw or carrots to make a vegetarian egg roll. Or you could swap out the ground pork for shrimp or chicken. The possibilities are endless. And no calories from frying!

For an easy sweet and sour dipping sauce, combine 1/2 cup vinegar with 1/3 cup sugar in a small sauce pan. Whisk in 1 TBSP soy sauce, 3 TBSP ketchup and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Bring to a boil, then simmer for a couple of minutes until thickened.

Update for freezing instructions: If you want to freeze these for later, follow the directions up until baking. Lay the egg rolls on a pan lined with waxed or parchment paper and flash freeze for a couple of hours until solid. Then place in a freezer bag and squeeze out as much as air as possible. When ready to serve, pull out as many egg rolls as you need and place on a baking sheet. Allow to thaw on the counter for about 10 minutes, then brush with oil and bake as directed.