Craving egg rolls, but don’t have any egg roll wrappers on hand? No worries, with just four ingredients you likely have on hand right now and a little time, you can make them at home. The ingredients are so simple … just an egg, flour, salt and ice cold water.
For my daughter’s birthday this year, we didn’t go out to eat like we normally do. COVID has curtailed pretty much all of our “normal” activities this spring. I’m the only one who leaves the house at all right now, and then it’s only to go grocery shopping and we do our best to make those trips few and far between.
But we wanted my daughter to have a proper birthday celebration, so I asked her what we could make at home that we don’t normally make that would make it feel special. Her answer: egg rolls and piroshki. Oh, and rum cake for dessert. Unfortunately we had this conversation AFTER I’d just done the shopping and was hoping to stay home for at least a month to limit exposure. I was slightly distraught … but on a phone call with my sister, she mentioned that she’d made egg roll wrappers herself before. That gave me courage. If she can do it, I can too. I went looking for a recipe. I found a couple … and tried a couple, but the one that turned out the best … the one I am sharing with you is from food.com.
What’s the secret to making homemade egg roll wrappers?
What makes the dough so nice and elastic is a little bit of elbow grease. It’s okay! You can do this. Yes, you’ll have to knead the dough to make it smooth and elastic. Don’t let this step scare you, though. It’s really quite easy, a good exercise for your arms and shoulders, and it’s kind of meditative. All you do is set the dough on a floured surface, push into it with one hand, then roll it over and push into it with the other. If it starts sticking, add a little flour to your kneading space. For me, it feels very relaxing to knead. I settle into a rhythm and let go of my thoughts, worries and troubles, focusing my attention on the feeling of the dough. Put on some good music and try to relax and enjoy the task.
Once the dough is ready, then you’ll need a rolling pin to roll out the dough super thin. Yes, a little more work. It’s okay. You got this. Roll and roll and roll until the dough is SUPER thin, like this (or maybe even a little thinner):
Pile the wrappers onto parchment paper (or waxed paper), with a piece of parchment in between each wrapper.
Continue on to cook your egg rolls straight away … or you can put the pile of wrappers into a sealed plastic bag in the fridge to use later. Put a piece of parchment paper on top too to keep them from sticking to the bag! They feel nice and dry when you put them into the bag, but when they get cold, they gather moisture and tend to get sticky. Make sure the bag is tightly sealed, though, because if it’s not you can have the opposite problem and they dry out.
As long as you can get the wrappers rolled out nice and thin, you’re ready to make any number of delightful egg roll, wonton or even ravioli recipes. For this batch, I used my Shrimp, Chicken & Pork egg roll filling with some added mushrooms because we both love mushrooms, and this was HER special birthday celebration! But scroll down for 21 MORE wonderful ways to play with your wonton wrappers. I mean “play” as in play in the kitchen, making delicious things. That’s MY favorite kind of play!
Homemade Egg Roll Wrappers
- Author: Ann
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 16 egg roll wrappers 1x
- Category: Appetizers
- Method: Rolled
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Craving egg rolls (or wontons) but don’t have any wrappers? No worries, with four simple ingredients and a little time and effort, you can make them at home!
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup very cold water
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg, then add the rest of the ingredients and stir until it starts to come together into a dough. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes (or longer).
- Put the dough on a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until the dough is very smooth and elastic, adding flour as needed to keep it from sticking.
- Cut the dough into 8 pieces and shape each piece into a rectangle. Covering the rest of the pieces while you work, roll out each piece of dough into a rectangle that is about 5 – 6 inches wide and 10 – 12 inches long. The dough should be very, very thin. Use a dough cutter to cut the piece in half so you have two roughly square pieces.
- Set one wrapper on a small piece of wax or parchment paper, then stack the wrappers as you finish them, using a small piece of wax or parchment paper between each one. Keep the stack covered as you work.
- Fill with your choice of filling then fry at 350 F or brush with oil and bake at 400 F for about 15 minutes or until golden brown … or put the stack into a plastic bag, seal and refrigerate until ready to use.
Notes
© Copyright 2020, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. I love it when you share, but please do not use my images on your own site/page without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. Sharing, pinning, and tweeting is always appreciated as long as the shares and pins link back to here for the recipe. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Keywords: Egg roll wrapper, Wonton wrapper, Ravioli, Homemade, Chinese, Italian
What to make with egg roll wrappers?
Soooo many things! I gathered up a bunch of my own favorite recipes using egg roll wrappers, plus some from foodie friends and the internet that I discovered.
Egg Rolls
- Guacamole Egg Rolls with Spicy Cilantro Ranch from An Affair from the Heart
- Voodoo Egg Rolls from Southern with a Twist
- Sweet & Spicy Pork Egg Rolls from Pastry Chef Online
- Reuben Egg Rolls from Dixie Chik Cooks
- Shrimp Jalapeno Popper Egg Rolls from Dixie Chik Cooks
- Air Fryer Egg Rolls from ChinDeep
- Lumpia (Vietnamese Spring Rolls) from Manila Spoon
- Shrimp, Pork & Chicken Egg Rolls
- Corned Beef & Mini Cabbage Egg Rolls
- Asian Chicken, Shrimp & Kale Egg Rolls
- Southwestern Egg Rolls (Baked!)
Wontons
Wonton wrappers are just egg roll wrappers cut in a smaller size, so if you’ve got egg roll wrappers, you’ve got wonton wrappers and they’re super versatile.
- Buffalo Chicken Wontons from Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
- Apple Pie Wontons
- Fried Wontons from Dinner at the Zoo
- Cream Cheese Wontons from The Oven Light
- Crab Rangoon from Dinner then Dessert
- Wonton Soup from Damn Delicious
Ravioli & other creative uses for egg roll wrappers
You don’t have to stop at egg rolls and wontons … these wrappers are perfect for making souffle cups, ravioli, and crispy cups to hold just about any scrumptious filling.
- Bacon Asparagus Breakfast Cups
- Bacon Sundried Tomato Souffle Cups
- Spinach Asiago Souffle Cups
- Curried Chicken Salad in Crispy Wonton Cups
- Crab Rangoon Dip with Baked Wonton Chips
- Ravioli, Three Ways from The Pioneer Woman
- Ravioli with Peas, Spinach, Ricotta and Mint from Heather Goesch Nutrition
- Spinach Mushroom Ravioli with Mushroom Cream Sauce
And here’s one more pic for pinning!