Do you love egg rolls? 

I do (my Filipino sister-in-law makes killer good ones) but they’re not exactly diet or heart friendly after deep frying them in a vat of oil (but they’re really tasty that way). 

One day I decided I wanted to know for sure how much oil they were soaking up rather than just estimating it so I measured the oil before and after (a really messy job).

Each egg roll soaked up almost 3/4 teaspoon of the peanut oil I cooked them in (90 calories worth).

After making so much effort to find egg rolls that were tasty yet had a reasonable calorie and fat count (my favorites are Van’s shrimp egg rolls-110 calories each, or Van’s chicken egg rolls-120 calories each) it seemed like a really bad idea to deep fry them but I loved the crispy crunchy shell that forms when they’re deep fried.

I tried replicating that crispy shell in the oven by spritzing them with a little Pam spray but they didn’t get nice and crunchy even though I baked them almost to the point of burning them.

Then one day while rubbing oil on potatoes before baking them to ensure a crispy skin I realized that same concept would probably work great on my egg rolls.

After experimenting with different amounts of oil, types of oil, and application (dipping, rolling, rubbing with paper towel, and pastry brush) this is the process I think works best but keep in mind that every oven cooks a little differently so watch them closely the first time you try it and adjust times and temperature if needed. My method adds 20 calories to each egg roll instead of the 90 calories worth that deep frying uses – a savings of 70 calories per egg roll.

HOW TO FAUX DEEP FRY AN EGG ROLL
Measure out 1/2 teaspoon peanut oil for each egg roll
Apply oil to all sides of each egg roll with a silicone pastry brush
Bake egg rolls at 425 degrees (this is a higher temperature than most packages recommend but a higher temp is needed to get a crispy egg roll)
Bake for 12 minutes then turn. Bake for another 10-12 minutes or until egg rolls are browned and crispy.

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