Each piece of this flavorful and easy Pulled Pork Egg Rolls screams comfort food whether it’s deep-fried or air-fried. A convenient food that can be served as a crowd-pleasing appetizer or as a main dish. The best part about it is that it’s a super sustainable recipe using leftover ingredients that are already in your fridge!
With everything that’s happening now, you’re gonna want to get your money’s worth out of everything. Personally, I’m an advocate of zero-waste cooking which means reusing leftover ingredients for creating new delicious dishes.
Trust me, you’ll be saving a lot of money with this cooking style especially after the holidays.
Recently, I noticed that most of my friends are throwing away a lot of food waste. You can imagine how much I cringed seeing so many leftovers going straight to the bin.
So in today’s blog post, I’m excited to partner with Kroger to showcase to you how you can create a whole new meal out of leftover pork that is easy to prepare, lasts longer, and reduces food waste.
This sponsored post is really coming at a great time because I was just thinking about how I could share with you a simple recipe using leftovers we had for the holidays that I can make for this coming Super Bowl.
Egg Rolls vs Spring Rolls
I know that it gets a little confusing, especially for new home cooks since both rolls look the same. Both are generally bite-sized savory dishes wrapped and served with delicious sauces. But differ in some ways tho.
Egg Roll
The wrappers for this type of roll is noticeably thicker than other rolls but thin enough to be crispy when cooked. The filling is often composed of savory bits of meats and sometimes mixed with chopped veggies. These rolls are often deep-fried whole. This means the ingredients are raw or half-cooked in assembly.
Spring Roll
On the other hand, spring rolls use a thinner wrap such as rice paper to bundle everything. The filling is often composed of fresh, steamed, or fully cooked veggies and some seafood, and herbs and spices. Once you finish the assembly, you’re good to go! No need for deep-frying or extra cooking. It’s as fresh as springtime!
Pulled Pork Egg Rolls Recipe
Of course, a fresh roll comes from fresh ingredients, which means that all the ingredients should be too. Luckily, our friends from Kroger has a collection of ingredients you can avail online. Check out their website to see all the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe. Here’s everything you’ll need for this easy recipe.
Main Ingredients
You won’t be needing much to make this extra awesome game day treat. For this recipe, you’ll just need the following below
- Coleslaw (see my homemade recipe HERE)
- Prepared Pulled Pork (see my Pulled Pork recipe HERE or this Slow Cooker Jerk Pulled Pork recipe HERE)
- Egg Roll Wrappers
- Kroger Private Selection Kansas City Inspired Barbecue Sauce
- Flour Paste (for sealing each rolls)
- Ranch Dressing (for dipping)
Aside from the ingredients above, you can also take this simple recipe up a notch by adding any of these convenient Kroger products below.
Optional Kroger Ingredients
- Simple Truth Eggs (boil or scramble them and throw them in the mix as an added protein in your rolls)
- Simple Truth Organic Soy Sauce (for an added savory Asian taste profile)
- Kroger Spices (depending on your preference)
- Simple Truth Organic Smoky Chipotle Pepper Hot Sauce (for an added kick of heat)
Give it Your Own Twist
Whether you still have leftovers from the holidays or from last Sunday’s family dinner, you’ll definitely be able to put your own twist in this Pulled Pork Egg Roll recipe using those leftovers. Here are just some tips and tricks for this dish while making it extra tasty!
- Got excess turkey stuffing from Thanksgiving? Mix it in the filling to give each bite a holiday feel.
- Leftover Roast Garlic Mashed Potatoes is also a great filling mix especially if the pork is a little overpowering for you.
- If you have excess Roast Turkey Breast, shred it instead and mix it into the filling. This gives you two types of meat that complements well with each other.
- Although egg rolls are often filled with savory meats, using excess Brown Sugar Glazed Ham gives you an interesting whole new dish.
- Excess veggies from making this Easy Coleslaw is still good for making these egg rolls extra interesting.
- Got some forgotten frozen carrots and corn in your freezer? Put a new life into them by thawing and adding them into the pulled pork mixture.
Serving Suggestions
There are a lot of dishes and sides often served with this recipe. Here are my top picks for pairings that go well with this BBQ Pulled Pork Egg Rolls.
Ranch Dressing or BBQ Sauce. Not only does the BBQ sauce adds a great flavor profile to our pork filling, but it can also be served as a dip. Or if you want a creamy, sweet, and tangy dip you can also serve these egg rolls with Simple Truth Ranch Dressing.
Simple Steamed Veggies. Go healthy with a side serving of freshly steamed veggies. It goes well together because the greens will counterbalance any overpowering taste of the rolls. It also serves as a light and guilt-free whole meal that everyone can enjoy.
Fried Rice. The great thing about this dish is that you can also serve it with most fried rice dishes as a main meal. My favorite pairing for this is the Coconut Fried Rice.
Spinach Dip. Turn this delicious finger food into a crowd-pleasing appetizer with a side serving of Spinach Dip. The cheesy and creamy flavor of the dip complements the chunky taste of the meat.
More Recipes Using Leftover Pork
Looking for other ways to repurpose your leftover pork? You can add them or replace the meat in any of these recipes below.
How to Make Pulled Pork Egg Rolls
Place pork in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Then add enough water to moistened the shredded pork. Let it cook slightly – about 2-3 minutes or until warm through. Remove and place in a medium bowl and let it cool. In a large bowl, add pork and barbecue sauce, add sauce to your liking. Set aside. Place tortilla or 2 spring roll wrappers on a chopping board or work surface, followed by 2 tablespoons of the pork mixture in the center of each spring roll. Then add about 1-2 tablespoons of coleslaw on top of it. Roll the spring roll around the filling, folding the edges inward. And begin to roll with the end nearest to you. Brush the edges with flour paste before the final roll to keep the rolls sealed. Set aside.
Heat up a medium skillet or cast iron with oil up to 2 inches on medium-high heat at 350 degrees F or until hot but not smoking. Gently drop the spring roll in the frying pan and fry in batches, turning once, until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. Do not overcrowd the pan (it will absorb excess oil, resulting in soggy rolls). Using a slotted spoon, remove the egg rolls and place them on paper towels.
If using an air fryer, brush with canola oil, then bake at 400 degrees F or about 18-20 minutes until golden brown turning once. Serve warm or at room temperature with Simple Truth Ranch Dressing.
Pulled Pork Egg Rolls
Ingredients
- 2-3 cups (450g-675g) prepared pulled pork
- ½ cup (142.5g) Kroger Private Selection Kansas City Barbecue Sauce
- 1 package egg roll wrappers
- 2 cups more coleslaw (recipe HERE )
- flour paste (see notes)
- Simple Truth Ranch Dressing, for dipping
Instructions
- Place pork in a medium saucepan over medium-heat. Then add enough water to moistened the shredded pork. Let it cook slightly - about 2-3 minutes or until warm through.
- Remove and place in a medium bowl and let it cool.
- In a large bowl, add pork and barbecue sauce, add sauce to your liking. Set aside
- Place tortilla or 2 spring roll wrappers on a chopping board or work surface, followed by 2 tablespoons of the pork mixture in the center of each spring roll. Then add about 1-2 tablespoons of coleslaw on top of it.
- Roll the spring roll around the filling, folding the edges inward. And begin to roll with the end nearest to you. Brush the edges with flour paste before the final roll to keep the rolls sealed. Set aside.
- Heat up a medium skillet or cast iron with oil up to 2 inches on medium-high heat at 350 degrees F or until hot but not smoking.
- Gently drop the spring roll in the frying pan and fry in batches, turning once, until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. Do not overcrowd the pan (it will absorb excess oil, resulting in soggy rolls).
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the egg rolls and place them on paper towels.
- If using an air fryer, brush with canola oil, then bake at 400 degrees F or about 18-20 minutes until golden brown turning once.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with Simple Truth Ranch Dressing.
Tips & Notes:
- To securely seal the edges of these egg rolls, mix 1 part flour with 1 part of water ( 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water) until it has a thick glue-like consistency. Use your finger to spread a little bit of the flour paste along the edges of the rolls.
- You can make these egg rolls ahead of time either uncooked or cooked. For cooked egg rolls, let them cool first for 1-2 hours before freezing. And when you're ready to serve them, just follow the instructions in cooking uncooked frozen egg rolls or reheat them (without thawing) using medium-low heat.
- Nutrition calculated without using oil for frying.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition Information:
gregory anderson says
Thank you for providing air fry directions. Really, thank you.