Cheeseburger Egg Rolls
These cheeseburger egg rolls are a cheeseburger with an egg roll wrapper instead of a bun. Ground beef cooked with onions, your favorite burger seasoning and Worcestershire, laid between two thin slices of cheddar with diced pickles in the middle, wrapped and shallow fried in a pan at 350°F until the wrapper is crispy and the cheese is melted. The cheese goes on the egg roll wrapper, not into the beef, so you get melted cheese against the crispy shell in every bite. Dip them in burger sauce. If you want this in a flour tortilla, try my Crispy Cheeseburger Wraps.
Quick Look: Crispy Cheeseburger Egg Rolls
- Method: Sauté the onions. Cook the beef with burger seasoning and Worcestershire. Cool. Cheddar on the wrapper, a spoon of beef, pickles, another slice of cheddar. Roll, shallow fry at 350°F, onto a wire rack
- Meat: 1 lb 80/20 ground beef, half a small yellow onion
- Seasoning: Your favorite burger seasoning and 1 tbsp Worcestershire
- Cheese and filling: Thin sliced cheddar on the bottom and top of the beef, diced dill pickles in between
- Oil: 350°F, about an inch in the pan. Flip often for even color
- Sauce: The burger sauce below, or anything you like on a burger
- Makes: 12 egg rolls
- The one thing that matters most: Wire rack. Air flows around them once they are fried and the bottoms stay crispy
The wire rack is the pro tip for this one. When the egg rolls come out of the oil, they go on a rack, not a plate and not paper towels. Air gets under them and over them, nothing steams, and the bottom stays as crispy as the top while they cool. Give them a few minutes before anyone grabs one, because the cheese inside is molten.
Why This Recipe
- Cheese on the bottom and the top. Instead of mixing cheese into the burger meat, a slice goes under it and a slice over it. You get a layer of melted cheese when you take a bite.
- Pickles. Diced pickles sit in the middle of the beef. They cut through the richness of the cheese and the beef, and that is what makes it taste like a burger.
- Sautéed onions. Cooked on medium high until they start to brown and go tender. Then the heat goes up to high and the beef goes in.
- Shallow fried. A pan with about an inch of oil. You can use a deep fryer too. Either way, flip them often so they brown evenly.
- The meat is already cooked. You cannot undercook these. The fry is only cooking the wrapper and melting the cheese.
These go on the table as an appetizer, with the burger sauce in one bowl and a sweet chili sauce in the other. For a side, my Smoked Baked Beans are the ones I would put next to them.
Key Ingredients
Two short lists. The egg rolls are a burger’s worth of ingredients and a pack of wrappers. The sauce is seven things from the fridge door.
For the Egg Rolls
- Ground beef, 1 lb. I like 80/20. It gives you more flavor, and the fat keeps the filling from drying out in the fry.
- Yellow onion, 1/2 small. Diced and cooked until softened before the beef goes in.
- Burger seasoning. Use whatever you like on a burger.
- Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp. Added while the meat browns.
- Egg roll wrappers, 12. I use egg roll wrappers, the square ones from the refrigerated case. Spring roll or wonton wrappers work too, with a smaller roll.
- Cheddar cheese, thin sliced. Two per roll, one under the beef and one over it. About 12 slices for 12 egg rolls.
- Dill pickles, about 1/2 cup, diced. Dill, not sweet. Dice them small so they spread through the beef.
- Vegetable oil. About an inch in the pan.
For the Burger Sauce
- Mayonnaise, 1/2 cup.
- Ketchup, 2 tbsp.
- Yellow mustard, 1 tbsp.
- Dill pickle relish, 2 tbsp.
- Pickle juice, 1 tsp.
- Garlic powder, 1/2 tsp.
- Smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp.
Stir it together and put it in the fridge until the egg rolls come out. It is very close to the burger sauce on my Crispy Cheeseburger Wraps.
Substitutions or Additions
The wrapper, the layering and the fry stay the same. Everything below changes what is inside or how it gets crispy.
- Bacon. Crumbled bacon in with the burger meat. You can never have too much bacon. If you want the bacon version in a different wrap, my Bacon Cheeseburger Pinwheels are it.
- Cheese. Any cheese you want. American is probably the best melter. Pepper jack gives you a spicy kick. Swiss with mushrooms would be my next choice, and I would cook the mushrooms down with the onions.
- Jalapeños. Diced, in with the pickles.
- Turkey or chicken. I have not tried it, but if you do, add some oil when you cook it and still add the Worcestershire.
- Air fryer. Spray or brush the egg rolls with oil and cook at 375°F until golden brown, flipping once. Crisp, but not as crispy as oil. I would still put them on a rack after.
- Oven. Brush with oil and bake at 400°F on a rack until golden brown.
- Other sauces. Ranch or chipotle mayo. Even ketchup and mustard. The second bowl in my photos is sweet chili sauce, and it works.
- Same filling, different wrap. My Cheeseburger Bombs are this filling wrapped in dough. My Cheeseburger Hot Pockets are the same filling in puff pastry.
How to Make Crispy Cheeseburger Egg Rolls (Step by Step)
Sauté the onions, then add the beef. Onions in a pan on medium high until they are tender and slightly browned. Turn the heat up to high and add the ground beef.
Season. Add your favorite burger seasoning and the Worcestershire sauce. Break the beef up as it cooks so there are no big clumps to fight inside the wrapper.
Brown it, then cool it. Cook until the meat is browned all the way through. Pull it off the heat and let it cool. Hot beef makes the wrapper wet and it tears.
Add the filling. Wrapper on the counter with one corner pointing toward you, the way the package shows. Keep the rest of the wrappers covered so they do not dry out. One thin slice of cheddar in the center, about a spoonful of beef on the cheese, some diced pickles, then another slice of cheese.
Roll. Fold the near corner over the filling, tuck in each side, and keep rolling to the end. Wet the last corner with a little water to seal it.
Line them up. Repeat with the rest and set the rolled egg rolls on a sheet pan, seam side down, while the oil comes up to temp.
Fry. Heat about an inch of oil to 350°F in a heavy pan. Lay the egg rolls in seam side down, a few at a time so the oil stays hot, and fry about 3 to 4 minutes.
Flip often. Turn them every so often so every side gets the same golden brown. The pale side is the one that has not been down yet.
Lift them out. Once they are golden brown and crispy all over, lift them out of the oil with tongs and let the excess drip back into the pan.
Rack, then serve. Straight onto a wire rack, not a plate. Let them cool a few minutes so the cheese sets, then serve with the burger sauce.
The meat is cooked before it goes in the wrapper, so there is no undercooked beef to worry about. If you want to check it anyway, use a thermometer in the pan. The USDA number for ground beef is 160°F, and a pound of 80/20 browned on high heat gets there with room to spare. The thermometer matters more for the oil. Hold it at 350°F and the wrapper crisps before it soaks.
Tips From Miguel
The beef is the easy part. The rolling and the frying are where these go right or wrong, and I would read these before the first one goes in the oil.
Wire rack after the fry. Air flows around them and the bottoms stay crispy. A plate or paper towels and they steam themselves soft.
Follow the package for the roll. Every egg roll wrapper package shows you how to roll them on the back. Use it.
Cheese on the bottom and the top. Do not skip either slice. That is how you get cheese in every bite.
Let the meat cool before you roll. Hot filling softens the wrapper before it hits the oil.
Flip them while they fry. With an inch of oil, only part of the roll is under. Rotate them for even color.
Let them cool a few minutes. The cheese is very hot when you bite in.
Finish the onions before the beef goes in. Once the meat is in the pan on high, the onions do not cook any further.
Storage and Reheating
- Fridge: 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Freezer: Up to 2 months. Freeze them before frying, on a sheet pan until solid, then into a zip top bag. Fry them straight from frozen. They take a couple of minutes longer than fresh ones.
- Reheat: Oven or air fryer at 375°F until warmed through and crispy, about 8 to 10 minutes. The microwave makes the wrapper chewy.
- Make ahead: Cook the meat the night before and roll and fry the next day. The sauce can be made the night before too, and it is better after it sits.
- Leftovers: Slice them up and put them on a salad, or eat them with my Smoked Cheeseburger Queso Dip.
More Cheeseburger Recipes to Try
Crispy Cheeseburger Egg Rolls FAQs
What are cheeseburger egg rolls?
A ground beef burger filling, cheddar and pickles, wrapped in an egg roll wrapper and fried. It is the same idea as my Crispy Cheeseburger Wraps, with an egg roll wrapper instead of a flour tortilla, so the shell is thinner and blisters more.
Can I make cheeseburger egg rolls in the air fryer?
Yes. Coat the egg rolls with oil before they go in and cook at 375°F until golden brown, flipping once. They will not be as crispy as the ones fried in oil, but they come out crisp. The beef is already cooked, so you are only after color and melted cheese.
What can I dip cheeseburger egg rolls in?
The burger sauce in this recipe, or your favorite burger dip. Ranch and chipotle mayo both work, and so does a sweet chili sauce if you want something on the sweeter side.
Why are my egg rolls soggy?
They sat on a plate after frying. The moisture gets trapped under them and softens the bottom. Put them on a wire rack the second they come out of the oil, every time.
Can I make these ahead of time?
Make the beef ahead and keep it in the fridge. Roll and fry the egg rolls the day you plan to eat them. You can also roll them and freeze them unfried, then fry straight from frozen.
Crispy Cheeseburger Egg Rolls
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat a pan over medium high and cook the diced onion until it softens and starts to brown. Turn the heat to high and add the ground beef. Season with your burger seasoning and add the Worcestershire. Break the beef up and cook until browned and cooked through. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
- For the sauce, stir the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, relish, pickle juice, garlic powder and smoked paprika together until smooth. Refrigerate until serving.
- Lay a wrapper with one corner toward you, following the package directions. Put a thin slice of cheddar in the center, a spoonful of the cooled beef on the cheese, some diced pickles, then another slice of cheddar.
- Fold the near corner over the filling, fold in the sides, and roll tightly. Moisten the last corner with water to seal. Repeat with the remaining wrappers.
- Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a shallow pan to 350°F. Fry the egg rolls in batches, flipping often, until golden brown and crispy on all sides, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool slightly, then serve with the burger sauce.
Nutrition
Notes
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