Oh my, oh my, oh my! Practically guilt-free vegan spring rolls are here and they are my new favourite meal… er… snack! How can spring rolls possibly be guilt-free? These spring rolls are not deep fried at all. These are vegan baked spring rolls with almost no oil used- totally oil-free if you prefer! Even though they are baked instead of fried, they come out of the oven crispy, flakey, and totally addictive just as a good spring roll should be.
For this recipe, I did a multitude of tests to see how I could get vegan baked spring rolls crispy in the oven and after much trial and error, I figured out the secrets:
- Bake the spring rolls on a wire rack so that air can circulate around all sides of the rolls. Cripsy all the way around!
- Apply absolutely nothing to the outside of the rolls. Nothing!
I tested brushing the spring rolls with oil, spraying with oil, brushing with non-dairy milk, and brushing with a mix of water and sweet & sour sauce. But the spring rolls that turned out the crispiest were the ones that were left completely naked! Sure they aren’t as golden brown as deep fried ones but considering this makes the spring rolls practically guilt-free, that’s a compromise I’m willing to make.
Not only are my vegan baked spring rolls guilt-free, but you can even prepare and roll them ahead of time, and either store in the fridge for 1 – 2 days, or you can even freeze them. Then just bake when ready to serve, making them a perfect make-ahead appetizer.
To make Vegan Baked Spring Rolls: in a large skillet or frying pan, heat the sesame oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the cabbage, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, garlic, and ginger.
Cook for about 5 minutes stirring frequently until the vegetables and mushrooms are cooked, about 5 minutes. Stir in the hoisin and soy sauce and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat and let cool before assembling the spring rolls. You can pop it in the fridge to cool faster if you like.
Set up a workstation with your spring roll wrappers, spring roll filling, a small bowl of water, and a baking tray fitted with a wire rack.
*I found my spring roll wrappers in the freezer section of my local grocery store. Make sure you buy spring roll wrappers (which are vegan), and not egg roll wrappers (which aren’t vegan).
To assemble the spring rolls, take a spring roll wrapper and place it on your work surface with a corner pointing up (diamond shape). Put about 2 tablespoons of the spring roll filling near the bottom corner of the wrapper. Fold up the bottom corner around the filling, then fold in both sides. Wet your finger or use a brush to wet the top edges with water to seal the spring roll. Finish rolling up the spring roll, then place on the wire rack with point side down.
Repeat with remaining wrappers until all of the filling is used up. Bake about 25 minutes until golden around the edges. Serve hot with sweet & sour sauce.
Guilt-free spring rolls! Baked instead of fried means these spring rolls are a healthier alternative. Easy to make, and can be made ahead of time and frozen. Perfect appetizer for a party! Oil-free option.
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil *omit for oil-free
- 250 g green cabbage (about 2 cups), shredded
- 2 medium carrots (about 1 1/2 cups), peeled and grated
- 100 g shiitake mushrooms (about 1 1/2 cups), destemmed and sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger, minced
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 16 spring roll wrappers (6" x 6"), defrosted (not egg rolls)
- water (for sealing spring rolls)
- Sweet & sour sauce, for serving (optional)
Preheat your oven to 400F (200C). Line a large baking sheet with a wire rack.
In a large skillet or frying pan, heat the sesame oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the cabbage, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, garlic, and ginger. Cook for about 5 minutes stirring frequently until the vegetables and mushrooms are cooked, about 5 minutes. Stir in the hoisin and soy sauce and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat and let cool before assembling the spring rolls. You can pop it in the fridge to cool faster if you like.
Set up a workstation with your spring roll wrappers, spring roll filling, a small bowl of water, and a baking tray fitted with a wire rack.
To assemble the spring rolls, take a spring roll wrapper and place it on your work surface with a corner pointing up (diamond shape). Put about 2 tablespoons of the spring roll filling near the bottom corner of the wrapper. Fold up the bottom corner around the filling, then fold in both sides. Wet your finger or use a brush to wet the top edges with water to seal the spring roll. Finish rolling up the spring roll, then place on the wire rack with point side down. Repeat with remaining wrappers until all of the filling is used up. Bake about 25 minutes until golden around the edges. Serve hot with sweet & sour sauce.
*For oil-free, omit oil and do a water or broth sauté.
*If making the spring rolls ahead of time, assemble them, then store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 1 - 2 days, or in the freezer. Bake spring rolls from frozen (no defrosting). They may need an extra 5 - 10 minutes in the oven if baked from frozen.
Nutrition
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Bon appetegan!
Sam.
Made this for Chinese New Year, what a hit!!! I love your recipes, have the cookbook too! Thanks for posting that you tried with oil, milk etc because I think I would have ruined them. Plain and a pizza type tray worked amazing!!!
So happy you loved them, Debbie!!
Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe Sam!!! Amazing and fun as always.
This was actually the topic of discussion at dinner this week at a restaurant. My sister did not know that even vegetable egg rolls were NOT VEGAN!! I’m even MORE CAREFUL being allergic to egg and dairy and wanted to warn people that ANY Egg roll or spring roll in a restaurant MAY BE BRUSHED WITH EGG and ANY soup base-even the soups not containing meat ALMOST ALWAYS HAVE CHICKEN BROTH. So make sure you are careful especially with allergies etc. Thank you!!
So happy you enjoyed, Lili 🙂
Omg! I’m going to the store to buy the ingredients to make these now! Do you think that I can replace the mushrooms with some marinaded tofu? My hubby is allergic to mushrooms.
Absolutely! That would be delicious. Enjoy!
Any tips for how to cook in the air fryer?
Haven’t tried it but I’m sure it will work although you may have to do them in batches so they don’t overlap. Enjoy!
So crispy and delicious!!! Just ate (gobbled) 8 in 5 minutes… thank you Sam for such good and fun recipes!!
Haha! Amazing! You’re most welcome, Hedwig! So happy you are enjoying them 🙂
My husband and I made these tonight, and OH MY GOSH. These are amazing! My husband isn’t vegan and he loved them just as much as I did (vegan for 4 years). We will definitely be making these again! Thank you for such a great recipe!
Yay!! That’s so wonderful! Delighted you both enjoyed them so much, Jillian 🙂
Hi Sam,
The egg rolls looks good, but I want them a little bit brown. Can I brush them with an egg wash just like turnovers? I don’t want to buy ready made egg roll wrappers from the store. As much as possible I want it homemade from scratch. Are the homemade wrappers still be crispy when baked? Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi Irena, if you read my post you can see that I experimented with different ingredients for brushing them. I didn’t make homemade wrappers, so I’m not sure about that.
Hi Sam 🙂
Just found your recipe for the baked spring rolls and I absolutely need to give these a try!
They sound delicious and I’ll give them a go right after the holidays.
Thanks for the inspiration and merry Xmas 🙂
xo, Romy
You’re most welcome, I hope you love them! Merry Christmas!
I just love rolls. Can’t wait cooking these delicious!
Enjoy!
Made these as an appetizer. Definitely double or triple the recipe…Everyone at them up. So good! Thank you for such an easy and delicious recipe.
Haha! Love it! You’re welcome 🙂
Where do you find vegan spring rolls wrappers?
Spring roll wrappers are almost always vegan. Egg roll wrappers are not. I found my spring roll wrappers in the freezer section of my grocery store.
Actually I found a vegan egg roll wrapper (and wonton) at Walmart in the refrigerated section by the tofu – can’t remember the brand but I was pleasantly surprised! Also found at Walmart brown rice spring roll wrappers in the Asian aisle. Used them today to make your rice paper bacon and it was amazing! Even the non vegans in my family loved it!
Oh so awesome!!
Amanda, did you trim the egg roll wrappers to make them smaller? I too have vegan wrappers and wonder if they are just as flaky and crispy as Sam’s spring roll wrappers.
Deb, I didn’t use the egg roll wrappers for this recipe but I imagine they would work just fine and just be more like a traditional egg roll. Good luck!
Thankyou once again for another great recipe they are delicious
Yay!! So happy you enjoyed them 🙂
you have a very nice article..love your recipes
Thanks!
Thank you – can not wait to try this!!!
Yay!! I hope you love it 🙂
I like the way you’ve simplified homemade Spring Rolls and will let you know how they turn out for me. The only extra step would be to drain the mixture before adding to the wrappers. That’s because veggies (especially mushrooms) give off a lot of liquid.
If you take a look at the pictures above, you will see that the veggie mixture is actually quite dry and there is no liquid in the pan to drain off.
Thanks Sam, Just wanted to make sure and I like Dru’s idea of the air fryer!!!
Do you think aquafaba would work as an oil replacement for brushing and browning? Looks great, can’t wait to try them!
I don’t use any oil to brush and brown! So no replacement needed.
Would this work with rice “paper” rounds to make this gluten free?
Yes, I believe that should work ok. You would have to soften the rice wrappers in order to roll them, and keep an eye on them in the oven as I am not sure the baking time it would take to get them crispy. Enjoy and let us know how it turns out 🙂
These look delicious! Can’t wait to try them. I plan on baking them on the rack in my air fryer. No oil and I’m sure they’ll turn out super crispy.
Oooooh, great idea!!
Looks good, What is the brand for the wrappers?
I used Spring Home wrappers found in the freezer sectoin (you can see them in a photo above).
If frozen should they thaw first before baking? If not then would the outside get done before the inside of the roll heats up?
Nope, instructions to bake from frozen are in the recipe notes. Enjoy!