These Southwest Egg Rolls are a family favorite – filled with chicken, corn, beans, spinach and Tex-Mex spices. Serve with Avocado Ranch Dipping Sauce.
Love a good egg roll recipe? Also try this classic Egg Roll Recipe or these Cheeseburger Eggrolls.
These Southwest Egg Rolls are one of my favorite appetizers. I have been making these for so long now, and they are always on the top of the request list from my husband. This is an appetizer recipe that will be a hit at any party!
Ingredients
There are a lot of ingredients, but don’t get overwhelmed! Each ingredient brings in so much flavor. And I bet you have most of them on hand already!
- Avocado: The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of smashed avocado, which is usually about half of an avocado. I don’t even usually measure this, but half of a large avocado is usually perfect.
- Mayonnaise & Sour Cream: I like to use both as a base to my dipping sauce. You get the tanginess from the mayonnaise, but cutting it with sour cream makes is more mild.
- Buttermilk & Vinegar: These are both essential to give you that ranch flavor. Feel free to cut back on the vinegar, if desired, though.
- Dipping Sauce Spices: These are all dried spices you’d find in a ranch dressing – salt, parsley, onion powder, dill, and garlic powder.
- Oil: You need a little bit of oil to cook the chicken. You can use any neutral oil that you’d usually use.
- Chicken: I like to cut my chicken pieces fairly small so that I don’t have big chunks that are harder to take a bite of.
- Fillings: This is all of the fun stuff! To keep this like a true copycat recipe, you’ll need bell pepper, green onion, corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeños, and parsley. But you can easily make these your own and add or take out fillings.
- Egg Roll Spices: For the egg rolls, you’ll need cumin, chili powder, salt, and a little bit of cayenne pepper for some heat.
- Cheese: I like to use Monterey Jack cheese, but any good melting cheese will work best. Skip the pre-grated cheese, as it won’t melt as well.
- Tortillas: A few years after I first started making these, I started using the raw flour tortillas that you can find at most grocery stores. You just cook them for a few minutes on each side and then you have fresh tortillas. I think I like these better for a few reasons. First, you can just under-cook them, which makes them easier to work with and they continue to cook during the fry/bake. Secondly, they are a lot thinner than the normal pre-made tortillas. That being said, regular flour tortillas work just great, as well! I used them for years without any problems.
- For Frying: I typically use vegetable oil for frying.
How to Make Southwest Egg Rolls
For the full instructions and printable version, scroll down to the recipe card at the end of the post.
PHOTO 1: Mash the avocado in a bowl. I usually just use a fork.
PHOTO 2: Add the remaining dipping sauce ingredients and stir to combine. Cover this and refrigerate it until needed.
PHOTO 3: Cook the chicken in a bit of oil in a skillet. Once it is browned and cooked through, add the bell pepper and onion for a few minutes to soften them.
PHOTO 4: Add in the corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeños, parsley, and the egg roll spices. Let this all cook together for about 5 minutes to fully heat it through.
PHOTO 5: Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the cheese and stir it in until it’s melted.
PHOTO 6: Working with one tortilla at a time, add some of the filling down the center of the tortilla.
PHOTO 7: Fold both sides of the tortilla in over the filling.
PHOTO 8: Then start rolling. Take one side and fold it over and under, and keep rolling, keeping the tortilla tight.
PHOTO 9: Heat the oil, then fry the egg rolls until golden. For more cooking methods, and more in depth instructions, see the section below.
PHOTO 10: If frying, let the egg rolls drain on a cooling rack.
Frying vs Baking
I am including directions below for frying or baking these. I prefer frying them but they work out great if you want to bake them as well. The recipe actually has you do a mixture of both – fry them for only a minute or two on each side, put them on a baking sheet, and then let them spend 15-20 minutes in the oven. But you can also just fry them or just bake them.
Frying: If you want to skip the baking completely, just fry them for a few minutes longer. Just make sure to keep an eye on them so that they don’t burn.
Baking: If you want to skip the frying altogether, simply assemble the egg rolls and place them on a cooling rack over a baking sheet. Spray with nonstick cooking spray, then bake in a 350ºF oven for about 30 minutes. For best results you can flip them over halfway through the baking time.
Tips and Tricks
- These Southwest Egg Rolls are really easy to put together, and the best part about it them is that they can be assembled ahead of time and then just cooked before serving. In fact, they are even better if they spend some time in the refrigerator first.
- Don’t skip on the dipping sauce, and don’t think that some bottled dressing will substitute, because then you will really be missing out! This avocado ranch dipping sauce is so delicious.
- The dipping sauce is best when it is made ahead of time. Sometimes I’ll even make it the day before to give it time to sit in the refrigerator to let the flavor combine.
- Sometimes I will have an issue with the tortillas coming unrolled as I fry them. If this is happening, I’ll just use a toothpick to hold it all together.
More Tex-Mex Appetizers
Tomatillo Salsa Verde
Bean Dip
Queso Blanco Recipe
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers with Taco Filling
Tropical Guacamole
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Southwest Egg Rolls with Avocado Ranch Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
Avocado Ranch Dipping Sauce
- 1/4 cup smashed fresh avocado (about half of an avocado)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
- dash of dried dill weed
- dash of garlic powder
- dash of pepper
Egg Rolls
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into small bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons minced green onion
- 1/2 cup frozen corn
- 1/4 cup canned black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons frozen spinach thawed and drained
- 2 tablespoons diced jalapeños
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley minced
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- dash of cayenne pepper
- 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 6 8-inch flour tortillas
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
For the Avocado Ranch Dipping Sauce:
- Combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Keep refrigerated. You can make this ahead of time – it is actually better if it sits in the refrigerator for a few hours or even overnight.1/4 cup smashed fresh avocado, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar, 1 tablespoon buttermilk, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon dried parsley, 1/8 teaspoon onion powder, dash of dried dill weed, dash of garlic powder, dash of pepper
For the Egg Rolls:
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned and cooked thorough. Add the bell pepper and onion and cook for another 3 minutes, until the vegetables are just softened.1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, 2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper, 2 tablespoons minced green onion
- Add the corn, black beans, spinach, jalapenos, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook the mixture for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Monterey Jack cheese.1/2 cup frozen corn, 1/4 cup canned black beans, 2 tablespoons frozen spinach, 2 tablespoons diced jalapeños, 1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, dash of cayenne pepper, 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Wrap the tortillas in a clean, lightly moist cloth. Microwave on high for approximately 1 minute, until soft and pliable.6 8-inch flour tortillas
- Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into each tortilla. Fold in the ends, then roll tightly around the mixture. Secure with toothpicks, if needed. Place the egg rolls in a dish or on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, then refrigerate until cold. (I think they are best when they are refrigerated for 24 hours.)
- When ready to cook, place a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Heat about 1-inch of vegetable oil in a heavy skillet until about 350º. Working in batches, cook the egg rolls until browned on each side, then transfer to the cooling rack. When all of the egg rolls are fried, transfer them to the oven to bake for about 15 minutes, until heated through.vegetable oil
- Alternately, you can just bake these – spray the tops with nonstick cooking spray then bake until warmed through and the tortillas are crispy, 20-25 minutes.
- Cut each egg roll in half and serve with the Avocado Ranch Dipping Sauce.
Eydie says
I have been making this recipe for years and I absolutely LOVE it. Recently, my recipe app. No longer opens due to the new iOS upgrade and I have lost ALL of my recipes. I’m devastated! So I was searching high and low for this recipe and although I found several copy mat versions of the recipe, none had the special sauce that I remembered, the secret ingredient that puts this recipe over the top. So. So. Happy you have it and have shared on your blog! Thank you