Easy Baked Egg Rolls
Lunar/Chinese New Year 2025, the Year of the Snake, began on January 29 and lasts for 15 days, culminating in the Lantern Festival on February 12. To illustrate its worldwide importance, three years ago, California declared Lunar New Year an official state holiday, and in New York’s Chinatown, an exciting and colorful parade is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of spectators.
In communities all over the world, families and friends celebrate the holiday season by “Spring” cleaning to help create space for good luck to enter and also by setting off fireworks to keep evil spirits at bay. Another tradition is putting new dollar bills in red envelopes to give to children and elders for good luck and many blessings.
Like most holidays, sharing festive meals is a favorite way to celebrate the new year, with many symbolic foods making an annual appearance. Noodle dishes represent longevity, while bok choy and tofu both symbolize peace and a sense of security. Mandarin oranges, tangerines, and pummelos are symbols of prosperity and harmony. And egg rolls or spring rolls, resembling gold bars, are symbolic of wealth and good fortune for the year ahead.
To commemorate the Lunar New Year, this month’s Plant-Based 411 recipe is Baked Egg Rolls, featuring Melissa’s (Vegan) Egg Roll Wrappers, Bok Choy, Baby Rainbow Carrots, Long Sweet Peppers, Organic Green Onions, ginger, garlic and cilantro with a bit of tamari and sesame oil. The filling is quick-sautéed to preserve some crunch and then encased in the wrappers and sprayed with oil for baking. If you want to go old-school, the recipe works the more classic deep-fried way, or you can prepare these rolls in a new-school air fryer if that’s your thing.
No matter whether baked or fried, these egg rolls will hopefully help you usher in a new year filled with peace, a sense of security, wealth and good fortune. Kung Hei Fat Choi!
Baked Egg Rolls
Ingredients
1 package (20) Melissa’s Egg Roll Wrappers (vegan)
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
½ cup organic green onions, diced
1 ¼ tablespoons ginger, minced
1 ¼ tablespoons garlic, minced
½ package Melissa’s Organic Pressed Tofu, cut into small cubes
Pinch of salt and white pepper
¾ cup baby rainbow carrots, julienned
¾ cup long sweet peppers, diced
1 cup bok choy (white part only), diced
2 ½ cups savoy cabbage, shredded
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1/3 cup cilantro, minced
Small bowl of water for sealing
Parchment paper for baking
Cooking oil spray
Sweet chili sauce for dipping
Hot, spicy brown, or Dijon mustard for dipping
To make the filling:
Heat the oil in a wok or sauté pan over medium-high heat.
Add the green onion, ginger, and garlic and sauté about 1 minute.
Add in the cubed tofu, season with salt & white pepper, and cook another 2 minutes.
Add in the carrots, long sweet peppers, bok choy and cabbage, followed by the tamari, sesame oil, and hoisin sauce. Stir to combine and continue cooking for about 3 minutes or until the veggies have softened slightly. Remove the filling from the pan and cool to room temperature. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it with cooking oil. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
1 package (20) Melissa’s Egg Roll Wrappers (vegan)
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
½ cup organic green onions, diced
1 ¼ tablespoons ginger, minced
1 ¼ tablespoons garlic, minced
½ package Melissa’s Organic Pressed Tofu, cut into small cubes
Pinch of salt and white pepper
¾ cup baby rainbow carrots, julienned
¾ cup long sweet peppers, diced
1 cup bok choy (white part only), diced
2 ½ cups savoy cabbage, shredded
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1/3 cup cilantro, minced
Small bowl of water for sealing
Parchment paper for baking
Cooking oil spray
Sweet chili sauce for dipping
Hot, spicy brown, or Dijon mustard for dipping
To make the filling:
Heat the oil in a wok or sauté pan over medium-high heat.
Add the green onion, ginger, and garlic and sauté about 1 minute.
Add in the cubed tofu, season with salt & white pepper, and cook another 2 minutes.
Add in the carrots, long sweet peppers, bok choy and cabbage, followed by the tamari, sesame oil, and hoisin sauce. Stir to combine and continue cooking for about 3 minutes or until the veggies have softened slightly. Remove the filling from the pan and cool to room temperature. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it with cooking oil. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
To assemble the egg rolls:
Place 1 egg roll wrapper at a time on a clean work surface, laying out in a diamond shape with one point facing you.
Put about 2 ½ tablespoons of the filling in the lower center of the wrapper.
Fold the point of the wrapper facing you over the filling, pulling back on the wrapper slightly to secure the filling.
Take each pointed side of the wrapper and fold them over the wrapped filling in the center.
Continue rolling the wrapper like a burrito. When you get to the end, use your finger to spread a little water over the wrapper to form a seal.
Place each finished egg roll on the oil-sprayed/parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
Spray the finished egg rolls with cooking oil and bake in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes. Turn the egg rolls over and bake an additional 10 minutes or until each egg roll is golden brown.
Serve hot from the oven with a small bowl of sweet chili sauce and a small bowl of hot mustard on the side for dipping.
