Ground Chicken Air-Fried Southwest Egg Rolls
These crispy, flavor-packed Ground Chicken Air-Fried Southwest Egg Rolls are an easy mid-week meal and double as a crowd-pleasing appetizer for parties! Prep the vegetables ahead of time, and store the filling in the fridge for up to three days—just roll and cook fresh egg rolls in the air-fryer as needed. Since they’re cooked right before eating, they never feel like leftovers!
Recipe Steps
Our family LOVES Mexican food! We eat it in some form almost every week. This is a fun way and tasty way to enjoy it. I originally made this for Wanda Farm with their ground chicken in October 2022. This recipe is super flexible—swap the ground chicken for turkey, beef, or pork, and use whatever veggies you have on hand. If it’s good in a taco, it’ll be amazing in these crispy Southwest Egg Rolls!
Serve with homemade salsa, tomatillo salsa, or black bean salsa, and top with your favorite fixings! We love adding sour cream, green or red onions, and plenty of fresh cilantro.
Ingredient Tips
Below are all the ingredients I used for this recipe. The ingredient list may look long, but don’t be deterred. This recipe is flexible and you may feel free to use whatever veggies you have on hand. Anything you would put in a taco can go into these tasty southwest egg rolls.
Preparing the Southwest Egg Roll Stuffing
Once the meat is cooked, I season it with half of the spices and use the other half to season the vegetables. Then, I mix the meat, vegetables, beans, corn, and cheese in a large bowl. For the cheese, I like to use a blend of half shredded Mexican Chihuahua cheese and half Sharp Cheddar or Monterey Jack, depending on what I have on hand. Taste the filling and adjust the seasoning as desired.
Before filling the egg rolls, fill a small bowl with water and spray the air-fryer basket with your favorite cooking spray or oil so the egg rolls don’t stick.
Filling & Folding the Southwest Egg Rolls
Lay one of the egg roll wrappers on a clean, dry cutting board with a point downward towards you (so it is like a diamond shape). Add a couple of generous tablespoons of the filling mixture to the bottom third of the wrapper.
Roll the bottom point of the wrapper up and over the mixture tucking it under the mixture. Next, dip your fingers into the bowl of water so they are damp, and brush them over the right and left corners of the wrapper. Then, fold the left and right sides toward the center and gently press down. The water will help the wrapper stick to itself. The egg roll will look like a little envelope. Continue rolling the egg roll up like you would a burrito. Using your fingers, brush the tip of the wrapper with some water and seal the egg roll.
Cooking the Southwest Egg Rolls
Line up as many southwest egg rolls as will fit on your air-fryer pan without crowding them and air-fry at 380℉ for about 7 minutes then turn and cook another 6-7 minutes, depending on your air-fryer and desired crispiness.
My family told me my egg rolls could have been air-fried a bit more because they like them crunchier. I also tested baking a batch in the oven at 375℉ for 11 minutes and then turning them and baking for another 5 minutes. Overall, we preferred the egg rolls air-fried.
The center photo below is the air-fried egg rolls at the halfway point. The right half has been turned over so you can see the difference before finishing the air-fry. The far right photo shows half the egg rolls turned over at the halfway point of baking.
Ground Chicken Air-Fried Southwest Egg Rolls
Equipment
- 1 Air-Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Ground Chicken or ground meat of your choice
- 2 tsp. Avocado or Olive Oil for sautéing
- ½-1 Jalapeno Pepper seeded & finely chopped
- 3-4 cloves Fresh Garlic minced
- 1½ tsp. Cumin
- 1½ tsp. Chili Powder
- ½ tsp. Garlic Salt
- ¼-½ head Red Cabbage finally sliced
- 2¼ cups Fresh Organic Baby Spinach chopped
- ½ Red Onion diced
- 1 Red Pepper diced
- 1 bunch Fresh Cilantro chopped & divided
- 15.5 oz. Can Organic Black Beans drained & rinsed
- 10 oz. Organic Sweet Corn
- 2 cups Shredded Cheese of your choice
- 2 pkgs. Egg Roll Wrappers
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Cooking Spray
- Small bowl of water to use when rolling wrappers
Instructions
- If using jalapeno, deseed and finely chop.
- Heat up a large pan (I love using a well-seasoned cast iron pan) and add 2 tsp. oil to the pan with the garlic and jalapeno. Sauté the ingredients until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add ground chicken and half of the garlic salt, cumin, and chili powder (I like to mix the other half of the spices with the vegetable mixture). Saute the ground chicken until cooked. Drain, if needed, and set aside.
- Dice the red pepper and red onion, and chop the red cabbage, spinach, and cilantro. Reserve 1/2 the cilantro for garnish. Mix the remaining cilantro, garlic salt, cumin, chili powder, and vegetables in a large bowl. Taste the filling mixture and adjust the seasoning, salt, and pepper to your liking.
- Add the drained and rinsed black beans, corn, cheese, and ground chicken to the vegetable mixture. Mix well.
- Prepare the air-fryer basket or pan with your favorite cooking spray or oil so the egg rolls don't stick. I used a little olive oil spray.
- Begin preparing your egg rolls. You'll need a small bowl of water to use when rolling. Lay one of the egg roll wrappers on a clean, dry cutting board with a point downward towards you (so it is like a diamond shape). Add a couple of generous tablespoons of the filling mixture to the bottom third of the wrapper.
- Roll the bottom point of the wrapper up and over the mixture tucking it under the mixture. Next, dip your fingers into the bowl of water so they are damp, and brush them over the right and left corners of the wrapper. Then, fold the left and right sides toward the center and gently press down. The water will help the wrapper stick to itself. The egg roll will look like a little envelope. Continue rolling the egg roll up like you would a burrito. Using your fingers, brush the tip of the wrapper with some water and seal the egg roll.
- Line up as many southwest egg rolls as will fit on your air-fryer pan without crowding them.
- Cook the southwest egg rolls at 380℉ for about 7 minutes then turn and cook another 6-7 minutes, depending on your air-fryer and desired crispiness. My family told me my egg rolls could have been air-fried a bit more because they like them crunchier. I also tested baking a batch in the oven at 375℉ for 11 minutes and then turning them and baking for another 5 minutes. Overall, we preferred the egg rolls air-fried.
- Remove from the air-fryer and serve hot with salsa, cheese, cilantro, avocado or guacamole, sour cream, and Mexican rice.
Notes
Ground Chicken Air-Fried Southwest Egg Rolls
Equipment
- 1 Air-Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Ground Chicken or ground meat of your choice
- 2 tsp. Avocado or Olive Oil for sautéing
- ½-1 Jalapeno Pepper seeded & finely chopped
- 3-4 cloves Fresh Garlic minced
- 1½ tsp. Cumin
- 1½ tsp. Chili Powder
- ½ tsp. Garlic Salt
- ¼-½ head Red Cabbage finally sliced
- 2¼ cups Fresh Organic Baby Spinach chopped
- ½ Red Onion diced
- 1 Red Pepper diced
- 1 bunch Fresh Cilantro chopped & divided
- 15.5 oz. Can Organic Black Beans drained & rinsed
- 10 oz. Organic Sweet Corn
- 2 cups Shredded Cheese of your choice
- 2 pkgs. Egg Roll Wrappers
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Cooking Spray
- Small bowl of water to use when rolling wrappers
Instructions
- If using jalapeno, deseed and finely chop.
- Heat up a large pan (I love using a well-seasoned cast iron pan) and add 2 tsp. oil to the pan with the garlic and jalapeno. Sauté the ingredients until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add ground chicken and half of the garlic salt, cumin, and chili powder (I like to mix the other half of the spices with the vegetable mixture). Saute the ground chicken until cooked. Drain, if needed, and set aside.
- Dice the red pepper and red onion, and chop the red cabbage, spinach, and cilantro. Reserve 1/2 the cilantro for garnish. Mix the remaining cilantro, garlic salt, cumin, chili powder, and vegetables in a large bowl. Taste the filling mixture and adjust the seasoning, salt, and pepper to your liking.
- Add the drained and rinsed black beans, corn, cheese, and ground chicken to the vegetable mixture. Mix well.
- Prepare the air-fryer basket or pan with your favorite cooking spray or oil so the egg rolls don't stick. I used a little olive oil spray.
- Begin preparing your egg rolls. You'll need a small bowl of water to use when rolling. Lay one of the egg roll wrappers on a clean, dry cutting board with a point downward towards you (so it is like a diamond shape). Add a couple of generous tablespoons of the filling mixture to the bottom third of the wrapper.
- Roll the bottom point of the wrapper up and over the mixture tucking it under the mixture. Next, dip your fingers into the bowl of water so they are damp, and brush them over the right and left corners of the wrapper. Then, fold the left and right sides toward the center and gently press down. The water will help the wrapper stick to itself. The egg roll will look like a little envelope. Continue rolling the egg roll up like you would a burrito. Using your fingers, brush the tip of the wrapper with some water and seal the egg roll.
- Line up as many southwest egg rolls as will fit on your air-fryer pan without crowding them.
- Cook the southwest egg rolls at 380℉ for about 7 minutes then turn and cook another 6-7 minutes, depending on your air-fryer and desired crispiness. My family told me my egg rolls could have been air-fried a bit more because they like them crunchier. I also tested baking a batch in the oven at 375℉ for 11 minutes and then turning them and baking for another 5 minutes. Overall, we preferred the egg rolls air-fried.
- Remove from the air-fryer and serve hot with salsa, cheese, cilantro, avocado or guacamole, sour cream, and Mexican rice.
Notes
Victoria Cook
Victoria is a passionate home cook who became the host and chef of over 100 episodes of a private cooking show tailored for wellness practitioners and their patients. With a love for ethnic cuisines, she enjoys using a variety of spices and fresh ingredients to create flavorful, healthy meals for her husband and son. Always up for a culinary challenge, Victoria finds joy in experimenting with new recipes—and if she can whip them up in an electric pressure cooker, she’s even happier.
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