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Southwest Egg Rolls make a great appetizer or a quick after-school snack. These have the crunchiness of a regular egg roll, but with a southwest flair. They are fantastic!
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I love making these egg rolls. It marries two of my favorite types of food – Southwestern and Asian. I have made these as both an appetizer, a lunch, and even an after-school snack for my kids if I’m feeling extra fancy. These are simple to make and yummy to eat!
Your guests will love how these little firecrackers burst with flavor. They aren’t spicy at all, so if you want to add a kick you can simply add some chopped jalapeños to the mix. These southwestern egg rolls are full of colorful ingredients that are a flavorful combination!
Southwest Egg Rolls Ingredients
Every bite of these southwestern egg rolls is packed with vegetables, chicken, and all the special seasonings and herbs to make these even better than the restaurant. Southwest chicken egg rolls are perfect for snacking, as appetizers, or as a side dish for your next dinner!
- Oil – Heat the vegetable oil in the skillet to cook the chicken until it is cooked through.
- Chicken breast – Cut chicken into small pieces. Evenly cut the chicken to help the cooking process. The chicken needs to be cooked prior to rolling it into the tortillas.
- Onion – Chop your onion into small pieces before sauteing. A white, yellow, or red onion blends best with these flavors.
- Garlic – Minced garlic is added and gives an extra boost of flavor.
- Red pepper – Slice and chop the red peppers to bite-sized and small to fit into the egg roll shell.
- Black beans – Drain and rinse the can of black beans.
- Corn – Choose between fresh or canned corn when making this southwest egg roll recipe.
- Cilantro – A powerful aroma that is a favorite in southwestern recipes. Always add flavor as well as color.
- Chili powder – Adds a little spice!
- Cumin – Savory spice that is subtle in the mixture.
- Monterey jack cheese – The cheese melts perfectly over the ingredients giving it that ooey gooey cheese pull. For a less intense cheese use cheddar cheese or a Mexican blend.
- Flour tortillas – This will roll up the mixture and bake on a baking sheet in the oven. You can use egg roll wrappers if you prefer an authentic egg roll taste.
How to Make Southwest Egg Rolls
These baked southwest chicken egg rolls are easy to stuff, fold, and bake until golden brown. The blend of the egg roll mixture has spice, sweetness, and flavor in every bite. Your tastebuds will be thanking you!
- Prepare – Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Cut up the chicken into tiny pieces. Saute in oil until white all over. Remove chicken from skillet, set aside, and wipe skillet clean.
- Saute – Add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet and add onion, garlic, and red pepper. Saute until onions become soft.
- Cook – Add chicken back to the skillet with the black beans, corn, cilantro, and seasonings. When chicken is cooked through and skillet ingredients are hot, add cheese and remove from heat. Stir the cheese until combined with other ingredients. Drain any excess liquid from the mixture.
- Roll up – Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the middle of each tortilla (forming a line down the middle). Roll up each tortilla tightly to look like a taquito or flute.
- Bake – Place each roll-up on a cookie sheet and lightly spray each one with cooking spray. Bake until crispy (about 10-12 minutes).
More Cooking Methods
Each of these methods works well and is simple to do since the egg roll mixture is already cooked and warm from the saute, it is essentially heating it up. Using egg roll wrappers may be best for certain methods of cooking. Make sure. to seal the edges and not let any of the mixtures fall out while baking, air frying, or frying.
- Bake – Bake in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 12 minutes or until they are golden brown on the outside.
- Air fryer – Place the egg rolls in the air fryer basket and air fry for 8 to 10 minutes or until they are golden brown. Flip the air fryer southwest egg rolls over after about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Fry – Heat a large skillet or pan full of oil. Carefully and slowly, place the egg rolls into the oil and spin around for one to two minutes or until the egg roll is completely golden brown all the way around. Place the fried egg rolls on a plate with paper towels over top soaking up the access oil.
“This is really flavorful! Such a delicious meal!”
-Toni
Frequently Asked Questions
Most southwestern chicken egg rolls are a colorful combination of chicken, corn, black beans, red bell peppers, jalapenos, and cheese. These have a sweet and spicy seasoning that combines all the flavors together!
Not really! Unfortunately, these southwestern egg rolls are packed with vegetables and delicious ingredients that alone can be healthy but all together when baked in the tortilla the amount of healthiness these egg rolls contain is gone.
Yes! This will help save time and already have a delicious taste! Purchase a rotisserie chicken or use up leftover chicken to add to the mixture.
Serve egg rolls with sour cream, ranch dressing, guacamole, and/or salsa! It is the perfect dipping sauce combination!
How to Make These Ahead of Time
Make these southwestern egg rolls ahead of time, freeze them, or feed a crowd by making several at once. It is the best snack food recipe and tastes amazingly delicious with all the flavors. Reheat in the oven, air fryer, or microwave when ready!
- Feeding a crowd – If made as a snack for the kids, usually just one southwest egg roll will do the trick to curb hunger until dinnertime. If you are making these as an appetizer you can cut them in half or in thirds to make for easier eating for a crowd.
- Freeze – However I decide to serve them, I like to make a large batch of these and then freeze them. These take a little bit of prep time, but not much. You will be glad you made them up when you are in need of a quick snack or lunch. That way I can cook them up one or two at a time as needed.
- Reheating – If you are reheating them from frozen, the southwestern egg rolls re-heat best in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. However, if you need a really quick snack, you can also just throw them in the microwave for about 40 seconds to 1 minute.
Dipping Sauces for the Southwest Egg Rolls:
Yes, you can eat these flavorful snacks sans sauce, but why not try a few dipping sauces? There are a few options I recommend for you to try with these yummy egg rolls.
Chicken Firecrackers
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon oil
- 1 pound chicken breast
- 1 Tablespoon oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 red pepper finely chopped
- 14 ounces black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup corn fresh is best but frozen works great
- 1 bunch cilantro chopped
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese
- 12 flour tortillas
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400-degrees
- Heat oil over medium heat in large skillet.
- Cut up chicken into tiny pieces. Saute in oil until white all over. Remove chicken from skillet, set aside, and wipe skillet clean.
- Add another Tbsp. of oil to the skillet and add onion, garlic, and red pepper. Saute until onions become soft.
- Add chicken back to the skillet with the black beans, corn, cilantro, and seasonings.
- When chicken is cooked through and skillet ingredients are hot, add cheese and remove from heat.
- Stir cheese until combined with other ingredients.
- Drain any excess liquid from the mixture.
- Spoon about 3 Tbsp. of the chicken mixture into the middle of each tortilla (forming a line down the middle). Roll up each tortilla tightly to look like a taquito or flute.
- Place each roll-up on a cookie sheet and lightly spray each one with cooking spray.
- Bake until crispy (about 10-12 minutes).
- Serve with sour cream, ranch dressing, guacamole, and/or salsa.
This is really flavorful! Such a delicious meal!
Give me all the egg rolls!! I could eat way more than I should! I always order these at restaurants, but I am so glad I can make them at home with your easy & yummy recipe!
Yummy! These look so good and easy to make. Thanks for sharing, I love spring rolls!
I work evenings and these would be GREAT for an after work snack. One question: what size tortillas did you use? Would love to make them and freeze!
I use the “soft taco” size… so the ones that are about 8-10″ Hope this helps! You will love them!
Thanks SO much!! These have some of my favorite ingredients so I can tell that they will be wonderful!!
This recipe looks fantastic! Love that you baked them!
Thank you for the nice and different recipe.