The Best Way To Reheat Those Takeout Egg Rolls In Your Fridge

If you've ever had Chinese take-out before, you're probably very familiar with egg rolls. Maybe you order them with a side of stir-fry or maybe the restaurant just tosses one in with your order as a complimentary appetizer. Either way, there's no denying that these deep-fried rolls of chopped meat and cabbage are a very popular choice when ordering take-out. But while the egg rolls may be crispy and tender when you first get them, chances are that egg rolls the next day don't taste the same. Sure, they may still be good (depending on how hungry you may be), but they just don't hold up to a fresh hot egg roll right out of the take-out box.

Should you find yourself with a few egg rolls left over from last night's Chinese dinner, you may be wondering just how you can reheat them. Do you put them in your microwave and nuke them for a minute or two? Do you refry them in a skillet full of hot oil? While these are common ways to reheat your leftover egg rolls, one method, in particular, will give you that crispy golden exterior you're looking for without leaving the egg roll soggy or requiring you to dip them in boiling hot oil. All you need for this method is your oven, a baking sheet, and some tin foil. In fact, this method is so simple you may even be surprised that you didn't do this before.  

To reheat your egg rolls in your oven is very simple. Like most other things you make in your oven, the equipment you'll need is a baking sheet of any size, a sheet of tin foil, and the number of egg rolls that you'll be reheating. It's important to note that this method, is a bit more time-consuming when compared to the microwave, so it's suggested that you use this method if you have many egg rolls to reheat instead of only one or two.

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheet of choice with tinfoil before adding your desired amount of egg rolls. Once the oven has preheated, place the baking sheet inside and allow the egg rolls to cook for five minutes. At the halfway mark — approximately two minutes and thirty seconds in — remove the egg rolls and give them a flip. This will prevent the bottom of the egg rolls from becoming soggy from any excess moisture. You could also use this time to check if the egg rolls are being sufficiently heated through or if they'll need more time to fully cook all the way. Once the egg rolls are fully cooked and developed a darker golden-brown color on the wrappers, you can remove them and serve them as you would like. This is a very simple method that's best reserved for reheating a large number of leftovers at once.

Let's say that you have only a few egg rolls you want to reheat and you don't feel like going through the process of preheating your oven to heat them up. What you want is to reheat your egg rolls quickly, but still have that crunchy exterior you would get with the oven. You'll be happy to know, then, that it's more than possible to reheat your egg rolls with your air fryer.

To get the best results when using your air fryer, make sure that you defrost your egg rolls if they've become frozen. Frozen egg rolls won't cook as evenly, so it's best to let them thaw out a bit before you toss them in the basket. Allow the air fryer to preheat to 350 degrees, the same as the oven, and lay your egg rolls in the basket, ensuring that all of the rolls have some space between them. Fry the egg rolls for one to two minutes before removing to flip them (as you usually would when cooking anything in the air fryer) before continuing to cook for another one or two minutes. Once the egg rolls have fully cooked all the way through, you can serve them however you like.

Although this is much faster than the oven method, keep in mind that adding too many egg rolls into the basket means many of them won't cook as evenly as you'd like.