Chicken Spring Rolls

Chicken spring rolls are not crunchy and fried, but soft and bursting with crisp fresh vegetables. Tender pulled chicken is bound together by a sweet and tangy sauce, layered in with a mixture of raw broccoli stems, cabbage, carrots and chow mein noodles. All of this deliciousness is wrapped in a pleasantly chewy round of rice paper. The sauce on the inside also does double duty as a dipping sauce.

Fresh spring rolls—different from egg rolls—are also called summer rolls or fresh salad spring rolls. You’ll find them in Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian cuisines. Often served as an appetizer or a side dish, they can make a refreshingly light meal that’s perfect for hot days. And you can even have everyone wrap their own rolls at the table.

Our chicken spring roll recipe uses a slow cooker to infuse the chicken with the flavorful sauce, but you can use almost any form of Asian- or neutrally-flavored cooked chicken that can be shredded or thinly sliced.

Ingredients for Chicken Spring Rolls

• Chicken: We use boneless skinless chicken breasts (a lean source of protein) for our saucy, slow-cooked filling.
• Sauce: The base of this sweet, tangy and savory sauce is reduced-sodium soy sauce, ketchup and honey. Fresh ginger gives the sauce some zip while toasted sesame oil adds a nutty flavor. Finely chopped onions bring texture and a subtle sweetness. The sauce is used three ways: to cook the chicken, then to season the shredded chicken filling and finally as a dipping sauce.
• Cornstarch: A slurry made of equal parts cornstarch and water thickens the cooked sauce and make it glossy.
• Rice paper: The soft, chewy, semitransparent rice paper wrappers used in our fresh spring rolls start off as dry disks of varying sizes and thicknesses. They’re often packaged in flat plastic containers to protect the papers. As the paper rehydrates, it becomes more translucent and softens. Use rice paper made with a mix of rice and tapioca starch, as they’re more pliable and easier to work with than the finicky rice paper made solely of tapioca starch. You’ll find this paper in the Asian section of your supermarket or the Southeast Asian section of a Chinese market. Store opened packages of rice paper in a resealable storage bag in a dry, cool space. They should last for a long time. Throw the rice papers out if they’re discolored or smell off.
• Broccoli coleslaw mix: Save on prep time by using packaged coleslaw mix. We like a broccoli mix that includes shredded broccoli stems, cabbage and carrots, but you can use a plain coleslaw mix or julienne your own crisp vegetables if you prefer.
• Chow mein noodles: Crispy chow mein noodles add even more crunchy texture to every bite. Look for the fried ones in canisters or plastic bags meant to be used as a crunchy topper, not the noodles meant to be cooked.

Directions

Step 1: Prep the chicken and make the sauce

Place the chicken in a 3-quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, whisk the soy sauce, ketchup, honey, ginger and oil together, then stir in the onion.

Pour the sauce over the chicken.

Step 2: Cook the chicken

Cook the chicken, covered, on low for three to four hours or until the chicken is tender.

Step 3: Shred the chicken

Remove the chicken and shred it with two forks. Refrigerate the shredded chicken until you’re ready to assemble the spring rolls.

Step 4: Finish the sauce

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water until they’re smooth, then gradually stir the slurry into the soy sauce and honey mixture. Cook the sauce, covered, on high until it’s thickened, 20 to 30 minutes.

Editor’s Tip: To reduce and thicken the sauce faster, transfer the soy sauce and honey mixture to a saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Stir in the cornstarch mixture. Let it simmer for a minute or two until it thickens.

Step 5: Sauce the chicken

Toss the chicken with 3/4 cup of sauce, and reserve the remaining sauce for serving.

Step 6: Rehydrate the rice paper wrapper

Fill a large shallow dish partway with warm water. Dip a rice paper wrapper into the water just until it’s pliable, about 10 to 15 seconds (do not let it soften completely), then allow excess water to drip off. Place the wrapper on a flat surface.

Editor’s Tip: Have your work station (a dish of water, the rice papers, the filling ingredients and a serving plate) set up before you start. Work with one rice paper wrapper at a time, dipping it into warm water, rotating and wetting both sides completely. It should be still somewhat firm when you remove it from the water. Avoid soaking the rice paper for too long or it may get too soft, limp and sticky. The wrapper will continue to soften and become pliable as it sits on the work surface. You can place a damp kitchen towel on your working surface and wrap directly on the towel to soak up excess water from the dipped rice paper.

Step 7: Wrap the spring roll

Layer 1/4 cup of coleslaw mix, 1/3 cup of chicken mixture and 1 tablespoon of noodles across the bottom third of the wrapper. Fold in both sides of the wrapper; fold the bottom over the filling, then roll it up tightly. Place the roll on a serving plate, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve the chicken spring rolls with the reserved sauce.

Allow some space between the spring rolls as you transfer them to the serving plate, otherwise, they’ll stick to each other and rip when you try to separate them. As you’re assembling, cover the wrapped rolls with a damp kitchen towel or paper towel to keep them from drying out.

Editor’s Tip: Wrapping spring rolls is similar to wrapping burritos. When assembling, leave space between the filling and side edges so the side edges can be folded over the filling. Loosely wrapped rolls may fall apart as you eat them. To make a tighter roll, gently pull the spring roll towards you as you’re rolling it away from you. If the rice paper rips as you’re wrapping, start again and transfer the filling to a freshly rehydrated rice paper; or place the ripped roll on top of a fresh wrapper and give it a double wrap.

Chicken Spring Rolls Variations

• Use other proteins: If you want to use another cut of chicken, boneless skinless chicken thighs will work well in spring rolls. For other proteins, give our pork and vegetable spring rolls or shrimp spring rolls a try.
• Go vegetarian: For a meat-free spring roll, press a block of extra-firm tofu to remove excess water and cut it into slices. Reduce the cooking time to 1-1/2 hours.
• Bulk them up: Add soft lettuce leaves (like red or green leaf), rice vermicelli or cellophane glass noodles to the filling.
• Pack it with other vegetables: Fill your rice paper wrappers with julienned carrots, cucumbers and sweet bell peppers.
• Add herbs: Brighten up your spring rolls with fresh mint, cilantro and/or Thai basil.
• Try other dipping sauces: For a refreshingly salty, tart, sweet and spicy Vietnamese dipping sauce, mix up some nuoc cham, made with lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, fresh chile and sugar. For a richer sauce, make the peanut sauce from our shrimp spring rolls recipe and add hoisin to it.

How to Store Chicken Spring Rolls

These chicken spring rolls are at their best when served fresh, since the rice papers will either dry out and toughen as they sit exposed to air, or get soggy if the filling is wet. The crispy chow mein noodles will also lose their crunch as they sit. When I’ve made fresh spring rolls in restaurant kitchens, we would tightly wrap each roll individually in plastic wrap and store the rolls in the fridge. They can also be stored (spaced so they’re not touching each other) covered with a damp kitchen or paper towel in an airtight container in the fridge.

How long do chicken spring rolls last?

The assembled spring rolls should be eaten within a day or two.

Can you make chicken spring rolls ahead of time?

Yes, the sauced chicken filling and dipping sauce can be prepared ahead of time and stored separately in airtight containers in the fridge for up to four days before assembling the spring rolls. Bring the filling to room temperature before wrapping. The broccoli slaw mix and crispy noodles need no preparation.

As mentioned above, while the rolls will taste best right after you wrap them, assembled ones can be stored individually wrapped in plastic wrap or covered with a damp towel in the refrigerator. Bring them to room temperature before serving.

Chicken Spring Rolls Tips

How else can you cook the chicken for spring rolls?

You can poach, bake or grill the chicken. Add Asian aromatics and seasonings like ginger, garlic, scallions, lemongrass, star anise or five spice powder, or keep things simple with just salt and pepper. As a shortcut, you can even shred a store-bought rotisserie chicken.

What can you serve with chicken spring rolls?

While chicken spring rolls can be a light meal on their own, you can also serve them as an appetizer or a side dish. Round out the meal with Asian-inspired soups or any of these Thai recipes or Vietnamese dishes.

How can you prevent the rice paper from ripping?

If you’re new to working with rice paper and are experiencing a lot of tearing, double them up by rehydrating two sheets of rice paper separately and stacking them one on top of the other to create a thicker wrap. They’ll be a little chewier. Too much filling can be another culprit, so be sure not to overstuff the wraps.