Make Your Air Fryer Spring Rolls Taste Deep Fried With One Extra Step

If you have a soft spot for crunchy foods, a properly cooked platter of spring rolls (or egg rolls) is hard to beat — the pleasant crackling as you bite down on them is almost musical. Traditionally, these tasty rolls are deep-fried, but lots of people have taken to using an air fryer to serve up theirs. What's not to like? The convenience of push-button cooking is a definite plus.

But if you've tried air-fried spring rolls before, you might have noticed that they just aren't very crispy compared to deep-fried rolls. Don't worry — you can fix this with just one extra step. Before air frying, lightly brush each roll with a single, thin layer of oil (be careful not to use too much, or you'll end up with soggy rolls).

You see, cooking oil is the perfect crisping agent because it can get extremely hot. When you fry a spring roll, the instant the hot oil touches the outer crust of the roll, all the moisture on the crust rapidly evaporates to leave behind a golden-brown, super-crispy crust. Your air fryer essentially creates the same effect, but uses very hot circulating airflow instead. It's a good mimicry, but as you may have experienced, the rolls just aren't the same without oil. That's why it helps to bring a bit of oil back into the process when you air fry.

After you've oiled them up, the second secret to getting shatteringly crispy rolls is to arrange them in a single layer within the basket only. Don't stack the rolls on top of one another even if you have a lot to make. In that case, it's better to divide them into small batches instead — it might take a bit more time, but it's a lot better than ending up with a bunch of limp rolls.

Remember, air fryers work by circulating hot air around the food. If you were to overcrowd the basket, all the bunched-up rolls could disrupt circulation. When the rolls are grouped too close together or stacked, they may cook unevenly (or sometimes not at all.)

Once the rolls are nicely arranged on the grates, you can push the button and get to cooking! It may need two sessions at 15 minutes each for them to turn a nice color and crisp up. When they look like they're about done, flip each roll over with tongs and cook a final stretch for 5 minutes at high temperature. The resulting rolls should have a beautiful golden-brown tone and a swoon-worthy crispy crust!