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These air fryer crab cake egg rolls with fire sauce are simple to prepare and make a fantastic appetizer. The lump crab meat is generously flavoured with Old Bay, lemon, sriracha and more, and the fire sauce is perfect for dipping. Making these crab egg rolls with cabbage in the air fryer ensures a short cooking time and beautifully crispy result!
Seafood egg rolls are bursting with fusion Asian flavours and offer a wonderful crunch. Golden brown on the outside and juicy and flavourful inside, these crab egg rolls offer the perfect blend of sweet, savoury and spicy flavours.
You might also like these heart shaped pork potstickers if you’re in a snacking mood. Other tasty treats include baked donuts or any of these peanut butter recipes!
Air Fried Egg Rolls Ingredients
You will need crabmeat, panko breadcrumbs, mayo, Old Bay, salt, pepper, lemon, green onions, sriracha, mustard, and horseradish for the crab egg rolls. Shredded cabbage and egg roll wrappers are also used, plus an egg wash (egg mixed with water) to seal the air fryer crab cake egg rolls closed and ensure they go crispy and golden during cooking.
The fire sauce is a combination of sour cream, sweet chilli sauce, hot sauce, and Old Bay seasoning. Since dairy is rarely, if ever, used in Chinese cuisine, you can see how the sour cream makes this a fusion dish. For a milder result you can omit the hot sauce or, for a spicier one, double up on it.
How to Make Seafood Egg Rolls
The first thing to do when making air fried egg rolls is to combine the lump crab meat with the other crab cake ingredients listed. You can then shape the mixture into balls, pressing them in your palms so they hold together. Now cook them for about 10 minutes in an air fryer.
Whisk together the fire sauce ingredients next and set most of it aside as a dipping sauce. The rest can be tossed with the shredded cabbage. Now lay the egg roll wrappers on the countertop and divide the cabbage mixture between them. Cut the crab cakes in half and add those too.
Roll up and seal the seafood egg rolls, painting the egg wash over the outsides. Now all that’s left to do is cook the air fryer crab cake egg rolls in the air fryer until golden brown, crispy and piping hot. Serve the air fried egg rolls with the fire sauce for dipping.
How to Fold Crab Egg Rolls
If you know how to roll up a burrito or enchilada, you’re halfway there, but the technique for these air fryer crab cake egg rolls is slightly different. Since egg rolls are often deep-fried it’s important to ensure there are no openings where the lump crab meat filling could come out.
Now this is an air fryer recipe so that isn’t so much of a concern. It’s still nice to know how to fold these crab egg rolls though. The best way is to bring one corner of the wrapper across the filling and repeat with the opposite corner. Now do the same with the other two opposite corners so the filling is completely enclosed. This is when you will brush the egg wash over the outsides of the seafood egg rolls. This is to hold them closed and make them crisp up.
Serving Suggestions
This appetizer would be delicious along with salt & pepper pork chop bites, Texas cowboy caviar dip, smoked spiced shrimp, a quick fried rice or even some air fryer popcorn shrimp. If you want to try a different dipping sauce, this seafood sauce would be a great choice.
If you’re wondering how to make a low carb version of these, you might prefer this recipe for pork egg roll in a bowl.
Air Fryer Crab Cake Egg Rolls FAQs
Since crab air fryer egg rolls take a little longer to prepare than some other appetizers, you might want to double the recipe. Leftovers should be fine for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator. You can reheat them in the air fryer. Give them a minute at 350 degrees F and then flip them over and give them another minute on the other side and serve.
Actually yes, you can freeze these air fried egg rolls. Freeze them on a baking sheet not touching then transfer them into a Ziploc freezer bag. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator before warming them back up in the air fryer. If you want to cook them for frozen, you will need to use a deep fat fryer else they will overcook on the outside but still be frozen in the center.
Air Fryer Crab Cake Egg Rolls with Fire Sauce Recipe
Air Fryer Crab Cake Egg Rolls with Fire Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Cup cabbage, shredded
- 12 Egg roll wrappers
- 1 egg, for egg wash
- 1 Tablespoon water, for egg wash
Crab cakes
- 1 Pound lump crab meat, or imitation
- ½ Cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ Cup mayonnaise
- ½ Tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1 Teaspoon black pepper, coarse
- 1 Teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ Cup green onions, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon sriracha
- 1 Tablespoon mustard, stone ground
- 1 Teaspoon horseradish
Fire sauce
- 1 ½ Cups sour cream
- ½ Cup sweet chili sauce
- ½ Tablespoon hot sauce
- 2 Teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees F for 5 minutes
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for crab cakes. Mix well. Use a cookie scoop to scoop out crab cake mix and form into balls. Press between your palms to tightly form the crab cake balls.
- Add crab cake to the air fryer and cook for 10 minutes.
- While the crab cakes are cooking, prepare the fire sauce. Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk. Set aside ¾ of a cup to use as dip. Add shredded cabbage to the bowl and toss with remaining sauce.
- Remove crab cakes from the air fryer. Cut each crab cake in half.
- Prepare the egg rolls. Lay an egg roll wrapper flat on a solid work surface. Spread 2 tbsp of cabbage mix down the center of each egg roll wrapper in a diagonal line.
- Add 3 crab cake halves on top of the cabbage cut side down.
- Make the egg wash by whisking together the egg and water in a small bowl.
- To fold the eggroll, position it in front of you like a diamond. Brush the egg wash along the edges. Think of the corner furthest from you as corner 1, the left corner is #2, right is #3, and the closest corner is #4. The filling inside of the egg roll should be going diagonally between #2 and #3. Take corner 1 and fold it over the filling. Next, fold corner 3 towards the center. Do the same with corner 2. Tightly roll the egg roll towards corner 4. Place finished egg rolls onto a parchment lined baking sheet as you work.
- Brush each egg roll with egg wash on all sides.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees F for 5 minutes
- Lightly spray the air fryer basket with non-stick cooking spray. Place into the air fryer and cook for 8 to 10 minutes- about halfway through cooking time, turn the egg rolls over to evenly cook. Check that egg rolls have a golden brown colour before removing.
- Serve with fire sauce.
Nutrition
This juicy, flavorful air fryer crab cake egg roll recipe is so good! The crunchy egg roll wrapper and delicious lump crabmeat filling are delicious. Plus, the fire sauce they’re served with is also amazing.
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Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
I am obsessed with this recipe. Excited to make it for my family this weekend.
My family loved this recipe so much!! I’ll make this again soon! 🙂
I never thought of making these in the air fryer but they come out really crunchy and they’re healthier than being deep fried.
I never even considered using the air fryer for these. But I am happy I did – so gooooooooD!
These turned out amazing! I adjusted the temp to 375 in my air fryer because it has a seafood setting on it. Followed the recipe as written and, oh my, delicious! Thank you!
Yum! I have never tried in the air fryer.