Frozen Egg Rolls Ranked From Worst To Best

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What's the best companion to a heap of fried rice, some Mongolian beef, or steamed dumpling? Egg rolls, of course. Whether you're ordering takeout or making food at home, the salty, savory filling of egg rolls perfectly accompanies any other Chinese takeout-style dish, and they're also delicious enough to enjoy on their own. They're challenging to make from scratch, but never fear, home cooks; there are several frozen egg rolls brands offered in grocery stores, so you've got no shortage of options.

The differences in frozen egg rolls range from their filling and size to their wrapping. Interestingly enough, there are rarely any eggs in egg rolls (the consensus for why the name of the dish doesn't reflect its ingredients is that at one point the wraps were made with eggs). Egg rolls are often vegetarian, containing a mix of cabbage, green/spring onions, and carrots. Sometimes a protein like chicken, pork, or beef is added. Another similar Chinese finger food is the spring roll, which is smaller than an egg roll and usually (but not always) only contains vegetables, and is sometimes cased in rice paper instead of fried dough. 

Which filling is superior will depend on your diet and taste buds, but egg roll flavor and quality varies more brand by brand than you might realize. That is why we sought out 11 chicken egg roll brands (two are actually spring rolls, but because they contain chicken, we're considering them part of the egg roll family for now) to compare and discover which brand is best when you want to create a bit of Chinese takeout magic right in your kitchen. 

The Tai Pei Chicken Egg Rolls were tied for last place with the P.F. Chang's Chicken Egg Rolls. The lackluster filling and truly unpleasant wrap almost dragged Tai Pei to the bottom of the ranks, but a yummy sweet and sour sauce offered some last-minute redemption. The first bite of these rolls was strangely bitter, but every following bite was mostly just bland carrot. Several other brands on this ranking leaned too heavily on cabbage, but we needed more cabbage in this roll's filling to balance out the carrot. There is a reasonable amount of chicken, but it's very sorely underseasoned. The filling is also strangely pasty. It stays clumped together, away from the wrap as pictured, and squeezed out the end like sausage meat when we bit into a roll.

That wrap is a disaster, too. It's got a decent initial crunch, but the inner portion of the wrap was gummy and cakey, a texture that is very unwelcome in an egg roll. We followed the directions precisely for all egg roll brands and cooked them all in the same oven, but this one's wrap just seemed undercooked. Fortunately for Tai Pei, the sauce is tangy and sweet, and many of these rolls' flaws can be overlooked if you dunk them in enough sauce. An eight-count of these rolls is $6.38 at Walmart, which is more than we'd be willing to pay to sacrifice so much flavor. 

These egg rolls are from the brand Feel Good Foods, and they're the only gluten-free rolls on this ranking. While one of two testers did not know of these rolls' gluten-free status when trying them, it was apparent immediately that something was different about them. For one, you can see in the pictured rolls how different the chicken looks. It appears to be dark meat, which is generally considered more nutritionally dense than white meat. The carrots and veggies clearly look brighter and fresher, but they were way too crunchy, not seeming cooked at all. However, flavor-wise, the filling tasted great and was well-seasoned. 

The wrap is understandably where things went the most haywire. Visually, the Feel Good Foods wrap looks fantastic; it's evenly textured, held up in the oven, and didn't spill any filling. It didn't get that golden brown color you normally see on egg rolls, but we expected this from a gluten-free wrap. The real problem was that the wrap was so dense, tough, and chewy that it seemed too thick for the insides to get properly cooked, which would explain why the veggies were still so hard. Also, the packaging deceptively pictures sauce with the egg rolls, but it isn't actually included. These wraps are $8.39 for three at Target. 

The Minh Mini Chicken Egg Rolls come in boxes of 50 at bulk stores like Costco and Sam's Club. These adorable little rolls are practically bite-sized, perfect for serving at parties (or just for chowing down on when you really, really love egg rolls). The Minh Minis taste exactly like a good, classic egg roll. They're salty and savory, with a strong but pleasant cabbagey taste and finely shredded chicken generously dispersed throughout. The seasoning is very enjoyable — it's nothing that'll blow you out of the water, but still tasty. These are also a bit juicier than you might like; biting into a hot Minh egg roll risks molten grease shooting into your mouth.

As you can see in the pictured rolls, the wrap on these little guys is very thick, but still a bit shy of tough or pancake-y. It subtracts a bit from that satisfying crunch you hope for from an egg roll wrap, but only slightly so, and only when you do something bizarre like eat 11 different egg roll brands one after the other. The Minh Minis don't come with a sauce, but that's more justifiable considering the 50-count box comes with two bags of 25 and you don't want to end up stuck thawing out a big bag of sauce for more egg rolls than you made. 

The chicken egg rolls from Hy-Vee private label Crav'n are insanely scrumptious. They're huge, for starters — just look at how much filling is packed into those rolls — with a perfectly homogenous mix of finely-cut vegetables and chicken. The carrots and cabbage are firm without being overly crunchy. Overall, the filling might be a little bit too salty for some palates, which is why we couldn't rank Crav'n higher. 

This is also one of the only brands whose wraps seemed to cook unevenly, which unfortunately cost it a rank; both Crav'n rolls cooked were browner in some spots and paler in others. Crav'n includes a yummy sweet chili sauce, but it's a notoriously stingy amount. The pictured bowl of sauce is all that's provided for four large egg rolls, and despite being conservative, it was gone after eating just two. However, four of these giant rolls plus the sauce are just $4.29 at our local Hy-Vee, which is definitely an appealing value.

Chung's Chicken Egg Rolls packaging might not look like much, but there is quite the underdog waiting inside. The first bite of this roll exploded into a burst of dynamic flavor and juicy texture. The chicken is beautifully seasoned with loads of white pepper, but not too much. This roll's softer veggies make it more enjoyable for people who prefer a more homogenous texture and less crunch, but it doesn't venture into being soggy or sodden. 

The wrap and sauce are the most standout components of the Chung's rolls. While nearly paper-thin and just as delicate, the wrap held up surprisingly well in the oven, developing a few cracks but not losing any of its contents. It is a nice golden color when cooked and lets out a big crunch when bit into. The included sweet and sour sauce is among the best we tried, with a tangy sweetness that softened the peppery chicken. As a bonus, the sauce is individually packaged, one per each roll in the box. Chung's Chicken Egg Rolls are $4.69 at our local Target, a price that seems fair for four good-sized egg rolls and sauce for each.