Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls

Buffalo chicken was nowhere on my radar before I met my husband.  It's one of his favorites, and he often orders it when we're out.  I have to admit that I wasn't really impressed the first couple of times I tried it.  But over time, the flavor's grown on me.  Then I started making a buffalo chicken dip to take to parties.  Every time I make it, it gets excellent reviews.  My friends can't get enough of it.  We had leftovers of it one night, so I boiled up some pasta and mixed it in.  Voila!  Buffalo Chicken Pasta!  What an outstanding recipe mash-up!  Now Kurt and I prefer it to eating the dip plain.  So why stop there?!  I was having fun experimenting, making some cheesesteak egg rolls and had some left over egg roll wrappers.  Hum, I thought buffalo chicken egg rolls might make a fun snack.  So I whipped up the dip, put a nice dollop of it in each wrapper, rolled them up, and fried 'em in the air fryer.  Whoa!!!  They hit the spot!  One quick, easy, and impressive snack and perfect for dipping in ranch or blue cheese dressing. 

Recipe for Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls:  

This recipe is made using an air fryer, but if you don’t have one, I also include instructions to fry them in a skillet or deep fryer

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground chicken

• 4 tablespoons Frank’s hot sauce, and extra for dipping (optional)

• 3 ounces cream cheese

• 4 tablespoons ranch dressing, and extra for dipping (optional)

• 1 cup mild cheddar cheese

• 8 egg roll wrappers

• 2 tablespoons water

• Olive oil cooking spray

Directions:

1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes.  Drain grease.  Turn heat down to medium and add the hot sauce and cream cheese and stir until blended thoroughly, about a minute.  Stir in ranch dressing.  Add cheddar cheese and mix until melted, about another minute.  Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

2. Preheat air fryer to 390 degrees.  

3. To assemble the egg rolls, lay them on a flat surface.  Scoop the chicken mixture into the middle of each egg roll wrapper, dividing into eighths.  Don’t overstuff your wrapper.  Work one at a time to roll them up.  Put one egg roll in front of you with the corner pointing toward you.  Fold the bottom corner up over the mixture.  Using the water, brush it across the left, right, and entire top corner.  Next, fold the left and right corners toward the center.  Roll it up and press lightly to seal it.

4. Lightly spray all sides of your eggs rolls with cooking spray and place them in the air fryer.  Don’t overcrowd.  Make sure they’re not touching with space between each.  Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to do a couple batches.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Flip.  Cook until golden brown, about another 3 minutes.  If they don’t seem done, add an extra minute of time until they’re golden brown.  Serve warm with ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping.

   Alternate cooking directions:  Heat an inch of oil in a large skillet or preheat a deep-fryer to 375 degrees.  Fry the egg rolls until they’re golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.  Remove and drain on paper towels before serving.