Cheeseburger spring rolls pack the flavour of a smash patty burger with the crunch of a fried spring roll. Everything you know and love about an ultimate cheeseburger is included, meat, pickles, cheese, ketchup, and mustard with every single bite.
This really is a fun recipe I am sharing today. I think we can safely say that this is fusion food to the max.
The spring rolls scream cheeseburger with every bite you take. The cheese, the onion, the sauce, the pickles, and the ketchup, unmistakeable cheeseburger flavours. Plus by using smash patties you create that gorgeous grill char flavour.
This recipe is a tweak of Aussie Chef Dan Hong's self-saucing cheeseburger spring roll recipe. Only a slight tweak, plus I give you instructions for the healthier air fryer version too.
If you are a fan of Dan's dishes from Mr Wong, Ms G's, or the now closed Lotus, you may want to grab a copy of his latest cookbook Mr Hong. His cookbook may not include cheeseburger spring rolls, but it includes some scrumptious recipes worth making at home like the famed Lotus cheeseburger, and stoner's delight.
Sara xxx
What's in this post
Ingredients
- Spring Roll Wrappers: Easily found in the frozen section of your local supermarket. You could also use egg roll wrappers or filo pastry.
- Cheese slices: There is something that cheese slices offer that grated cheese does not. I use a combination of burger cheese and cheddar cheese slices. I personally find the flavour of only using burger cheese slices way too intense. By using cheddar as well it mellows the flavour. I also recommend Monterey Jack slices, Colby, or use your favourite burger cheese.
- Salt: Enhances the flavour of the beef.
- Mustard: Use a yellow American mustard for that true cheeseburger taste. If you aren't using American, use a mustard that had a bit of a kick to it.
- Ketchup: Or as we Aussis say "dead horse", which is slang for tomato sauce. Heinz Tomato Ketchup is my "dead horse" of choice and is available EVERYWHERE.
- Beef Mince/Ground Beef: If you are a burger purist then you may want to stick to the 80/20 ratio. 80% ground beef and 20% fat. But for us normal folks, use the beef mince/ground beef of your choice. I use topside beef mince from my local butcher, but never lean beef mince.
- Onion: White onion is sweeter than brown onion and is the perfect choice for these cheeseburger spring rolls, and cheeseburgers in general.
- Pickles: Even if you flick the pickles off your cheeseburgers don't leave them out of this recipe. The pickles add a crunch and little pockets of flavour change in the spring rolls. Use a European still dill pickle/gherkin.
What to Serve with Cheeseburger Spring Rolls
This really is the perfect game day food and would play a starring role in a game day spread. Below are some other recipes I think would complete a Grand Final or Superbowl watching feast.
- Finger licking and sticky baked bourbon maple chicken wings
- Super crunchy potato skin chips/fries
- A show stopping almighty Aussie burger
- Teriyaki chicken burger to change it up from beef
- Bliss on a stick, super cheesy Korean corn dogs
- Ginger beer battered fish and chips for the pescatarians
Who invented cheeseburger spring rolls?
You may find this an interesting topic for me to bring up. I have good reason to, trust me, who did invent the cheeseburger spring roll?
During the first half of 2020 fast food fusion hit the proverbial fan when Vic's Meats added Fullblood Wagyu cheeseburger spring rolls to their range. Sydney was in lockdown at the time and like every business trying to stay afloat, Vic's were getting creative.
The backlash on social media was hot and heated where Vic's Meats were accused of ripping off one of Dan Hong's signature dishes from Ms G's, the cheeseburger spring roll. A dish that a lot of Australians, including Justin Hemmes (principal of the Merivale Group that owns Ms G's) thought he created.
A couple of facts, cheeseburger spring rolls have been available in the USA for ages. When were they invented and originally by whom, I'm not sure. I first stumbled across them in New York before Ms G's had even opened in Sydney. That was 2009 and the year that I started writing Belly Rumbles.
New York is probably where Dan got his inspiration for the dish. The Cheesecake Factory has had them on its menu for a long time. Or was it USA chef Doron Wong, from the now closed Delicatessen in Soho New York, that invented cheeseburger spring rolls?
Ms G's opened in late 2010, Delicatessen opened two years earlier in 2008 with cheeseburger springs rolls on their menu.
The other fact? If you think you have come up with an innovative and new idea, there is a 99% chance that somebody has thought of it before you.
Recipe Instructions
Scroll to the bottom of the page for a printable version of this recipe.
Place beef mince/ground beef in a bowl and add salt. Using your hands, massage salt through the beef mince well.
Divide the beef into 6 even round balls. Flatten each ball to make a thin beef patty, 1.5cm/½" thick.
Place a frying pan over medium-high heat and add a splash of oil to the pan.
Add a couple of beef patties to the frying pan. Press patties down with a spatula or top of a burger press, basically smashing them against the hot surface. Cook for 3-4 minutes until patties brown and caramelise, then flip and cook the other side.
Once cooked place on a plate. Repeat this process with the remaining patties. Once all patties are cooked place the plate with the cooked beef patties in the fridge to cool completely.
Once the beef patties have cooled break/crumble them up into small pieces in a large bowl. Add onion, dill pickles, cheese, ketchup, and mustard. Mix to combine thoroughly
Taste mixture and season as required.
Beat egg with a fork in a small bowl. This will be used to seal the spring rolls.
Lay a spring roll wrapper in front of you so it looks like a diamond, one corner is pointing towards you.
Spoon a couple of tablespoons of cheeseburger filling onto the wrapper approximately one third of the way up from the corner pointing towards you.
Fold the corner pointing towards you up and over the top of the filling. Shape the filling into a tight cylinder under the folded over wrapper.
Then fold the corners on the left and the right over the top of your first fold and the rolled cylinder of filling.
Then start rolling the parcel away from you stopping before you reach the far corner. Brush the far corner with some beaten egg, and then continue rolling up the spring roll to seal it.
Repeat this process with the remaining spring roll wrappers.
Heat vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or wok until it reaches 200°C/395°F. If using a wok make sure there the oil is deep enough that the spring rolls will float and not touch the bottom of the wok.
Place 2-3 spring rolls in the hot oil and cook until crisp and brown. Remove from the oil and place on a wire rack (no paper as it makes the spring rolls soggy) while cooking the remaining spring rolls.
Serve with extra mustard and ketchup.
Sara's Top Recipe Tip
To ensure you get a nice crust on your burger patties work with 2-3 patties at a time. It all depends on how big your pan is. Leave around 5cm/1½" between the patties. You don't want to crowd the pan. If you do the patties will sweat and stew, not brown and caramelise.
Hold and press the beef patty down on the hot pan with a spatula or top of a burger press. This creates the smash patty effect, and makes sure the patty browns evenly and gets a good all-round caramelisation. That is what creates great flavour.
Printable Recipe
Cheeseburger Spring Rolls
Ingredients
- 500 grams (1lb) beef mince/ground beef
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ white onion | finely diced
- ½ cup dill pickles | finely diced
- 5 slices hamburger cheese | diced
- 5 slices cheddar cheese | diced
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon American mustard
- 20 spring roll wrappers
- 1 egg
- vegetable oil for deep-frying
Instructions
Cheeseburger Spring Roll Filling
- Place beef mince/ground beef in a bowl and add salt. Using your hands, massage salt through the beef mince well.
- Divide the beef into 6 even round balls. Flatten each ball to make a thin beef patty, 1.5cm/½" thick.
- Place a frying pan over medium-high heat and add a splash of oil to the pan.
- Add a couple of beef patties to the frying pan. Press patties down with a spatula or burger press. Cook for 3-4 minutes until patties brown and caramelise, then flip and cook the other side.
- Once cooked place on a plate. Repeat this process with the remaining patties.IMPORTANT NOTE: Work with 2-3 patties at a time, it depends on how big your pan is. Leave around 5cm/1½" between the patties. You don't want to crowd the pan. If you do the patties will sweat and stew, not brown and caramelise.
- Place the plate with the cooked beef patties in the fridge to cool completely.
- Once the beef patties have cooled break/crumble them up into small pieces in a large bowl. Add onion, dill pickles, cheese, ketchup, and mustard. Mix to combine thoroughly
- Taste mixture and season as required.
Constructing the Spring Rolls
- Beat egg with a fork in a small bowl. This will be used to seal the spring rolls.
- Lay a spring roll wrapper in front of you so it looks like a diamond, one corner is pointing towards you.
- Spoon a couple of tablespoons of cheeseburger filling onto the wrapper approximately one third of the way up from the corner pointing towards you.
- Fold the corner pointing towards you up and over the top of the filling. Shape the filling into a tight cylinder under the folded over wrapper.
- Then fold the corners on the left and the right over the top of your first fold and the rolled cylinder of filling.
- Then start rolling the parcel away from you stopping before you reach the far corner. Brush the far corner with some beaten egg, and then continue rolling up the spring roll to seal it.
- Repeat this process with the remaining spring roll wrappers.
Frying the Cheeseburger Spring Rolls in Oil
- Heat vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or wok until it reaches 200°C/395°F. If using a wok make sure there the oil is deep enough that the spring rolls will float and not touch the bottom of the wok.
- Place 2-3 spring rolls in the hot oil and cook until crisp and brown.
- Remove from the oil and place on a wire rack (no paper as it makes the spring rolls soggy) while cooking the remaining spring rolls.
- Serve with extra mustard and ketchup.
Frying the Cheeseburger Spring Rolls in an Air Fryer
- Spray spring rolls with a little spray oil.
- Place in the air fryer basket and cook at 190°C/375°F until crisp and golden.
- Do not overcrowd the air fryer basket.
- As per the oil frying method, place on a wire rack (no paper as it makes the spring rolls soggy) while cooking the remaining spring rolls.
Oven Temperatures
All oven temperatures are fan forced.
Measurement Notes
All measurements are Australian metric standard. All measures are level, and cups are lightly packed unless specified. 1 teaspoon = 5ml / 1 tablespoon = 20mls / 1 cup = 250ml /4 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon.
Recipe Notes
- 1 teaspoon equals 5ml
- 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml (Nth America, NZ & UK use 15ml tablespoons)
- 1 cup equals 250ml (Nth America use 237ml)
- 4 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon
- I use the below unless specified in my recipes.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
The recipe's nutritional information is an approximation based on an online calculator. It is meant solely for reference purposes. If you're looking for precise details, be sure to double-check with your own research.
Val
Thank you so much, Sara, for the detailed response(!), I have a shopping delivery coming tomorrow, and ordered both spring roll wrappers and filo pastry, so we'll see how it works. Looking forward to trying them.
Val (UK)
Val
Looks really tasty Sara, and I fancy trying this recipe, but I'm not too keen on frying - would it be possible to paint them with egg and then bake them, do you think? They would be great for snacking on a long journey, too (if they last that long!).
The ones I can find here are about 10" square, is that about the right size?
Thank you for your great recipes, Sara, I always look forward to finding out what recipe is next!
Val (UK)
Sara McCleary
Hi Val
This recipe will work in the oven if you don't want to fry in oil or use the air fryer method. Basically, an air fryer is a suped-up oven anyway. This is how I would "fry" them in the oven 😉
1. Make them as per the recipe up to the frying stage.
2. Have your oven pre-heated at 190/200 deg C.
3. Place the spring rolls on a rack placed on top of a cookie sheet or low sided baking tray.
4. Spray the spring rolls with oil.
5. Bake in the oven turning the spring rolls over after about 10 minutes of baking. Spray the top sides with a little more spray oil.
6. They should take around 20 minutes but bake until golden and crispy.
Note:
1. Don't crowd the spring rolls.
2. Leave enough room for the air to circulate between them.
3. Bake in an air forced oven if you have that option at 190 deg C.
4. As the filling of the spring rolls is already cooked you are trying to get the cheese melted, the filling warm, and the spring rolls crisp and crunchy. They may not brown as much as they would have if fried in oil, but still delicious.
In regard to using egg to brown them, you could do this as well. I'm not sure that they would end up as crispy as using spray oil. They may turn a little soggy. I'm guessing as I have never tried this with spring roll pastry. If you want to do this maybe use filo pastry instead of spring roll wrappers?
Good luck!
Cheers, Sara