Really, it’s not Super Bowl food if there’s no buffalo sauce involved – so among the things we cooked up this year are these delicious vegetarian snacks. Our egg rolls were Cyril’s invention, and they turned out magnificently: potatoes make for a hearty filling and pair well with the buffalo sauce, plus we added blue cheese as a traditional accompaniment, and you can also have your necessary dose of game day fried food. These do take some time to cook up and roll up, but the result is some really good bite-sized and meat-free treats. Now follow us here for these amazing egg rolls!
You’ll need:
- 4 pounds of russet potatoes
- Vegetable oil
- Buffalo sauce
- A 5-ounce block of blue cheese
- A red jalapeño
- A 16-ounce package of egg roll wrappers
- Sour cream
- Mayonnaise
- Heavy cream
You’ll want to cook your potatoes ahead of time: cut them into bite-sizes, rather flat pieces and place into a large stock pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil, cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, then drain them and let them cool. Next, warm 4 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat and place in a single layer of potatoes (you’ll have to work in batches to cook them all). Season with plenty of salt and pepper and let them cook for 8 to 10 minutes until they’re browned on the outside but not burned, flipping them frequently so they cook evenly. Once a batch comes off the stove, transfer those potatoes to a large mixing bowl and add another batch to the skillet, using more oil as needed, and cook in the same way until you’ve pan-fried all your potatoes.
Let the potatoes fully cool, then mix with enough buffalo sauce to coat each one, but not so much that they become soggy.
Now finely chop your jalapeño and crumble about half your blue cheese. Take your egg roll wrappers and lay one out on a flat work surface, then place some potatoes in the middle, topped with blue cheese and jalapeños.
Fold the bottom corner up, then the side corners in …
… then dab water along the top edge, roll the wrapper tightly up, and press that top edge so the whole egg roll is sealed closed. Repeat this process until you’ve used up all your wrappers.
Now in a Dutch oven, pour out a few inches of oil and heat until the oil reaches about 270°F. Drop in a few egg rolls at a time and let cook for just 1 or 2 minutes, until they’re golden brown on the outside – watch carefully so they don’t burn. Then take them out and let them drain and cool on paper towels, and repeat until all your egg rolls are fried.
Finally, make a dipping sauce by crumbling the rest of your blue cheese and mixing with a tablespoon of cream and 1/4 cup each of sour cream and mayo. Once your egg rolls have cooled slightly, slice them in half and dip the open sides in a little extra buffalo sauce, then serve!
This was our most complicated recipe for the Super Bowl this year, so it wasn’t something we whipped up quickly, as you can see – you’ve got several different steps in this cooking process, and you also have to set aside time for cooling in between. But we thought these were really creative and very on-theme, and the potatoes were a good substitute in place of your usual chicken. If you’re nervous about deep-frying you can also pan fry these and they’re equally delicious, but whatever you do these are sure to be a hit that just happen to be vegetarian.