If you’ve been looking to air fry lumpia frozen – or are just curious about whether it turns out as good – then you’ve come to the right place! I’ll give you the scoop on how to air fry lumpia from frozen and get it *perfect* every time. Not only that, but there’ll be a quick guide on everything you need to know before doing so to maximize your air frying skills! So if you need a change from those air fry mini corn dogs, lets get into it.
Table of Contents
- How Do You Cook Lumpia Without A Deep Fryer?
- Do You Need To Thaw Frozen Lumpia Before Frying?
- What To Know Before Air Frying Frozen Lumpia
- How Do You Cook Frozen Lumpia?
- Air Frying Lumpia – Is It As Good As Deep Frying?
- FAQs
How Do You Cook Lumpia Without A Deep Fryer?
While there are many ways to cook fresh (i.e, unfrozen) lumpia, air frying might just be one of the best. This is because air fried lumpia will maintain the almost, if not the same, level of crispiness as deep-fried.
In addition to this, it’s also one of the quicker methods and requires much less cleaning than deep fried lumpia. That is as long as you’re not baking grease onto your air fryer, of course.
If you’re in the market for a good quality air fryer, I’d recommend the Phillips as an exceptional – yet affordable – option. Because of these features, this air fryer is very popular. This has the added benefit of making air fryer water cleaning videos and guides that much easier to follow.
Do You Need To Thaw Frozen Lumpia Before Frying?
One of the advantages to making lumpia in the air fryer is that, unlike deep frying, you can actually cook the lumpia immediately from frozen!
The heat in the first minute or two will defrost the lumpia thoroughly and allow it to cook evenly afterwards.
Frying from frozen however can raise the question of how do you keep lumpia crispy?
As I mention in my guide on air frying frozen french toast sticks (make sure to try this with anabolic French toast), the air fryer is fortunately one of the best tools for maintaining this crispiness. Unlike ovens and toasters, frying frozen food in the air fryer will cook it before it has the chance to get mushy, making it perfect for re-heating bread. This is why I always recommend it in sandwich recipes and meal prep, just like this air fryer breakfast sandwich.
Ultimately, the answer to ‘can you air fry frozen lumpia?’ is not only yes, but air frying is pretty much the only way to properly heat lumpia from frozen.
What To Know Before Air Frying Frozen Lumpia
What Temperature Do You Fry Frozen Lumpia?
The best temperature to air fry frozen lumpia at is roughly 375 °F. This is because lumpia is a crispy food with filling inside. This means it’s trickier to get the balance between even cooking and external crispiness, making it a better candidate for lower-temperature cooking.
If you really want to be safe however, try air frying at 350 °F. On the other hand, if your air fryer runs cold, try turning it up to 380 °F-385 °F.
How Long To Air Fry Frozen Lumpia?
Airy frying frozen lumpia generally takes a fair bit longer than air frying from fresh. Still, it’s a fairly quick process, taking only 15 minutes on average!
Lumpia needs to be cooked for a little longer to ensure that the fillings are fully cooked before serving. In addition to this, leaving them in the fryer for a little longer will result in perfectly crispy lumpia.
If you decide to fry your lumpia at 350 °F like in my guide below, be sure to fry it for a little while longer. Twenty minutes tends to be the best amount of time – if they don’t seem crispy enough after this cooking time, follow my instructions below.
How Do You Cook Frozen Lumpia?
| Cook Time: |
| 20 minutes |
While this video doesn’t show you the entire process from how to make, freeze, and fry your lumpia, it is an excellent visual guide for air frying any lumpia from frozen.
Below, I’ve summarized the most important points (with timestamps!) in this video by Lady Shake And Bake. Like many other lumpia frying videos and recipes I stumbled across, this one uses the 4 quart Ninja air fryer.
If you’re interested in making lumpia yourself for this recipe, this video by Ono Hawaiian Recipes has a wonderful Hawaiian version.
While there is no universal way to make lumpia, this recipe by It’s Judy’s Life uses more ingredients typical of Filipino lumpia rolls.
You Will Need
| – A good quality air fryer |
| – A food thermometer (optional) |
| – Frozen lumpia |
| – A culinary brush (optional) |
| – Oil of choice (preferably not spray) |
How To Air Fry Frozen Lumpia
- Begin by taking all of your frozen lumpia out of the pack. If any are stuck together, leave them out for half an hour first to let them thaw a tiny bit. Be gentle in removing these from each other as you could rip the wrappers if done incorrectly.
- Add your frozen lumpia in a single layer, taking care not to overcrowd the air fryer and not to overlay these rolls. If they are not loaded into the air fryer correctly, they will not cook evenly as the air within won’t have space to flow between each roll. (Check the timestamp at 03:05 in the video linked earlier to see what your basket should look like.) For context, a four quart air fryer should be able to roughly fit thirteen lumpia rolls.
- Next, place the lumpia-filled basket back into your air fryer and turn up the temperature to 350 °F. Leave them to cook for ten minutes before returning to flip them. Alternatively, give the basket a shake.
- When shaking your basket, check to see if your air fryer needs any temperature adjustments. If not, continue cooking for another ten minutes.
- Once these ten minutes are over, your lumpia should be done! If they’re not quite as crispy as you’d like, leave them in for five minutes longer at a slightly higher temperature – 375 °F is optimal. This temperature change is important to keep the internal fillings from drying out.
- Once you’re happy with how they’ve turned out, try serving them with air fryer frozen curly fries and La Choy Sweet n’ Sour sauce.
Air Frying Lumpia – Is It As Good As Deep Frying?
Whilst the texture may not always be the exact same as it would deep-fried, if you cook your lumpia right it’ll come out just as crispy.
In addition to this, it tends to be a lot less messy than deep-frying – you get to skip out on all the oil, time, and gas used for deep frying. It’s easier to clean and could even be argued to be far safer than deep frying, which is definitely a significant point for those with kids.
Furthermore, it’s pretty much your only option if you’re making lumpia from frozen. This is because deep frying frozen food is unsafe, and other options like ovens won’t get your lumpia anywhere as crispy as an air fryer.
Taking all of these factors into consideration, I’d say that air frying lumpia is definitely worth it! While it may suit some lifestyles extra well, air frying remains an easy, convenient option for everyone.
And, luckily enough, it works pretty well for frozen lumpia!
FAQs
Can you air fry frozen lumpia?
Yes, and it’s in fact possibly the safest way to cook frozen lumpia.
Can I cook lumpia without a deep fryer?
Yes, you can use either an air fryer, or simply fry it in a pan (as long as it’s submerged in oil).
