Imagine biting into a super crispy Banana Spring Roll dipped in homemade coconut whipped cream from the comfort of your own kitchen in less than 30 minutes. You sure can! This traditional 4 ingredient Thai dessert is made in the air fryer instead of fried, so it is healthier, fast, and clean-up is a snap.
Just one bite of this fruit dessert and you are going to be hooked! There is something completely addictive about biting into that super crispy spring roll crust and then the warm creamy banana that will keep you going back for more. And just like that… we ate three. Ok, maybe more but we are not confessing.
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Healthier Thai Banana Dessert
Have you ever tried a Banana Turon, sometimes called a banana lumpia? This Asian dessert spring roll recipe is a popular Filipino street snack. However, it is commonly made with lots of brown sugar and sometimes jack fruit and always deep fried.
Conversely, we first learned how to make our Thai style banana spring roll recipe in Chiang Mai, Thailand - the traditional way. This Thai banana dessert is made without and refined sugars. In addition, you can find everything you need to make this recipe in a regular grocery store.
However, we wanted to take that one step further and make it healthier. Air fry spring rolls have all the traditional flavors and crunch of a Thai fried banana recipe but with less fat per serving. As a bonus, they are a delicious sweet ending to any of our Thai Cuisine recipes and can even be frozen.
Easy To Find Ingredients and Substitutions
Spring Roll Wrappers (pastry sheets) are much thinner than egg roll wrappers and are generally made with wheat flour and egg. They are not to be confused with rice roll wrapper that we use in our Summer Rolls that are made with rice flour. Unfortunately, Vietnamese rice paper rolls cannot be used in this recipe. You will find spring roll wrappers in the refrigerated or frozen food isle of the grocery store. We have not tested this recipe with any of the gluten-free or vegan brands.
Bananas - Did you know there is over 1000 different varieties of bananas? Who knew!We used a regular typical Cavendish banana found at the local grocery store and cut into 4 long slices. You do not need to make this recipe with the traditional cute little Thai banana or finger bananas, but you can if you have access to those. However, you need to make sure that your banana is ripe but still firm. Mushy or brown bananas will leak out of the spring roll wrapper before it has a chance to get golden brown and crunchy.
Lime Juice – Citrus is to prevent the banana from oxidizing and turning brown. However, you can substitute with lemon juice, key lime juice, Meyer lemons, etc.
Egg – This acts as an adhesive to seal the edges of the banana spring roll. If you are out of eggs, you can substitute with a cornstarch and water mixture. Just mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with about 2 teaspoon of water to make a slurry that is about the consistency of white school glue. Check out our video in the recipe card below to see this in action.
Easy Step by Step Instructions
- Beat egg or make cornstarch slurry to seal spring rolls.
- Peel bananas and slice into 4 sections.
- Dip bananas in fresh lime juice to prevent oxidations and browning.
- Open package of spring rolls and cover with a damp cloth to prevent them from drying out.
- Lay spring roll wrapper on an angle and lay the banana slice at the bottom corner and roll over once.
- Add a drop of egg or cornstarch slurry to the edges to help seal.
- Fold one side of the spring roll over the sliced banana and press to seal.
- Then, fold over the other side of the spring roll wrapper over the slice banana and seal.
- Press to seal.
- Finally, roll the banana up in the spring roll like a tortilla or our Baked Chinese Spring Rolls and press to seal.
- Make sure it is sealed at the end.
- Preheat air fryer while you spray the banana spring rolls with a light oil spray on both sides.
- Air fry banana spring rolls for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.
Try This!
If you think banana spring rolls are delicious plain, you should try them dipped into our Homemade Coconut Whipped Cream. Simply sublime! The tropical flavors of bananas and coconut together are a match made in heaven.
Try serving these air fryer spring rolls with a dollop of our No – Churn Dairy Free Mango Swirl Ice Cream or our Mocha Banana Ice Cream for a delicious summertime or anytime treat.
Sprinkle on a little ground cinnamon sugar or cardamom sugar just as they come out of the air fryer.
Equipment and Cooking Alternatives
Making spring rolls in the air fryer is life changing. Really! Do you know how long it takes to clean up stove top after frying something? Need we say more. We just gained back another good hour to our day. In addition, it is so nice not heating up the entire house on a hot summer day. Our air fryer has really simplified life. Checkout our Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce and Stuffed Zucchini Flowers for more easy air fryer recipes.
We have a Cosori brand air fryer. As each brand is a little different, you may have to adjust the total cooking time and the number of spring rolls you can fit in at one time. We can easily fit 8 spring rolls in our air fryer.
Don’t have an air fryer? No worries. You can bake the spring rolls in a 375-degree F (190 degrees C) oven. All you need to do is brush the spring rolls gently on both sides with a little light flavored oil. Bake seam side down for about 10 minutes. After the first 10 minutes, turn the spring rolls over and brush on a little more oil. Then, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy just like what we did with our Air Fryer Spring Rolls.
If you prefer to make Thai Fried banana spring rolls, we will include those instructions in the recipe notes below.
How to Store
Did you know that you can assemble your banana spring rolls up to 24 hours in advance? That is super helpful, especially when entertaining. Then, all you need to do is pop them in the air fryer when you are ready to serve. They are best served hot.
Refrigerate UNBAKED prepared spring rolls on a lined plate with parchment paper or waxed paper in a single layer. In addition, cover them tightly with either plastic wrap or place in a plastic sealed container. Please do not let them touch in the container as this may cause sticking and could tear the wrapper.
Alternatively, you can freeze prepared banana rolls BEFORE you bake. Place in a parchment lined sealed container in a single layer for up to 2 months. If you want to freeze them in a baggie or not in a single layer, first freeze on a flat baking sheet for about 3 hours and then you can transfer them to a sealed freezer safe bag. Do not thaw as the bananas as they could get mushy. Instead, just pop them in the air fryer frozen. However, you will need to increase your air fry time.
Tips for Success
- If your spring roll wrappers are frozen, you can either thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator over 2 hours.
- It is super important that once you open the spring roll wrappers, you need to cover the ones you are not using with a clean wet cloth to prevent the spring rolls from drying out and cracking. Trust me this step is very important.
- There are 2 sides to a spring roll. Place the banana on the rough side so the smooth side in on the outside after you roll it up. Style points if you remember. However, if you forget, they still taste fantastic.
Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
You can reheat spring rolls in your air fryer on the toaster function at 350 degrees F (176 degrees C) for about 5 minutes or just until hot and crisp. Alternatively, you can bake at 350 degrees F for about 8 -10 minutes until hot and crisp.
The inside contents of a spring roll can be made vegan. However, many of the wheat-based spring roll wrappers contain egg or egg powder. Banana egg rolls cannot be made with the rice paper Vietnamese spring roll wrappers that need to be soaked first.
940 calories. However, our healthier version has only 72 calories per serving (excluding the coconut whipped cream).
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Banana Spring Rolls (Air Fryer Method)
Equipment
- air fryer
Ingredients
Thai Banana Spring Rolls
- 1 egg
beaten to seal the roll (or 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 teaspoons of water to make paste) - 1 tablespoon lime juice
to prevent oxidation of the bananas - 8 sheets spring roll wrappers
- 2 bananas
- Homemade Coconut Whipped Cream optional
Instructions
- Beat egg or if you are out of eggs make a cornstarch slurry. To make a cornstarch slurry, add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 teaspoon of water and stir. The goal texture for your cornstarch paste is to have the consistency of white school glue. Either the beaten egg or prepared cornstarch paste will be used to seal banana spring rolls. Set aside.
- Peel bananas and slice into 4 long sections. First cut the banana in half and then cut each banana lengthwise. If using small Thai egg bananas, cut in half lengthwise.
- Dip bananas slices in fresh lime juice (or other citrus) to prevent oxidations and browning.
- Open package of spring rolls and cover with a damp tea cloth to prevent them from drying out.
- Lay a single spring roll wrapper on an angle and lay the banana slice across one of the corners and roll over once
- Add a drop of egg or cornstarch slurry to the edges to help seal.
- Fold one side of the spring roll over the sliced banana and press to seal.
- Then, fold over the other side of the spring roll wrapper over the slice banana and seal.
- Finally, roll the banana up in the spring roll like a tortilla and press to seal. Add a dab more of beaten egg or cornstarch paste as needed to help seal.
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C) while you spray the banana spring rolls with a light oil spray on both sides.
- Air fry banana spring rolls seal side down for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. As every air fryer is slightly different, please start assessing your banana roll ups at the 10-minute mark. If golden brown they are done, if not add a couple minutes at a time until golden brown and crispy.
- Serve with Homemade Coconut Whipped Topping, if desired, and enjoy while hot.
Video
Notes
- If your spring roll wrappers are frozen, you can either thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator over 2 hours.
- It is super important that once you open the spring roll wrappers, you need to cover the ones you are not using with a clean wet cloth to prevent the spring rolls from drying out and cracking. Trust me this step is very important.
- There are 2 sides to a spring roll. Place the banana on the rough side so the smooth side in on the outside after you roll it up. Style points if you remember. However, if you forget, they still taste fantastic.
- Refrigerate UNBAKED prepared banana spring rolls on a lined plate with parchment paper or waxed paper in a single layer. In addition, cover them tightly with either plastic wrap or place in a plastic sealed container. Please do not let them touch in the container as this may cause sticking and could tear the wrapper. Air fry within 24 hours for best results.
- Alternatively, you can freeze prepared banana rolls BEFORE you bake. Place in a parchment lined sealed container in a single layer for up to 2 months. If you want to freeze them in a baggie or not in a single layer, first freeze on a flat baking sheet for about 3 hours and then you can transfer them to a sealed freezer safe bag. Do not thaw as the bananas as they could get mushy. Instead, just pop them in the air fryer frozen. However, you will need to increase your air fry time.
- These little Thai banana desserts are best enjoyed hot out of the air fryer. However, they can be stored after made in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in a sealed container.
- You can reheat spring rolls in your air fryer on the toaster function at 350 degrees F (176 degrees C) for about 5 minutes or just until hot and crisp. Alternatively, you can bake at 350 degrees F for about 8 -10 minutes until hot and crisp.
- If you do not have an air fryer, you can bake the spring rolls in a 375-degree F (190 degrees C) oven. All you need to do is brush the spring rolls gently on both sides with a little light flavored oil. Bake seam side down for about 10 minutes. After the first 10 minutes, turn the spring rolls over and brush on a little more oil. Then, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
- If you prefer to deep fry your banana rolls, heat enough oil in a pot so that that your spring rolls can be submerged in the oil. When the oil is hot and ready, deep fry the spring rolls until golden crispy. This takes about 2 minutes, and you need to turn them frequently to prevent burning. Dry on a cloth to absorb the oil.
John / Kitchen Riffs says
Fun recipe! We love the flavor and texture of fried foods, but you've nailed it about the mess frying makes -- who wants to clean that up? And the odor lingers, alas. Baking -- either in the oven or air fryer -- is a much more sensible way to make these. Love the flavor! What an amazing dish -- thanks.
Heidi | The Frugal Girls says
Your banana spring rolls look so amazing, I would have never guessed they only required 5 ingredients! I really appreciated your tip for using the lime juice to keep the bananas from browning.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Heidi. the lemon juice is not required but it does help the bananas stay yellow and pretty. Hope you give this recipe a try soon.
ashok says
My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.
HWC Magazine says
We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed our recipe for Thai Banana spring rolls. Super easy dessert. Take Care
Wholesome Cook says
This is such a great idea! A better version of a fritter!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thai Banana spring rolls are really light and delightful. I think I will be making these for a party I am hosting this weekend. Always a big hit!
Kathleen Richardson says
You make it all look so easy. I've pinned you on my Pinterest page.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Kathleen. What is the "Pinterest page" on blogger? Can you direct me to the link? Take Care, BAM
thecompletecookbook says
My one brother and his 3 sons would go crazy for these banana spring rolls.
🙂 Mandy
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Mandy. Just as an update on the football stats both University of Michigan and Michigan State University beat their opponents during the football bowls this week. Both very close games and the Thai banana spring rolls were a hit. Take Care
Rachel says
Wow. Those sound ridiculously amazing! Please excuse the drool 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks for stopping by Rachel. I love your website as well. Looking forward to keeping in touch in the new year.
Hannah (BitterSweet) says
Wow, I'm so jealous of your vacation! I've only been to Thailand for a brief layover, so I'd love to return and really experience the place.
This is a great recipe though- I glance over at those tiny bananas every time I go grocery shopping, never knowing what I'd do with them. Now I have an excuse to buy some!
Healthy World Cuisine says
I think one of the best way to get to know a country and their people is to cook with them and learn how to make some of the dishes they think are native to their region. Everyone is always proud of their culture and food so it opens up a gateway of friendships. Take Care, BAM
zestybeandog says
Looks wonderful!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Jen!
thejanechannel says
I love fried banana but never had banana spring roll. What a great idea! I like to try the coconut creme dipping sauce as well. 😉
Healthy World Cuisine says
It was my first time too and I had no idea what I was missing out on. Give a try and let me know what you think. Take Care
thebigfatnoodle says
I miss Thai bananas, you just can't find them here! They're so sweet and perfect for these spring rolls. You've made me seriously homesick and hungry! 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
I can fully understand the home sickness part. UK dull winters do not help out one bit. Maybe its time to come to visit HK or Thailand. Take Care!
Joanne Ozug says
I always order these out, but now I have no excuse...I must make them at home! Thanks for posting, so excited to try these!!!!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Joanne. They are so easy to make a really must try. Have a great New Year.
gardenfreshtomatoes says
Amazing photos, and a very neat recipe!
I knew there were a few other varieties of banana, but had no idea there were so many!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Marie. I did not know there were so many kinds of bananas either and there are used in so many different ways in Thai cooking. Both savory and sweet.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Smidge. If you cannot get Kluay Khai Bananas just use regular bananas and cut them in half and then in 4 long slices. Other alternatives, if you cannot find spring roll wrappers, might be to use egg roll wrappers or even try one thin slice of phyllo dough, not perfect, but in a pinch it might be used as a substitute. Take Care
Just A Smidgen says
I love these!!! I didn't think they would be something I could actually make.. Oh, I wish I had those ingredients here to make them. I'm sure we have those wrappers at the grocers... yay!!