It is a cylindrical, savory roll with shredded cabbage, chopped meat, or other fillings inside a thickly-wrapped wheat flour skin, which is fried in hot oil.

Andrew Coe, author of Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States, has stated that the modern American egg roll was probably invented at a Chinese restaurant in New York City in the early 1930s, by one of two chefs who both later claimed credit for the creation: Lung Fong of Lung Fong's, or Henry Low of Port Arthur.

[6] Another possible origin of the name is from a recipe for "egg roll" (also labeled as "dan gun") in the 1917 cookbook The Chinese Cook Book by Shiu Wong Chan.

[11] Egg rolls, like other Americanized Chinese food specialties,[12] may contain vegetable cultivars and flavor profiles that are not common in China,[13] including broccoli.

When fried, spring rolls served in Asian restaurants in the United States usually have a smaller diameter and a lighter, crispier skin made out of thinner sheets of wheat or rice dough.