Chicken Bread Pockets (Chinese Style Bread Rolls)

Why we love these chicken bread pockets?

My family lives and breathes this bread pocket recipe! We enjoy them as an evening snack, a lunch box treat, or even dinner when we don’t have anything planned. They’re so easy to make, and everyone loves the fried golden bread stuffed with a flavorful filling!

It’s kid-friendly, it’s a great make-ahead recipe, and it’s freezer-friendly. What more could you ask for? And while I enjoy making them with white bread, you can also use leftover bread, milk bread, whole wheat, or brown bread. This is what I mean when I say it’s versatile; You can use pretty much whatever you have on hand, even when it comes to the filling. 

I’ve added pan-fried noodles to the filling like in my Chinese samosa recipe, or make an Indian vegetarian version of bread rolls that are stuffed with potatoes. Yum!

Feel free to cook them however you want. My kids and I love the deep-fried version, but you can also pan-fry, air-fry, or bake them. I’ve explained how below. I hope you enjoy this savory treat. Let me know what you think!

*For more delicious bread recipes, be sure to try these: 

• Matar Paratha (Green Pea Stuffed Flatbread)
• Bedmi Puri Recipe
• Garlic Butter Naan
• Rajma Masala Poori

Ingredients you'll need

Oil: I use sesame oil in this recipe for cooking the filling and vegetable oil for deep frying. You can use an alternative oil, but make sure it’s neutral and has a high smoke point. 

Garlic & Scallions: The bread pocket filling starts with minced garlic and scallion whites. Don’t get rid of the scallion greens, though! You’ll use them later in the recipe. 

Vegetables: The filling also included chopped carrots, chopped bell peppers, and shredded cabbage. These ingredients are full of nutrients and flavor. 

Sauce: To bind everything together, we’ll use soy sauce, green chili sauce, and rice vinegar. If you don’t have rice vinegar, you can substitute it for white vinegar.

Seasonings: This snack is so delicious all you need are salt and freshly ground black pepper as your seasonings. 

Chicken: Boneless chicken, boiled and shredded, makes up the protein portion of this dish. 

Bread: Use white bread as your pocket by rolling the slices out flat. Then you can add your fillings and seal the edges with flour slurry (or water). Occasionally, I even use whole-wheat bread to make this

How to make bread pockets?

Part 1: Make chicken & vegetable filling

1. In a skillet or a wok, heat oil. Add minced garlic and fry until fragrant.

2. Add sliced scallion whites and cook for a minute.

Part 2: Make bread pocket rolls

7. Take a bread slice, trim off the side crusts, and roll out thin using a rolling pin.

8. Place a tablespoon or two of chicken filling on one side, and apply flour slurry on all sides of the bread.

11. Repeat the same for all the bread slices.

12. Heat enough oil in a wok or a deep pan. Once the oil is medium-hot, carefully slide in the pockets and let them fry untouched for 45 seconds to a minute.

13. Deep fry the pockets until golden and crisp. You can even shallow fry the bread rolls on both sides until brown and crisp.

14. Remove using a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel to drain any excess oil.

Serve hot with ketchup or sauce of choice. Enjoy!

Expert tips

• Let your filling dry out a little bit while cooking. Then, let it cool a little bit before adding it to your bread. You don’t want the roll to get soggy and cause your bread pocket to fall apart before it’s able to be fried. 
• To seal your bread rolls, I suggest using a flour slurry. The gluten in the flour acts as a good binder, but you can also use water or even milk. 
• Be sure to seal the edges tightly so the filling doesn’t come out while frying.
• When frying, heat the oil to a medium heat. If the oil is too cool, it will soak into the bread roll, but if it’s too hot, the roll will brown very quickly and burn. You want a happy medium that’ll turn your rolls golden brown. 
• Want an air fryer method for frying your bread pockets? Simply brush your rolls with oil and air fry them at 190°C for 15 minutes. 
• If you’d rather skip the oil and bake them in the oven instead, bake them at 180 °C for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip them once halfway through so they cook evenly. 

Serving Suggestions

My family loves this bread pockets recipe as a quick snack or grab-and-go meal, but there are so many different ways you can enjoy them. 

If you want to make a full meal out of your rolls, serve them with soup on the side! This tomato soup recipe or homemade vegetable soup would taste great with your chicken and veggie rolls. You can also serve a side dish like mushroom rice or air fryer sweet potato cubes with this recipe.

Looking for a lighter option? You can’t go wrong with a salad! Try this caprese salad or arugula salad so you can get some greens in.
If you want to go more of the snack route, serve your rolls with a cooling and delicious smoothie! I suggest this strawberry smoothie or my green detox smoothie.

Storage & freezing

Store Leftovers: Your leftover bread rolls will last for about 4 days in the refrigerator, stored in an airtight container. To reheat, pop them in the air fryer at 180°C until heated through. 

Freeze: If you want to freeze some bread pockets so they’re ready to make later, complete all of the steps up until the frying part of the recipe. Store the non-fried rolls in a freezer-safe container for up to three months. To reheat, allow them to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes and then deep fry or air fry them until cooked through.

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If you made and loved this bread pockets recipe, please be sure to rate and review it below! I always love hearing from my readers and take your suggestions into account.

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