This Filipino turon recipe is the perfect dessert or snack! These caramelized fried banana rolls are insanely good with ice cream or for a delicious mid-day pick me up! Crispy and extremely satisfying!

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So, what is turon? Think of Filipino turon as a crispy fried eggroll on the outside, with a sweet banana center on the inside.

This Filipino turon with jackfruit uses saba bananas cut lengthwise, sweetened jackfruit, and is fried with butter and brown sugar! Super addicting!

Totally inexpensive to make and is the perfect dessert or snack anytime of day!

This post will go over everything you need to know to create this Filipino turon recipe.

Recipe difficulty: Creative beginner level
Filipino banana turon is a popular street food item in the Philippines. It’s the sweet version of an eggroll! Surprisingly, turon looks harder to make that it actually is. This recipe is extremely easy to do with all the right ingredients, with the most challenging part being wrapping the banana in the lumpia wrapper!

Sam’s Pro Tips for this Filipino Turon Recipe

Frying the Turon

Don’t overfill the frying pan with brown sugar! This is very important when frying the turon in the oil. In order to get that caramelized glaze on the outside, the trick is to put about a 1/2 cup of brown sugar in the oil until just melted before you put the turon in. Consequently, the melted brown sugar will stick to the lumpia wrapper and form a glaze on the outside. So, the main point here is to add just enough brown sugar that will be used immediately on the turon!

Watch the turon carefully when frying! Turon only needs to be fried about 2-3 minutes on either side if it’s not completely submerged in the oil. Watch it carefully as once it turns a golden-brown color, it’s ready!

How to Wrap the Turon

Wrap the saba banana tightly with the lumpia wrapper. So, this is the trickiest part of the whole recipe! For this turon dessert, the saba banana will be cut lengthwise with the sliced jackfruit on top. Firstly, the banana will be placed diagonally along the corner of the lumpia wrapper and rolled halfway. Secondly, fold the ends in and finish rolling the banana in the wrapper. Now the trick to get the wrapper to stay on is to seal the ends with egg white! Almost like you’re sealing an envelope! Therefore, using an egg white keeps it sealed and tight as the egg white is super sticky!

Butter Equals More Flavor

Brush the outside of the turon with melted butter! For extra sweetness and flavor, we brush the outside of the turon with melted butter using a pastry brush and roll the turon in brown sugar. The butter adds great flavor when fried and makes this treat extra sweet as there is already sugar coated on the wrapper before it’s fried with even more sugar.

Key Ingredients – Filipino Turon Recipe

Below are some key and optional ingredients for this recipe:

Saba bananas: These small, yellow bananas are traditionally used for turon. Plantains can also be used, but it is more typical to use saba bananas. Saba bananas can be found in any Asian market or certain grocery stores as well. These bananas are noticeably different than regular bananas and are meant for cooking.

Lumpia wrapper: So, this is a special kind of wrapper needed as it’s paper thin and can be used for lumpia or spring rolls. I used the Menlo Frozen Wrappers. This may be able to be found in the local grocery store and definitely in the Asian market.

Brown sugar: As discussed in the Tips section above, the turon is rolled in brown sugar and is fried with the brown sugar in the oil. Consequently, this two-part method makes this Filipino turon extra sweet and beautifully glazed on the outside.

Melted butter: By brushing the turon with the melted unsalted butter, it helps the brown sugar stick to the turon when rolled and fried. Butter, of course, gives this amazing flavor!

Egg white: The secret sauce to making sure the wrapper stays tight! Use the egg white to seal the ends before applying the melted butter.

Jackfruit (optional): This is a turon recipe with a twist! For a quicker option, use the sweetened stripped jackfruit from a can to make this in no time at all!

More Variations to this Filipino Turon Recipe

There are a few ways you can variate this Filipino turon recipe. Here’s how:

Fry in coconut oil or add cinnamon! While I like to keep this Filipino turon recipe simple, I have seen other recipes add a dash of cinnamon to the brown sugar or fry the turon with coconut oil. If you have done these options, let me know in the comments below!

What can I pair with this dish? Here’s the fun part! Pair this Filipino turon recipe with vanilla or coconut ice cream for a delicious dessert! You can also drizzle additional caramel sauce on top for more sweetness! Totally thinking of my Filipino Leche Flan recipe with those brown sugar vibes!

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Ingredients

1 bunch saba bananas
1 pack lumpia wrappers
21.5 ounces canned sweetened stripped jackfruit optional
2 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 egg white
canola oil

Instructions

With the peel on, cut both ends of the banana. Peel the banana and cut lengthwise. Set aside. Put 1 cup of the brown sugar on a plate and set aside.
Take 1 sheet of the lumpia wrapper and put the banana diagonal along the corner of the lumpia wrapper. Place a couple strips of the jackfruit on top of the banana. Roll the banana in the wrapper to the halfway point and fold the ends in. Finish rolling the banana in the wrapper. See pictures in the Tips section.
Using a pastry brush, seal the turon with the egg white by brushing the egg white over the wrapper.
Brush all sides of the turon with melted butter and roll in the plate of brown sugar. Repeat these steps for all sliced bananas.
In a large frying pan, fill the pan halfway with oil and heat. Once the oil is hot, put about half of the remaining 1 cup of brown sugar in the oil. Once the sugar looks melted and is floating, place half of the turon in the frying pan. Note: This will depend on how large your frying pan is. You don't want to overfill the pan, so only place enough that it's not compacted. Adjust the brown sugar as necessary.
Fry the turon until golden brown and the extra brown sugar sticks to the wrapper about 2-3 minutes per side. Enjoy hot!

Notes

The serving size will depend on the bunch of saba bananas. 1 banana will produce 2 turons (sliced lengthwise). For my measurements in this recipe, I had 7 bananas for 14 turons.
Make sure not to overfill the frying pan with brown sugar as whatever is not used in the current batch being fried will start to taste burnt. I fried half of my batch in the oil and used a 1/2 cup of brown sugar. See Sam’s Pro Tips for this Filipino Turon Recipe for further discussion.
Enjoy this treat warm! Reheat in a toaster oven to prevent sogginess.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How to make turon stay crisp?

Once turon cools, the texture will become soft. So, to reheat the turon, warm the turon in a toaster oven to crisp it back up again. In other words, don’t use a microwave as it will stay soft and soggy.

Should turon be refrigerated?

Yes, keep the turon refrigerated in an airtight container.

How long does turon last?

Turon can last 2-3 days at the most in the refrigerator for optimal flavor.

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Perfectly Sweet and Crispy Filipino Turon Recipe | Fried Banana Rolls