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The Secret Ingredient That Makes Chicago-Style Egg Rolls Unlike Any Other By Dennis Lee Oct. 10, 2025 5:20 pm EST

When you think about dishes from the Windy City, you're probably imagining Chicago-style hot dogs , Italian beef , and deep-dish pizza ( which Chicagoans don't actually eat terribly often ), right? But zoom in on lots of different foods around here, and you'll notice tiny details that give our style of Midwestern cooking some serious personality. Among Chicago specialties that don't get mentioned often — because it's less about the item itself — are good old egg rolls (yep, the Chinese takeout kind). There's one component that makes ours particularly unique.

That's because the secret ingredient is peanut butter. Some egg rolls around the city feature

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