This crab rangoon recipe is real crab meat mixed with cream cheese and seasonings, then folded into wontons and cooked to golden brown perfection. You can either bake or fry your crab rangoon for a restaurant quality result!
I cannot resist the appetizers at my local Chinese restaurant, I always order sweet and sour pork, vegetable lo mein, egg rolls, lettuce wraps and these delicious crab rangoon. My homemade version of rangoon is just as good, if not better than, the restaurant recipe.
One day I ordered crab rangoon at a restaurant, and ever since then I’ve been hooked. Who could possibly resist crispy wontons stuffed with cream cheese and crab? Now that I’ve learned to make crab rangoon at home, I can skip the take out, and my family is just as happy with my version.
Crab Rangoon Ingredients
The ingredients in this dish consist of crab, cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, green onions, wonton wrappers, egg and oil.
How do you make crab rangoon?
Start by mixing together the crab, cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and green onions. Place spoonfuls of the crab mixture into the center of the wonton wrappers, then fold up each corner to make a packet shape. Heat oil to 350 degrees F, then fry the wontons until they are deep golden brown. Transfer the wontons to paper towels to absorb any excess oil, then serve and enjoy.
Tips for crab rangoon
- I prefer using real crab meat for this dish. In this case I used frozen crab meat, but you can also purchase fresh crab meat at your local grocery store’s seafood counter. You can also use finely chopped imitation crab meat if you prefer.
- Wonton wrappers are often found in the refrigerated area in the produce section.
- You can fold your wontons any way you like. I typically just pinch them together to make these little squares because it’s easy, looks nice, and you can fit a lot of filling into this shape.
- Be sure to use a thermometer to bring your oil to the correct temperature for frying. The oil should be in the 350-375 degrees F range. If the oil is too hot, the wontons may burn. If the oil is too cold, the wontons can absorb too much oil and be overly greasy.
- These wontons are best eaten freshly made. If you need to reheat leftovers, use the toaster oven to re-crisp them up.
Recipe FAQs
Crab rangoon consists of wontons stuffed with a mixture of crab, cream cheese, garlic powder, green onions and Worcestershire sauce. The wontons are either baked or fried until golden brown and crispy and are often served with a dipping sauce.
You can assemble your wontons up to 4 hours in advance, then store them loosely covered in the fridge until you’re ready to bake or fry them.
Both crab rangoon and cream cheese wontons contain cream cheese deep fried in a wonton wrapper. The difference is that rangoons contain crab and often other seasonings, where cream cheese wontons are less seasoned and don’t contain seafood.
Baked Crab Rangoon
While this dish is traditionally deep fried, you can also bake your rangoon in a 400 degrees F oven for 12-15 minutes. They won’t get that same crunchy exterior, but it’s a good option if you’re looking to save on a few calories.
I like to serve these wontons with a side of sweet and sour sauce and a garnish of sliced green onions. Sweet Thai chili sauce is also another great dipping option.
Crab rangoon are a fun party snack and pair perfectly with other Asian favorites like beef and broccoli and fried rice. Once you see how easy they are to make at home, you’ll never be tempted to order the take out version again!
More take out favorites
Crab Rangoon
Ingredients
- 8 ounces crab meat or chopped imitation crab
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons sliced green onions plus more for garnish
- 20 wonton wrappers
- 1 egg beaten
- oil for frying
- dipping sauce for serving
Instructions
- Place the crab meat, cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and green onions in a bowl. Stir to combine.
- Place a wonton wrapper on a flat surface and drop 2 teaspoons of the crab mixture into the center. Brush the edges of the wonton with the egg.
- Bring 2 opposite corners together in the middle of the wonton and pinch. Repeat with the other 2 corners and pinch to form a package shape.
- Repeat with the remaining wontons and crab mixture until all are filled.
- Heat 4 inches of oil in a deep pan to 350 degrees F
- Fry 5-6 wontons at a time, turning them as needed to make sure they brown evenly. This process should take about 3-5 minutes.
- Drain the cooked wontons on paper towels and repeat the frying process with remaining wontons.
- Serve immediately with dipping sauce of choice and garnish with more sliced green onions.
Notes
- For baked crab rangoon, assemble the wontons as directed then coat the tops with cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
- I prefer using real crab meat for this dish. In this case I used frozen crab meat, but you can also purchase fresh crab meat at your local grocery store’s seafood counter. You can also use finely chopped imitation crab meat if you prefer.
- You can fold your wontons any way you like. I typically just pinch them together to make these little squares because it’s easy, looks nice, and you can fit a lot of filling into this shape.
- Be sure to use a thermometer to bring your oil to the correct temperature for frying. The oil should be in the 350-375 degrees F range. If the oil is too hot, the wontons may burn. If the oil is too cold, the wontons can absorb too much oil and be overly greasy.
How do you keep the filling from melting and running out of the wonton
It sounds like maybe the wontons weren’t all the way sealed, also if you cook them for too long there’s a greater chance of them bursting open!
I am always down for crab rangoons! I baked mine instead of frying them and they came out crispy and delicious. Next time, I’m going to make ALOT!
Bookmarking this recipe to try this weekend. Some friends are coming over and I am sure they will love it.
These crispy snacks were the perfect appetizer when we had family over this past weekend! They were gone in minutes!
This real crab, crab Rangoon, look and sound amazing. I can’t wait to try them.
these crispy crab rangoon are so friggin addicting. I made a small batch and wish i had doubled the recipe. they are cleaned up by everyone in minutes
Why can’t they be assembled & refrigerated overnight & fry them the next day?
That should be fine!
What did I do wrong?? At least half of my wontons sprung a leak (not at the seam) and the cheese proceeded to come streaming out! I had my oil at 350-375 degrees F. ??
What brand of wontons did you use? It sounds like maybe you got a bad batch that was overly thin and split apart during the frying process.
Positively fantastic recipe! Perfect proportion of spices to filling and pretty fun to assemble. Making this recipe for the third time this upcoming weekend! Can’t wait to show off my beautiful tasty crab rangoon to my all my friends. Thank you for publishing such a phenomenal recipe. 💕
My family loved these! I’m planning to double the recipe next time!
Can I freeze just the mixture?
That should be fine!
My family loves this recipe! I’m so excited to make these soon! So delicious and yummy!
Oh my goodness! These crab rangoons look so inviting! I need a dozen of them right now!
We love making this at home!