Crab Rangoon

Crab Rangoon are crab and cream cheese wontons pinched into little purses and deep fried, these are the perfect Chinese restaurant copycat recipe served with sweet and sour sauce or sweet chili sauce.

We love Chinese food recipes here and our absolute favorite Asian appetizer is these (slightly Americanized) Crab Rangoon bites dipped in Sweet and Sour Sauce.

Crab Rangoon
 Crab Rangoon

Crab Rangoon is one of the most popular Chinese food appetizers on the menu in any of a million local Chinese Food takeout spots, second perhaps to egg rolls. These wontons are a bit different than the Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon I made a year ago because of the addition of imitation crab meat.

The recipe is also incredibly easy to make and prepare for the future. Once the wontons are stuffed and closed you can freeze them before frying. If you do freeze them before frying you’ll find they keep the perfect shape much more often as they fry and start to crisp up before they have a chance to wilt into a deformed four corner star.

Making a dim sum at home party is actually a breeze with this recipe as well since it freezes so well. I frequently will make these wontons, the cream cheese version, Korean Ground Beef Egg Rolls, potstickers and more. Then just before it is time to serve the recipes I will heat the oil and ten minutes later all the food is crispy and hot and ready to eat.

Sweet and sour sauce and sweet chili sauce are the natural dipping sauces for the rangoon, but you can also dip into gyoza sauce if desired.

What to serve with crab rangoon?

Crab rangoon is best served with your favorite Chinese food entrees including Lo MeinOrange ChickenMongolian Beef and steamed vegetables or rice.

What is crab rangoon made out of?

In more traditional family restaurants crab rangoon is made with actual crab meat but in traditional Chinese takeout restaurants it is a mixture of imitation crab meat with cream cheese, garlic, Worchestershire sauce and wonton skins deep fried and served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce.

How do you make crab rangoon?

The crab mixture is stirred together and a small spoonful of the filling is added to a wonton wrapper. Once the wonton is pinched into a flower shape its quickly fried and serve hot in less than 20 minutes from start to finish.

Crab and Cream Cheese Wontons

What is a fried wonton?

A fried wonton is a square of very thin dough fried to a light and crispy texture in just a couple of minutes. Often, homemade ravioli are also made using wonton skins instead of pasta sheets. Wonton sheets are a fantastic quick substitute for pasta dough.

Troubleshooting Making Crab Rangoon:

  • Make sure no air remains inside the wonton. As you fry the rangoon any air inside will turn into steam and break open the wonton leaving the oil covered with the filling.
  • Make sure to fold the wonton sheet into a four cornered star shape but keep the inside sealed. Here’s a great tutorial.
  • Make sure the oil is at 350 degrees, lower will cause oily food. Too high will result in quickly burned crab rangoon.
  • If baking the crab rangoon, spray or brush well with canola oil before baking at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Crab Rangoon Recipe

Tools used in the making of this Crab Rangoon:
Skimmer: The easiest way to fry and gently remove the wontons without breaking them open.
Dutch Oven: This dutch oven holds heat great and the top is actually a skillet.

Crab Rangoon Recipe
5 from 15 votes
Print

Crab Rangoon

Crab Rangoon are crab and cream cheese wontons with green onions pinched into little purses and deep fried, these are the perfect Chinese restaurant copycat recipe served with sweet and sour sauce or sweet chili sauce.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword Crab Rangoon
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 12 Servings
Calories 80 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces crab meat Imitation crab meat
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 1 large clove garlic minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 12 wonton skins
  • 1 beaten egg
  • deep frying oil

Instructions

  1. Chop up the crabmeat in small pieces.
  2. Mix well with the cream cheese, garlic and Worcestershire sauce.
  3. Add 1 teaspoon of filling to the center of the wonton.
  4. Brush the edges with the egg and pinch the corners together (make sure there is NO trapped air) to form a four cornered star like in this tutorial.

  5. Fry in 350 degree oil until browned and crispy, roughly 1-2 minutes.

Nutrition Facts
Crab Rangoon
Amount Per Serving (1 g)
Calories 80 Calories from Fat 54
% Daily Value*
Fat 6g9%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Cholesterol 28mg9%
Sodium 219mg10%
Potassium 64mg2%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 260IU5%
Vitamin C 1.3mg2%
Calcium 27mg3%
Iron 0.2mg1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

crab rangoon
crab and cream cheese wontons

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. This is a great recipe! After reading the comments, I added curry powder and it was delicious!! I did find the filling a bit dry, so I added a tbsp of mayo just to get it creamier, but other than that it will now be my go-to recipe! Thank you

  2. Thanks for sharing. I love crab rangoons. The text mentioned scallions but they aren’t in the list of ingredients. They add something to the flavor.

  3. Never use imitation crab. It’s not crab $10 at a grocery store can get you the real thing. Plus its made with white fish, which there are people that are allergic to. Then there is the Sugar in it.

  4. I made mine after preheating for 5 mins at 350 and then cooking at 350 for 6 mins and they came out nice and browned and fully warmed through. I did spray the actual wontons rather than the basket just to get the coloring.

  5. Someone in the comments mentioned putting Curry in the mix and I would like to thank him. Made for a wedding reception with curry and everyone commented on how delicious it was. The recipe is excellent but please add the curry powder. You will be glad you did

  6. I agree with other commenters. You would benefit from not saying 12 won ton wrappers. It would be far more accurate to say a package of won ton wrappers (since one has to purchase them anyway). Or at least 24–30, a range since there will be variation of consistency depending on the person making them. But there is no way all that filling will fit into only 12 no matter how much you try to overstuff them.

  7. I did 12oz of cream cheese, doubled the worcestershire, added finely chopped green onion, skipped the egg wash, and since I don’t own an oil timer I guess on the heat of the oil but they turned out fabulous!! I made pffft at least 30 little guys and I’m glad I made that many so I can save some for leftovers tomorrow! I used frieda’s wraps which were pretty small but oh so perfectly thin 🙂

  8. I noticed that the opening paragraph of the recipe mentions green onion but it’s not listed anywhere in the ingredients. Was it accidentally omitted?

  9. Best recipe for crab rangoon. Really easy instructions to follow. Made these several times and each time they were a big hit at dinner time.

  10. Can I mix half cream cheese and half ricotta cheese, instead just all cream cheese? Thank you – Lisa I.

    1. You absolutely could, the difference will be in the tang of the cream cheese you’ll be missing in the ricotta. Add a bit of green onions and garlic powder to bring the flavors back around and you’ll be a-ok. Hope that helps 🙂 (sorry I had to edit your comment, there’s weird stuff surrounding talking about all of that on here and how it affects recipes – beyond long story).

  11. These were so easy and yummy. Liked the recipe as is. Had my 10 & 6 yr old granddaughters help. They watched the tutorial and shaped them up perfectly. Thank you for sharing

  12. These recipes can help you pop out some things you didn’t know you could, but there is no substitute for tasting before you say – thats it!

    Most folks would have said: little sugar, a ever so light dash of cayenne- ah there it is. 🙂

    I also used about 4oz of crab, knowing that most Chinese restaurants skimp on the crab.

    This recipe helped me get to – ah there it is!

  13. I had really high hopes for this recipe, but was disappointed with both the flavor and the accuracy of the recipe.

    As to the accuracy, not only do I believe the amount of filling to be added to each wonton should have been stated as 1 tablespoon (scant) vs. 1 teaspoon, but also the yield should have been listed as 30 vs. 12 (that’s even using 1 Tablespoon per wonton). If I had only used 1 teaspoon per wonton, I expect I would have yielded 90, which would have been 7.5 times as many.

    As to the flavor, they didn’t taste too bad, but were nothing like what I’ve had at any Chinese restaurant I’ve been to. I noticed a slightly fishy taste, whereas I don’t normally even taste the crab. Also, I think there was just a little too much Garlic and Worcester flavor (I might try using half as much next time). Finally, they were missing the slightly sweet flavor I’m used to.

  14. I would like to bake mine instead of deep frying. Do you think they would be ok if I make them the night before the event and then bake them the next day. I think I would have to make sure I keep them moist overnight….thoughts?

    1. You can bake these if you’d like. I suggest lightly spraying them with cooking spray once on the baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Hope this helps!

  15. Hi Sabrina, this one was nice. Very close to what I recall. I do substitute soy sauce or even a drop or two of dark soy for the worcestershire sauce, I think the result is a bit more “asian” flavor and I never included garlic before, I use minced green onion in mine. But these were a nice change for a more “American” palate. Yummy and served up with oyster sauce and duck sauce for dipping. I’ll probably do these again.

    1. I just use the standard brand that you get in produce section, any will do as long as they are wonton wrappers and not egg roll size. For the imitation crab, again no brand preference, just not the store brand 🙂

      1. These were perfect! I did add a 1/2 teaspoon of sweet and sour, sugar and some green onion to the mixture, but they turned out phenomenal.

    1. I haven’t tested it using one but if you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks!

      1. How did you do them in the air fryer? I’m interested in doing them that way but don’t know what temp or how long

  16. The recipe worked well. I did find the recipe particularly meaty, even after following the comment recommendation of using only half the crab meat. The recipe being meaty isn’t a bad thing, I was just hoping for a sweeter cream cheese filling.

  17. Crab Rangoon is my daughter’s favorite and let me say that this recipe did not disappoint! I substituted real crab meat for the imitation and added green onion to the cheese mixture. This recipe definitely earned a spot in my cookbook of favorite recipes!! Thanks for sharing ?

      1. This recipe makes a huge batch. I fried about a dozen, then assembled and froze the remaining ones. I’m hoping they will be good after freezing.

  18. Crab Rangoon is my daughter’s favorite and let me say that this recipe did not disappoint! I substituted real crab meat for the imitation and added green onion to the cheese mixture. This recipe definitely earned a spot in my cookbook of favorite recipes!! Thanks for sharing ?

  19. I made these last week and they turned out fantastic! I used half real lump crabmeat and half fake (I had some lump meat left over from a she-crab soup recipe). They were better than any Rangoon we’ve had at any restaurant. I added the green onions and just a tiny bit more Worcestershire sauce (just a drip). But our taste buds need more bold.

    Do you have a sweet & sour sauce recipe that you like?

  20. These were delicious and super easy to make. Chop green onions into the mix you won’t be disappointed! Yum! Even better than the restaraunts.

  21. This recipe was easy and pretty yummy. I added green onions and some extra spices. All in all I think about there was just a little too much crab for this 1:1 ratio, so I added 4oz more of cream cheese.

  22. Hi Sabrina,

    I see that under the recipe section you give a description that includes green onions in the mixture, but yet the recipe list does not include green onions. I like green onions in mine and would like to know if you cook yours with the green onions and what was the outcome??

    Thanks!!

  23. Imitation crab meat is made with fish. This recipe is not vegetarian. I wish it were — I miss Crab Rangoon! P.S. If you do have a brand of crab that is not made from fish, would you mind sharing the brand? I’d love to try your recipe!

    1. I’m sorry I don’t but thanks for catching that! I’ve heard people using jackfruit but I haven’t tried it so I can’t really say if that was the best alternative.

    2. These are really good with avacado too instead of crab meat! A little thai place in my home town used to do this.

  24. Hi Sabrina, I would love it if people left comments after making the recipes. It would be a great reference. Thank you.

    1. Yes girl!!! There’s little I hate more than people feeling the need to tell everyone that they think something LOOKS good when they have no input on the actual taste! That’s the spread of Facebook idiocy across the entire internet.

      I did actually make this recipe and found that the people in the house who like the salty/bland crab rangoons really liked it. I prefer the sweeter version so I added about a 1 T of powdered sugar and really liked the slight sweetness that added to the rest of the batch.

  25. Oh my gosh, my boys would be thrilled if I made these at home. They LOVE them and yours look so delicious!

      1. I made this by your recipe but after cooking i had no crab left in the wanton
        oil temp was 350.
        what happened

        1. I’m not sure what you mean by no crab left. If the wonton opened up and the filling was out, it sounds like the wontons needed to be pinched a bit firmer to ensure no air was left inside before frying. You want to make sure the inside is sealed properly. Hope this helps for next time.