Cream Cheese Crab Rangoon

Cream cheese crab rangoons are filled with cream cheese, green onions and imitation crab. The filling is wrapped in a wonton and fried to golden brown! You cannot forget to dip the cream cheese crab rangoon in sweet and sour sauce! The tangy and sweet flavor compliments the salty and rich rangoon. 

Cream cheese crab rangoon is usually served as an appetizer at most Chinese-American restaurants. For my parent’s Chinese restaurant, my mom would make the crab rangoon filling a day prior and if a customer ordered them, she would wrap every rangoon made-to-order!

What’s in a crab rangoon?

As mentioned above, crab rangoon is filled with cream cheese, imitation crab, and green onions. Sometimes, imitation crab is not added and its a cheese rangoon. Others have asked if they can use real crab, which sounds very delicious and do-able! I think the imitation crab gives it a more umami taste (and more cost-effective) and yields a sweet crab rangoon.

The cream cheese filling is so delicious, it can even be used as a crag rangoon dip! Just get your favorite chips together or fry the wontons and dip it in the cream cheese dip. I suggest a heavy chip though because the crab dip can be quite thick 😉 If using as a dip, thin it out by mixing some milk in the cream cheese.

Cooking methods: fried vs. air-fry vs baked

Fried Version: The original cooking method is to fry the cream cheese crab rangoon. It yields a super crispy exterior. I highly recommend the frying method!

Air-Fry: Air frying the crab rangoon may not be as crispy and the temperature may vary depending on the air-fryer. If this is the preferred method, make sure to spray the crab rangoon with some oil and cook for 3 to 6 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Temperature and air-fry time may vary depending on the oven. 

Baked: Baked crab rangoon is not recommended as the skin may be chewy and not crispy. However, you can bake them if you don’t have an air-fryer or you don’t want to fry. Place the crab rangoon on a wire rack and baking tray. Next, spray some oil on the crab rangoon and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 4-7 minutes. Temperature and bake time may vary depending on the oven.

Storage

After frying the cream cheese crab rangoon, make sure to eat them right away. Try to make as many crab rangoon as you can eat. You can only freeze the raw crab rangoon and the cooked rangoon is not preferable for freezing. 

If you can’t finish the crab rangoon, you can freeze them! I froze my (raw) crab rangoon but the wonton wrapper did slightly break off. The frozen crab rangoon can be eaten within a week to two weeks.

When you’re ready to eat the frozen crab rangoons, defrost for 15 minutes until they are soft and fry them according to the instructions in the recipe.

Dipping Sauce

The crab rangoon dipping sauce is made of ketchup, vinegar, sugar, and orange juice. The tangy red sauce is very common in Chinese restaurants and is a great dipping sauce for fried food! You may have seen this sauce for sweet and sour pork!

Ingredients you need for your cream cheese crab rangoon recipe:

• cream cheese
• imitation crab
• green onion
• salt
• wonton skins
• canola oil
• sugar
• vinegar
• water
• orange

Steps to make the cream cheese crab rangoon:

Step 1. Slice green onions and cut imitation crab in 2 inch pieces.

Step 2. To make the filling, add cream cheese, imitation crab, green onions, and salt in a bowl. Mix until well combined.

Step 3. Place 1 tbs of filling in the center of the wonton skin. Start at the corners of the wonton skin and fold in to make the ‘star’ shape. Reference video for folding instructions ◡̈

Step 4. In a pot, add the canola oil. Heat pot to medium heat until oil reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Test if the oil is hot enough by placing the corner of the skin in the oil. If the oil is bubbling and the skin gets fried, then the oil is ready!

Step 5.  Fry the cheese rangoons for 3-4 minutes or until the skin is golden brown.

Step 6. To make the sweet and sour sauce, add ketchup, sugar, vinegar, water, and juice of an orange to a pot. Turn heat to low-med and continuously stir. Stir the sauce until the sugar is well combined and the sauce slightly thickens.

Step 7. Dip your cheese rangoons in the sweet and sour sauce. Hope you enjoy!

This is the cheese rangoon recipe that my parents made when we owned a Chinese restaurant. My mom made these fresh every time a customer ordered them on the menu. Needless to say, these were definitely a hit! Don’t forget to make the sweet & sour dipping sauce that goes perfectly with the crispy wontons!!