Easy Crab Rangoon
- PREP 30min
- COOK 15min
- TOTAL 45min
Our family absolutely loves this homemade crab rangoon recipe. While we don’t fry at home often, we fry these cream cheese and crab wontons. The wontons get super crispy! As you fill and fold your wontons, press as much air out of the middle and seal them well. I use a deep saucepan for frying and only fill it with a couple of inches of oil, leaving plenty of room between the top of the oil and the top of the saucepan. For baking or air fryer, see the tips below the recipe.
You Will Need
Crab Rangoon
8 ounces (226g) fresh or pasteurized crabmeat, like blue crab or Dungeness crab
4 ounces (113g) cream cheese, softened
1 green onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper
1 small clove garlic, grated on a microplane or finely minced
1 teaspoon light soy sauce or tamari
26 wonton wrappers
Peanut oil or vegetable oil for frying
Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons Sambal Oelek chili paste (we use Huy Fong)
6 tablespoons (75g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice wine vinegar
Directions
Make Crab Rangoon
Place the crabmeat in a colander and let it drain for five minutes. Then, pick through the crabmeat for any bits of shell and remove them.
In a medium bowl, stir the cream cheese, green onion, bell pepper, garlic, and soy sauce. Fold in the crabmeat.
Make an egg wash by whisking one egg with a tablespoon of water in a small bowl.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust with flour.
Lay a few wontons out on a lightly floured work surface. Keep the rest under a damp towel or plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
Place one teaspoon of the cream cheese filling in the middle of each wonton. Moisten the edges with the egg wash, then fold into a triangle, pushing as much air out of the middle as possible. Moisten one of the corners of the triangle, and then bring the two corners together, overlapping the moistened corner on top of the other corner and pressing to seal to make a little envelope. Watch us do this in our video.
Place filled and folded wontons onto the prepared baking sheet and cover with a clean dishcloth. Repeat with remaining wontons (this recipe makes about 24).
Cook Crab Rangoon
To avoid using a large amount of oil, use a small, deep saucepan (like in our video). Fill it with 2 to 3 inches of oil, ensuring ample space to fry the crab Rangoons without the oil rising too close to the top.
Heat the oil to 350°F (175°C) as registered on an instant-read thermometer.
Carefully drop 5 to 6 wontons into the oil. Cook, adjusting the heat to maintain close to 350°F (175°C). Use a wire mesh spider to flip them in the oil.
When the wontons look crisp and golden brown, carefully transfer them to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Repeat with remaining wontons.
Make Dipping Sauce
Combine the chili paste, sugar, and rice wine vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 30 seconds.
Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and set aside for serving. If needed, warm the sauce after frying the wontons.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Crab substitute: You can use 8 ounces of imitation crab (surimi) cut into 1/2-inch pieces. You can also try cooked and finely chopped shrimp.
- Baked crab rangoon: These are not as golden brown and crispy. The edges become crisp, but since the filling is so wet, the areas touching the filling stay soft. Lightly brush with cooking oil and bake in a 375°F (190°C) oven until crisp. Check them at 5 minutes, and continue to bake until crisp (5 to 10 minutes more).
- Air fryer crab rangoon: Crispier than baked, but still not as good as fried. Lightly brush with cooking oil and air fry at 375°F (190°C). Check them at 5 minutes, and continue to air fry until crisp, 5 to 10 minutes more.
- Save and reuse the oil: After frying the wontons, allow the oil to cool completely (this takes a while), and then save it for another day. I use a fine mesh strainer to remove any bits and pour the oil back into the bottle using a funnel.
- Keeping fried wontons warm: Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Transfer the fried and drained wontons to a baking sheet in the warm oven and hold until ready to serve.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. Nutrition is difficult with fried foods because we cannot determine how much oil is absorbed. So we have provided nutrition for everything but the oil. We realize this isn’t the most helpful, but it is the best we can do without a laboratory.