Homemade Crab Rangoons
When we go out to get Chinese food, I gotta say – my FAVORITE part is the crab rangoons. I mean, they are THE BEST! Since we like cooking Chinese food at home pretty often, I wanted to try my own version of my favorite thing! These Homemade Crab Rangoons are filled with lump crab meat, onion, cream cheese, and max flavor! These were so easy to make, and this recipe makes a whole bunch! Instead of going out and getting an order of a few of them, why not make a ton, right at home?! My family demolished these!
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Where did the crab rangoon come from?
Crab rangoons didn’t even come from China! Isn’t that wild?! They were created in the 1940’s by “Trader Vic,” who owned a tiki-themed restaurant in California! As American Chinese food became more popular, Victor wanted to make something that was trendy, packed with cream cheese, and would blend in with his tiki-culture menu! So, even with the name “rangoon,” these don’t actually have roots in traditional Chinese cuisine. I found that pretty shocking!
Did you know?
Lump crab meat is typically harvested from blue swimming crabs from Southeast Asia! Most of the time it contains broken pieces of jumbo lump that’s been mixed with special-grade meat! It’s fully cooked and shell free which is why it’s perfect for incorporating into dips, salads, and whatever else you want to use it for! Lump crab meat is also packed with protein and very low in fat, which is awesome! That makes crab rangoons a little healthy then, right…? HA!
Typically crab rangoons are made with imitation crab, but I wanted to try something a little bit different! So my recipe for homemade crab rangoons has lump crab meat instead!
What ingredients do I need to make these?
For the filling:
Lump Crab
Cream Cheese
Mayo
Soy Sauce
Lime Juice
Green Onion
Ground Ginger
Salt
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Crushed Red Pepper
For wrapping:
Wonton Wrappers
Water
For frying:
Vegetable Oil
Sesame Oil
For serving:
Sweet Chili Sauce
Crushed Red Pepper
Green Onion
Sesame Seeds
What equipment do I need to make them?
- Stockpot
- Stainless Steel Slotted Spoon
- Cooling Rack
- Large Baking Sheet
- Small Dish
- Mixing Bowl
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Meat Thermometer
How do I make them?
To make the filling:
To get started on this recipe, you’ll first want to get your cream cheese out of the fridge and softening at room temperature. This usually takes around 30 minutes. Cut it into cubes – this will make it soften quicker and will make it easier to mix everything together. While it’s softening, you can be prepping your other ingredients!
Mince the green onion and juice the lime. You only need a tiny bit of lime juice for this recipe, like a wedge worth. Then add all ingredients for the filling to a mixing bowl including softened cream cheese and mix thoroughly to combine.
To fill the homemade crab rangoons:
Next on a countertop or other clean and large surface area, lay out all of the wonton wrappers and get a small dish of water out. This recipe makes about 25 rangoons, so just get yourself set up with as much space as you have available to start filling them and wrapping them. The more “mise en place” you can do, the better – always! You don’t want to be scrambling around the kitchen while you have crab meat sitting out, wonton wrappers getting warm, and hot oil spattering all over! What a mess!
Next, add a small bit of filling to the middle of the wrappers until all of the filling is gone. You’ll have leftover wonton wrappers! Sweet – then you can make some egg rolls in a few days or something!
Depending how you want to fold them, will depend on how much filling you can use. There are several different methods for wrapping up crab rangoons. I chose to do mine the traditional way because I really wanted those crispy, crunchy edges – like the kind you get from Chinese takeout! Sort of like a star shape. You can do a triangle style, or make it look like a dumpling – whatever you want!
The most important part here is that we don’t want to overfill them. We also want to make sure to seal them up really well, removing all of the air bubbles. If not, they could burst and all of the filling would come out! What a sad day that would be!
To wrap them:
Once you have the filling scooped onto all of the wrappers, dip your finger in the dish of water and brush it in a square or diamond shape around the filling lump.
Grab two opposite sides of the wrapper and press them together, but don’t seal them completely.
Now, grab one open end and pull it up to the middle, gently pressing it to the first side we pulled up. Repeat with the other open end, wrapping from the bottom up.
Dab some more water as needed and gently press to seal the edges and push the air bubbles out. You don’t want to use too much water, or the wrapper will get gummy! Just enough to wet, press, and seal. Repeat with remaining ingredients, until filling is gone.
Now, let’s get ready to fry them!
To fry:
Get out a stockpot and heat both oils on medium high heat. Use a meat thermometer to temp the oil. We need it to be at 350F. If it starts going over, reduce heat to medium and adjust as needed. We can’t let the oil get too hot, or the oil and the rangoons could burn – which would ruin the flavor! If the oil isn’t hot enough, they’ll never crisp and cook properly. So, keep monitoring the heat throughout this process.
While the oil is getting to temp, get out a baking sheet and line it with paper toweling, then place a baking rack over the top. You could also just line a plate with paper toweling.
Once the oil is to the proper temp, start frying the rangoons, working in batches! Drop them in bottom side down, then flip with the slotted spoon after a couple of minutes.
Fry a few minutes more, moving to the prepared rack to drip off the excess oil.
Repeat with remaining rangoons!
To serve:
Serve homemade crab rangoons hot with some thinly sliced green onion and sesame seeds, if desired! I also whipped up a little dipping sauce situation! It was just sweet chili sauce with a touch of crushed red pepper mixed in! Enjoy!
Tips:
- If you don’t have time to wait for the cream cheese to soften, you could always microwave it for 5-10 seconds. You just can’t have it too cold, or it won’t incorporate with the other filling ingredients properly.
- If you don’t have fresh lime, you could always use bottled lime juice!
- It doesn’t matter if you have round or square wonton wrappers, either one will work!
- You can also deep fry these, if you prefer that. I don’t have a deep fryer, and it worked out just fine!
- Any neutral oil will work for the frying! Grapeseed, canola, vegetable!
Want some more Chinese inspired recipes? Check these out!
Homemade Crab Rangoons
Equipment
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 6 oz Canned Lump Crab Meat drained well
- 2 Green Onions minced
- 4 oz Cream Cheese softened, cubed
- 2 tbsp Mayo
- 1 tsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Lime Juice
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp Cayenne
For wrapping:
- 14 oz Wonton Wrappers
- 3 tbsp Water
For frying:
- 2 ¼ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
For serving:
- ¼ cup Sweet Chili Sauce
- ½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper
- Green Onion thinly sliced
- Sesame Seeds
Instructions
To make the filling:
- Add all ingredients for the filling to a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly to combine.
To fill the homemade crab rangoons:
- Next on a countertop or other clean and large surface area, lay out all of the wonton wrappers and get a small dish of water out. This recipe makes about 25 rangoons, so just get yourself set up with as much space as you have available to start filling them and wrapping them. The more "mise en place" you can do, the better – always!
- Next, add a heaping tsp of filling to the middle of the wrappers until all of the filling is gone. You'll have leftover wonton wrappers.
- Depending how you want to fold them, will depend on how much filling you can use. There are several different methods for wrapping up crab rangoons. I chose to do mine the traditional way because I really wanted those crispy, crunchy edges – like the kind you get from Chinese takeout! Sort of like a star shape. You can do a triangle style, or make it look like a dumpling – whatever you want. The most important part here is that we don't want to overfill them. We also want to make sure to seal them up really well, removing all of the air bubbles. If not, they could burst and all of the filling would come out!
To wrap them:
- Once you have the filling scooped onto all of the wrappers, dip your finger in the dish of water and brush it in a square or diamond shape around the filling lump.
- Grab two opposite sides of the wrapper and press them together, but don't seal them all the way.
- Then grab one open end and pull it up to the middle, gently pressing it against the first side we pulled up. Repeat with the other open end, wrapping from the bottom up.
- Dab some more water as needed and gently press to seal the edges and push the air bubbles out. You don't want to use too much water, or the wrapper will get gummy! Just enough to wet, press, and seal.
- Repeat with remaining ingredients, until filling is gone.
To fry:
- Get out a stockpot and heat both oils on medium high heat. Use a meat thermometer to temp the oil. We need it to be at 350F. If it starts going over, reduce heat to medium and adjust as needed. We can’t let the oil get too hot, or the oil and the rangoons could burn – which would ruin the flavor! If the oil isn’t hot enough, they’ll never crisp and cook properly. So, keep monitoring the heat throughout this process.
- While the oil is getting to temp, get out a baking sheet and line it with paper toweling, then place a baking rack over the top. You could also just line a plate with paper toweling.
- Once the oil is to the proper temp, start frying the rangoons, working in batches! Drop them in bottom side down and fry for 2 minutes.
- Flip with the slotted spoon and fry 1-2 minutes more.
- Move rangoons to the prepared rack to drip off the excess oil.
- Repeat with remaining rangoons!
To serve:
- Serve homemade crab rangoons hot with some thinly sliced green onion and sesame seeds, if desired! I also whipped up a little dipping sauce situation! It was just sweet chili sauce with a touch of crushed red pepper mixed in! Enjoy!
Nutrition
Please be aware that nutritional values are approximate and intended as a helpful guide
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