Don’t order take out. Make Crab Rangoon at home. This Air Fryer Crab Rangoon recipe can be made in the air fryer or with the oven.
For more ideas of what to cook, check out all of our recipes.
There are few things I enjoy eating more than take out Chinese food. I would order and eat it all the time, if I wasn’t too concerned about the price and the potential ingredients. So, to stop myself from ordering it al the time, I’ve learned how to make some of my favorite Chinese food menu items at home, like this Air Fryer Crab Rangoon recipe.
Crab Rangoons are really easy to make at home. You’re not doing more but assembling these and tossing them in the air fryer.
If you don’t have an air fryer, you can fry these in oil in a Dutch oven. The Crab Rangoons would taste a little more like take out crab rangoon, but I don’t want to deal with all that oil, all the popping that comes along with it, and disposing of the oil. So the air fryer works for me.
Do you have leftover wonton wrappers after making this Crab Rangoon recipe? No worries. Check out our list of Recipes Using Wonton Wrappers to use them all.
Air Fryer Crab Rangoon Recipe
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Air Fryer Crab Rangoon Ingredients:
- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 2 oz. imitation crab or lump crab meat
- 3 green onion sprigs
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 16 wonton wrappers
- Olive oil spray
How To Make Air Fryer Crab Rangoon:
Soften the cream cheese by leaving it on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes.
If you forgot to soften the cream cheese, you can microwave the cold cream cheese on high for 30 seconds. Just be aware that the cream cheese will heat quickly and may potentially pop, so you do want to microwave it with a microwave plate on top.
Chop the crab into very small pieces. Add it to the cream cheese.
Cut the green onion sprigs into very small pieces. Add those to the cream cheese and crab mixture.
Add in the soy sauce, salt, and garlic powder. Stir until the mixture is completely combined.
Put a heaping teaspoon of the mixture into the center of a wonton wrapper.
Use your finger to add water along the edge of the wonton wrapper and fold it.
You can fold the wonton wrapper into any shape you want, as long as the wonton wrapper is closed at the edges and the filling doesn’t fall out. If you want to fold it the same way as this recipe, there are tips for that later in the post.
Pre-heat an air fryer at 350 F for five minutes.
Spray the tiniest bit of olive oil on each crab rangoon. Place the crab rangoon in a single layer in the air fryer, making sure they don’t touch. Our air fryer perfectly holds 16 crab rangoon.
Air fry for five minutes, shaking the basket after three minutes. The crab rangoon will be perfectly crispy with tiny bubbles formed in the wonton wrapper. If the entire wrapper isn’t cooked through, you can air fry the crab rangoon for an additional minute.
How To Fold A Wonton Wrapper:
The important part about folding a wonton wrapper is making sure all the edges are completely closed. Any openings give the filling a place to potentially leak through.
The less but also important part is to not overfill your wonton wrappers. One to 1.5 tablespoons of filling is perfect for a store-bought wonton wrapper. Anything more than that may potentially make it hard to close the wonton wrapper and it could leak.
Dip your finger in water and run it along the inside border of the wonton wrapper. The water will help it stick together. The water is optional, but you should definitely opt for it.
Take two opposite points and bring them together in the middle, squeezing where they meet.
Take the two remaining points and bring them to the middle, squeezing their points down.
Squeeze the wonton wrapper just above where the filling ends. Then, fan out the top. It should end up looking a bit like a money bag.
Where can you buy wonton wrappers?
Wonton wrappers are typically in the produce section of grocery stores near other packaged produce items. Look near the cut and packed vegetables and/or the packaged tofu and you’ll find refrigerated wonton wrappers close by.
If you can’t find wonton wrappers in your local grocery store, you can order wonton wrappers online.
In a pinch you can substitute egg roll wrappers instead of wonton wrappers, but you will need to cut those down to the size of a wonton wrapper before using them.
Air Fryer Crab Rangoon: Frequently Asked Questions
Using imitation crab or lump crab meat is a matter of preference and of budget.
Imitation crab, especially when it’s on sale, is a lot more affordable than lump crab meat.
Imitation crab and lump crab meat do taste different, but in a recipe like this, where you do taste the crab flavor but there are other strong ingredients (namely, the cream cheese), imitation crab works really well.
I wouldn’t suggest using imitation crab in something like a crab cake. But if you’re making that on a budget, I would say make Tuna Cakes instead.
Store leftover Crab Rangoon in an air tight container in the refrigerator for three to four days.
Reheat Crab Rangoon in the oven at 350 F for about ten minutes or at 350 F in the air fryer for two to three minutes.
If you want, you can make Crab Rangoon and freeze it for later. Make the Crab Rangoon according to the recipe, stopping before you cook them. Put them on a cookie sheet and put that in the freezer for about two hours until the wonton wrappers are hard. You can then store the Crab Rangoon in a freezer-safe bag for up to six months.
Just be careful when you’re freezing them. They are still delicate and you could risk snapping the wonton wrapper at the top.
To heat frozen Crab Rangoon, you want to heat them from frozen. Don’t defrost them. Add a tiny spray of olive oil to the Crab Rangoon, then put them in the air fryer in a single layer. Heat them at 350 F for 5 to 10 minutes. Check them at the five minute mark, but they’ll probably take closer to 10 minutes.
You could also cook them in the oven. I would put down a silicone baking mat and put the frozen Crab Rangoon on top. Spritz them with a little olive oil and bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes.
What can you serve with Crab Rangoon?
Crab Rangoon are the perfect appetizer or side dish for your Asian-inspired dinner. Our favorite recipes to serve with crab rangoon are:
- Yakimeshi (Chinese fried rice)
- Yaki-Udon (Udon stir fry)
- Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki
- Yakitori (Japanese grilled chicken skewers)
Air Fryer Crab Rangoon
Don't order take out. Make Crab Rangoon at home. This recipe can be made in the air fryer or with the oven.
Ingredients
- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 2 oz. imitation crab or lump crab meat
- 3 green onion sprigs
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 16 wonton wrappers
- Olive oil spray
Instructions
- Soften the cream cheese by leaving it on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Chop the crab into very small pieces. Add it to the cream cheese. Cut the green onion sprigs into very small pieces. Add those to the cream cheese and crab mixture. Add in the soy sauce, salt, and garlic powder. Stir until the mixture is completely combined.
- Put a heaping teaspoon of the mixture into the center of a wonton wrapper.
- Use your finger to add water along the edge of the wonton wrapper and fold it.
- Pre-heat an air fryer at 350 F for five minutes.
- Spray the tiniest bit of olive oil on each crab rangoon. Place the crab rangoon in a single layer in the air fryer, making sure they don’t touch.
- Air fry for five minutes, shaking the basket after three minutes.
Nutrition Information
Yield
16Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 66Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 16mgSodium 143mgCarbohydrates 6gFiber 0gSugar 1gProtein 3g
Have you tried our Air Fryer Crab Rangoon recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments.