Crab rangoon dip with crispy baked wontons is the deconstructed dip inspired by crab wontons, the classic Chinese take-out appetizer. This crab rangoon dip is made without any sour cream or mayo, and tastes just as good!
When we first came across crab rangoon dip, we thought it was ingenious! The iconic Chinese take-out appetizer made into a dip?! Heck yeah!
This crab rangoon dip is so good! It tastes just like the crab rangoons I grew up eating at my parent's Chinese restaurant. The only thing missing were the fried wonton wrappers. So we made crispy baked wonton chips to go with this cheesy crab dip.
If you're looking for more fun appetizers you may also like our cauliflower nachos, Korean corn ribs, and Korean cream cheese garlic bread.
What is crab rangoon dip?
This crab rangoon dip is an adaptation of everyone's favorite Chinese takeout appetizer, crab rangoon. Sometimes, also known as cheese wontons, crab wontons, and cream cheese wontons.
The dip tastes just like classic cheese wonton but deconstructed into a dip and made cheesier with shredded mozzarella! Perfect for showing off the cheesy-ness when you dip and scoop with the baked wonton chips!
Ingredients
For the crab rangoon dip:
- Cream cheese - Full fat cream cheese is best. Make sure it's softened to make mixing easier.
- Imitation crab meat - This is the iconic flavor of crab rangoon. You can use real crab meat, however, the flavor would be masked by the cream cheese and other ingredients.
- Milk - For thinning out the cream cheese. This will keep the crab rangoon dip smooth even after the cheese,
- Shredded mozzarella - Because this is a cheesy crab rangoon dip! Pre-shredded mozzarella is perfect for this recipe.
- Carrot, onion, and celery - These three veggies give crab rangoons their iconic flavor. It's a little extra work, but definitely a must. And if you have a food processor, this will be super easy.
- Sugar and salt
For the crispy baked wonton chips:
- Wonton wrappers - We like to get the square ones and cut them diagonally into triangle chips.
- Cooking spray - This will make the wonton chip making process much faster. All you have to do is spray! But you can also just use any neutral oil (like avocado or vegetable oil).
- Kosher salt - Coarse salt is amazing for sprinkling onto chips. You could also use whatever salt you have.
Instruction
For the crispy baked wonton chips:
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and prepare a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with an even layer of the cooking spray or regular neutral cooking oil.
2. Cut the wonton wrappers diagonally into triangles and arrange them on the greased foil sheet pan. Don't let them overlap!
3. Spray the wontons with an even layer of cooking spray/oil and sprinkle on a couple pinches of kosher salt.
4. Bake the wonton wrappers for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the wontons are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
For the hot crab rangoon dip:
1. In a food processor, add the softened cream cheese, milk, carrot, celery, onion, sugar, and salt. Blend until everything is well combined and the vegetables are minced.
2. Add the roughly shredded crab sticks and shredded mozzarella. Give the food processor a few pulses just to combine everything and the crab stick and cheese are roughly chopped up.
3. Transfer the crab dip into a shallow baking dish and gently tap to even it out.
4. Top the dip with more shredded mozzarella and bake at 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges of the crab rangoon dip starts to puff up.
5. Move the crab rangoon dip to the top rack of the oven and broil on your oven's high broil setting for a couple of minutes, until the top is golden brown.
6. Remove from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before serving.
Alternative method without a food processor
If you don't have a food processor or simple don't want to use one, you can still easily make this crab rangoon dip!
To make this cheesy crab dip without a food processor:
1. Mince the carrot, onion, and celery, and roughly cut up the imitation crab meat.
2. Add the minced vegetables and crab meat to a mixing bowl, along with the rest of the crab rangoon dip ingredients.
3. Mix all the ingredients together until well combined, then transfer to a shallow baking dish and bake as the recipe instructs.
Recipe Tips
- Cube the cream cheese. Cutting the cream cheese into smaller pieces will help it soften faster. It will also be easier for the food processor to evenly blend it up.
- If you are skipping the veggies, do at least use the onion. Out of all of the vegetables used for the crab rangoon dip, the onion is an absolute must! It contributes to so much for crab rangoon's iconic flavor.
- Use a shallow baking dish. Shallow dishes will heat up the dip more evenly so that the dip have less chances of curdling. We used an 8 by 6 by 1.5 inch deep ceramic baking dish. If you are using a small, deep baking dish, do increase the bake time be a few minutes.
- Keep the wonton wrappers in one single layer. Don't overlap the wonton wrappers! Keep them separated so that they bake evenly and become perfectly crispy!
What to serve with crab rangoon dip?
This cheesy crab rangoon dip is perfect with crispy wonton chips of course! Whether you fried the wontons or baked them like our recipe, they are perfect for this dip. If you can't find wonton wrappers in your area or want something simpler, chips are great too!
You can also eat this crab rangoon dip with Sriracha for some heat or you can serve with some sweet chili sauce for some additional sweetness. Both condiments are great for balancing out the richness of this crab dip.
Make crab rangoon dip ahead of time
This crab rangoon dip is perfect for making ahead of time, which makes it a great party appetizer.
The entire crab rangoon dip can be made and topped with mozzarella. Wrap it with plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge, up to 2 days. When baking, increase the baking time by a few minutes and bake until the edges starts to puff up. Broil as directed.
If you want to freeze the crab rangoon dip, follow the recipe and stop before topping with more mozzarella. Tightly wrap the dip and keep in an airtight container if possible. The dip can be frozen up to 1 month. Simply defrost before baking.
Storage and reheating
Any leftover crab rangoon dip can be stored in the fridge up to 3 to 4 days, after properly cooling. You can reheat the crab dip in an oven safe container at 350°F for about 10 minutes or until the dip is hot.
As for the wonton chips, it is best enjoyed the day of. However, if stored in an airtight container, the baked wonton chips will stay crispy up to 3 days
FAQ
Yes! This crab rangoon dip can be frozen up to 1 month before baking and up to 2 months after baking.
Crispy wonton chips are amazing with crab rangoon dip. You can serve chips instead too! Also, Sriracha and sweet chili sauce are great condiments for this rich, cheesy dip.
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📖 Recipe
Crab Rangoon Dip with Crispy Baked Wontons
Ingredients
For the crab rangoon dip:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened and cut into smaller pieces
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ large carrot peeled and cut into smaller chunks
- ¼ medium yellow onion peeled and cut into small chunks
- ½ stick celery washed; about 6 inches long(optional)
- 2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt a little less if using fine salt
- 6 sticks imitation crab meat roughly shredded
- ½ cup mozzarella shredded (plus more for sprinkling)
For the crispy baked wonton chips:
- 12 sheets wonton wrapper cut diagonally into triangles
- Cooking spray or a neutral oil like olive or avocado
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- For the wonton chips:Preheat the oven to 375°F and prepare a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil.
- Spray the lined aluminum foil with cooking spray then arrange the wonton wrappers on the foil, making sure all of them are not touching. Spray the wontons with cooking spray and sprinkle a couple pinches of kosher salt on the wontons.
- Bake the wonton chips for about 8 to 10 minutes or until they are all golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Prepare the crab rangoon dip:In a food processor, add all of the ingredients except the crab meat and shredded mozzarella. Blend everything on low until the cream cheese is smooth and the vegetables are minced. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Add the imitation crab meat and mozzarella into the food processor. Give them a few pulses, just to roughly chop up and incorporate the crab meat and cheese.*The crab rangoon dip will taste better with a bit more texture, so don't blend up the crab meat and mozzarella too much!*
- Transfer the crab rangoon dip to a small baking dish and top it with a little more shredded mozzarella.*Our baking dish was 8 by 6 and about 1.5 inches deep. So any baking dishes that holds about 1.25 quarts will do. If you are using a smaller but deeper baking dish, you may need to increase the bake time for a few minutes.*
- Bake the crab rangoon dip:Bake the crab rangoon dip for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges starts to puff up.
- Broil the mozzarella:Move the crab rangoon dip to the top rack of the oven and change the oven setting to high broil. Broil the dip for a couple of minutes, or until the cheese on top turns golden brown.
- To Serve:Remove the crab rangoon dip from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. Garnish with some green onions if you wish.
- Serve the dip with the crispy baked wonton chips and Sriracha or sweet chili sauce.
Notes
- This recipe can be easily multiplied for a larger baking dish so you can serve a crowd!
- If you do not have a food processor, you still easily make it by hand! The vegetables can be minced by hand, and the crabmeat can be roughly shredded and cut. Mix everything together in a mixing bowl, then transfer to the baking dish.
- Many recipes don't add vegetables to the crab rangoon dip, but we highly suggest it! The vegetables give the crab dip more flavor and will help it taste just like restaurant style crab rangoon!
- For the baked wonton chips, you can also use cooking oil instead of spray. Just use a brush and evenly cover the foil and wontons.
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