Air Fryer Crab Rangoon Wontons & Video

Make Easy Homemade Crab Rangoon in your air fryer. This air fryer crab rangoon recipe is super crispy, but creamy on the inside! See Video!

Cream cheese wontons are a Chinese takeout specialty. But you can recreate fried wontons with the creamy crab filling at home using your air fryer. Once, you see how easy they are to make, they may become your favorite appetizer!

I've made Crab Rangoon both deep-fried and in the air fryer and they are actually crispier in the air fryer! I used my Ninja Foodi Grill as an air fryer for this recipe.

Check out some of my other air fryer recipes such as these Garlic Croutons and American Buffalo Wings.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Cooking these cream cheese and crab wontons in the air fryer definitely has its advantages!

• First, you use less oil and therefore it is a little healthier than deep frying it.
• You can assemble them earlier in the day and then air fry them when you are ready to serve them!
• They air fry in just 5 minutes for a quick game day appetizer to share with friends!
• These crispy wontons are better and cheaper than the ones at Chinese restaurants.

Recipe Ingredients

You'll need the following simple ingredients to make Homemade Air Fryer Crab Rangoon

Cream Cheese is the base to this recipe and gives it that creamy consistency. Allow the cream cheese to come to room temperature to mix the ingredients easier.

Green Onions are very mild and they are softer than a regular onion. It adds a little flavor without the crunch of a raw onion.

Imitation Crab Meat is the typical filling found in crab rangoon. A small package goes a long way. You will want to mince this up very small, so you don't get a huge chunk in the small wonton.

Wonton Wrappers crisp up in the air fryer for the perfect crunch! You can usually find them in the refrigerator section near the vegetables, egg roll wrappers, or sometimes near the cheese.

Oil is used on the outside of the wontons to make sure they are crispy and similar to the deep fried version. Avocado, canola oil or vegetable can be used. This EVO oil sprayer works great at putting a coat of oil on each side of the formed rangoon.

How to Form the Crab Rangoon Wontons

The full recipe with ingredient measurements is in the recipe card below!

Add softened cream cheese, green onion and crab to a large bowl and mix well.

Lay out 6-12 square wonton wrappers on the counter. Cover the remaining ones with a damp paper towel to prevent them from drying out. Add about 1 teaspoon on the cream cheese mixture to the center of each wonton wrapper.

Use a small pastry brush or dip your finger in water to wet the edges of the wonton.

Take opposite corners and pinch them together. Take a third corner to the top and cinch the edges of the wrapper together. Take the last corner to the top and cinch the remaining two seams. It should be a pyramid shape.

Watch this video for the folding technique:

Preheat the air fryer to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray or brush the wrapped wontons with oil and put them in a single layer in the air fryer basket.

Air fry for 5-7 minutes until they are golden brown.

Pro Tip: For best results fully coat the wontons with oil. For crispiest results open the air fryer after 2 minutes and add second coat of oil.

Serve with sweet and sour sauce, duck sauce or sweet chili sauce.

Recipe Tips & Tricks

They are the perfect party food. Form the wontons ahead of time, but don't cook them. Then, you can pull them out of the fridge and air fry them in 5 minutes. It makes an easy appetizer to share with friends!

Don't overfill the wontons with the crab mixture in the center of the wrapper. It will make it difficult to close the wontons and the filling may burst out of the wrapper when it is cooking.

The wrappers are lightly dusted with a flour so you will need to use a good amount of oil sprayed on each wonton, to get a nice crispy and chewy crust on the crab rangoon. I like using my EVO sprayer as an avocado oil spray.

Storage and Reheating

• Storage: Leftover air fryer crab rangoons can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Leftover cream cheese and crab mixture can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 4 days.
• Make Ahead: You can make the wontons ahead and store then in the fridge for a couple days in an airtight container before air frying them.
• Reheating: The best way to reheat leftover crab rangoon is in the air fryer. I have a whole post about How to Reheat Crab Rangoon in the Air Fryer. You can also reheat them in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5-10 minutes.
• Freezing: You can freeze the crab filled wontons before or after cooking them. Place the wrapped wontons on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place them in your freezer. Once frozen carefully put them in freezer bags. Be careful, because when the wontons are frozen they can break easily. Take them out of the freezer, spray them with oil and add a couple of extra minutes for cooking time.

Additions and Substitutions

Trying these variations for your air fryer rangoons.

• Real Crab Meat: If you want that fast take out food taste, then imitation crab is the ingredient you need. However, if you want to make a fancier version you can buy lump crab meat or even cook your own crab legs! Actual crab meat makes these even more decadent!
• Soy Sauce: Some people like to add soy sauce to their cream cheese mixture. It adds a little salt and extra flavor. You only need 2 teaspoons of soy sauce for 8 ounces of cream cheese.
• Worcestershire Sauce: You can add 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce if desired.
• Crab Rangoon is usually served with a sweet duck sauce to dip in. If you can't find that you can use an apricot jam with a little water added and warm it up.

Dipping Sauces for Crab Rangoon

Sweet Chili Is the best dipping sauce if you like a little spiciness. We really like the Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce.

A sweet duck sauce is traditional as well.

If all else fails, adding apricot preserves, water and a tiny splash of rice vinegar together makes a decent quick homemade version.

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