One of my most popular posts ever was for these “Better than Takeout” Crab Rangoons. It’s a super easy recipe that tastes just like what you’d get at the local Chinese takeout joint. I love them and used to make them all the time. The problem is, I posted them before I went low carb and gluten free on the blog – so now I get asked all the time about making low carb and gluten free crab rangoons. I finally set out to make some, and I think the results are pretty decent.
The wrappers are made from rice flour and tapioca flour, and I quarter them to keep the carb count down. They don’t get as uniformly golden brown as a traditional wrapper, as you can see in the photo, but they are very crispy and light which makes up for it.
In this recipe I use real crab meat instead of the imitation, because not only is the fake stuff loaded with sugar, it also contains wheat flour so it’s neither low carb nor gluten free. And of course, the flavor is much improved when you use real crab meat. Overall I would say that if you’ve been missing crab rangoons on a low carb and/or gluten free diet, then you will love these – even if they do take a bit more work to make than the original.
Crab Rangoons (LC & GF)
- Yield: 60 rangoons 1x
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 6 oz “real” crab meat
- 1/2 cup chopped onions
- 15 rice paper wraps (9″ round)
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Combine the softened cream cheese, crab meat and onion in a food processor and pulse until combined. Set aside.
- The rice paper wraps are hard and look almost like sheets of plastic. You’ll have to soak them in warm water for about 30 seconds to soften them. Only do one or two at a time or they’ll get too soft. Once soft, cut them into four quarters.
- Place about a teaspoon of filling onto the center of each quarter. You can fold it over and press into a triangle shape, or you can roll them up like mini eggrolls. Let them sit for at least 2 minutes before frying, which helps the edges dry out and stick together, and prevents splattering oil from dropping them into the oil too wet.
- Fry them in 375 degree (F) oil for about 2 minutes or until starting to brown. If they aren’t browning, your oil is probably not hot enough. Remove and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.
Notes
These don’t keep well – by the time 30 minutes or so has gone by, they start to lose their crispness and take on a slightly chewy texture. But don’t worry – I’m guessing they’ll be long gone before that happens! :)
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Rangoon
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 rangoon
- Calories: 66
- Fat: 5g
- Carbohydrates: 2g net
- Protein: 3g
Nadia M Warrick says
Globs of tasty cheese went into my garbage disposal. So mad.
Maris says
Just made them tonight… AMAZING! I followed the direction and fried them in small batches of 5/6. I did have a white blob at first but took it out and raised my heat. They browned up nicely and were so crispy! Thank you! I have not had Crab Rangoons in more then 5 years and these hit the spot!!
★★★★★
Hollie says
I have made these many times….was looking for a low carb substitutefor the wrapper so i will give the rice paper a go. I used to work in a Chinese takeout….we used shredded mozzarella in addition to the crram cheese and it holds together better. Also, after they were prepared they would be frozen….so that they could be thrown into the fryer without falling apart….not sure how rice paper would tolerate being frozen but I think I will try it both ways.
Cyntha says
I wonder what would happen if you used very thin cream cheese pancakes instead of the rice paper and fried them…….What do you think?
Tammy says
I think that sounds very interesting, Cyntha! If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
Ellie says
These did not turn out for us at ALL. :( I followed the directions exactly, but they just fell apart in the fryer. So after the first few failed batches in the fryer, we tried pan frying, but still no dice. They just became a mess of white goo. Did I roll them too tight, or not tightly enough? Not sure, but we tried a few variations and experimented for awhile, and I just don’t think this recipe works too well…which is a total shame, I was so excited about this! By the time we decided to stop trying, we wanted crab rangoons so badly we just went out and bought some regular, bad-for-you ones from the nearest Chinese take-out place.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Hi Ellie, sorry these didn’t work for you. It’s hard to say what went wrong, but based on your description of “a mess of white goo” I’m guessing that the wraps soaked in water too long and became over-water logged, and/or your oil wasn’t hot enough to get them crisp. Hope the takeout was worth it!
Vanessa says
I tried these tonight and was having the same goopy white blob problem. To fix it, I spread a little water on the wraps with my fingers, so they wouldn’t get water logged. The main issue I had with these, was that the wrappers wouldn’t brown. My heat was 425f and still wouldnt brown but they turned out crispy. i even put a little bit of cabbage in a few of them. All in all they turned out pretty good. If you have never worked with rice wraps, its gonna take a little trial and error to figure out how they work.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks for weighing in Vanessa! Glad you were able to make these work. The rice paper wraps are definitely tempermental and a pain to work with. Great if you’re really craving a crispy treat like these rangoons, but not something I’d bother with on a regular basis. And the fact that they don’t get golden brown is kind of a bummer, but at least they tasted good! :)
Laurie says
I am SO glad I found this website! I want to start eating a low-carb diet, but there’s the little problem of my husband being on a gluten-free diet. I found low-carb recipes and gluten-free recipes, but never low-carb AND gluten-free recipes. Until now. I’m going to have fun perusing through your site! Thanks!!!
sadie says
Hi there! Can’t seem to get to the link for the other crab rangoons. Each time I click it says it’s unavailable. :(
Lauren says
These look great! I was wondering what brand of wraps that you used for them? I found some rice paper wraps but the carb count seemed pretty high. I wanted to make sure that I was using the right product.
Thanks!
Mellissa Sevigny says
The wraps I use have a rose on the packaging – I cut them into quarters to keep the carbs down – try dividing the ones you found by four and see if that makes it more doable. :)
Lauren Abbott says
Thank you so much! Ill try that!
Anonymous says
Can these be baked or will they burn too easily?
Cambodia says
I couldn’t get the rice paper to crisp or become golden. I checked the oil temperature
Eric says
I would love to make these, but can’t find the rice paper wrappers. Where do you find them?
Allison says
Unrelated to this post but based on your amazing cookbook – you have an acorn squash recipe where you roast it with blue cheese – how do you peel it to cut the cubes in the first place? With all the grooves in acorn squash I have not be able to get the skin off! Any help is much appreciated.
Jeanne says
Allison,
Generally, you don’t peel an acorn squash all the way, you cook it in its shell and then scoop out the innards, but you can peel what you can get to and the rest will cook to an extremely tender point. If you must have no skin at all peel as you have been then cut at the side of each groove so you have little wedges, then carefully use your peeler to peel what is left. Hope that makes sense and helps.
Vicki Kron says
Thank you, thank you for this tasty recipe. Crab Rangoons are on my eating list once again and I’m so happy to welcome them.