This shrimp rangoon recipe is a fancier take on the Americans’ favorite crunchy treat — crab rangoon.
Crab Rangoon — from Parties to High-end Restaurants
Crab rangoons are little wonton wrap pouches holding together a well-seasoned filling of cream cheese and shredded imitation crab. These are deep-fried to crispy perfection and served with its sauce. Simple yet so addictive, the American-Chinese crossover has graced not just casual parties, but fancy restaurants as well.
The term ‘Rangoon’ sounds pretty exotic. We thought that it derives from the place it’s native to, but ‘Rangoon’ is a city in Myanmar, and none of the dish’s components suggests Myanmar.
As we dug deeper, we discovered that behind that name indeed lies an interesting scheme, and whether it’s true or not, we think it’s a clever marketing strategy.
The Crab Rangoon
Crab Rangoon was first served at a restaurant called ‘Trader Vic’s’, founded by Joe Young. The time was somewhere in the 1930s, and people at that time were obsessed with foreign cultures, especially anything Tiki-themed.
Well-aware of this fact, Joe furnished his restaurant with this theme. The reason he gave the dish the name ‘Rangoon’, we believe, is that it sounds exotic and could spark customers’ interest. True or not, his strategy worked, and everyone started making lots of orders.
What arrived at their table was not just any food, but a combination of what Americans love most. It’s crunchy, it’s creamy, it’s cheesy, and it comes with a dip. Naturally, it became the place's best seller.
Even without a scheme, crab rangoons are undeniably a great crowd pleaser. The dish needs inexpensive ingredients and is so simple that anyone should be able to make it.
Today’s shrimp rangoon recipe is our dedication to you and your guests, wishing you all a fun night by your kitchen table. Instead of the chewy crab like the original version, our crunchy pouches pack plump cubes of shrimp that burst with flavor when you bite into them.
Are Shrimp Rangoons Healthy?
Compared to crab imitation, which is made of fish, starch, and additives, shrimp is considerably more nutritious. With shrimp as an ingredient, you'll find whole proteins which are good for muscle synthesis and omega 3 fatty acids, known to benefit the heart as well as the brain.
Filled with mostly cream cheese and seasonings, the dish is typically high in calories, saturated fats, and possibly sodium. It should only be served in small portions as a snack, and yet, many are willing to have several servings until they feel full. A snacking spree feels good, but at the same time, it risks exceeding the nutritional allowance of the day.
With our shrimp rangoon recipe, your guests can enjoy seven crunchy pouches, all containing just 234 calories, 3.6 g saturated fats, and 247 mg sodium. The satisfying serving size and the reasonable nutritional profile are made possible, thanks to one major change in terms of ingredients.
Ingredients You’ll Need for Our Shrimp Rangoon Recipe
You’ll need spring roll wrappers, shrimp, cream cheese, herbs, several seasonings, and canola oil for frying.
1. The Wrapper
The classic version of crab rangoons calls for wonton wrappers, but after we looked into their nutritional profile, we considered alternatives. The yellow wrap contains eggs, and just like cream cheese, eggs come with considerable amounts of calories and saturated fats. These wraps are completely healthy to use, don’t get us wrong, but they leave little room for the cream cheese.
Fortunately, spring roll wrappers behave very similarly to wonton wraps, even though they are made without eggs. The one we found is moderate in calories, and we highly recommend you use it or find something of similar quality.
We use seven pieces of wrappers, but we cut each one into four smaller squares because they’re pretty large. It may sound like we would end up with very small pouches, but we're happy with the size of our 28 shrimp rangoons, which are all equally flavorful.
2. The Filling
Unlike crab rangoons with cooked, edible imitation crab in the filling, shrimp rangoons contain raw shrimp. Crab rangoons can be fried over high heat, but shrimp rangoons require medium-low heat to reach inside evenly. This is especially important if you’re using refrigerated cream cheese and/ or frozen shrimp to ensure the shrimp is properly cooked.
If you can’t manage to use room-temperature ingredients, it’s best that you cook your shrimp beforehand. Steaming is our recommended method — it preserves the shrimp’s juiciness.
How to Make Our Shrimp Rangoons
Once you’ve got your ingredients all prepped and measured properly:
- Mix the shrimp with seasonings and herbs.
- Place a small amount of filling onto the wrap. Wet the edges and fold.
- Bring the corners together and seal with water.
- Heat oil over medium heat, and fry the pouches until golden.
- Place them onto a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Garnish and enjoy.
More details on how to wrap can be found in the ‘shrimp rangoon recipe’ card at the bottom of this article.
Can I Make Shrimp Rangoons in an Air Fryer?
Considering we have made lots of crispy foods in our air fryer, it is a strong 'yes' from us. However, once the pouches are folded and placed into the basket, they should be brushed with oil before frying.
It is oil (or fat in general) that makes foods crispy. When the food is sprayed with oil, it’ll expand the tiny air pockets within the starch before hardening it. Crushing these hard bubbles results in a series of breaking sounds, what we describe as ‘crispy’. Without oil, the starch just hardens and becomes rather stiff and snappy.
Still, we wouldn’t say that air-fried foods are as crunchy as deep-fried ones, because the food is introduced to extremely hot oil in the beginning. The more sudden the change in temperature, the larger those bubbles get and so does the crispy sound. It is totally fine to have deep-fried foods once in a while, especially if it’s your favorite treat.
Storing Shrimp Rangoons
Once wrapped, the pouches can be refrigerated for 4 days and frozen for up to 3 months. To cook, we suggest that you fry them over low heat until golden to ensure that the inside is properly cooked.
We don't recommend storing the rangoons after they are fried. Once cooked, the starch can no longer expand and hence, they would become stiff rather than delightfully crispy.
Shrimp Rangoon Recipe
Our shrimp rangoon recipe will help you make crispy, delicious finger food to treat you, your family, and friends. This recipe makes 28 crispy pouches.
- cook TIME 17 mins
- prep TIME 8 mins
- total TIME 25 mins
- COURSE Side Dish
- CUISINE American
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 234 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 5 ozpeeled shrimp (from 10 oz whole shrimp)
- 2 ozonion (chopped)
- 1.5 ozcream cheese
- 2 tbspparsley (chopped)
- 2 tbspscallion (chopped)
- 0.5 tspgarlic powder
- 0.5 tspground black pepper
- 1.5 tspWorcestershire sauce
- 2 tbspwater
- 7 spring roll wrapper sheets (cut into 4 smaller squares)
- 1.5 cupcanola oil (*)
INSTRUCTIONS
Mince the shrimp, like so, and put it in a bowl.
Combine the shrimp meat with 2 oz onion, 1.5 oz cream cheese, 2 tbsp parsley, 2 tbsp scallion, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, and 1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce.
Place a bit of the filling in the middle of a wrapper. Dampen two adjacent sides and fold the two non-wet sides over, like so. Gently press to seal the sides together.
Bring the two corners together, like so, and glue them with water, one on top of the other. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have 28 pouches.
Heat 1 1/2 cups canola oil over medium heat. Test the heat by dunking a pair of chopsticks in -- if it bubbles, the oil's ready. Fry the shrimp rangoons for 1 minute or until the outside turns golden.
Place the fried ones onto a paper towel to dab off excess oil. Serve while it's hot and crunchy.
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Chef, Culinary Consultant
Luna Regina
Writer, Author
Natalie Butler, RD, LD
Nutrition Reviewer