Baked Crab Rangoon Dip
The following recipe and photography is courtesy of Graham R. and his dog, Carl. For more of their delicious food ventures, visit them on Instagram @cookingwithcarrrl.
Whenever I grab Chinese takeout, I usually change up my order, but one item stays constant – Crab Rangoon! Those crispy wontons filled with creamy, crabby goodness always find their way into my to-go bag, so I transformed them into a mouthwatering dip paired with crunchy, homemade bagel chips for a real East-meets-West collaboration of flavors!
I don’t know about you, but nothing makes me crabbier than ordering a crab-based appetizer or entree only to find about a half an ounce of actual crab in the finished dish! I’d much rather make my own. That way, I can control how much of the good stuff goes in. Most crab dip recipes I’ve stumbled across call for a 2:1 ratio of cream cheese to crab meat. I find that ratio results in dips that taste predominately of melted cream cheese. After lots of testing, I’ve found that a 1:1 ratio allows the crab to be the centerpiece of the dip.
When I visit Heinen’s, their bagels are always on my shopping list. They carry blueberry, onion and a variety of others, but my favorite is the classic everything bagel. It’s rare that I don’t devour them within a couple of days, but if I happen to have some older bagels, I like to give them a proper makeover. A quick slice and a drizzle of seasoned olive oil is all it takes to make delicious bagel chips. Bagel chips are ideal for dips because they are very crunchy and won’t break, even when lifting the heaviest of dips. These also knock store-bought bagel chips out of the park, both in terms of flavor and price.
Enough talk, lets cook!
Baked Crab Rangoon Dip
Servings: 6
Ingredients
For the Crab Rangoon Dip
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. sriracha
- 8 oz. Boss Claw lump crap meat
- 2 tsp. Heinen's brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 large green onions, sliced thin
- 1 cup Heinen’s mozzarella or Italian blended cheese
- 1/2 package wonton wrappers
- Vegetable oil, for frying
For the Bagel Chips
- 4 Heinen’s bagels, preferably day-old
- 2 Tbsp. Heinen's olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. Heinen's grated 24-month age Parmigiano Reggiano
- 2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325˚F.
- Slice the bagels into 1/8-inch round slices. Place the rounds on a baking sheet.
- Mix together the olive oil, parmesan cheese and Old Bay in a small dish. Pour the mixture over the bagel rounds and toss to coat.
- Lay the bagel chips flat and bake for 13 minutes, or until they start to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before storing. They get even more crispy after they cool.
- Add the softened, room temperature cream cheese to a mixing bowl. Whip it with a hand mixer or by hand.
- Add the sour cream, sriracha, soy sauce, brown sugar and minced garlic. Mix until smooth.
- Fold in the crab meat, green onions and 1/2 cup of the cheese.
- Pour the dip into a small skillet or baking dish. Top with the remaining cheese and cover. Place into a 325˚F oven for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, uncover and bake for 15 minutes more, or until cheese is golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
- While the dip is baking, preheat ½-inch of oil to 350˚F in a cast iron skillet. Slice the wontons in half and fry for 20 seconds per side. Top with sea salt.
- Serve the dip in the skillet or baking dish and top with freshly sliced green onions. Place the bagel chips and fried wontons all around and enjoy!
