Once upon a time there was an adorable local Chinese restaurant called Cafe Su. They decorated the window sills with pink roses, played Norah Jones softly over the speakers, and had vintage bras hanging in the bathrooms (really.) They basically made it a point to be as unique of a Chinese food joint as possible, and it totally worked.
My friends and I flocked to Cafe Su in high school for their cravable twists on take-out classics. Ben and I delighted in cracking open the chocolate-covered fortune cookies they served after every meal. And the bright, tiki-inspired bar was always a nice place to perch and enjoy a glass of wine.
Above all else was Cafe Su’s signature Crab Rangoon which were crisp on the outside and positively stuffed with creamy crab deliciousness on the inside. Each one was the size of my hand, and they were the very first thing I’d order anytime I made a visit. Su’s version set the bar very high for all other orders of crab rangoon. The little pucks most restaurants serve that are 90% wonton with a wee dollop of filling with no crab to be found on the inside just make me angry!
What, inadequately stuffed crab rangoon don’t get your pulse a-poundin’?
Anyway, Cafe Su closed it’s doors a few years ago so the owner could open up another restaurant (sad face) but I’m hearing rumblings that it might open back up again soon. That’s how beloved this place was! In the meantime, I thought I’d channel Cafe Su’s perfect Crab Rangoon for my next recipe featuring Alaska King Crab with Hy-Vee.
Crab Rangoon Bites are crispy, pre-made frozen phyllo shells stuffed with a creamy, crab-packed filling. These babies will knock your socks off. They are my new go-to appetizer and are perfect for the holidays!
The filling is based off a baked crab rangoon recipe I posted a few years back, except I introduced chopped Alaska King Crab into it. The color…the flavor…all the things – sublime! Dolloped with a scoop of sweet and sour dipping sauce, these bites will go insanely fast at your next party or get-together.
Start with 1lb Alaska King Crab Legs, which come cooked and frozen at Hy-Vee/your local grocery store. Let them thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then snip up the smooth side of the legs to get to the sweet meat inside. Here’s a video demo showing you exactly how to do it >>
You’ll get about 6oz crab meat which you’ll want to give a rough chop. That bright pink color gets me every time. So pretty!
Ok time to make the crab rangoon filling. Add 8oz 1/3-less fat cream cheese at room temperature (very important!) and 1/2 cup sour cream to a bowl. You could use low-fat sour cream, but not fat-free sour cream…or anything, ever, besides cottage cheese and milk.
To the cream cheese and sour cream, add 2 chopped green onions.
And 1 teaspoon each sugar and worcestershire sauce, and 1/4 teaspoon each garlic powder and ground ginger. Mix everything up until smooth.
Finally, add the chopped crab and fold it in. Filling = done!
Next grab 2-15-count boxes Mini Fillo Shells (don’t ask me why they’ve chosen to spell phyllo “fillo”!) from the freezer. I found these next to the frozen puff pastry at the grocery store. They are AWESOME. I’ve used them before to make Easy Spanakopita Bites, which are just as addicting as these Crab Rangoon Bites.
Place the shells onto a baking sheet then scoop a Tablespoon of the crab filling inside each one.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, then pop away! You can serve these bites hot or warm, and be sure to set out a dish of sweet and sour dipping sauce to dollop on top. I used Frank’s version but have also made this recipe before. Gotta have it!
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Crab Rangoon Bites
Description
Crab Rangoon Bites are crispy phyllo shells stuffed with a creamy crab filling. The perfect party bite!
Ingredients
- 1lb Alaska King Crab Legs, thawed then meat removed and roughly chopped (about 6oz)
- 8oz 1/3-less fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 30 frozen phyllo shells (2-15 count packages)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add cream cheese, sour cream, green onions, sugar, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and ground ginger to a medium-sized bowl then stir until smooth. Fold in chopped crab then spoon 2 teaspoons of the mixture into each mini phyllo shell. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until mini cups are golden brown around the edges.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
The flavor of fresh crab in here is unbeatable, and is something that made Cafe Su’s version so special, too. Top with a few sliced green onions for color, and I’m telling you, people will flip for these bites. Enjoy!
those look absolutely amazing! i (almost) wish i had more holiday parties to bring appetizers to so i could fit this in…maybe new years eve?
Can these be made up ahead of time and put in the fridge before you bake them? Or would you want to wait to fill the phyllo cups until you are ready to bake them?
You could definitely make the filling ahead of time. I’d wait to fill the cups before baking though!
Cafe Su is open again in it’s old location. Haven’t been there yet to see if it’s as oodcas it used to be.
These look awesome! I can’t wait to try them.
Gah! My husband and I are making crab rangoon dip with wonton chips for one of our appetizers for Christmas, but this is such a great idea, I think we might do this instead. Then I won’t use one chip for 8 helpings of crab rangoon dip. :)
Is there a recipe for the sweet and sour dipping sauce? I didn’t see it in the recipe or linked in the text. This looks amazing, and I can’t wait to try it!!!
Sorry, it’s kind of buried in the text above the recipe! I used Frank’s sauce: http://www.franksredhot.com/products/sweet-chili-sauce, but have also made this homemade recipe before:
Such fond memories of my high school Chinese joint favorite (Yen Ching) are coming to mind. We are crab rangoon kindred spirit–the filling must must be generous, or I feel I’m not eating real crab rangoon!
aw, man, I saw this before eating breakfast and now it’s all I can think about! Scrambled eggs isn’t sounding that great any more :)
I’ll find a reason to make these soon!
And now I’m obsessing over crab wontons at 8:30 in the morning. Totally normal.
You are such a natural in these HV clips! Way cute!
Sad fact. The “new” Cafe Su is a shell of its former self. We went recently and were extremely disappointed. The hot sour soup (one of my all time favorite things) was so strange. It tasted like it had barbecue sauce in it and the entrees were very, very bland. Even the chocolate dipped fortune cookie was stale! So sad because we used to love that restaurant.
You’re adorable in the video! My favorite part is where you clean the mushrooms with the rag.
These are such a cute app idea for the holidays!
Pretty sure it’s open again…just FYI for your next date night! :)
If someone brought these as an appetizer I would be hanging out by that table until they were gone haha!
These are brilliant — I LOVE crab rangoon! And I adore your video. Great job!! :)
Phyllo dough/shells have seriously changed my foodie life! haha I love how you can use them for anything! These look amazing.
don’t laugh….. would imitation crab work just as well? (this looks amazing but I honestly have never cooked/purchased real crab legs before)
Trust me, I’d eaten my fair share of imitation crab meat before the real thing! It would definitely work. If you want to try the real thing – here’s a post and video explaining how to get the meat out of the legs! http://iowagirleats.com/2013/12/11/drunken-alaska-king-crab-legs-hy-vee-cooking-video/
Kristin, Made these for family Christmas get together, EVERYONE loved them, they were so easy and absolutely delish! Thank you!
Fillo is a closer approximation to the actual Greek spelling. :)
These look like theyd make a great appetizer!
You’re a natural! These look delish! I would eat them all up.
This look heavenly!
Cafe Su did recently reopen!
Those crab bites look so cute and so delicious :)
These sound so good! What a cute idea!
YUM! Nothing like crab and cream cheese! I think I like the mushroom idea better than phyllo dough. You are too cute in that video – how cool was it to be cooking next to the Hy-Vee chef?
You should try Fong’s Pizza downtown Des Moines. Delicious crab rangoon pizza.
BEST PIZZA EVER. We just recently moved away from Iowa and we miss that place already. I fell in love with crab rangoons solely because of that pizza.
My hubby and I ate at Cafe Su the other night! Love Red but there is just something endearing about the old location in Valley Junction. We love that it is back!!
Have you ever tried with just jumbo lump crab meat?? I would love an easier option if I am short on time (aka running after my kids)! They sound amazing.
That would be just fine!
What a fun holiday appetizer! These look so delicious and easy, and I loved the video! Great job.
I appreciate all the appetizer ideas you have posted lately! Where in the world did you get that stone that you have the phyllos laying on for the photo? I love that!
Crate & Barrel! :D
oooh! These look good! I also love that you make them from real crab instead of the imitation brands. I am definitely going to try this because I am addicted to the ones from the Chinese restaurant down the street:) They make them in Won Ton wrappers, but I like them in the phyllo shells
Oh my lands! My favorite side dish compacted into one bite!
These look amazing! Love the idea of a lighter version of crab Rangoon!
We LOVE Cafe Su! We still go to the new location but it’s just not the same! We always order the same thing – Lemon Chicken and Broccoli Chicken (not even on the menu!) plus egg rolls
Yum! You’re a natural in the video!
I just made these for my husband last night as a surprise since Crab Rangoon is his favorite take-out food. He raved about them all evening and now wants me to make them for the two holiday gatherings we have coming up this next week. THANKS!!!
[…] Hy-Vee this month and it definitely shows that crab doesn’t have to be paired with butter or cream cheese to be fabulous (though it certainly doesn’t […]
Do you think this would be good with Chesapeake blue crab instead of Alaskan King Crab??
I’ve never had that type of crab, but I can’t imagine it’d be bad at all! :)
We had homemade Chinese yesterday for Christmas so these were my contribution. O.M.G. We only had 8 people and went through 30 of these suckers in no time. DELICIOUS! I admit that I cheated, though, and used imitation crab meat. I was in a hurry. :)
Thanks for sharing! I have a feeling these will be my contribution for many gatherings to come!
(Such a gluttonous time of year…so happy it’s finally December 26th so the feeding frenzy can STOP!)
[…] 5. Iowa Girl Eats | Crab Rangoon Bites […]
I just had to stop by and say that these are amazing! We had a potluck snacky style approach to our Christmas feast this year and I decided to bring these after seeing this post. I’m not even sure they lasted 5 mins!
I made these for my New Year’s Eve party and they were delicious! I splurged for the crab legs and wasn’t disappointed! Thanks for the great recipe.
I made these for Christmas. Crab wasn’t on sale at the fish counter so I mulled it over and went with canned lump crabmeat which was on sale(the one by the tuna section), the LUMP kind!!! Because it was in a baked filling, fresh crabmeat wasn’t the necessity it would be like it would be for making, say, crab cakes. This was super easy to make and I was interested to note it filled exactly 30 fillo shells, the perfect amount. I moved this into my “re-make” binder, thanks Kristin!
Can I substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream? I have a bit of lactose intolerance but can handle a little dairy just so I don’t go crazy. I figure the cream cheese will be okay if I sub the yogurt.
I’ve never tried, so unfortunately I can’t tell you for sure how it would taste. Greek yogurt is a bit more tart than sour cream, but they’re close enough in taste that you could probably get by with it!
[…] Crab Rangoon Bites are crispy, frozen phyllo shells stuffed with creamy crab filling. They’re so much easier than stuffing and frying traditional crab rangoon, but just as delicious. […]
I will have to try this. For some reason I have not been able to find Crab Rangoon in the restaurants we have been to in the Twin Cities. That is one thing I miss from the various places we have lived. Thanks
I made these for Christmas and they were wonderful. The only thing I did different was add a little sirachi for a little more punch.
Love Crab Rangoon, LOVED these!!! Can you freeze the crab meat mixture???
I’ve never tried, but I’m sure you can!
Have you ever made your own phyllo cups using the phyllo dough?
I haven’t!
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[…] Crab Rangoon Bites are easy, delicious and very elegant. If you are using canned crab meat, be sure to pick through it with your fingers to make sure there are no shells! […]