There’s nothing quite like sitting down to appetizers at the Cheesecake Factory. It truly can’t be replicated at home. But there are plenty of times that I just can’t be bothered to leave the house. Thankfully for me, the Cheesecake Factory just shared their crab wonton recipe. We put it to the test in the Better Homes & Garden’s Test Kitchen, and it earned rave reviews. Here are some of our tips for trying the recipe for yourself.

How to Make Cheesecake Factory’s Crab Rangoons

Cheesecake Factory has posted the full recipe on their website. Here’s a quick overview of how to make it at home.

1. Make the filling by combining cream cheese, sweet and sour chili sauce, mustard, chili garlic paste, sugar, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Mix until well combined. Gently fold in crab meat, diced water chestnuts, and sliced green onions. Stir in shredded cheese and panko bread crumbs.
2. To assemble the wontons, place a small scoop of the filling into the center of a purchased wonton wrapper. Apply a tiny bit of water to the wonton edges with your finger. Lift the bottom and top edges over the filling and pinch the edges together. Pull in the sides and pinch them together to form a “flower-like” shape.
3. In a deep pot, pour in several inches of vegetable oil. Heat the oil to 350°F. Carefully fry the wontons a few at a time until they are golden brown and crisp.
4. Let the wontons cool just a bit before serving them with extra sweet chili sauce.

What Makes These Crab Rangoons Special?

I loved the flavor and texture of these crab wontons. The cheese was unexpectedly delicious. You’re not going to get a giant cheese pull or anything, but it adds just the right amount of texture and flavor to the filling. I especially loved the combination of the crispy edges and creamy filling; there was just the right amount of each in this recipe.

Tips for Making Homemade Crab Wontons

Keep these helpful tips in mind when trying this crab wonton recipe for yourself.

• When choosing the crab for this recipe, you have a few options. When testing this recipe, we used Heron Point wild-caught lump crabmeat. Our Test Kitchen finds this is a good quality option that’s not as expensive as refrigerated crabmeat. However, you can also use refrigerated or freshly cooked crabmeat. For a sweeter, less intense seafood flavor, use imitation crab instead.
• The Cheesecake Factory uses their own homemade sweet and sour chili sauce. We recommend the sweet chili sauce from Trader Joe’s for this recipe.
• The recipe doesn’t specify what mustard to use. Try either Chinese mustard or yellow mustard. Both add a tanginess that works well in this crab rangoon recipe.
• We found it took about 4 cups of oil in a 3 qt. saucepan to perfectly fry the wontons.
• The recipe calls for 25 small wonton wrappers, but we ended up making 35 total with the amount of filling we had.

The Verdict on Cheesecake Factory’s Crab Rangoons

These crab rangoons are just as good as ones I’ve had in restaurants. Honestly, better than many I’ve tried. The cheese, mustard, and diced water chestnuts in the filling help set them apart. Next time you’re craving Cheesecake Factory and can’t get a reservation, try making these crab wontons. They’re worth the effort.