Cream Cheese Wontons

A Delicious Snack or Appetizer

Cream cheese wontons make excellent appetizers or snacks. Everyone seems to love them, and their little hand-held design makes them the perfect finger food. You’ll find that these wontons are easy to make at home, for any potluck, backyard bash, game day party, or movie night. Heck, sometimes I make up a batch for no other reason than that we love them. Why wait for a special occasion? Seize the day, or wonton, as it were.

(Brief) History of Wontons

North China is the birthplace of the original wonton which gave rise to all of the variations that we enjoy today. Originally, wontons were called “huidun” which translates to chaos because of their crumpled appearance. After hundreds of years of the traditional Chinese dumpling not changing, wontons were an immediate hit, with restaurants specializing in the new kind of dumplings popping up all across the Tang dynasty.

Over the years and centuries, wontons evolved. Originally found in soups, cooks began to steam and even fry wontons. For hundreds of years, these dumplings were relegated to the upper class, however, after World War II, they became more widespread as China’s economy improved. Today, wontons can be found all over the globe in Chinese restaurants, the frozen section of the grocery store and in homemade wonton recipes like this one.

Origin of Cream Cheese Wontons

Although wontons originated in China, cream cheese wontons did not. You can find them in almost every Chinese restaurant but they are actually an Americanized version of the classic Chinese dumpling.

Invented in the 1950s at Trader Vic’s, a popular chain of Polynesian-style tiki-themed bars in San Francisco, the only thing authentically Chinese about these wontons is the wrapping. That’s totally okay because this is one of the tastiest inventions in history, in my opinion.

These little bites were originally served at cocktail parties and they became such a huge hit, that more and more restaurants began making them. I suppose that Chinese restaurants saw the writing on the wall and decided to incorporate them into their menus, as well.

Cream Cheese Wontons

These delicious cream cheese wontons have everything we love about the wontons we order at our local Chinese restaurant, and we get it all at home! These creamy  little bites have so much flavor and a great variety of texture, making them as fun as they are tasty. This version has no crab meat, so you won’t have to worry about giving them to anyone with shellfish allergies, which makes them all the better.

You’ll find that although these wontons take a bit of work with stuff, wrapping, and frying that they’re fairly easy to make overall, and that’s always a winner for me. Yes, simple, easy, and delicious is always the way to go with any recipe, and these cream cheese wontons deliver on all fronts.

Variations

This is such a simple recipe that it lends itself very well to mix things up. All you really need to do is change an ingredient or add an ingredient to create different kinds of delicious cream cheese wontons that everyone will love.

Add Crab

For a complete, hand-held meal, you can add chopped crab to the mix to make the classic crab and cheese wonton. Feel free to use canned lump crab meat, fresh shredded crab meat, or even imitation crab meat. It all works.

P.S. If you do this, you’re actually making Crab Rangoon.

Make it a Dessert (Sort Of)

If you want a dessert vibe, try adding a bit of sugar and vanilla to the cream cheese mixture and removing the green onions, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings. You’ll end up with a sort of fried little cream cheese bite that is oh, so good. We will have a dessert wonton posted on the blog soon, stay tuned.

Cream Cheese Wonton Tips

This is a fairly straightforward recipe, and as such, there aren’t a ton of tips here. In fact, there are only three. However, these three tips will help make sure you have the best experience and tastiest outcome to your wontons.

Room Temperature Cream Cheese

It’s so important that you let your cream cheese come to room temperature before mixing it with the other ingredients. At room temperature, the cheese will easily mix with the other ingredients thoroughly and also be easier to spoon into the wonton wrapper.

Don’t Forget the Egg Wash

The key to making sure these cream cheese wontons don’t open up while they’re frying is the egg wash. Don’t skip this step and don’t be afraid to really get that egg wash on the edges of the wrappers before pinching them closed.

Fill Them Up

You don’t want to go crazy with too much filling, but you also don’t want to underfill your cream cheese wontons. The key is to fill them so that when you crimp the edges, there is no air – just a space filled with the cream cheese mixture. If you have any air in your cream cheese wontons, the filling will break out of them while you fry them.

Serving Cream Cheese Wontons

The classic, simple flavor of these cream cheese wontons is the star of the show, in my opinion, so I don’t get overly fancy with them. I usually just serve them with some soy sauce for dipping.

That being said, if you added sugar to make more of a dessert wonton, you could put a bit of whipped cream on top of them. Mmmm. Tasty.

Storing the Wontons

You can store these wontons in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to four days. However, cream cheese wontons are best served fresh. While they will keep for four days, they won’t have that same crispy texture.

You can also freeze uncooked wontons for a few months, making them an excellent make-ahead idea for any special occasion you might have coming up.

Get These Cream Cheese Wontons in Your Life

Trust me, you need these cream cheese wontons in your life and in your belly. Their delicious flavor and combination of creamy and crispy textures make them the perfect appetizer for any occasion. If you change up the ingredients a bit you can tailor them to suit your exact tastes very easily. So give these delicious cream cheese wontons a try. You and your family are going to love them.

Ingredients to Make Cream Cheese Wontons

• Cream cheese
• Green onions
• Worcestershire sauce
• Pepper
• Garlic salt
• Wonton wrappers
• Egg
• Water
• Vegetable oil

(Actual measurements are in the recipe card below.)

How to Make Cream Cheese Wontons

• In a small mixing bowl, add cream cheese, green onions, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, and garlic salt. Mix well.
• In a small bowl, whisk together egg and water. Set aside.
• Place a tablespoon on cream cheese filling in the center of each wonton wrapper.
• Brush corner and edges of wonton wrapper with egg mixture.
• Grab all four corner of the wonton wrapper and pinch closed. Make sure there is no air trapped inside the wrappers once sealed with the egg wash.
• In a large frying pan or skillet, heat oil over medium high heat.
• Drop sealed wontons into hot oil and fry until golden brown on all sides.
• Remove from oil and place on paper towels to absorb any excess oil.

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