Crispy California Roll Tacos are a tasty fun appetizer recipe! Fried wonton shells filled with nori, rice, crab, sesame seeds and spicy mayo.
These crispy California Roll Tacos are everything I love about Taco Tuesdays. They take a little more time than most Taco Tuesdays you may have prepared, but I am betting that the reaction you get from your family will make up for it. In our house these didn’t even make it to the dinner table. About 10 seconds after I said I was done taking photos, two of three tacos in this picture were already gone. Crispy wonton shells are freshly fried, then lined with a square piece of nori, some brown rice, a crab [ok fine, krab] mayo mixture, finely diced cucumber and some sesame seeds. About half of the tacos were covered with some spicy mayo as well. We served them with a side of dipping sauce. The soy sauce and wasabi mixture was in a bowl with a small spoon that was used to drizzle on top of the tacos instead of dunking them in.
Let’s start with making our mold for the shells. You are going to need a taco shell for this. Take about an 8 inch piece of non heavy-duty foil [heavy duty will be harder to push into the shell and will likely break it], and push it gently into the taco shell until you’ve gotten a pretty good shape of the interior of the shell.
When you pull the foil out, give it a once over and check for really sharp points. Push them down to create a smoother surface since a wonton skin may be pierced by sharp points.
Use circular wonton skins, or just trim some square ones if those are easier to find. I had these square ones on hand so I trimmed them. I did fry the scraps for a delicious pre-meal snack or you can top salads with them if you have the will power to not eat them immediately.
Now drape the wonton on the bottom of the taco shell to shape it into a little taco. Hold it in place with a pair of tongs. 
Make sure you have your oil set to about 350 degrees. These shells will cook in a matter of seconds, so keep a good eye on them. Lower the tongs into the oil. DON’T LET GO! 
Keep a grip on it, but a gentle one so you aren’t tearing the wonton. In about ten seconds, lift it out, and with a fork pull the wonton off the foil and back into the oil. Remove with the tongs gently. Don’t do this with your fingers as you may very well burn your fingers!
Set your shells aside.
Cut your nori sheets into nine equal pieces and put one square into each shell. Put about a tablespoon of brown rice inside. I flavored our normal Perfect Brown Rice, Every Time with a little spoonful of rice vinegar to mimic sushi rice. Trust me, it is just enough to do the trick, don’t bother going through the effort of making sushi rice for just this recipe. Top with a heaping tablespoon of our california roll mixture, some finely diced cucumber and some sesame seeds. 
The nori, which makes the flavor of the California Roll really authentic actually serves a second purpose. It keeps the shell from getting soggy! You can go ahead and make 2 dozen of these and the first and last ones will be equally fresh!Lastly, my husband and I topped ours with some spicy mayo. We have spicy mayo on standby in our house. The last time we finished a Sriracha bottle, we put about ¾ of a bottle’s worth of mayo in a bowl and mixed with Sriracha to taste. For us, this is a lot of Sriracha. Mix well and put in the bottle. We use this spicy mayo on sandwiches, eggs, just about anything we have an excuse to use it on.
Ingredients
- 24 wonton wrappers
- canola oil , for frying
- 1/2 cucumber , peeled and very finely diced
- 3 sheets of nori , cut into 27 squares (you'll have a few extra)
- 2 cups brown rice
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 16 ounces Krab meat , or actual Crab meat!
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- sesame seeds , for garnish
- soy sauce , for drizzling on top of tacos
- wasabi , as a topping
- spicy mayo
Instructions
- Using a taco shell, take about an 8 inch piece of non heavy-duty foil [heavy duty will be harder to push into the shell and will likely break it], and push it gently into the taco shell until you've gotten a pretty good shape of the interior of the shell.
- When you pull the foil out, give it a once over and check for really sharp points.
- Push them down to create a smoother surface since a wonton skin may be pierced by sharp points.
- Use circular wonton skins, or just trim some square ones if those are easier to find.
- Now drape the wonton on the bottom of the taco shell to shape it into a little taco.
- Hold it in place with a pair of tongs.
- Make sure you have your oil set to about 350 degrees.
- These shells will cook in a matter of seconds, so keep a good eye on them.
- Lower the tongs into the oil. DON'T LET GO!
- Keep a grip on it, but a gentle one so you aren't tearing the wonton.
- In about ten seconds, lift it out, and with a fork pull the wonton off the foil and back into the oil.
- Remove with the tongs gently.
- Don't do this with your fingers as you may very well burn your fingers!
- Set your shells aside.
- Cut your nori sheets into nine equal pieces and put one square into each shell.
- Mix your brown rice with your rice vinegar. Microwave for 15 or so seconds.
- Put about a little over a tablespoon of brown rice inside.
- Top with a heaping tablespoon of our california roll mixture, some finely diced cucumber and some sesame seeds.
- Serve with spicy mayo, and a bowl of premixed wasabi and soy sauce.
- Use a spoon to drizzle soy sauce on taco, these aren't terribly dippable.
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes
I like your trick to make tacos. Thank You for sharing. I made this recipe soon.
Hey lady! I just want you to know these are a huge hit with my clients. Brilliant! Thank you for the amazing idea!
Thanks, Katy!
Wow! Looks awesome and delicious my son will surely love these tacos.
Those look good. Thanks for the tip will give them a try!
Wonderful! I hope you enjoy them!
These look so perfect and I had no idea that you can do them at home – I should totally try it
Yup, the making of the shells is super easy too once you make the mold!
Wow. These look delicious! I have never made something like this before. I will have to try these soon!
Hope you love them!
wow! these look amazing. I love mexican food. Yummm
These look AMAZING! It is like my two favorite things ever all together!
Thanks!
These look delicious. Definitely wanna give them a try!
Hope you enjoy them! They were a huge hit in our house.
Those look delicious! Will have to try them out soon! My son will love them!
What a creative idea. I don’t usually like sushi but these… these look really good. They remind me of a crispy taco – which I can eat! Thanks for the yummy twist!
Cute idea! It is a wonderful mesh of two favorites in my house. I love sushi… my kids love tacos!
Wow! those look like little bundles of heaven right there. i so need these in my life!
These definitely make Taco Tuesday better. They sound amazing!
That looks fantastic! I love that crispy shell. Yum!
oh. my. gawd.
Those look amazing!
Thanks! 🙂
What a great idea. This would be perfect for taco night. I’m definitely trying these!
Hope you love them!
these look delicious, I love tacos!
My husband is going to love this! We always have wonton wrappers leftover when we make dumplings and such. This is a perfect way to use them up instead of sticking them in the freezer to get forgotten.
What a fun take on tacos! These look yummy!
I love the little bites of tacos! And the shells look crispy perfection!
I love that these are little! Those shells look perfection too!
Mmmm, those look so good. I have such fond memories of my mom making our taco shells herself. I need to try this method with the wontons. They look like an unforgettable meal.
Aww, I hope my kids feel like that too when they get older!
This looks so delicious. I have not tried to make anything like this before. I am excited to try it this weekend.
These guys look so cute and sooo delicious! What a great idea!
Thanks!
What an unbelievably great idea. That is such fun way to fry the tacos.
I think it definitely helped my oldest try them out because of the cute factor. I make these shells for a lot of our Taco Tuesday fusion recipes 🙂
I love the wonton shell idea. I will be trying this.
Awesome! Hope you love them too 🙂
Wow! Yes please. These look and sound incredible. Would love to try my hand at theses!
This is such a fun idea! My boyfriend loves California rolls (and tacos!), so this is the perfect recipe for him 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Hope you get to try them, they are a lot of fun 🙂
What a fun way to make this meal! I bet every one in my house would ask for this again if I made it!
These are genius! I have made tacos with wonton shells before but I love the way that you formed them as you fried them. Perfect!
Thanks! I remember when I made them the first time I had googled looking for info about the best way and couldn’t find a thing. I had a dinner party client who had some in a restaurant and wanted them at her party so I brainstormed for a while and then as I was searching around my cabinets for a good mold to work off of I saw taco shells. I think if anyone was in the room with me they would’ve seen an actual light bulb light up above my head, haha.
Woah! This is an awesome idea I love this! I bet they taste just as good as they look too!
Thanks! We definitely had some fun with them 🙂
These are too cute! I love that you used the wonton wrappers for the shell, such a fun and creative idea!
Thanks!
This is a great suggestion for dinner. I enjoy making tasty meals, so the Crispy California Roll Tacos will become a favorite special occasion main course on Tuesdays.
You can’t go wrong with tacos! I’ve never tried an at-home hard shell, it looks great!
The shells are so much fun to make!
My husband would go nuts for these! What a great appetizer!
These are genius Sabrina!! I’m still not sure if I’m brave enough to venture the deep frying (something about it!), but pinning just in case.
Hope you brave them! They are a lot of fun!
This is seriously one of the most creative recipe ideas I have ever seen! I adore sushi and never get to enjoy it often enough, so I’ll have ten of these please!
Thanks! I had a lot of fun with them 🙂 My family definitely loved them!
Wow, these look so tasty! I’ve never thoughts about making my own shells – going to try this!
Hope you love them!
Mmm, I bet they are so crisp and delicious. I’d love to make some of these with krab!
These look incredible! Thanks for sharing how you made the shells!
Absolutely! It took me a while to figure them out at first and google was no help. But the taco shell trick has helped me make so many kinds of different tacos!
OMG – I have Lobster TAcos at my favorite sushi restaurant here in NYC all the time. What a great way to bring the taste of it home!
Was thinking of all the different rolls I could experiment with in these shells. I haven’t found a good sushi grade fishmonger in our new town yet though.
Those sound AWESOME. We love Mexican food in our house 🙂
Oh wow! These look awesome! I love how you perfected the taco shape!
Thanks 🙂 I used to make them for clients and finally started making them at home too 🙂
I’ll take two the next time we meet up. Love this take on a taco. Yum!
Done!
Those look fantastic! I can’t wait to give these a try. Thanks!
Thanks! They were a lot of fun to make.