Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon (Copycat)

24 wontons
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes

Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon with a creamy center and crispy exterior are the perfect appetizer for your next Chinese takeout meal.

Chinese Food recipes are among the most popular on the site, and for good reason! It’s fun and easy to make your favorite takeout meals at home like Panda Express Orange ChickenPanda Express Beef and Broccoli,Panda Express Fried Rice.

Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon on serving plate with dipping sauce

Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon may seem like a Chinese restaurant favorite, but it is actually not the crab (or Krab) wontons you’re used to.  In this version, the flavor is mostly made up of cream cheese and crispy delicious wontons.

The hardest part of making cream cheese wontons really just lies in making the same shape. If you remember playing the fortune teller paper game as a kid, that’s what your hand looks like when making these. You have to fold into the center from the center of each side so you make little wings that you can seal together. While it isn’t necessary or add to the flavor, it is definitely cute and adds to the copycat nature of the recipe. You can also just fold the wonton in half into a triangle and fry them up!

You’re also going to want to serve the Panda Express Cream Cheese Wontons with some Sweet and Sour Sauce. If you don’t want to have dairy, or you have friends coming over who may not tolerate/like cream cheese, you can also cut the wontons into strips and fry them up to dip into some sweet and sour sauce too.

Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon Collage of prep steps

More Panda Express Copy Cat Recipes

Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon Collage of prep steps

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon in the air fryer?

Absolutely! Prepare the rangoons as described, making sure to spray both the air fryer basket and the rangoons with oil. Then cook in your air fryer for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees, checking half way through to rotate and spray more oil if needed.

How do I make Vegan Cream Cheese Rangoon?

Simply swap out the cream cheese in this recipe for your favorite dairy free cream cheese and have an allergy friendly version of Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon!

What other fillings can be used in Cream Cheese Rangoon?

Try mixing in sesame seeds, red chili flakes, lime zest or cilantro with the cream cheese mixture to add more layers of Asian flavor to your Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon.

How to Store Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon

  • Serve: Do not leave Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon at room temperature longer than 2 hours.
  • Store: Kept in an airtight container, these fried wontons will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat in a single layer on a baking sheet at 375 to make crispy again.
  • Freeze: Freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet, then transfer to an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 2 months. Reheat from frozen in a single layer at 375.
Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon on serving plate with dipping sauce

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Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon

Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon with a creamy center and crispy exterior are the perfect appetizer for your next Chinese takeout meal.
Yield 24 wontons
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Chinese
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 8 ounces cream cheese , softened
  • 2 tablespoons scallions , minced
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 24 wonton wrappers
  • oil , for frying

Instructions

  • In a small bowl mix the cream cheese, scallions and garlic powder together.
  • Preheat oil in a heavy bottomed pot, a couple inches high to 350 degrees.
  • Put 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture in the middle of a wonton wrapper and with your finger add water to the edges.
  • Push the four centers of each side into the middle and press them together.
  • Once the middle is connected from all four sides connect the little wings coming out from the middle.
  • Let sit while you make all the wontons and when you start to fry, begin with the wontons you made first, they’ll be the driest.
  • Cook rangoons in the hot oil until golden brown (about 10 minutes total for all wontons.)

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 54kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 73mg | Potassium: 19mg | Vitamin A: 130IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 0.3mg
Keyword: Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon (Copycat), Panda Express rangoon, Panda Express recipes
Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon Collage

Photos used in a previous version of this post.

Panda Express Cream Cheese Wontons on platter
Star-Shaped Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon
Cream Cheese Rangoon ready to dip in sweet and sour sauce
Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon made with a creamy center and crispy exterior, these are the perfect appetizer for your next Chinese takeout meal. You can make ahead and freeze for later too.
Panda Express Cream Cheese Rangoon made with a creamy center and crispy exterior, these are the perfect appetizer for your next Chinese takeout meal. You can make ahead and freeze for later too.

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Hello Sabrina,

    I went through all the questions on your post, to find if anyone had asked the question:
    What oil you used for frying the Rangoons?
    I didn’t find any questions on the type of oil used.
    So, I will ask you to please send a reply as to what oil was used to fry the
    Rangoons in your recipe? Thank you, Marta

  2. I was craving the wontons from panda and found this recipe – it was spot on and so easy!! These were very easy to prepare ? thank you for the recipe!

  3. Really easy and delicious! Make sure you’re keeping an eye on the edges to get a sense of the color, the outside edges will crisp and brown much faster because there’s no filling. When that starts get golden, they’re done. Don’t wait for the whole thing to get golden