These crispy baked wonton shells are stuffed with cheesy corned beef & sauerkraut filling making them the perfect St. Patrick’s day appetizer!
Bring On The Corned Beef!
There are memes that have been floating around for decades that for St. Patrick’s day we all have a little bit of Irish in us and then for Cinco de Mayo, we all have the same for Mexican descent. I’m just over here though celebrating as the foods of those cultures are phenomenal!
I posted my Guinness Corned Beef recipe 10 years ago and it still remains the TOP recipe for corned beef (Thank you!). Since then, I’ve shared how to make it in the Instant Pot and then a bunch of different ways how to use up the leftovers.
Grab Your Ingredients
Now this recipe is assuming you’ve taken my advice over the past 10 years and made extra corned beef.
- Corned Beef – you want to dice this up
- Sauerkraut – you’re definitely going to want to not only drain this but also squeeze it dry
- Cheese – very soft cream cheese and Swiss cheese
- Wonton wrappers
- Caraway seed – this is totally optional but I love it with sauerkraut
Grab a Bowl
Since my cream cheese was uber soft, I could easily mix this with a spatula so I just dumped it into a bowl to mix by hand.
Mix it up!
If you want, you can absolutely place this all in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix.
Let’s Talk About Wonton Cups
There’s a lot to cover here and I want to give you my best tips.
- Using your fingers (short nails really help here) or a wooden tart tamper, gently press the wrapper into the mini muffin pan well. Don’t press too hard as you don’t want to tear them
Chef’s Tip: When working with wonton wrappers, keep them wrapped in a damp paper towel. This will help to prevent them from drying out, leaving them pliable and easy to form.
- In this recipe, I do NOT spray my cups. You absolutely can but I don’t as my mini muffin pan is non-stick and since I’m baking these twice, spraying them would cause them to get too dark and get bubbles. If you do spray them, you’ll have to reduce the cooking time by a few minutes.
Par-Bake The Wonton Cups
When you pull them out of the oven they will still be soft (but not as soft). I par-bake these so the bottoms will get crispy and not turn soggy when I put the filling in.
And let’s be real here, no one likes a soggy bottom. HAHA
Fill’em Up!
- Once the wonton shells are par-baked and slightly cooled, add your filling using a mini cookie scoop. Gently push the filling down into the shell and if you have room, you can add another half scoop.
- Pop these back into the oven and bake until Cheesy, Golden Brown, and Delicious!
- Remove them from the pan and allow to cool for a few minutes before diving in!
Perfectly Crunchy & Cheesy!
Now full disclosure, the first time I made these was when Mr. Fantabulous was taking a nap. I had every intention of waiting for him to wake up to try these with me but…
that didn’t happen. The smell of the warmed corned beef and that Swiss cheese was intoxicating!
Love At First Bite!
This seriously was love at first bite! As-is they were phenomenal. So crispy, and crunchy, and has all the amazing flavors of a classic Reuben sandwich inside!
But you know me, I’m a dip kind of girl. So I whipped up my classic Honey Mustard recipe but also added a bunch of whole grain mustard in too.
Y’all this was INCREDIBLE!
Make Ahead Tips
I don’t recommend you bake these fully ahead of time but rather you can absolutely par-bake up the shells and store them in an air-tight container on the counter for a few days.
The filling you can mix up together and store them in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
When you’re wanting to serve these, just preheat the oven, fill the cups and bake for a few minutes.
Air Fryer Directions
If you don’t feel like heating up the oven you can absolutely make these in the air fryer. Crisp them for 5 minutes at 350F, fill and then air fry for about 3-5 minutes more or until they are GBD!
PrintThe Best Cheesy Reuben Wonton Appetizers
These crispy baked wonton shells are stuffed with cheesy corned beef & sauerkraut filling making them the perfect St. Patrick’s day appetizer!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 12
- Total Time: 25
- Category: appetizers, leftovers, party foods, baked snacks, st. patrick’s day, leftovers
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: appetizers, leftovers, party foods, baked snacks, st. patrick’s day, leftovers
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked corned beef, diced
- 3/4 cup sauerkraut, drained and squeezed well
- 1–2 teaspoons caraway seeds (completely optional)
- 2 cups freshly shredded Swiss cheese
- 8 ounces of cream cheese, must be room temp and very soft
- 24 wonton wrappers
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F with the rack in the middle.
- To a bowl add the cooked corned beef, sauerkraut, caraway seeds, Swiss cheese and cream cheese. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix to combine. *You can also use a mixer to mix it together.
- Place a wonton wrapper into each well of a mini muffin pan and carefully push it down in place. Short nails or a Wooden Tart Tamper really helps with this.
- Par-bake the shells for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly and then, using a mini cookie scoop (or 2 teaspoons, place 1 scoop into each shell. Gently push the mixture down into the shell. If you have a little extra room, you can add another 1/2 scoop into the shell.
- Place these back into the oven and bake for another 6-8 minutes or until golden brown and the cheese is all melted.
- Immediately remove from the oven and from the pan. Allow to cool for a minute or two then enjoy!
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