These oven baked crispy wonton cups are crunchy, creamy, cheesy, and made with just four ingredients. Wonton wrappers bake up golden and crisp around a simple cream cheese, salsa, and cheddar filling. They’re easy enough for any gathering, and you’re going to love how quickly they disappear.
Why You’ll Love It
- Four simple ingredients — cream cheese, salsa, cheddar, and wonton wrappers are all you need.
- Crispy and creamy — golden wonton edges surround a warm, cheesy filling.
- Easy to assemble — the wrappers wrinkle and overlap in the muffin tin, so there’s no need for perfection.
- Always popular — cheesy salsa filling makes these an easy appetizer to keep reaching for.
Ingredient Notes
The wonton wrappers are usually in the refrigerated produce section at my grocery store, near the tofu and those bags of shredded cabbage for stir-fry. I have walked past them a hundred times without noticing, which says more about me than it does about the store.
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Use square wonton wrappers, not egg roll wrappers. Egg roll wrappers are bigger and thicker, and while I’m sure a clever person could cut them down, I am not volunteering you for that project. We’re making an easy appetizer here, not restoring a Victorian house.
For the cream cheese, let it soften properly. I mean it. Cold cream cheese mixed with salsa turns into a lumpy little nightmare, and then you’re chasing white chunks around a bowl with a spoon, muttering things nobody needs to hear. Full-fat cream cheese gives the richest filling, but low-fat works if that’s what you keep around. Just soften it well.
Choose a thick salsa. Thin, watery salsa makes the filling loose, and then the wonton cups can get soggy. Mild salsa is what I use when the grandkids—or the grown children who still behave like grandkids around food—are coming over. Medium is probably my favorite. Hot salsa is good too, though everything can seem “not that spicy” right up until a forehead starts shining.
Cheddar cheese gives you that familiar sharp, melty flavor. A Mexican blend works just fine too. I have used Colby Jack in a pinch. It was good, though I’m not sure it had quite the same little salty bite. Maybe I imagined that. Food memories can be unreliable, especially after two glasses of lemonade with a splash of something extra.
Ingredients
- 24 square wonton wrappers
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened — give it time on the counter, don’t try to rush this part
- 1 cup thick salsa, mild, medium, or hot, whichever crowd you’re feeding
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend, divided — I use the bagged kind plenty often, despite what food people say
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or a very thin swipe of oil. You’ll be baking these in two batches unless you happen to own two muffin pans, which I do now after years of refusing to buy a second one for no sensible reason.
Press one square wonton wrapper into each muffin cup, gently nudging it down so it makes a little bowl. Let the corners stick up and do their thing. Try to keep the bottom reasonably flat so the filling doesn’t lean to one side, though I’ve had plenty of crooked ones and nobody has ever sent one back.
In a medium bowl, stir together the softened cream cheese and salsa until the mixture is smooth and evenly combined. It may look a bit loose at first—that’s normal—but it should still hold on a spoon. If your cream cheese is still cold, this is where you’ll regret your life choices for a minute.
Fold 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese into the cream cheese mixture, saving the remaining 1/2 cup for the tops. Don’t beat it to death; just stir until the cheese is tucked through the filling. The first time I made these, I forgot to save cheese for the top and had to open another bag. Not a tragedy, but irritating in the way only minor kitchen mistakes can be.
Spoon the filling into the wonton cups, filling each one about three-quarters full. Try not to overfill them, because the mixture can bubble over and soften those nice crisp edges. A small spoon works better than a big one here, unless you enjoy cleaning baked cheese off the muffin pan later.
Sprinkle a little of the reserved shredded cheese over each filled cup. It doesn’t need to be a mountain—just enough to make a golden, bubbly top. This is the part everyone reaches for first, even though they’ll claim they don’t care about presentation.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the wonton edges are deep golden brown and crisp and the filling is hot and bubbly. Rotate the pan halfway through if your oven has hot spots. Mine certainly does; the back right corner gets ambitious and browns everything like it has someplace to be.
Let the cups cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before lifting them out. This lets the filling settle so it doesn’t slosh out onto the counter. Use a small offset spatula or a butter knife to gently loosen the edges, then transfer them to a platter.
Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers and filling for the second batch. Serve them warm or at room temperature, preferably before your family notices what’s happening and starts circling the kitchen like seagulls at the beach.
Variations
Use hot salsa and pepper jack cheese instead of cheddar for a spicier version. It’s genuinely good, especially with a little bowl of extra salsa on the side.
You can swap the salsa for chunky pico de gallo or black bean and corn salsa, as long as it isn’t watery. A jarred queso can work too for an extra-cheesy filling, but keep the amount the same so the cups don’t get runny. I tried adding chopped spinach once because I had a bag threatening to turn into swamp in the refrigerator. It was not terrible, but it made the filling wetter and the wrappers less crisp. We ate them, because we’re not made of money, but I did not write that version down.
If you want to add protein, finely chopped cooked chicken, crumbled bacon, or seasoned ground beef would all be tasty. At that point it is no longer the sweet little four-ingredient recipe, but rules are rules until you’re hungry.
Storage & Reheating
These are best the day you make them, especially while the edges are still shatteringly crisp. That said, leftovers keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Let them cool completely before storing them, or trapped steam will make them soft. I learned that after packing up a batch too soon, then blaming the refrigerator like it had personally betrayed me.
To reheat, place the cups on a baking sheet and warm them in a 350°F oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until hot and crisped up again. The microwave will heat the filling, sure, but the wonton wrappers will turn floppy. Sometimes that is all you have time for, and I’m not here to police anybody’s weeknight, but the oven is much better.
If you’re serving them outside, remember they have cream cheese and shredded cheese in them. Don’t let them sit out longer than about 2 hours—or 1 hour if it’s one of those blistering days when even the iced tea gets warm. Anything that has been hanging around too long needs to go. It pains me to throw away food, but food poisoning is a rotten souvenir.
Final Notes
These are simple little cups of cream cheese, salsa, cheese, and wrappers, but they have a way of making everybody drift toward the kitchen. Even the ones who claim they’re “not really hungry.” Funny how that works.
Make two batches if you’re feeding people. Actually, make three if teenage boys are involved. I’m only half joking… and I’m not.
Oven Baked Crispy Wonton Cups
Ingredients
- 24 square wonton wrappers
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup thick salsa mild, medium, or hot
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend divided
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and lightly grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or a very thin swipe of oil.
- Press one square wonton wrapper into each muffin cup, gently nudging it down to form a little bowl while letting the corners stick up.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the softened cream cheese and salsa until the mixture is smooth and evenly combined.
- Fold 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese into the cream cheese mixture, reserving the remaining 1/2 cup for the tops.
- Spoon the filling into the wonton cups, filling each one about three-quarters full.
- Sprinkle a little of the reserved shredded cheese over each filled cup.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the wonton edges are deep golden brown and crisp and the filling is hot and bubbly, rotating the pan halfway through if needed.
- Let the cups cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then gently loosen the edges with a small offset spatula or butter knife and transfer them to a platter.
- Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers and filling for the second batch, then serve the cups warm or at room temperature.
