Wonton Soup (馄饨汤) 

What is wonton soup

Chinese Wonton soup consists of stuffed savory parcels known as wontons (Hún Tun馄饨 or Yún Tūn/云吞) and a lightly seasoned broth which is often accompanied by blanched leafy greens. With protein, starch and vegetables all in one bowl, it makes a complete meal with only 450 calories per serving.

There are many varieties of wonton soup in different regions of China. They differ in wrapper types, filling ingredients and broth seasonings. The Cantonese style also has a version including noodles.

Why this recipe

The wonton soup recipe I’m sharing today is a quick and easy one. No matter if you are a novice home cook or a busy parent, my detailed explanation and tips will help you to make it without stress (highly likely you’ll cook it again and again). 

Before I talk about the ingredients and cooking steps, here are my top tips to keep in mind.

• Use ready-made wrappers to save time
• Make a juicy filling by incorporating broth into the meat
• Use shop-bought broth if you’re in a rush but making your own is easy
• Assemble a big batch of wontons and freeze them for future use

Ingredients

This recipe calls for three groups of ingredients:

• Wonton wrappers (aka wonton skin, wonton pastry)
• For the filling: ground pork, scallions (aka green onion/spring onion), ginger, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, salt and white pepper
• For the soup: chicken broth (homemade or shop-bought), salt, white pepper, sesame oil and baby bok choy

Substitutes

• Although pork is a popular filling for Chinese wontons, please feel free to substitute it with chicken, shrimp or beef.
• If you don’t have white pepper, use ground Sichuan pepper or five spice powder.
• Chicken broth can be replaced by beef or vegetable broth. A simple homemade chicken stock recipe is available in later sections.
• Apart from bok choy, please feel free to use other leafy greens, such as spinach, choy sum, etc.

Filling variations

There are many ingredients that can go into wonton fillings. Apart from the protein substitutes mentioned above, you can also use tofu, eggs, vegetables, shiitake mushrooms, etc. Please find more filling ideas in my collection of dumpling recipes.

Choose the wrappers

Essentially, wonton wrappers are square-shaped, very thin sheets of wheat flour-based dough that are used to wrap fillings into sealed parcels. Don’t confuse them with dumpling wrappers for making Jiaozi/饺子 or Shumai/烧卖 that are round-shaped and slightly thicker.

Varieties

Although I prefer homemade wrappers for dumplings, when it comes to wontons, shop-bought ones are my first choice. They come in different sizes ranging from 9cm (3.5in) to 10.5cm (4.2in). Also, you can find them in two colors.

• The yellow ones are often referred to as Cantonese or Hong Kong style. They contain eggs thus they have a yellow tone (some also use food coloring to enhance the color). 
• The white ones are often referred to as Shanghai style. They are eggless (vegan) and slightly thicker.

Purchasing

Wonton wrappers are available in Chinese or Southeast Asian markets and some mainstream supermarkets. They’re sold either in the refrigerated section or in the freezer area.

Both yellow and white wrappers are good for today’s recipe. If they’re labeled with various thicknesses, choose the thin or medium version and avoid the thick ones as they tend to be too doughy.

Using

If you have fresh, chilled wrappers, use them as soon as possible or freeze them straight away after purchasing. If you have frozen ones, defrost them in the fridge overnight.

Since wonton wrappers have fairly low water content and dry out easily, always make sure not to open the package until you’ve prepared the filling and are ready to assemble. Cover them with a damp cloth to avoid drying out.

Prepare the filling

A perfect wonton filling should not only be flavorsome but also tender and moist. Using minced meat with a higher fat content would make it taste less dry. But the more important trick is to incorporate liquid, either stock or water, into the meat.

As I explained in my Dumpling Filling Guide, this specific process is called Dǎ Xiàn/打馅, meaning “beat the filling”.

• Put all the ingredients for the filling into a bowl then add a few spoonfuls of chicken stock.
• Use chopsticks to mix and swirl the meat constantly. After a while, the liquid will be fully absorbed and the meat will become tender and sticky.

Wrap the wontons

Compared to the way you fold Chinese dumplings, wontons are easier and quicker to assemble. For today’s recipe, I follow one of the most common folding methods (Before you start, prepare a small bowl of water on the side for wetting the wrappers).

• Dip your fingertip or the back of a small spoon in the water then run it along the edge of a wrapper (①)
• Put a portion of the filling mixture in the middle then fold the wrapper into a rectangle parcel. Gently press to seal all around (②)
• Bring two corners together (③)
• Place one on top of another and use a little water to stick them securely (④)

I’ve used another slightly different folding technique in my recipe for Sichuan Red Oil Wontons. Check it out if you’re interested.

Cook the wontons

Cooking wontons is simple! Firstly, Bring a large pot of water to a full boil (you can use a wok too). Gently slide in the wontons and move them around with a spoon in case any sticks to the bottom.

Leave to boil over high heat. Once all the wontons rise up to the surface of the water, cook for another 1½ minutes or so.

Finally, put in bok choy (or other leafy green) to blanch for about 20 seconds.

🛎 NOTE: Depending on the size of your cookware, you may need to cook the wontons in batches. Here is how to judge: if you lay the wontons one beside another in a single layer, the area they cover shouldn’t be bigger than the cookware.

Assemble the soup

While the wontons are being cooked, heat up the chicken stock in another pot if it’s cold. Then spoon it into serving bowls. Season with salt, white pepper and sesame oil (adjust their quantity based on your flavor preferences).

Add freshly cooked wontons to the soup, along with blanched bok choy. Garnish with chopped scallions. If you enjoy spicy food as I do, a good spoonful of Chinese chili oil will give the dish an extra kick.

Sometimes, I also sprinkle extra toppings over the wontons, such as preserved mustard stem (Zhà Cài/榨菜), dried papery shrimp (Xiā Pí/虾皮), etc.

Simple homemade stock

If you have time, make the chicken stock from scratch. It’s tasty and very simple to cook.

• Put a whole chicken in a large pot filled with cold water. Bring it to a boil then skim off any impurity floating on the surface.
• Add 2 stalks of scallions and a few slices of ginger. Leave to simmer over low heat for 40-50 minutes. Then take out the chicken, scallions and ginger.

🛎 TIP: You can tear the chicken meat off the bones and make Sichuan Mouthwatering Chicken or add it to Chow Mein, Fried Rice, etc.

Make ahead and freeze 

Want to have wonton soup regularly? Make the wontons in big batches then. Like homemade dumplings and ramen, wontons freeze very well and can be cooked straight away without defrosting.

• Right after you fold the wontons, lay them in a single layer over a tray/baking sheet. To prevent sticking, dust the tray with flour or line it with parchment paper. Put the tray into the freezer.
• Once the wontons become solid, take them off the tray and transfer them to air-tight bags or containers. You may store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Cook frozen wontons

You don’t need to defrost wontons before cooking (do not try to do that). Follow the same instructions for cooking fresh wontons. Here are two tips to follow:

• Do not cook too many frozen wontons at once (a little less than the number for fresh ones).
• Once you add them to boiling water, gently move them around a few times with a spoon. Since they take a longer time to float up to the surface, there is a higher chance that they stick to the bottom of the pot.

Recipe FAQs

More dumplings to try

📋Recipe

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Wonton Soup (馄饨汤)

Tasty, juicy filling wrapped with slippery wrappers and served in an umami broth, this easy wonton soup makes a wonderful all-in-one meal.

Author: Wei Guo

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Prep: 30 minutes minutes

Cook: 6 minutes minutes

Total: 36 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

MetricUS Customary

For the wontons

• ▢ 300 g ground pork - or chicken, shrimp, beef
• ▢ 2 stalks scallions - finely chopped
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ginger - minced
• ▢ 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 pinch ground white pepper - or ground Sichuan pepper, five-spice powder
• ▢ 3 tablespoon chicken broth - homemade or shop-bought (see note 1)
• ▢ 40 pieces ready-mead wonton wrappers - see note 2

For the soup

• ▢ 1 liter chicken broth - homemade or shop-bought (see note 1)
• ▢ 2 heads baby bok choy - or other leafy greens
• ▢ Salt - to taste
• ▢ Ground white pepper - to taste
• ▢ Sesame oil - to taste
• ▢ Scallions - finely chopped
• ▢ Chili oil - optional

5 Secrets of Authentic Chinese CookingGet the guide for FREE

Instructions

Mix the filling

• Add ground pork, scallions, ginger, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, salt, white pepper and 3 tablespoons of chicken stock to a mixing bowl. Swirl constantly to combine until the meat fully absorbs the liquid and becomes a sticky paste.

Wrap the wontons

• With your fingertip, wet the edge of a wonton wrapper with a little water. Place some pork filling in the middle. Fold the wrapper into a rectangle. Press to seal the edge. From the folded side, wet one corner then place the other corner on top. Press to seal (see video below).

Heat the broth

• In a saucepan, heat the chicken broth to a boiling point. Set aside for later use.

Cook the wontons

• While the broth is heated, bring plenty of water in a separate pot/wok to a full boil. Gently put in the wontons. Move them around with a spoon to avoid sticking. You may need to cook them in batches (see note 3).
• When the wontons rise from the bottom and float on the surface, continue boiling for a further 1½ minutes or so. Put in bok choy and cook for another 20 seconds.

Assemble the dish

• Add salt, ground white pepper and sesame oil to 4 serving bowls, then top up each one with the heated broth. 
• Fish out the wontons and bok choy and put them to the bowls. Garnish with scallions and chili oil (if using).

Make in advance

• You may freeze uncooked wontons right after they’re assembled (Do not leave them on the counter for too long). Lay them in a single layer on a tray lined with parchment paper. Once completely frozen, transfer them to airtight bags or containers.
• Cook frozen wontons: Do not defrost. Follow the same method above.

Video

NOTES

1. Make chicken stock from scratch:

• Put a whole chicken in a large pot filled with cold water. Bring it to a boil then skim off any impurity floating on the surface.
• Add 2 stalks of scallions and a few slices of ginger. Leave to simmer over low heat for 40-50 minutes. Then take out the chicken, scallions and ginger.

2. This recipe makes about 40 wontons if the wrappers are small (about 9cm/3.5in). If using large ones (about 10.5cm/4.2in), you may make about 30 wontons.

3. Cook in batches: If you lay the wontons one beside another in a single layer, the area they cover shouldn’t be bigger than the cookware.

NUTRITION

Serving: 1 bowl | Calories: 453 kcal | Carbohydrates: 48 g | Protein: 23 g | Fat: 18 g | Saturated Fat: 6 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7 g | Cholesterol: 66 mg | Sodium: 1861 mg | Potassium: 357 mg | Fiber: 2 g | Sugar: 1 g | Vitamin A: 93 IU | Vitamin C: 2 mg | Calcium: 27 mg | Iron: 1 mg

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NUTRITION DISCLOSURE: Nutritional information on this website is provided as a courtesy to readers. It should be considered estimates. Please use your own brand nutritional values or your preferred nutrition calculator to double check against our estimates.