If you’ve been craving something cozy, this easy wonton soup is exactly what you need. I grew up eating this homemade wonton soup, so it’s based on my family’s recipe and inspired by my favorite bowl that I had in Hong Kong. Fold a big batch once and you’ve got better than takeout soup waiting in your freezer.
Quick Summary: Easy Wonton Soup
- ⭐️ What It Is: Easy wonton soup is a light Cantonese style soup with homemade pork and shrimp wontons and bok choy in a gingery chicken broth.
- 👍 Why Make This Recipe: The wontons use my quick “C” fold, so there’s no fancy pleating and they freeze beautifully for later.
- ⏰ Total Time: 55 minutes.
- 🧂 Key Ingredients: Ground pork, shrimp, wonton wrappers, ginger, chicken broth, and bok choy.
- 🚫 Skip This: Don’t stress over perfect folds or homemade stock, since a sealed wonton and a good low sodium broth are all you need.
- 🫢 The Secret: Stir the filling until it turns sticky so the wontons come out bouncy and juicy instead of crumbly.
- ❓ Can I Use Frozen Wontons?: Yes, store bought frozen wontons work great in this broth, just cook them according to the package until they float and are cooked through.
- 🍽️ Best For: Cozy weeknight dinners, meal prep, and stocking your freezer.
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What is Wonton Soup?
Wonton soup is a classic Chinese dish made of delicate dumplings filled with seasoned pork, shrimp, and aromatics, served in a clear, flavorful broth. The word “wonton” translates to “swallowing clouds” in Cantonese, which I think perfectly describes how these little dumplings look as they float in the soup.
It’s a staple in Chinese households and restaurants, and the pork and shrimp filling is the same combo you’ll find in dim sum favorites like my shu mai (siu mai). If you want to turn this into a full meal, add some thin egg noodles and you’ve got my wonton noodle soup.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Better than takeout: I’ve been making this family recipe for years, and the broth alone beats most restaurant bowls, just like my hot and sour soup.
- Freezer friendly: Fold extra wontons once and you’ll have a lazy dinner ready in minutes whenever you need it.
- Light but filling: If you love egg drop soup, this is its heartier cousin with plenty of protein from the shrimp and pork.
Key Ingredients
- Ground Pork: Adds a rich, meaty base for the wonton filling. You can substitute for ground chicken or turkey if you want the wontons leaner.
- Shrimp: Brings sweetness and texture and I roughly chop it into small chunks so every wonton has a nice bite. You can omit this or replace it with equal parts ground pork if you don't want shrimp in it.
- Ginger: Gives both the filling and the broth a fresh, cozy warmth.
- Wonton Wrappers: Thin, square wrappers that cook up soft and silky, found in the refrigerated section of most grocery stores.
- Chicken Broth: The base of the soup, so use a low sodium broth you like the taste of.
- Bok Choy: Adds a fresh crunch that balances the rich wontons.
Customizations and Substitutions
- Protein Swap: Ground chicken or turkey works great instead of pork, and readers have loved it with turkey.
- Vegetarian Option: Skip the meat and fill the wontons with chopped mushrooms, tofu, and shredded carrots.
- Spicy Kick: Add a drizzle of my homemade lemongrass chili oil or a spoonful of chili crisp when serving.
- Bone Broth: I used to use chicken bone broth for extra protein and collagen in the soup!
- Extra Veggies: Snow peas, sliced shiitake mushrooms, or a few noodles turn this into a bigger meal.
- Make It a Mashup: Stream in a beaten egg for wonton egg drop soup, or swap the broth for coconut curry to make Thai red curry wonton soup.
How to Make Easy Wonton Soup
Make the filling
In a large bowl, mix the pork, chopped shrimp, ginger, garlic, green onions, soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt, white pepper, and cornstarch until sticky.
Fold the wontons
Form a “C” shape with your hand, place a wrapper over your fingers, add about a teaspoon of filling, then fold the edges inward and pinch to seal.
Cook the wontons
Boil the wontons in a large pot of water at a gentle boil for 3-5 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon.
Blanch the bok choy
In the same pot, blanch the bok choy for about 30 seconds until bright green and slightly tender.
Make the broth
In another pot, simmer the chicken broth with ginger slices, chicken bouillon, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, white pepper, and Shaoxing wine for 5 minutes. Remove the ginger and stir in the green onions.
Assemble
Divide the wontons and bok choy among bowls, pour the hot broth over the top, and garnish with green onions and white pepper.
Herman’s Expert Tips
- Stir until sticky: Mixing the filling well for a minute or two is what makes the wontons bouncy and juicy, the same trick I use for my pork and chive dumplings.
- Don’t overfill: About a teaspoon is plenty, and if the wrappers feel dry, dab a little water on the edges so they seal nice and tight and don’t burst in the pot.
- Cook wontons in water, not broth: Starch from the wrappers clouds the soup so I always boil them separately to keep the soup broth clear. If you’d rather crisp them up, try making them open faced style like my pan fried pork and shrimp dumplings.
Storage
Store leftover wontons and broth separately in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3 days, and reheat gently on the stove. The broth can also be made a day ahead.
To freeze, arrange uncooked wontons on a tray, without touching, until solid then transfer to a freezer bag. Cook them straight from frozen for 5-7 minutes. That freezer stash is perfect for spicy wontons in chili oil and leftover wrappers make great crab rangoon wonton cups.
Easy Wonton Soup FAQs
My version is chicken broth simmered with ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, and a splash of Shaoxing wine. Hong Kong noodle shops often build their broth from pork bones and dried flounder for a deeper, more savory flavor.
Yes! Buy frozen wontons from the store or make a big batch of homemade wontons and freeze them for later. Frozen wontons make the best lazy wonton soup for multiple meals.
Follow the cook times that I suggest in the recipe. Also, wontons typically float to the top when they’re close but give them about another minute in case. If you want to sure, cut one open to check that the filling is firm and the shrimp is pink.
It’s light yet filling, with lean protein from the shrimp and pork plus bok choy for veggies. Use low sodium broth and go easy on the bouillon to keep the salt in check.
Not traditionally, since wonton wrappers contain wheat. You can use gluten free wrappers or try rice paper like in my gluten free rice paper soup dumplings.
What to Serve with Easy Wonton Soup
If you loved this Easy Wonton Soup recipe or any other recipes on my site, please leave a ⭐️ rating and let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Easy Wonton Soup
Ingredients
Wontons
- ½ pound ground pork
- ½ pound shrimp peeled, deveined, and roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Dash of white pepper
- ½ tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 pack wonton wrappers about 40 pieces
Soup
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth or chicken bone broth
- 2 inch ginger thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoon chicken bouillon
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Dash of white pepper
- 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine optional
- 2 green onions finely chopped
For Serving
- 4 Bok choy halved or quartered
- Chopped green onions
- White pepper
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground pork, chopped shrimp, minced ginger, minced garlic, green onions, soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt, white pepper, and cornstarch. Mix well using your hands or chopsticks until mixture is sticky and cohesive.½ pound ground pork, ½ pound shrimp, 1 Tbsp minced ginger, 2 cloves garlic, 2 green onions, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp granulated sugar, 1 Tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, ½ tsp salt, Dash of white pepper, ½ Tbsp cornstarch
- Form a “C” shape with your hand then place one wonton wrapper over your fingers. Use a butter knife or small spoon to scoop about 1 teaspoon of filling into the center of the wrapper. Push down gently in the middle as you fold all edges inward then pinch to seal it. This is one quick method to fold the wontons so it doesn’t have to look perfect! Repeat with remaining filling and wrappers.1 pack wonton wrappers
- In a large pot on medium-high heat, add water and bring to a gentle boil. Add wontons to the water, gently stir to prevent sticking, then cook for about 3-4 minutes and the wontons should float to the surface. Use a slotted spoon to remove wontons and transfer to a bowl or plate. If you don’t want to eat all wontons in one sitting, you can freeze remaining wontons for future meals. Just boil the wontons for 5-6 minutes until cooked through.
- Using the same pot of water, add the bok choy and blanch for about 30 seconds until bright green and slightly tender.4 Bok choy
- In a separate large pot over medium-high heat, add chicken broth, ginger, chicken bouillon, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, white pepper, and Shaoxing wine if using. Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes until flavors come together. Remove ginger slices, stir in the chopped green onions, then turn off heat.6 cups low sodium chicken broth, 2 inch ginger, 2 tsp chicken bouillon, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp sesame oil, ¼ tsp salt, Dash of white pepper, 1 Tbsp shaoxing wine, 2 green onions
- Divide the cooked wontons and bok choy among serving bowls then pour the hot soup on top. Garnish with more chopped green onions and white pepper if desired.Chopped green onions, White pepper
Notes
- This recipe makes about 40 homemade wontons but I usually only need about 6-8 wontons per bowl of soup so I typically freeze the remaining wontons, which makes it perfect for an easy, lazy wonton soup in the future.
- If freezing remaining wontons, place the wontons on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper, making sure the wontons aren't touching, then freeze for a few hours. After this time, you can transfer to a plastic bag. This ensures the wontons don't stick together when freezing.
- If cooking frozen wontons, you can cook straight from frozen and simmer for about 5-7 mins.
Cookie says
How did you make the wrappers?😋
Herman says
I actually just bought them in the store!
Elisa Nguyen says
This is my FAVORITE wonton soup, especially when i’m sick and need a comfort meal!
Herman says
Thank you! It's one of my favorites too!
Jessica Magana says
This is one of my favorite recipes by far because I have a daughter who is now a year old and loves to eat. She is very picky but this recipe is packed with so much flavor and easy to eat. She gets excited and claps her hands everytime she sees this dish on her high chair.
Herman says
I love hearing that your young daughter loves this recipe! It's a family recipe so I'm glad you all love this one too
Rebecca Mutigli says
This Wonton soup is like no other I've had. It's easy to prepare and the flavor is to die for. I will be making this from now on as opposed to getting it for take out.
Herman says
This is a family recipe so I'm glad you enjoyed this one!
Dave says
I’ve always been intimidated by making wonton soup at home. My wife talked me into trying this recipe out and it was surprisingly simple. We loved the flavor and this could definitely go head to head with any wonton soup we’ve gotten in a restaurant.
Herman says
Wow this is a huge compliment, thanks so much! This is a family recipe so I'm glad people love it as much as I do!
Kamia says
Love wonton soup!❤️
Herman says
Thanks so much, it's my family recipe so this is one of my favorites!
Hannah says
Love love love this recipe, it’s so comforting and easy to make. This is perfect for anyone that needed a quick warm meal in the icy cold winter
Herman says
Thank you so much! It's a family recipe so I'm glad you love this one!
Pam Fajardo says
I’ve cooked this wonton soup recipe three times since discovering it, and I can’t get enough. It’s light, comforting, and truly satisfying. Even my 3 and 5 year old girls love it. Such a perfect soup for the winter season!
Herman says
Yes, it's the perfect comforting and satisfying soup. Glad you all liked this recipe!
Morgan says
Looks great and easy!! I love a good wonton soup. Unfortunately we have a sesame allergy in the home, so will need to leave that out. Any suggestion to replace?
Herman says
Hi Morgan, I believe the only allergy would be the sesame oil in here so you can either leave it out or replace it with another neutral oil like vegetable oil. Hope this helps!
Morgan says
Thank you!
I’m making it for the second time tonight. Great recipe, adding a few extra veggies this time!
Alex says
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to make it. What brand of wonton wrapper do you recommend?
Herman says
I used Wei Chuan brand but Dynasty brand works well too.
Hunter says
Awesome and easy to make. Even my toddler approved. We didn’t use shrimp but all pork! We also added some bean sprouts and it was top notch
Herman says
That sounds delicious - so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Kmin says
So good!! In our top three
Herman says
Wow that's amazing, thanks so much for trying my recipe!
Betty says
Question rather than comment. I am allergic to shellfish. Should I use all pork or is there a substitute for the shrimp. I notice a lot of dumpling recipes use shrimp and I don’t know what to do about that.
Herman says
Yes you can use all pork instead of shrimp! The shrimp adds a nice bite to it but you can definitely remove it and add equal portion of pork if you are allergic
Monica says
Best soup ever! I made for the fist time and absolutely loved it. I sure will be making this recipe many more times!
Herman says
Thank you so much! so glad you loved this recipe 🙂
Ashley Miral says
such a good and easy recipe. this has now become my favorite soup recipe
Herman says
This is one of my favorite soup recipes too and so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review!
Alice says
Yum!
Herman says
Thanks so much, appreciate the positive review!
Dani luchner says
I’ve been looking for the perfect wonton soup recipe FOREVER and finally found it, thank you!!
Herman says
What a compliment, thanks so much for trying my recipe!