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Wonton soup served ready to eat.

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Wonton soup

Yield
4 servings

Wonton soup is two small skills in one bowl: a filling stirred until springy and juicy, and a fold that seals with no air inside. The broth stays clear because the wontons cook in their own pot of water. Fold a double batch and freeze half; next time, the soup is on the table in about fifteen minutes.

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Ingredients

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Batches and reset

4 servings · US measures · 1 batch

Batching

Make one batch of broth in each 4- to 5-quart pot. For 8 servings, make a second batch of broth and boil every batch of wontons in two halves in the 6- to 8-quart pot. The cues and the 160°F (71°C) filling check stay the same; cooking time does not multiply with the ingredient amounts.

Original recipe: 4 servings.

The optional Shaoxing wine, the cornstarch for dusting the tray and the chili oil, plus the to-taste soy sauce, salt and white pepper, are left out of the base nutrition scenario. The broth is low-sodium chicken broth.

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Before you start

  • Read through the recipe before you start. Gather the mixing bowl, the folding station, both pots, the small skillet, the spider, the instant-read thermometer, the serving bowls and the measured ingredients.

Directions

1

Read and gather

For the whole recipe

Read through the recipe and gather the equipment. Use the ingredient lines to prepare and measure everything. Line the sheet pan with parchment, cover the wrappers with the damp towel, set the small bowl of water nearby, and fill the large pot about three-quarters full of water, covered and off the heat for now. Everything is measured and the folding station is ready.

2

Put the filling together and beat it until sticky

For each batch of soup

Put about 8 oz ground pork, about 4 oz raw shrimp, the minced green onion, 1 tsp fresh ginger, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp Shaoxing wine if you are using it, 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil, 1/4 tsp fine salt, 1/4 tsp ground white pepper and 1 tsp cornstarch in the mixing bowl. Add 2 tbsp cold water and beat the mixture hard in one direction with the spatula or chopsticks until it turns pale, sticky and stringy, about 2 minutes.

3

Cook a test patty and taste the filling

For each batch of soup

Cook a rounded teaspoon of the filling, flattened into a small patty, in the 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, turning it once, until it is firm and no longer pink in the center, about 2 to 3 minutes. Taste the cooked patty. Aim for savory, juicy and lightly salty. If it tastes flat, stir soy sauce to taste into the filling in the bowl.

4

Dust the tray and fold the wontons

For each batch of soup

Dust the parchment with 1 tbsp cornstarch, if using. Hold a wrapper on your palm, put a rounded teaspoon of filling in the center and wet two neighboring edges with water. Fold it into a triangle, pressing from the filling outward to push out the air, then bring the two corners of the long side together below the filling, dab one with water and pinch them firmly together. Set each wonton on the tray, not touching, under the damp towel, and fold every wrapper the same way. To freeze some for later, freeze them on the tray until hard, then bag them. Wash your hands well after handling the raw filling. Every wonton is sealed with no air pockets.

5

Heat the broth with ginger and green onion

For each batch of soup

Heat about 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth in the 4- to 5-quart pot for the broth over medium heat. Add 4 slices fresh ginger and the halved green onion whites. Simmer gently, with small lazy bubbles, until the broth smells clearly of ginger, about 10 minutes. Lift out the ginger and the green onion whites.

6

Simmer the bok choy

For each batch of soup

Simmer the bok choy in the broth over medium heat until the stems bend but still crunch and the leaves turn bright green, about 2 minutes. Lift it out with the spider and divide it among the serving bowls.

7

Turn the heat to low and season the broth

For each batch of soup

Turn the burner to low heat and stir 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 tsp fine salt, 1/4 tsp ground white pepper and 1 tsp toasted sesame oil into the broth. The seasonings are stirred into the hot broth.

8

Taste the broth and adjust

For each batch of soup

Taste the broth, keeping it hot over low heat. Aim for clean and savory, gently gingery and seasoned enough to enjoy on its own. If it tastes flat, add fine salt to taste, or soy sauce to taste for more depth. The broth tastes clean, savory and well seasoned.

9

Bring the water to a boil and cook the wontons

For each batch of soup

Bring the 6- to 8-quart pot of water to a full boil over high heat. Add half the wontons, nudge them off the bottom so they do not stick, and boil until they float and the filling feels firm, about 4 minutes; frozen wontons need a minute or two longer. Cut one open and check its filling with an instant-read thermometer: it reads 160°F (71°C) and the shrimp is opaque. Lift the wontons into the bowls with the spider, then cook the second half the same way.

10

Divide the wontons and serve

For the whole recipe

Divide the wontons evenly among the bowls with the bok choy and ladle in the hot broth to make 4 servings. Top with the sliced green onion greens. Serve right away, with ground white pepper to taste and chili oil, if using, at the table. Refrigerate leftover broth and wontons separately within two hours; reheat the broth to a boil and the wontons until they reach 165°F (74°C). Each bowl has wontons, bok choy and hot broth.

About this recipe

Research preview: these details come from our sourced research and haven't been reviewed by our chef yet.

Why it works

Beating the filling with a little cold water makes it springy and juicy, pressing out the air as you fold keeps the wontons from bursting, and boiling them in a separate pot keeps the gingery broth clear.

Associated with

Cantonese and Chinese American cooking

Wontons (huntun) have a long history in China. Cantonese cooks are known for shrimp-forward wontons in clear broth, often with thin egg noodles, and a traditional saying pairs wontons with the winter solstice.

Taste

  • Sweet
  • Sour
  • Salty
  • Bitter
  • Savory
  • Heat

Clean, savory broth, gently gingery., Juicy pork and shrimp filling; chili oil at the table adds heat. · springy, juicy filling in silky wrappers, clear, gingery broth, crisp-tender bok choy · hot

Skill level

Some practice

Folding a full batch takes patience, and sealing without trapped air is the skill; the cooking itself is simple.

You'll practice: Beat the filling until sticky, Cook and taste a test patty, Fold and seal wontons without trapped air, Boil wontons in a separate pot to keep the broth clear, Freeze extras on a tray

Allergens

Contains: shellfish (shrimp), wheat, soy, sesame.

Check the wonton wrappers (some contain egg), the chicken broth (some contain wheat or soy), the Shaoxing wine and the chili oil (some contain dried shrimp, sesame or garlic).

Diets

Vegetarian: Doesn't fit as written Vegan: Doesn't fit as written Pescatarian: Doesn't fit as written Dairy: See the allergen lines Egg: See the allergen lines Gluten: See the allergen lines

Occasions

  • Dongzhi (winter solstice festival) · Traditional food

    Wontons are among the traditional foods eaten at the winter solstice festival, and a well-known saying pairs wontons with the winter solstice.

    The 22nd solar term, on the day of the December solstice (usually 21 to 23 December)

    Next: December 22, 2026 (expected)

    Next: December 22, 2026 (expected)

  • Freezer-batch weeknight dinners · Make-ahead fit

    Fold a double batch and freeze half on a tray; frozen wontons cook straight from the freezer in a few minutes.

Course: main-dish, soup-course · Technique: simmer, boil · Time: 30-to-60-minutes, freezer-friendly

Serving and keeping

Best served: As soon as the wontons are cooked In bowls of hot, gingery broth with bok choy and sliced green onion, with white pepper and chili oil at the table

Make ahead: Cook wontons straight from frozen, 1 to 2 minutes longer, until the filling reaches 160 °F (71 °C).

Storage: Refrigerate the cooked soup within 2 hours, in shallow containers, keeping broth and wontons apart so the wrappers do not go soft. Uncooked wontons keep 1 to 2 days in the fridge; freeze them for longer, best within 3 to 4 months.

Leftovers: Store broth and cooked wontons separately for up to 3 to 4 days; the wrappers soften as they sit. Reheat the broth to a boil and the wontons to 165 °F (74 °C).

Food safety

  • Taste the filling only as a cooked test patty, never raw.
  • Raw pork and shrimp share one bowl: wash hands, boards and tools before handling the bok choy and other ready-to-eat items.
  • Check a cut-open wonton reaches 160 °F (71 °C); cook frozen wontons 1 to 2 minutes longer.
  • Refrigerate leftover broth and wontons separately within 2 hours, in shallow containers.

We make no statement about cross-contact in your kitchen or in packaged ingredients. Shrimp is a major allergen and shares the filling bowl; check the wrapper, broth, wine and chili oil labels.

Nutrition notes

Most of the sodium comes from the wrappers, soy sauce and added salt. Low-sodium soy sauce, unsalted broth and seasoning at the end lower it.

We don't show nutrition claims (like “good source of”) until our legal review is done.

Swap notes

  • ground pork · pescatarian

    Works with changes

    Use: more shrimp, for an all-shrimp filling

    What changes: Replace the pork with the same weight of shrimp.; Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.; Sweeter, bouncier Cantonese-style wontons; cook until the shrimp is opaque.

    Not a swap: A researched proposal: this page's ingredient list, allergens and nutrition still describe the recipe as written.

  • ground pork

    Works with changes

    Use: more shrimp, for an all-shrimp filling

    What changes: Shrimp is allowed on days of abstinence.; Chicken broth is not forbidden by the rule; vegetable broth suits stricter practice.

    Not a swap: A researched proposal: this page's ingredient list, allergens and nutrition still describe the recipe as written.

  • ground pork · vegetarian

    Works with changes

    Use: finely chopped firm tofu with shiitake

    What changes: Also replace the shrimp with chopped bok choy stems squeezed dry, and use vegetable broth.; Bind the filling with cornstarch; beating will not make it sticky.; Softer, less springy filling.

    Not a swap: A researched proposal: this page's ingredient list, allergens and nutrition still describe the recipe as written.

  • square wonton wrappers · vegan

    Works with changes

    Use: wonton wrappers made from flour and water only (read the ingredient list)

    What changes: Use with the vegetarian filling and vegetable broth.

    Not a swap: A researched proposal: this page's ingredient list, allergens and nutrition still describe the recipe as written.

  • ground pork · halal

    Works with changes

    Use: halal ground chicken or beef

    What changes: Leave out the Shaoxing wine and use halal chicken broth.; Most schools permit shrimp; some Hanafi scholars do not.; Brewed soy sauce contains a little alcohol from fermentation, on which rulings differ.; Leaner filling.

    Not a swap: A researched proposal: this page's ingredient list, allergens and nutrition still describe the recipe as written.

  • Shaoxing wine · sikh

    Works with changes

    What changes: Leave out the optional Shaoxing wine; the filling smells plainer.

    Not a swap: A researched proposal: this page's ingredient list, allergens and nutrition still describe the recipe as written.

  • Shaoxing wine

    Works with changes

    Use: a little broth with a few drops of rice vinegar, or nothing

    What changes: A small loss of aroma.

    Not a swap: A researched proposal: this page's ingredient list, allergens and nutrition still describe the recipe as written.

  • ground pork

    Works with changes

    Use: ground chicken

    What changes: Use ground chicken in place of both the pork and the shrimp, and leave out the wine.; A milder chicken wonton.

    Not a swap: A researched proposal: this page's ingredient list, allergens and nutrition still describe the recipe as written.

  • ground pork

    Works with changes

    Use: more shrimp, for an all-shrimp filling

    What changes: Leave out the wine and use vegetable broth.; Leave out the sesame oil on days when oil is not allowed.

    Not a swap: A researched proposal: this page's ingredient list, allergens and nutrition still describe the recipe as written.

  • soy sauce

    Works with changes

    Use: low-sodium soy sauce

    What changes: Leave out the soy sauce and salt added to the broth, and season at the end.; Ginger and white pepper carry more of the flavor.

    Not a swap: A researched proposal: this page's ingredient list, allergens and nutrition still describe the recipe as written.

  • raw shrimp · kosher

    Not recommended

    Not a swap: No supported swap: both proteins, pork and shrimp, are not kosher; a kosher version would be a different dish.

  • square wonton wrappers · passover

    Not recommended

    Not a swap: No supported swap: the wheat wrappers are chametz and are the dish.

  • fresh ginger · jain

    Not recommended

    Not a swap: No supported swap: ginger, green onion, meat, shrimp and wine all conflict.

These notes don't change the amounts, allergens or nutrition shown for this recipe.

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Recipe url
https://isthebestrecipe.com/soups/wonton-soup
Name
Wonton soup
Servings
4
Recipe yield
4 servings
Recipe ingredient
about 8 oz ground pork not lean, about 20 to 30 percent fat, about 4 oz raw shrimp peeled, deveined and chopped into 1/4-inch (6 mm) pieces, 1 whole green onion minced, 1 tsp fresh ginger finely grated, for the filling, 1 tbsp soy sauce for the filling, 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil for the filling, 1/4 tsp fine salt for the filling, 1/4 tsp ground white pepper for the filling, 1 tsp cornstarch for the filling, 2 tbsp cold water, 32 whole square wonton wrappers thawed if frozen, about 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth, 4 slices fresh ginger cut into coins about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick, for the broth, 2 whole green onions white parts halved for the broth, green parts thinly sliced for serving, about 12 oz baby bok choy halved lengthwise and rinsed, 1 tbsp soy sauce for the broth, 1/4 tsp fine salt for the broth, 1/4 tsp ground white pepper for the broth, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil for the broth
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Wonton soup