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Homemade wonton soup is my ultimate comfort food. As far back as I remember, my Ma-Ma (my Chinese Grandma) visited us every summer and I always looked forward to our annual ritual of folding fresh wontons. Sitting at our kitchen table, I remember learning her trick to make the folded edges of the dumplings stick.

As a dietitian, I love having some good healthy soup recipes at the ready. I can’t wait for you to try this variation pulled from one of my absolute favorite childhood lessons of how to make homemade wonton soup at home (and if you’re a Chinese food fan, you might also want to try these Crispy Honey Garlic Cauliflower Power Bowls).

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In this recipe, pork and turkey wontons are submerged in a savory soup broth and topped with green onions to create a homemade Chinese wonton soup. In my ingredients, I also use water chestnuts and crushed red chilis for extra flavor. This is the best wonton soup recipe you’ll ever make, trust me!

My top tip?

Make the whole batch and freeze the leftover pork-filled wontons for an easy weeknight dinner! This recipe has a prep time of 30 minutes (and a cook time of 10 minutes) so it’s easier to do all at once rather than restarting the process later.     

What is Traditional Chinese Wonton Soup? 

But before we get started, I want to share what ingredients can be found in traditional Chinese wonton soup—and what it really is:

What are wontons made of?

Wontons are made of a thin, square dough wrapping (flour, egg, water and salt) enveloping a filling typically made from ground meat (usually pork and shrimp, but I add turkey for these ones) and seasoning (spices, minced garlic and ginger) and sometimes a sprinkle of flour for binding.

What’s in wonton soup?

Wonton soup is Southern China’s evolution of the traditional dumpling and consists of wontons immersed in a clear broth. It’s often served with garlic or finely chopped green onion.

How to wrap wontons

1) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to place the folded wontons. 2) On a large, clean surface, lay out the square-shaped dough wrappers. 3) Fill a small bowl with water. 4) Spoon a heaping teaspoon of the pork filling onto each wonton wrapper. 5) Dip your fingers (or a pastry brush) in the water, then moisten the edges of each wrapper. (Be careful not to wet them too much.) 6) Seal the wrappers by folding the top corner over the filling to meet the bottom corner, forming a triangle. 7) Press the edges firmly to make a seal. 8) Bring the left and right corners above the center/filling. Overlap the tips of these corners, moisten with water and press together. 9) Add the finished wonton to the lined baking sheet.

How to make wonton soup broth

In a large pot, bring your chicken stock and sesame oil to a boil. Once boiling, add the wontons and chopped mushrooms. After 5 minutes of cooking, add snow peas for a final 1-2 minutes of cooking. Remove from heat once peas are cooked but still slightly crunchy and wontons have cooked through.

My Chinese Family History

My grandma is an amazing cook. Are you familiar with the book The Joy Luck Club? Real life with a Chinese Grandma is no different: no dish comes off the stove that isn’t “too dry” or “a bit salty.” She’s also often heard saying, “I overcooked it, you probably make it better.” No matter how much we reassure her that it was the BEST Chow Mein we’ve ever tasted, to her, it could always be better. (Secretly, she must have known it was the best we ever had.)

I’m so grateful for the close relationship I have with my Ma-Ma. Cooking has always been her way of showing her love. Whether we decide to just have something easy or say we’ll pick something up so she doesn’t have to cook, there’s always a table full of our favorite dishes—and enough to feed quadruple the amount of people.

When I reflect on these memories, I realize her passion in the kitchen has had a huge influence on my love of cooking for those around me. There’s nothing more satisfying than sitting down to a meal cooked with love or sharing a newly developed recipe with loved ones—and seeing them enjoy every bite.

As I often say, eating isn’t just about fuel and nourishment — It is love, joy and connection! Sitting down for dinner with your family is a great way to spend quality time together. It’s also a way to pass on traditions and keep our food interesting. Fusing different combinations, we pull meal ideas from our parents, grandparents, and others who’ve influenced us, and watch our new family cuisine unfold.

So I hope I can bring a little love into your kitchen with this version of my childhood fave: Pork wonton soup.

About My Homemade Wonton Soup Recipe

This recipe has a much bigger yield than what I usually make for recipes. I went back and forth with how to do it but I decided to just do as I always have. I make a big batch of wontons for a few reasons.

For one, if you cut it down, you’ll end up with leftover meat and water chestnuts, so this helps prevent waste. I LOVE having them in my freezer for a perfect quick-and-easy meal on a busy or rainy night.

This recipe has a prep time of 30 minutes and a cook time of 10, so once you have everything out and your station set up with your wonton wrappers, pork filling, and herbs/spices, it’s a lot easier to make the whole batch than restarting later. Of course, if you’d rather, you can cut the recipe in half (or a third) for a smaller or single-meal batch 🙂

I hope you love these as much as I do—and enjoy sharing with your family and friends.

If you make this recipe, I’d love to see how it turned out! Share a pic and tag me on Instagram @lindsaypleskot so I can see your version! If you loved the recipe, It would make my day if you’d share a comment and star rating below! Nothing makes me happier than seeing these recipes come to life in your kitchen! xo

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How to Make Pork Wonton Soup at Home

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  • Author: Lindsay Pleskot
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes (will give you a big batch for the freezer!)
  • Yield: 100 wontons 1x
  • Category: Main Dishes, Soups
  • Method: Stove Top
  • Cuisine: Asian
Print Recipe

Description

Pork wontons are submerged in a savory soup broth and topped with green onions to create this homemade Chinese wonton soup. This is the best wonton soup recipe you will ever make, trust me! It was passed down to me from my Ma-Ma (my Chinese grandma) and is SO delicious. My top tip? Freeze the leftover pork-filled wontons for an easy weeknight dinner!

Ingredients

Scale

Wontons:

  • 100 Wonton Wrappers
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 lb extra lean or lean ground pork
  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp crushed red chilis
  • 1 x 227g can water chestnuts, diced
  • 2 x thumb-sized piece of ginger (approx 2 Tbsp), minced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced (save 2 Tbsp of green onion to sprinkle over your soup for garnish)
  • 1 tsp freshly- cracked black pepper

Soup: 

  • 6 cups of homemade or store-bought chicken stock
  • 2 cups snow peas
  • 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Optional: 1 tsp of your favorite hot sauce (I like to use Sriracha)
  • 2 tbsp of green onion, chopped during your initial prep

Instructions

For the Wontons:

  1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except for the wonton wrappers. Use a fork to combine all ingredients well.
  2. To set up your wonton making station, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, this is where you’ll place the folded wontons.
  3. Clean a large surface of your counter space and lay out as many wrappers as will fit. Fill a small bowl with water. (You’ll use this to moisten the edges of the wonton wrappers to seal them.)
  4. Spoon out a heaping teaspoon of the filling onto each wonton wrapper. Dip your fingers or a pastry brush in water and moisten the edges of each wrapper. (Be careful not to wet them too much.)
  5. Seal the wrappers by folding the top corner to meet the bottom, folding the wrapper over the filling to make a triangle. Press the edges firmly to make a seal. Bring the left and right corners together above the filling. Overlap the tips of these corners, moisten with water and press together. Add the finished wonton to the lined baking sheet.
  6. Repeat until all the filling has been used up.
  7. Cook immediately or place in the freezer until firm if you plan to store for later, this will prevent them from all sticking together during storage. Once the wontons are firm, place them into a large ziplock bag to be removed as needed!

For the Soup:

  1. When you are ready to eat your wontons, bring your chicken stock and sesame oil to a boil in a large pot of water. Once boiling, add the wontons and mushrooms. After 5 minutes of cooking, add snow peas for final 1-2 minutes of cooking. Remove from heat once peas are cooked (but still slightly firm) and wontons have cooked through.
  2. Dish up into bowls. Sprinkle with green onion to garnish.

Notes

This recipe makes enough soup for 4 servings. You’ll be freezing the rest of the wontons. I usually serve anywhere from 6-10 wontons per person/bowl of soup—depending on how hungry you and your guests are!

Enjoy!