Whip up classic Shrimp and Pork Wonton Soup at home! This quick comforting meal takes just 20 minutes to make and uses basic Asian pantry ingredients.
Whenever one of my family is under the weather, or when I need to whip up something quick for dinner, Shrimp and Pork Wonton Soup often comes to the rescue.
It may sound like a winter dish, but this comforting bowl of classic wonton soup is our family all-time favorites.
3 Tips to Make Really Good Wonton Soup
Homemade wontons make all the difference because of the fresh ingredients we use in the fillings. Nothing is more satisfying when you bite into these juicy little dumplings, served in a flavorful chicken soup seasoned with white pepper and toasted sesame oil.
Here I’d like to share 3 tips to make your wonton soup extra special!
1. Use Shrimp and Pork for the Filling
My family always loves the combination of pork and shrimp for their wontons and I agree. In addition to sweetness, the shrimp also keeps the wontons more succulent, juicy and tender compared to the plain ground meat filling.
If you’re not sure what filling to work with, I highly recommend the combination of pork and shrimp. Once you try it, you probably won’t change to other choices.
2. Wrap Wontons Nicely
Nicely wrapped wontons are not only visually beautiful but also keep the filling inside the wrap and you can freeze them for later use.
There are several ways to wrap wontons and everyone has their own preference. If you want to see me folding wontons in action, please check the video (shown above) on YouTube channel (also see my How To Wrap Wonton page).
3. Chicken Base Soup
We use chicken stock/broth as the base for the wonton soup. Make sure you get the Asian chicken stock, not the western-style chicken stock cooked with different vegetables. Asian chicken stock is simply made with chicken, ginger, green onion, and garlic. Simple broth helps to bring out the flavors from the wontons, without overwhelming the other flavors. For homemade Asian-style chicken stock recipe, please click here.
The flavoring for the soup is very simple. Don’t skip the key ingredient, white pepper powder, as it gives a sharp, smoky flavor with a little kick of spiciness to the soup.
Various Ways To Enjoy Wontons
Wontons are greatly enjoyed by many Asian cultures for its versatility and nutrients. There are just endless, creative ways to serve these delicious morsels:
1. Deep Fry
Crispy deep-fried wontons are great for an appetizer. I love serving these crunchy morsels at dinner parties or family get-together, and they always disappear.
2. Add Noodles and Vegetables
Homemade wontons are filled with proteins. To turn these dumplings into a fulfilling meal, you can just cook them up with your choice of noodles. Egg noodles, ramen noodles, somen noodles, rice noodles or soba noodles are just some of the selections you can add to the soup. Toss in some vegetables or edamame, you will have a well-balanced bowl of wonton noodle soup.
3. Pan Fry
Similar to gyoza, pan-fried wontons dipped in soy sauce is simply delicious!
4. Coat with Your Favorites Sauce
Wontons are delicious enough with a simple soy sauce. But they also go well with all sorts of dipping sauce. Try ponzu sauce for a lighter flavor. If you like things spicy, a spicy garlic chili sauce will have you ask for more.
5. Extra Wontons
Homemade wontons can be frozen and keep well for 1-2 months. Whenever you make wontons at home, make sure to make a bigger batch. This way you can quickly put a meal together whenever your family craves a bowl of wonton soup or when you need some tasty fried appetizer for a party. I call them the great emergency food – super convenient yet wholesome.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Shrimp and Pork Wonton Soup
Video
Ingredients
For Wonton Soup:
- 1 green onion/scallion
- 6 cups chicken stock/broth (if possible, use Asian-style chicken stock. Please read the post)
- 1 tsp sesame oil (roasted)
- 1 tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt) (to taste)
- ¼ tsp white pepper powder (to taste)
For Wontons:
- 2 green onions/scallions
- ½ lb shrimp (about 8 pieces; shelled and deveined)
- ½ lb ground pork
- 1 knob ginger (1”, 2.5 cm)
- 1 package wonton wrappers (12oz, 340g; roughly 46 wrappers)
Seasonings for Wontons:
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil (roasted)
- 1 Tbsp sake
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp potato starch/cornstarch
- ¼ tsp white pepper powder
To Serve:
- cilantro (coriander)
- white pepper powder (to taste)
- chili sauce
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- To make wonton soup, cut 1 green onion into 2 inch (5 cm) pieces. Add the chicken stock and the green onion in a large pot and bring to boil.
- Once boiling, season with sesame oil, kosher salt, and white pepper powder. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- To make fillings, chop 2 green onions into small rounds. Save some chopped green onion to serve with the soup.
- Chop cilantro and set aside to serve with the soup.
- Cut the shrimp into smaller pieces, and then cut them into even smaller pieces (almost like paste).
- In a large bowl, combine the pork, shrimp, and chopped green onion. Grate fresh ginger and add to the mixture.
- Add all the wonton seasoning ingredients to the mixture and mix well.
- While you wrap wontons, bring a large pot of water to boil. Place a wonton wrapper on your hand. Place a teaspoon of the filling in the center of the wrapper. Start with a small amount so it’s easier to work with. Use your finger to moisten the edges of the wrapper with water.
- When the edges have been moistened, fold the wrapper in half to create a rectangular shape, pressing any air that might be trapped around the filling. Fold the sides inward so that they overlap.
- Wet the portion where the sides meet. Pinch to close and seal.
- Here is the cute little wonton! Place the finished wontons on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic to keep them moist as you continue with the remaining fillings and wrappers.
To Serve
- To cook wontons, put 5 to 10 wontons into a boiling water in a large pot. Depending on how big your pot is, you can add more/less wontons. Do not overcrowd the pot. Cook for 5 minutes, or until wontons float on the surface of the water and are tender and translucent. I boil wontons separately from the soup so it stays clear and clean.
- Transfer wontons to serving bowls. Continue with the rest of the wontons. When you are done with cooking, pour some hot soup over wontons and garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro. Sprinkle some white pepper. You can also serve with soy sauce, chili sauce, etc.
To Store
- To freeze the wontons, flash freeze for 1 hour (place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet covered with plastic wrap) and transfer them to a freezer bag. Keep in the freezer for up to 1-2 months. When you're ready to cook, do not defrost and cook frozen dumplings in boiling water for 12 minutes.
- Leftover filling: Make mini meatballs or patties and cook them in a frying pan. Once they are pan fried, you can pack them in an airtight container and store in the freezer for later use.
- Leftover wrappers: Wrap a small piece of cheese and pan fry or deep fry cheese wontons. They are kids’ favorite!
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on Aug 10, 2011. The images, content, and recipe have been updated.
Hello! Thank you so much for this recipe! I did have to omit the shrimp due to allergies, so I doubled the pork. This soup recipe is so good, it is now a favorite in our home. My mother-in-law even said she’ll never eat store bought wonton soup again. Best wonton soup ever!
Hi Danielle, Awwwww🥰 , We are so glad to hear you and your family enjoyed this Wonton Soup! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Thank you for sharing your recipe. This is now my family’s favorite.
Hi Milotte! We are so glad to hear this is your family’s favorite now! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your sweet feedback.
Made this as a last minute meal for New Year’s Eve (happened to have most of the ingredients) – and it was delicious! Will definitely be making this again. Happy New Year to you and yours.
Hi Amy,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! We are glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Happy New year🎉
Your wonton recipe sounds yummy! If you are freezing them, do you freeze before or after boiling?
Hi Anne,
Thank you for trying this recipe!
You may freeze them before you boil them. 😉
Do you freeze the Shrimp and Pork Wontons before or after cooking?
Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Janet,
Thank you very much for the 5 stars! You do not need to freeze the wontons if you are continuing to step 13. You only need to freeze them if you have any leftovers or want to save them for later. 🙂
Hello,
I plan on making fried wontons for a family get together, could you please give me instructions on how to perfect fry?
Thank you so much for sharing your delicious cooking.
Hi Maria! Deep fry around 340 F (170 C). Don’t fry at a higher temperature as the skin gets darker and inside will be uncooked. 🙂
This wonton soup broth is so delicious! It was easy to cook and amazing in flavors! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Thank you Gabriela! I’m so happy to hear that you liked this dish! 🙂
This recipe is very straight forward with easy to obtain ingredients. We had a quick time making it. The filling comes together quickly and the wrapping takes as long as it takes (45min for us, two novices working, 1,5x recipe size). As my partner repeatedly stated while we wrapped, this is a great family activity. And the beautiful wrapping technique is illustrated beautifully here making is very accessible to beginners.
We found we wanted a little more flavor in ours and did add a bit of garlic. My apologies for being THAT person who immediately bastardizes a recipe on the first pass. I think next time we would look to add a bit more seasoning (soy sauce) to the mix to our own taste.
The last blasphemy was that we cheated and used ground pork. Our consistency came out on par with what we would expect from a staple dumpling shop.
*Note: we also pan-fried the first half of the batch and froze the rest on a tray for use later*
Thanks for the great recipe, I would def recommend.
Hi Jack! No problem at all about the garlic! I’m really happy to hear that your family enjoyed making this! Thank you very much for your kind feedback. 🙂
These are so delicious! It was my first time making wontons and I am so happy with this recipe. I followed the directions almost exactly except I didn’t have sake so substituted Asian chicken stock(recipe from this website). I learned a couple of things that might help other first time wonton chefs. I wrapped quite a few before realizing I was doubling up the wrappers. Make sure you are getting just a single sheet. They should be very thin. I was able to peel some of them off but cooked a few of them with double wrappers… it was too much noodle and too chewy. Also, my kids were helping and getting creative with the folding but, similarly to the doubled wrappers, if you get too many layers of wrapper together it’s too chewy for my taste. I liked the ones that were folded to recipe directions. I ate quite a few right out of the pot and made soup with the rest using the Asian chicken stock recipe from this website. I love veggies so I threw in some chopped napa cabbage, carrot, and extra green onion, cooked until tender, and added the wontons to the pot. Soooooo good! However, I should have followed the directions and just poured the soup over the wontons in the individual bowls. The wontons get a little mushy if they are not eaten right away so it’s better to keep them separate from the soup until you are ready to eat them. Really great recipe. Thank you for posting!
Hi Sheila! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! And thank you for sharing your experience with us. I’m really happy you enjoyed the recipe and thank you for your kind feedback!
These won tons are delicious! I’ll be making this soup again for sure !!
Hi Koty! I’m so glad! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for your kind feedback. 🙂
Very easy recipe to follow. I used low sodium soy sauce for the stuffing so I double the amount, so was sesame oil.
Hi Jade! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
I made this recipe and it was WOW! I’m sure gonna make it again. Thanks!
Hi Angela! I’m so happy to hear you liked it! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! 🙂
Ow darn, I got the wonton wrappers that say “for fry” on the packaging. I guess you can’t make wonton for the soup then?
Hi Michelle! Are the wrappers thick? So strange… it shouldn’t be only for frying. Most commonly used for making wontons like this than deep frying. Oh well. Maybe theirs is too thick for a soup like this. 🙁
I did see one package with nothing on the packaging and one that specifically said “for fry” I only got those because they were cheaper. I haven’t opened the package yet but I guess they are thicker than normal so you can deep fry them.
Hi Michelle! Thank you for sharing the information. Try the other package next time. 🙂 I love wrapping string cheese in wonton wrappers and deep fry it. 😀
They weren’t that bad but will defenately get the other ones next time.
One question though, if you keep raw wonton in the refrigerator how long will they last?
Hi Michelle! I assume you’re not talking about the wrappers in the package. You’re talking about the already wrapped wontons. I’d say you should not wait to cook and the reason is that moisture in the filling will make the wrappers wet. So if you want to save it for later, I’d say to keep in the freezer. That way, you can keep for 2-3 weeks (4 weeks okay, but the quality will degrade as you leave them).
Now if you decide to freeze them, don’t just put them all in a freezer bag. They will stick together. So you will lay the wontons on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put them on, cover with plastic wrap and lay flat to flash freeze until they are frozen/hard. Then transfer to a freezer bag so they won’t stick together frozen. 🙂 Hope this helps!
Aha thank, I made them the day before yesterday and was planning to deep fry the ones I had left over yesterday but I never got around to do so. So I wanted to fry them today.
YUM!!! I cannot wait to make this! Question though, can you buy Asian chicken stock in grocery stores or do you have to make your own?
Hi Katherine! Yes, you can purchase it, but it can be salty. If so, add water and check the taste of the stock before using it. 🙂
Hi Nami! I live in Utah and alcohol is very hard to purchase here, including sake. We have to go to state run liquor stores to get it, which I find tedious for just a tablespoon of liquid. Are there any non alcoholic substitutes for sake?
HI Nikolai! Japanese use sake to remove unwanted odor from the meat (one of the reasons besides making the flavor and texture improvement). You could omit sake here. 🙂
Hello! I’m planning to use your recipe tonight. Does it make a big difference if I don’t use sake? Or is there a good substitute if I don’t have sake at home? Thanks!
Hi Beryl! I am sorry for my late response – I was on vacation and traveling…. If you don’t have sake, you could use Chinese rice wine or dry sherry. Hope this page will be helpful: https://www.justonecookbook.com/sake-mirin/
Made these wontons last night. I may have added too much white pepper, but overall it was delicious. Happy to be able to freeze them to enjoy whenever. Thank you again, Nami!
HI Mydao! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it. Yes, I agree, being able to freeze is a big plus as we can make it all at once and enjoy it at different times. 🙂
Made this for my in-laws. We all thought it was so delicious! It really hit the spot in this cold weather and it beats any restaurant in our city. I’m so happy I found your blog. Thank you so much!
Hi Nancy! I’m so happy to hear that you and your in-laws enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback. Homemade is great as you can use better quality ingredients. 🙂
This recipe is a winner! I’ve made this several times- the second time I made this I doubled it and froze the extras. I use the Japanese chuka dashi powder that you recommended for the broth and it’s so good and easy to make! I also like to top the soup with some blanched choi sum.
Hi there!
How many wontons does this recipe yield?
This wrapper package comes with 46 wrappers. 🙂
Hi Eileen! Yay, it’s pretty easy right? I’m glad to hear this recipe worked out well for you. Freezing extra really helps for the time you are too busy to cook the entire meal. Making soup is easy with Chuka Dashi Powder. 😉 Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi! The wonton soup is delicious. I will snap a pic and put on Twitter. I’ve used the WSJ recipe for years (smoky chicken gyoza soup) so added some dashi and sake to the broth as they suggest (but kept the sesame oil and white pepper as you do). Also, their dumpling recipe calls for Napa cabbage which I love but it takes time, and I didn’t miss it in this soup. I added fresh spinach at the end. I make a lot of soups but think this is my favorite! Thanks for posting.
Hi Camille! Thank you for your kind feedback and I’m so happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
I’m not sure if this question was asked before by others, but I really want to know how to take apart the frozen wonton? So I tried this recipe and made a big batch, the extra went into the freezer. However, the frozen wonton all stuck together and I had a hard time taking them apart. Please help!!!! Thanks in advance.
Hi Tram! Did you follow step 15? You freeze your wontons on a flat surface so individual piece will be frozen. Once each wonton is frozen, you can put in a bag but they won’t stick together. So I’m thinking maybe when you are freezing for the first time, maybe the wontons got stuck together?
I’m planning on making this tonight. I had the craving for these and knew today would be rainy and thought it would be perfect for dinner tonight. I only have western chicken stock at home unfortunately but I will add some ginger, green onion and garlic to it when I bring it up for a boil and maybe also add the shrimp shells for another layer of flavor.
I totally agree with you with the pork and shrimp combo being the best one. If I have time I might also had shiitake mushroom to the filling mixture.
Hi Annie! Hope you enjoyed having this for dinner. Stay dry, here it was 90F and so hot….
This looks good. Right now I have colitis (a colon infection) and my doctor says my diet should be pretty much soup and rice. This would be a perfect easy to digest meal for me.
Hi Erin! Hope you enjoy this recipe and recover from the infection soon! 🙂
can you recommend a vegetarian filling for wontons? Would mushrooms and green onions work?
Hi Saskia! Eggplants, zucchini, and mushrooms… anything would work, but if vegetables contain more moisture, don’t leave it out too long and freeze or cook soon. 🙂
Nami – this has been one of my go-to’s forever but you make the wonton prep even easier than my ‘wrap-around the-finger’ scenario 🙂 ! Have a wonderful vacation – good weather and a lot of warm laughs! Love to the kids!
Thank you so much Eha! Stay warm with soup and stew during winter months. I hope I survive the humid hot weather in Japan… 🙂 xoxo
I really enjoy these recipes, since it’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere now. I’d love something warm like this to eat! Thank you for sharing. I really enjoy your step-by-step recipe format.
Hi Diana! I hope this recipe will keep you warm in the winter months! Glad to hear you like the step by step pictures too. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I’ve been your blog fan for years and cooking my family’s favorite japanese food thanks to your recipes.
This one is no exception. This recipe is so easy and delicious. I substitute the filling with shrimp and the rest I follow exactly like your recipe. The result is awesome! It never fails to impress my boys, the harshest judges of my cooking. Thank you Nami!
Hi Jayne! Thank you for reading my blog and trying my recipes for a long time! 🙂
So glad this recipe came out well and your family enjoyed it. Your kind feedback meant so much to me. Thank you!!!
thank you I love wontons soup I will try this since rainy weather here in the bay area!
Hi Jazmin! I hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Looks so yummy. Looks like the key for me will be not to over crowd and not to overcook. I will have to try it.
Hope you enjoy! 🙂
My favorite wonton are in war wonton soup with shrimp and pork filling…Can’t wait to try yours.
Hope you enjoy! 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight, and Oh. My. Gosh.! The broth for the soup, alone, tasted wonderful! So good! My new comfort food!
Hi Ali! I’m so glad you enjoyed this dish. Thank you so much for writing your feedback. I really appreciate it! 🙂 xo
I just wanted to tell you that this soup was/is delicious. Really good.
Thank you so much for your feedback Jennifer! So happy to hear you enjoyed this dish. 🙂