Easy Wonton Recipe
The Very Best Wonton Recipes
The best recipes for wontons are those which are going to suit the occasion. If you are making lunch you might wish to prepare a wonton soup recipe. If you are making snacks, why not try out some crispy fried wontons? There are wontons for any occasion and just because wontons are delicious does not mean they are difficult to assemble. In fact, once you have got the hang of them, you will find them really quick and easy to make.
Some of the most famous wonton recipes include cream cheese wontons, pork wontons, chicken wontons and vegetable wontons, and we also offer recipes for dessert wontons with fruit or chocolate, as well as more unusual wonton fillings with duck and fruit, spicy seafood or other unusual combinations.
Everyone has their own idea which wonton recipes are the best, so why not experiment a little, making different types of wontons, so you can work out which you love the most?
Making Your Own Wonton Wrappers
Although it is easy to find and purchase readymade wonton wrappers, it is also possible to make these yourself. First you need to mix flour and water to make a dough. It is up to you whether or not you want to add eggs too.
Next you use a rolling pin to roll it out flat, and then you cut triangles or squares. Chilling the dough before adding the filling makes it easier to handle, and you can freeze wonton dough and thaw it out as needed.
Beginners to wonton recipes will probably prefer to buy a package of wonton wrappers and make the filling rather than make the wontons from start to finish, because they can be time-consuming if you are new to making them. If you don't use them immediately they might shrink a bit, but the dough is pliable and it is easy enough to stretch them back out if need be.
Tips for Making Wonton Skins
Wonton wrappers, or wonton skins, should be coated in cornflour before you stack them, else they will stick together in one big clump. Keep the dough covered as much as possible, while you are working on it, and do not let it dry out. Use a damp towel to cover any wrappers you are not currently working on.
One very easy way to make your wonton skins is to use a pasta maker. Instead of using a rolling pin, you can feed the dough through a pasta maker and it will come out in sheet of uniform thinness.
How to Fill Wontons Like a Pro
Obviously you want your wontons to stay sealed and not leak out the filling while they are cooking. This means you not only have to be careful not to overfill them but you must also ensure all the air is squeezed out before sealing the wonton wrapper.
Air expands when it gets hot, so if you have a trapped air bubble inside a wonton, the wonton might explode, or at least leak, while cooking. A wonton wrapper holds about a teaspoon of filling, then you should seal one side of the wonton wrapper, pinch it closed and squeeze the air out before sealing the other side. This takes practice but it's important to remember.
Wonton Wrapper Ideas
So you have made some wonton wrappers or bought a package of them. Now what are you going to do? If you really aren't sure what kind of wontons to make, then why don't you start off with your favorite hot sandwich filling or dinner idea. Let's say you love barbecue chicken. You can combine some chicken with barbecue sauce and perhaps a little grated cheese and use this mixture to fill your wonton skins before frying them.
What about plantains or bananas as your filling with a little brown sugar or Nutella? You can make some healthy wontons with vegetables and lean meat, then a few dessert ones for afterwards. Why not treat yourself?
If you love cream cheese, then what about spicing that up with chilies and cilantro, and filling your wontons with that? You can even make mini lasagnas by spooning tomato concentrate, grated cheese and ground beef into wonton wrappers and pinching the tops closed so they look like half-open moneybags. Bake them until the cheese on top is golden brown, sprinkle some finely chopped fresh parsley on top and serve.
Wonton wrappers can also be used to make wonton chips (or wonton crisps). For these, you need to coat the wonton wrappers in either olive oil or cooking spray, then bake them for ten minutes or until they are crispy.
You can dip the wonton wrappers into sesame seeds before you bake them if you want sesame chips. These make a wonderful snack and the cooking time is short so you can be greasing up the second batch of wonton wrappers while the first batch is baking.
Wonton Recipes And Wonton Article Links
Wonton Soup
Meat Wontons
Seafood Wontons
Cheese Wontons
Vegetarian Wontons
Dessert Wontons
Wonton Articles
Wonton Soup
Wonderful Wonton Soup
Wonton soup is a classic Chinese dish and most people have tried it at one time or another, perhaps from a takeout or in a Chinese restaurant, not realizing how easy wonton soup is to make at home. The soup itself is usually something very mild, perhaps a chicken consommé, and the wontons are filled with delicious ingredients and then they are cooked in the soup, adding texture, flavor and interest to the soup, which is then garnished with ingredients such as green onion and cilantro.
Best Wonton Soup Recipes
Wonton soup recipes are always popular and well-loved because they are light and refreshing, yet hearty and satisfying. Although the wontons in a wonton soup recipe are usually filled with minced pork and shrimp, there are lots of different ways to make wonton soup. The best wonton soup recipes are those which appeal the most to you. You might like to start off with a classic wonton soup recipe, for example, made exactly the way this lovely dish is made in China, or you might like to try chicken wonton soup or even make some tasty hoisin celery wontons for your soup. Wonton soup makes a beautiful lunch or dinner, and you can serve it in small bows as an appetizer, or in larger ones as the main event.
Pork and Shrimp Wonton Soup Featured Wonton Recipe
Hoisin Celery Wontons in Wonton Soup
Wonton Soup Recipes
Chicken Wonton Soup with Cabbage
Cilantro Shrimp Wonton Soup
Meat Wontons
Mouthwatering Meat Wontons
When asked which is their favorite type of wonton filling, many people would say meat, because it adds a nice texture and a hearty flavor to wontons, whether they are steamed, fried or boiled. Ground pork is perhaps the most popular type of meat to use in wonton recipes, although ground beef, chicken and even duck can be used for a different result. You can usually add the filling raw and then cooking the wonton will cook the filling too, since the wontons are so small and the filling cooks quickly, but always follow the recipe for the best results.
Make Meat Wonton Recipes
Meat is usually finely chopped or ground before you use it to fill wonton wrappers, and ingredients such as ginger, soy sauce, garlic, Chinese cabbage or hoisin sauce can also be added, to introduce both moisture and extra flavor. Any dry ingredients are usually minced or finely chopped so they can be well-blended with the meat. Meat wonton recipes can be added to a wonton soup recipe, deep-fried, baked or poached in soup. Perhaps you have tried traditional ground pork and shrimp wontons, so why not try a baked beef wonton recipe or even an exotic duck wonton recipe? You can usually switch one kind of ground meat for another too, so try swapping your ground pork for ground chicken or turkey, to make a change and give your wontons a lighter flavor.
Bamboo Shoot and Pork Wonton
Beef Wontons with Cabbage and Ginger
Ground Beef Wontons with Green Onion
Baked Beef Wontons with Bell Pepper
Pork Potstickers Wonton Recipe
Seafood Wontons
Sensational Seafood Wontons
Shrimp features often in ground pork wontons but you can also make seafood wonton recipes without adding any meat. Shrimp works well in wonton recipes, as does crab. You can buy canned shrimp or crabmeat and mix those with cream cheese or some other ingredients to make a flavorful filling for your wontons. Crab rangoon wontons are always well-loved and these feature cream cheese. Crab rangoon wontons are not authentic, since cream cheese is not used in Chinese or Southeast Asian cuisine, but they are tasty nonetheless and very easy to make. These are popular in the US anyway, and you can rustle some up very quickly and easily.
Different Kinds of Wontons with Seafood
If you have more time on your hands you can make seafood wontons from scratch, cleaning and preparing your own fish or seafood, but using canned seafood is easy, economical and timesaving, so many home cooks prefer to make their seafood wonton recipes with canned crab, shrimp or another kind of seafood. You could even try canned tuna mixed with tomato paste and green onions, or what about combining crab, salmon and shrimp for a mixed seafood wonton filling? Serve seafood wontons with a creamy sauce, perhaps something with garlic or onion, or maybe you would prefer a sweet chili dipping sauce. Alternatively you can add them to wonton soup.
Fried Shrimp Wontons with Water Chestnuts
Crab Rangoon Wontons
Cream Cheese Wontons with Crab
Cheese Wontons
Why Cheese Wontons are So Great
Cheese wontons are not traditionally Chinese, since dairy products are not really used in Chinese cuisine. But the creaminess of cheese goes so well with the crunchiness of fried wonton wrappers, it really would be a pity not to give cheese wontons and cream cheese wontons not only a mention, but their own category. Sealing cheese inside a wonton wrapper before you fry it means the wonton wrapper will turn golden brown and crunchy and the cheese inside will be molten, and we all know how yummy melted cheese is. Cream cheese is already very soft of course but this is easy to use for a wonton filling since it is already soft and you can combine it with your other ingredients without having to chop, shred or grate it.
What to Add to the Cheese
Although ingredients like crabmeat or even ground beef are nice combined with the cheese, it is also possible to make cheese and fruit wontons, perhaps by adding some sharp Cheddar cheese to some grated apple, or what about some pureed pear and Brie cheese? Anything is possible. Cream cheese goes nicely with fruit too, or you can sweeten it (like a cheesecake filling) and add chocolate, caramel or another favored sweet ingredient to make dessert wontons. Cheese might not be an authentic wonton filling but anyone who has ever tried cheese wontons will agree they are mouthwatering, not to mention very simple to prepare.
Cheese Wontons with Homemade Hot Sauce
Cream Cheese Wonton Recipes
Vegetarian Wontons
Wontons Without Meat
Vegetarian wonton recipes can be just as tasty as meaty ones and you have plenty of choice when it comes to wonton fillings. Vegetables like mushrooms or green onion are often used to add flavor to meat or seafood wontons, and they are also very good in vegetable wontons. You might like to try making steamed tofu wontons or even baked wonton chips. None of these need to have meat inside. A vegetable filling can be spiced up with hoisin sauce, soy sauce or simply a little garlic, depending on the end result you want. Vegetarian wontons do not have to contain meat either. Perhaps you want to use cream cheese with green onion or how about making a dessert wonton with banana or pineapple inside?
Vegetable Wonton Recipes
Whether you have fried, steamed, boiled or baked wontons in mind, there are some great vegetarian wonton recipes that you can choose from. If you are adding your wontons to soup to make a vegetarian wonton soup recipe, you might like to use vegetable broth or miso soup if you don't eat meat. Maybe you want to deep-fry your wontons, in which case you can serve a vegetarian dipping sauce to dip the hot, crunchy treats into. There is no shortage of tasty vegetarian ingredients you can use to make the best-tasting wonton recipes.
Steamed Vegetable Wontons with Broccoli
Steamed Vegetable Wontons
Steamed Wontons with Tofu
Baked Wonton Chips with Sesame Seeds
Dessert Wontons
Delicious Dessert Wontons
Wontons are not only for appetizers, snacks and soups, you know, they are also wonderful for dessert. Wonton wrappers are made with flour and water (and sometimes egg) so they suit a wide range of sweet fillings as well as savory ones. What about using fruit to make apple and cinnamon wontons or banana and finely-chopped walnut wontons with a chocolate dipping sauce? You can bake, steam or fry dessert wontons and serve them with ice cream, whipped cream, or your favorite syrup or sauce. Kids love dessert wontons and you will love how easy they are to prepare. They don't take long to cook either.
Sweet Wonton Recipes
Dessert wontons don't have to feature fruit, although fruit does make a great filling. You could use jam or preserves instead, some kind of pie filling or even chocolate. The chocolate will melt when the wonton cooks and you will have a wonderful gooey warm treat. Another idea is to coat wonton wrappers in a little oil and sugar and then bake them until they turn into crunchy chips. Perhaps you have never tried a dessert wonton recipe before, in which case you will be delighted to find out how to make this delicacy and even happier when you find out how amazing they taste, with the lovely crunchy exterior and mouthwatering, flavorful filling.
Banana Wontons with Chocolate Dipping Sauce
Wonton Articles
Handy Wonton Articles
There is more to wontons than simply learning how to make a wonton filling. It is also useful to learn how to wrap wontons, as well as the answers to questions like how do you freeze wontons or how do you wrap wontons? Although making these wonderful little treats is a simple process, it pays to familiarize yourself with some of the techniques so you can make sure your wontons are the very best. Knowing how to use a bamboo steamer is also a good idea, since steamed wontons are healthy as well as delicious and they make a change from fried wontons.
Wonton Articles for Fun and Information
It might also interest you to learn about wontons themselves and learn some fun wonton facts, as well as additional trivia about the history of wontons, what fillings are preferred in different regions, and more. Kids and grownups alike are captivated by these cute little treats and many people associate wontons with fun visits to a restaurant in Chinatown or the Chinese takeout. Now you can learn how to make wontons yourself. Wonton wrappers are available in many places and anyone can make an easy wonton recipe, even if you are quite new to cooking. They are so simple to make!
What are Wontons
How to Wrap Wontons
Wonton-Making Supplies
How to Make Wonton Wrappers
Can You Freeze Wonton Wrappers - Freeze Wontons
How to Use a Bamboo Steamer
Fun Facts About Wontons
Wonderful Wontons
How to Make Wontons Like a Pro
New Year's Eve Dumplings
Cream Cheese Wonton Ideas
Chinese Dumplings and Soft Wontons
A Closer Look at Easy Wonton Recipe
Five Reasons to Make Your Own Easy Wonton Recipe
History of Wontons
Why Homemade Easy Wonton Recipes are Wonderfully Unique
How to Give Your Wontons an International Flair
Homemade Easy Wonton Recipes for Everyone
How to Make Consommé
Making Ground Chicken for Wonton Recipes
Tasty Ideas for Wonton Soup
Chinese Recipes with Pork
Beef in Chinese Cuisine
How to Steam Chicken
Tasty Chinese Seasonings
Chinese Kitchen Essentials
Dim Sum
Deep-Fry Like a Chinese Chef
Create Your Own Wonton Fillings
What is Tofu Exactly
Sesame Seeds
Healthy Desserts with Banana
American Chinese Cuisine
Types of Chinese Tea
Folding Wontons
How to Make Wontons Like a Pro
The first thing you need to do when making wontons is familiarize yourself with how these bite-sized treats are made, and find out what you need to make wontons. You also need to decide what type of wonton recipe you wish to prepare. Do you want to make a classic wonton soup recipe or would you like to start off with baked wontons or fried ones? You can even steam them if you have a bamboo steamer and you want a softer texture.
Once you have found a good recipe for your wonton filling, you can assemble your wontons. The wrappers need to be totally thawed before you attempt to separate them, else they might stick together and break. It is a good idea to cover up any wonton wrappers you are not using yet or any assembled wontons with a clean damp towel to stop them from drying out. If you are making a hundred wontons at a time (and you might be, since they freeze so well) then you will want to keep the prepared ones fresh while you work on getting the rest completed.
Making the Soup for Wonton Soup
Wonton soup is traditionally made with chicken bouillon but you can use another type of soup if you want to. Try beef bouillon if you are making vegetable wontons or even vegetable bouillon if you are making beef or pork wontons. Don't worry about the soup flavor clashing with the wonton flavor if you are using different meats. After all, authentic wonton soup features pork and shrimp wontons in a chicken bouillon, and that is three different meats right there! Wonton soup is clear not creamy, so you can appreciate the appearance and flavor of the wontons better, so pick out whichever clear soup you prefer and use that.
Wonton Soup Additions
Wonton soup is basically wontons cooked in soup, although some recipes will tell you boil the wontons in water and then use a slotted spoon to transfer them into the soup. As well as the wontons and the soup though, what else should you add, and what are some good ways to garnish that soup?
A lot of home cooks like to add cilantro leaves or sliced green onion (scallions) to the wonton soup, to give it a vibrant splash of green and to add a fresh look. Cilantro and green onions are aromatic and would suit the flavor of most wonton soup recipes. Shredded napa cabbage, sesame seeds and sesame oil are more ideas. If you do not expel the air from your wontons and some open and leak during the cooking, you will have extra texture in your wonton soup from that!
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"500+ Healthy Chinese Recipes in 5 minutes"
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Photo Description:
The little boy in the photo is making Chinese dumplings, which are something else you might want to experiment with if you are learning how to make wontons or wonton soup recipes. Kids love helping out in the kitchen and teaching them to fill wonton skins or jiaozi wrappers (or even make the dough with you) is educational as well as fun for them. They will also enjoy eating the delicious Chinese dumplings when they are ready. If you are planning to make a large batch of wontons, it is always worth enlisting the help of the younger members of the family, whether that might be weighing out ingredients, stirring, separating wonton wrappers or filling the wontons or dumplings.
New Year's Eve Dumplings
It is traditional for Northern Chinese families to spend New Year's Eve making batches of jiaozi dumplings. They start to eat the dumplings after midnight and one lucky member of the family might find a coin inside their dumpling. This is similar to the British traditional of hiding a coin in the Christmas pudding.
Wonton Soup Tips
Wonton soup dates back as far as the 7th century in China. These Chinese introduced these stuffed dumplings to Japan and actually the Japanese word 'udon' which means noodle derives from the Chinese word 'hun hun' which means wonton. You can get varying thicknesses and shapes when shopping for wonton wrappers, which are made with flour, water and egg. The traditional size is 3˝ inches on each side.
You can also get round ones which are suitable for making jiaozi or potstickers, as well as larger wrappers which are for egg rolls. Thicker and extra-thin wonton skins might also be available in your local Chinese market. Don't mistake Chinese wonton wrappers with rice-paper wrappers either. These come from Southeast Asia and Vietnam, are paper thin, and have a very different flavor.
Many recipes will not tell you to boil the wontons directly in the broth but instead to boil them in water and transfer them into the soup, claiming the texture of the wontons is better this way. You might wish to experiment since not everyone agrees with this.
You will know the wontons are done when they float to the surface. If you are in a rush then it is possible to buy readymade wontons but nothing beats an easy homemade wonton recipe so it is always best to make your own whenever possible.
Don't overfill your wontons. One teaspoon of filling per wonton wrapper is a good rule to follow. If you overfill them they might not seal properly. Also, hot food expands so when your wontons are simmering in your soul, the filling is likely to part company from the wrapper and you can imagine how this would ruin your wonton soup. It is not worth cutting corners in this way. If you have some filling left over, then you can save it for another use. Don't overstuff your wontons!
Photo Description:
This photo shows steamed wontons in a bamboo steamer. You can pick up such a steamer from most Asian food markets or kitchen supply stores and the small ones cost just a few dollars. In the photo the steamer is lined with parchment paper but you can use a cabbage leaf or lettuce leaf if you prefer, as that would be more authentic. The reason for this is so the wontons or dumplings do not stick to the bamboo and break. Steamed wontons can be delicate, certainly a lot more fragile than the crispy fried kind.
Cream Cheese Wonton Ideas
The most important part of your cabbage soup is, of course, the cabbage. You can get cabbage year-round and this vegetable weighs between one and seven pounds. Choose a cabbage with a big, compact head, and tender green leaves which do not show insect damage or holes. Fresh cabbage has plenty of outer leaves and greengrocers peel these off as the cabbage ages.
Check the bottom of the cabbage before buying it, to check the leaves are not coming off the stem. If they are, that means the cabbage is old. Savoy cabbages are lighter for their size than other types, since the leaves are looser. You might even like to grow your own cabbage; they are not hard to grow.
How to Freeze Cabbage
If you have too much cabbage to use immediately, you may freeze it. Cut the cabbage into coarse shreds and blanch for a couple of minutes in boiling water. Drain it and chill it, then freeze it for up to a year in airtight containers. It can be thawed and cooked.
Do not use thawed cabbage to make coleslaw or any kind of salad - the texture is no good for that. It is perfect for cabbage soup recipes in this state, although many cabbage soups will freeze, so check your recipe first. You might prefer to make and freeze the soup, not just the cabbage.
Chinese Dumplings and Soft Wontons
Dumplings in China can be boiled, steamed or pan-fried, crescent-shaped or round, and they may be filled with savory or sweet ingredients. Chinese dumplings are a dim sum favorite. Known as jiaozi in China and gyoza in Japan, these crescent-shaped dumplings are filled with meat or vegetables and the flour and dough exterior is thicker than a wonton wrapper. These can be boiled or pan-fried. Gow gee is the Cantonese equivalent of jiaozi and these are deep-fried or steamed instead of being boiled. You can use wonton wrappers in most gow gee recipes.
Potstickers, also known as Peking ravioli or guotie, are pan-fried and then steamed. These dumplings are flipped before serving so the browned side faces upwards. Har gow, or har gau, are shrimp and bamboo shoot-filled snacks. The dough for these is shiny and smooth because it's made with wheat starch. You won't get the thin, nearly translucent skin if you use wonton wrappers. Shanghai steamed buns are seafood or meat-stuffed dumplings. Tasty and juicy, they are recognizable because the wrapper is gathered into folds before they are steamed.
Siu mai are mild-flavored steamed dumplings made in a basket or cup shape with the filling sticking out of the top. The dumplings are traditionally filled with pork, although you can also get prawn or shrimp varieties. These soft, puffy snacks can be made with round wrappers (jiaozi wrappers) or wonton wrappers cut into rounds. Although many people refer to these dumplings or dim sum as soft wontons, it is interesting to learn that each has its own name, although you can use wonton skins to make some of them.
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