Best Wonton Soup Recipe with Shrimp

You can make Shrimp Wonton Soup at home with common grocery store ingredients, using these step-by-step instructions and pictures. No mushy wontons or flavorless broth!

The Wonton Soup to satisfy your cravings

I’ve had a hard time finding good takeout wonton soup near me, so, since it’s one of my favorite comfort foods, I’ve perfected the art of making it for myself.

If you think wonton soup is a combination of mushy wontons and flavorless broth, this soup will change your mind.

This post will walk you through how to make the shrimp filling and a super flavorful broth. It will also show you, step-by-step, how easy folding soup wontons actually is.

In no time, you’ll have a wonton assembly line happening in your kitchen, and a fresh and wholesome soup to eat!

“So yummy! Love the broth. I used whole shrimp and wouldn’t change a thing! Definitely a keeper. Thank you!”

—Jennifer

Ingredients for Shrimp Wonton Soup Wontons

• shrimp – you’ll need 1/2 pound of raw, peeled and deveined shrimp with the tails removed. Be sure to pat them dry with paper towels before starting this recipe.
• rice wine vinegar – this is one of my favorite vinegars. If you don’t have it, regular white vinegar or white wine vinegar would also be fine here.
• sesame oil – there’s no substitute for this in homemade wonton soup. Sesame oil adds a unique flavor that you just can’t get with any other type of oil.
• soy sauce – this seasons the shrimp and adds umami to the filling.
• sambal oelek – this adds a little bit of heat to the wontons. Sriracha would also be lovely in these wontons, if you have it. Or, you can omit the spicy element altogether if you prefer a mild wonton.
• cornstarch – just a little bit, to bind the filling together. If you’d prefer to omit this, you can, and your wontons will still turn out fine.
• wonton wrappers – you’ll need the square ones for the best wonton soup recipe.

How to fold a Shrimp Wonton

Refer to the numbered image above to get visual cues for each stage as you read this section.

Start with folding one at a time while you learn the process, and then see the section below on how to do more than one at a time.

1. FILL. Lay one wonton wrapper on your work surface. Place 1 teaspoon of the shrimp filling onto the center of the wrapper. Dip your finger into a bowl of cold water and run it along the sides and the bottom of the wrapper.
2. FOLD. Fold the wrapper in half, folding it away from you. Gently press out any air pockets and seal the edges by lightly pressing.
3. FOLD AGAIN. Place a dab of water in the bottom left corner. Fold the wonton over again by lifting up the side closest to you and folding it away from you.
4. CONNECT. Connect the corner with the dab of water on it to the underside of the bottom right corner by bringing both sides up in an arc motion.
5. SEAL. Press the corners together firmly to seal. Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers. Pat yourself on the back. That was hard work, and you did it!

Tips for folding a Shrimp Wonton quickly

While the directions above are written as though you’ll be filling and folding one wonton at a time, there’s a faster way to make this shrimp wonton soup recipe!

You don’t need to fold these wontons literally 1 at a time. However, be mindful that wonton wrappers dry out relatively quickly once they’re removed from their package.

I like to remove about 3 – 5 wrappers from the package at a time as I work. Don’t try to do 10 at a time unless you’re REALLY a pro.

I was taught in culinary school to work more efficiently by doing all of one process, and then all of the next.

Meaning, instead of getting out one wonton wrapper, plopping filling onto it, folding it, setting it aside, and then starting the process all over again, I do it a little more efficiently.

I get out 3 to 5 wonton wrappers a time. I plop the filling onto all of them, all at once. Then, I fold all of them, one after the other. I set all of those aside, and then get out 3 to 5 more wrappers to repeat.

It doesn’t seem like this would save you THAT much time for this shrimp wonton soup, but it really does! Instead of your hands having to constantly be changing directions, you’re saving time by being more efficient about how you’re working.

Ingredients for Wonton Soup broth

• olive oil – just used to saute the aromatics. Vegetable oil is fine, too.
• garlic – three cloves, minced up.
• ginger – this must be grated fresh ginger, not the dried powder kind used for baking.
• chicken broth – I like to use a no sodium or low sodium version in my shrimp wonton soup recipe so that I can season it myself to my liking.
• soy sauce – this is one of the things I used to season the broth.
• fish sauce – this funky Asian condiment is a staple in Southeast Asian cooking, and in my fridge, too. I prefer Red Boat brand [affiliate link]. It brings a unique flavor and seasoning to the broth without being “fishy” at all, don’t worry. If you buy a bottle, check out Bon Appetit’s article about how to use fish sauce for ideas of how to use it up!
• ground white pepper – to me, shrimp wonton soup is closely associated with the flavor of white pepper. Ground black pepper can be used instead, but the flavor won’t be quite as good.
• salt – even though you’re seasoning with soy sauce and fish sauce, you’ll still need a bit of kosher salt.
• kale – I love to stir a few cups of finely chopped kale into my broth at the end. It adds some bulk to this soup and helps me get my veggies in for the day!

How to serve this Wonton Soup Recipe

I like to serve wonton soup garnished with thinly sliced green onions, just like most Chinese restaurants do it!

If I want to spice it up a bit, I’ll add a bit of sambal oelek or sriracha.

Storing leftover Shrimp Wonton Soup

Allow any leftover soup to cool to room temperature, and then divide it into covered portion-size containers. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Can Homemade Wonton Soup be frozen?

Homemade wonton soup can be frozen up to 2 months, but the texture and the shape of the wontons will suffer when it’s thawed again. For this reason, it’s best to eat wonton soup freshly made if possible.

Reheating Shrimp Wonton Soup

Reheat wonton soup in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring very gently so as not to break up the wontons.

You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave. Heat in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until it’s hot.