During these cold months, you might need a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup to warm you up. We love a classic pot of chicken stock, but when you’re looking for something a little different, this Chicken Noodle Wonton Soup has all the flavor of the original cold remedy with a twist.
A Different Chicken Wonton
I was minding my own business one day, when a hankering for chicken noodle soup made me realize that chicken noodle soup is essentially the same as chicken wonton soup. Chicken meets noodley form, which meets soup. Hear me out:
- Chicken Noodle Soup = chicken + noodles + carrots / celery + broth.
- Chicken Wonton Soup = chicken wrapped in a wrapper (hello, noodle!) + broth
Potato, potahto!
Last year, we shared a traditional Chinese chicken wonton recipe. This recipe is easier in some ways, because the goal is to make the wonton filling taste like a roast chicken.
That means garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, lemon juice, sherry (a stand-in for Shaoxing wine) and melted butter! Chances are, you have everything on hand already, and there’s no need for finely chopped cabbage and mushrooms.
From there, you saute some celery and carrots (de rigueur for any healing chicken noodle soup), add some low-sodium store-bought chicken stock (or stock from a prior homemade batch), and the result is a rich wonton soup that tastes like a slow cooked meal!
Wontons Are Best In Bulk
The best thing about making wontons (or dumplings!) at home is that you can make a big batch and save them for another day. Whenever we make wontons, we always have a bowl apiece for lunch, and save the rest for another day when we’re too tired to cook or need a satisfying brunch or snack.
You can make these in advance for when a cold strikes or you just need a bowl of comfort food! All you have to do is place them on a parchment lined sheet pan so they’re not touching (wouldn’t want them to stick together!), cover the pan, freeze solid, and then transfer the frozen wontons to containers or freezer bags for long-term storage.
Chicken Wonton Noodle Soup: Recipe Instructions
We chopped boneless skinless chicken thighs to make the ground chicken for this recipe.
You can do so as well by following our instructions on how to grind meat without a grinder. Otherwise, you can just buy ground chicken from the supermarket.
Combine all the wonton ingredients (except for the wrappers) in a bowl. Stir thoroughly, mixing in one direction until the filling becomes well-combined and paste-like, about 10 minutes.
Prepare a large sheet pan lined with parchment paper, and get a small bowl of room temperature water. Lastly, bring a small pot of water to a boil, so you can taste test a couple wontons.
To assemble the wontons, take your square wonton wrapper, wet your finger, and dab one side of the square with water. Add 1-2 teaspoons of filling in the center, and gently fold the wrapper in half. Seal on all sides. Using your finger, brush another dab of water on one corner (of the filling side), and gently overlap the two corners of the rectangle by pressing them together. (Check out our step-by-step guide to folding wontons for more details!)
Place on the parchment-lined sheet pan.
Make one more wonton, boil, and taste test the two samples (we find that tasting two, and not just one, helps us get a better feel for the flavor and adjust seasoning more accurately). Make adjustments to taste before proceeding to make the whole batch.
With the wontons made, assemble the soup. This recipe uses just 5 cups of chicken broth with the expectation that you’ll freeze many of the wontons for another day. 5 cups of broth is enough for 4 servings.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a soup pot. Sweat the onions until they’re translucent. Add the carrots and celery, and cook for about 2 minutes.
Add the broth, and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring a separate pot of water to a boil for your wontons. Boil them for 5-6 minutes (for fresh wontons) or 7-8 minutes (for frozen wontons). Divide into bowls and top with the hot soup.
Chicken Noodle Wonton Soup
Ingredients
For the wontons:
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1/2 cup parsley (or to taste, finely chopped)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry cooking wine
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter (melted)
- 1 package wonton wrappers
For the soup:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/2 white onion (diced)
- 3 medium carrots (about 1 cup, diced)
- 3 stalks celery (about 1 cup, diced)
- 5 cups chicken broth
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Combine all the wonton ingredients (except for the wrappers) in a bowl. Stir thoroughly, mixing in one direction until the filling becomes well-combined and paste-like, about 10 minutes.
- Prepare a large sheet pan lined with parchment paper, and get a small bowl of room temperature water. Lastly, bring a small pot of water to a boil, so you can taste test a couple wontons.
- To assemble the wontons, take your square wonton wrapper, wet your finger, and dab one side of the square with water. Add 1-2 teaspoons of filling in the center, and gently fold the wrapper in half. Seal on all sides. Using your finger, brush another dab of water on one corner (of the filling side), and gently overlap the two corners of the rectangle by pressing them together. Place on the parchment-lined sheet pan.
- Make one more wonton, boil, and taste test the two samples (we find that tasting two, and not just one, helps us get a better feel for the flavor and adjust seasoning more accurately). Make adjustments to taste before proceeding to make the whole batch.
- With the wontons made, assemble the soup. This recipe uses just 5 cups of chicken broth with the expectation that you’ll freeze half of the wontons for another day. 5 cups of broth is enough for 4 servings.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a soup pot. Sweat the onions until they’re translucent. Add the carrots and celery, and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the broth, and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring a separate pot of water to a boil for your wontons. Boil them for 5-6 minutes (for fresh wontons) or 7-8 minutes (for frozen wontons). Divide into bowls and top with the hot soup.
Arthur Enns says
I like your recipes and I plan to try this one soon but make a few substitutions. Red sweet bell peppers for the carrots in this recipe and Linguini for the noodles because I am allergic to carrots and parsley which cause me to develop swelling of the face.
I am also a little leary of the wontons used in this recipe and plan to omit them because of my allergies.
Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.
Kaitlin says
Hi Arthur, sounds like a tasty variation on your classic chicken noodle soup!
Audrey Dean says
If I don’t have Sherry on hand but do have Shaoxing wine can I sub it or will it throw off the taste? I have everything else on hand so don’t want to trek out in the cold (MN) for one item if I can get away with the substitution. My husband and daughter are feeling under the weather so I thought this might make a lovely dinner for us. We’ve enjoyed all the recipes we’ve tried so far from TheWoksofLife! And I am enjoying learning how to actually cook!
Kaitlin says
Hi Audrey, feel free to use Shaoxing wine, in this case, the sherry was intended to make it taste less Chinese for once, so it all depends on what you prefer. I hope your family is feeling better, and thank you so much for reading and cooking!
Susan Butterfield says
I always have a bag of frozen dumplings in the freezer for lunch or a quick dinner. I’ve never made chicken dumplings before. Guess I better make room in the freezer.
As an aside, where did you get the wooden soup spoon in the main picture?
Sarah says
I think we bought that spoon online in China, Susan!
Tracey L Carlile says
Love it!!! I made it and it tastes wonderful.
Kaitlin says
Thanks, Tracey! :)
Bert says
Having experience in the Catskills, surely you know no butter with chicken. I make a similar version using schmaltz. Try it, you’ll like it!
Kaitlin says
Hi Bert, our bad! We’ll have to try it with schmaltz one day :) I do love chicken fat as much as the next Catskills folk…
ph0nyph0n3ticist says
“…we find that tasting two, and not just one, helps us get a better feel for the flavor and adjust seasoning more accurately…”
Funny, that’s what I always tell my mom when she asks me to taste test! :P
This is a fascinating fusion-y kind of recipe, definitely going to try it! I always was meh on the noodles that usually go into chicken noodle soup and end up soggy, but using dumpling skins for that soothing slipperiness is brilliant!
Kaitlin says
:) you’ve got an expert palette, sounds like! Hope you like the soup!