This easy wonton soup with frozen wontons is one of my favorite easy soup recipes. It's so cozy and perfect for a winter dinner. Plus, I will take any excuse to make recipes with Trader Joe's Chicken Cilantro frozen wontons. They are seriously one of my favorite grocery items!

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Jump to:

Where do you buy frozen wontons?
How do you cook frozen wontons?
How do you make the best wonton soup with frozen wontons?
My top tip for making wonton soup leftover-friendly...
What is the broth of wonton soup made of?
How to make wonton soup vegan or vegetarian?
Want some more cozy winter dinner recipes?
Easy Wonton Soup with Frozen Wontons

Where do you buy frozen wontons?

I love Trader Joe's frozen wontons. The chicken cilantro frozen wontons are a staple. I think at any given time you can find anywhere from 3-5 bags of them in my family's freezer.

Now there are also frozen gyoza from Trader Joe's, which are also a favorite of mine. What's the difference between wontons and gyoza? I actually had to Google that myself.

If you're wondering what to make with Trader Joe's Chicken Cilantro Wontons, this easy wonton soup with frozen wontons is the perfect, cozy weeknight dinner recipe.

I learned that the difference is that gyoza has thicker wrappers and is in a crescent shape and is meant to be eaten alone. So, I don't recommend subbing gyoza for wontons in this recipe!

However, frozen wontons are not a rarity when grocery shopping. You can find frozen wontons at all your favorite stores, particularly the chicken and cilantro frozen wontons.

So, if you don't live near a Trader Joe's, don't worry! There are plenty of options. Oh, and if frozen wontons aren't a grocery staple for you... you're welcome. Now they are.

How do you cook frozen wontons?

Aside from cooking them in this frozen wonton soup, my favorite ways to cook frozen wontons are either in the microwave or stovetop.

On a microwave-safe plate, I add a handful of frozen wontons. Top with a damp paper towel and microwave for about a minute and a half. Take the paper towel off and let them cool off for a bit.

As for the stovetop cooking method, I heat up a little bit of oil in a small frying pan. Add a handful of wontons and then cover to let them cook all the way through for about 5 minutes. Then, I flip them and cook them uncovered for about 3-5 more minutes so there's a nice crisp all around.

This is, in my opinion, the best way to cook frozen wontons, but sometimes I'm not all that patient to wait for them to cook on the stovetop.

I dip them in soy sauce every time, and these are seriously a favorite weekday snack of mine!

What ingredients do you need for wonton soup with frozen wontons and how do you make wonton soup? This is one of my favorite soup recipes to make!

How do you make the best wonton soup with frozen wontons?

Let's get back to this wonton soup with frozen wontons. All in all, this takes about 30 minutes to make. How do you make it and what ingredients do you need?

Wonton Soup Ingredients

Olive Oil or whatever neutral cooking oil you prefer to use.
Chicken Broth or vegetable broth if you're looking to make this a vegetarian wonton soup.
Ginger use fresh ginger if you can.
Garlic and similar to the ginger, use fresh garlic if you can.
Shallots if you don't have any shallots, you can thinly slice a sweet onion, but I highly recommend using shallots.
Bok Choy for some extra veggie and greenery to go in your soup. If you can't find bok choy, I've added spinach to this before, but the bok choy is absolutely preferred.
Mushrooms for some added veggies like the bok choy, but if you don't like mushrooms, I suggest just omitting them overall and not subbing them for another veggie.
Frozen Wontons the chicken cilantro mini wontons to be specific. There are vegetarin wontons, you just have to Google or look in your local grocery store to find them. As for vegan wontons, from the research I've done, it looks like you might have to make your own.
Soy Sauce or you could use gluten-free soy sauce if that's what you prefer.
Sesame Oil is a must for the most subtle hint of nuttiness.

Wonton Soup Directions

Over medium-low heat, add 2 tablespoon of olive oil to a large stock pot.
Saute your 2 shallots and 2-3 garlic cloves until the shallots are transparent. This should be around 5 minutes.
Add in your sliced mushrooms and let that saute for about another 5 minutes.
Your mushrooms will shrink down in size and add in 4 cups of stock and 4 cups of water.
Add in 1 inch of sliced ginger and bring to a boil over high heat.
Once boiling, let it cook for another 5 minutes. Take out the ginger, I use a slotted spoon and it’s super easy.
Add in your bok choy and frozen wontons.
Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes. Your wontons will float to the surface.
Stir in your 3 tablespoon soy sauce + 2 teaspoon of sesame oil.
I like to serve mine topped with sliced scallions and optional chili oil if people want to add it in.

My top tip for making wonton soup leftover-friendly...

The wontons obviously cook in the soup. So, my top tip for making the best frozen wonton soup is to only cook the number of wontons you'd like to eat in that sitting.

Otherwise, the wontons overcook when you reheat the soup and end up breaking apart, and it is just one big no. It is easy enough to only boil the number of wontons you want with each batch since they're frozen!

You might also like: Dutch Oven Chicken Noodle Soup

This wonton soup with frozen wontons are one of my favorite ways to cook frozen wontons! It's a great low-calorie soup recipe and you'll love it for a cozy weeknight dinner recipe.

What is the broth of wonton soup made of?

This particular broth for frozen wonton soup is made of chicken stock, water, fresh ginger, garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce. I include mushrooms in this wonton soup and I love the flavor they bring to the wonton soup broth!

Don't feel the need to use only chicken stock, you can make this with vegetable, beef broth, or even your favorite bone broth.

How to make wonton soup vegan or vegetarian?

This soup is fairly easy to make into a vegetarian wonton soup, you just need some frozen vegetarian wontons. However, it requires a bit more cooking if you'd like to make this vegan.

Wontons are obviously a big subsitute since I use frozen chicken cilantro wontons. If you're vegetarian, you can look for a vegetarian wonton option. If you're vegan, I think your best bet is to make your own vegan wontons, which is possible!
Broth is another big, but easy, subsittute. Simply swap out for your favorite vegetable broth.

Want some more cozy winter dinner recipes?