Easy Meatless Wonton Soup

Wontons are delicious flavorful little dumplings that are absolutely irresistible. They are simple to make, and they are totally customizable as well.

There are just about a million ways to make wontons. Our wonton filling is made with carrots, mushrooms, and tofu, all flavored with garlic, ginger, chili, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. It’s an extremely flavorful combo with the perfect texture.

If you like a more meaty filling, you can use ground vegan chicken or beef, textured vegetable protein (TVP), or shredded seitan. Or, add more veggies to your filling. White cabbage, napa cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, or daikon radish are great additions. You can also play around with the seasoning and ratios. Use more mushroom sauce, reduce the soy sauce, add extra spices, omit the oil, or make it all spicier.

Once you shaped your wontons, you can cook, steam, pan-fry, or deep fry them. Cooked and steamed wontons are especially delicious served in a well-seasoned broth, while fried wontons are best to dip in a lovely sauce or chili oil.

To save your wontons for later, after you shape the wontons (before cooking them), simply place them on a tray and freeze them in a single layer. Once frozen, you can put them in an air-tight container or in a freezer bag. When ready to eat, just cook frozen wontons as you’d do with the fresh ones. They might need a couple of seconds longer in the water.

Want to make really cheap wontons?

• Skip the shiitakes and just use more button mushrooms instead
• Omit any spices or flavorings that you don’t have on hand
• If you can’t find inexpensive vegan wonton wrappers, make your own
• This recipe is great for batch cooking, so buy ingredients cheap in bulk and make lots of wontons, then freeze the rest

Want to make super healthy wontons?

• Omit the oil, and sauté the vegetables in water or vegetable broth instead
• Cut down on sodium by using low sodium broth and soy sauce
• Make your filling veggie-heavy. Add extra cabbage, mushroom, or spinach to the filling
• Serve your wontons alongside steamed broccoli or spinach

Want to make extra-luxe wontons?

• Instead of tofu use store-bought vegan ground meat
• For extra flavor use only shiitakes and no regular button mushrooms
• Deep fry your wontons, then drizzle with extra (homemade) chili oil

Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Vegan Wontons

Makes 40 wontons

Ingredients

• 40 vegan wonton wrappers, thawed out
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 small chili, minced
• 1.5 tbsp fresh, grated ginger
• 1 carrot, grated or finely chopped
• 3.5 oz / 100 g mushrooms, chopped
• 2 large shiitake mushrooms, chopped
• 5.5 oz / 150 g tofu, crumbled
• 1/2 tsp five-spice powder
• 2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mushroom sauce
• salt, pepper

For the Soup:

• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 larger piece of ginger, minced
• 3 pieces of dried shiitake mushroom
• A handful of algae (optional)
• 4-6 cups of vegetable stock
• 4 green onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp chili oil
• salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Heat up coconut oil in a large pan or wok. Once hot, add onions, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, chili, ginger, carrots, and mushrooms, and cook for about 15 minutes, or until veggies soften.
2. Add in sesame oil, tofu, five-spice powder, vinegar, soy sauce, and mushroom sauce, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool a bit.
3. If the filling is too crumbly or coarse, transfer to a food processor and quickly process into a finer mixture. You don’t want big chunks in your filling, but it should not be mushy either.
4. Place a spoonful of the filling into a middle of a wonton wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper, then fold two opposite corners together to form a triangle. Gently pinch the edges to seal. Wet the two longer, pointy edges, and fold them together to cross in the middle creating the wontons.
5. Repeat with the rest of the wrappers and filling.
6. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add wontons, and cook until they float about 2 minutes. Work in batches if needed.
7. Meanwhile, prepare the soup. In a large pot sauté onion and garlic in oil for about 10 minutes. Add shiitakes, algae, and broth, and bring to a boil. Simmer for at least 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Add wontons, green onions, and chili oil, and serve immediately

Nutritionals Servings: 8

Calories 689 | Total Fat 10.7g | Saturated Fat 4.2g | Cholesterol 14mg |
Sodium 2571mg | Total Carbohydrate 124g | Dietary Fiber 14.9g | Total Sugars 7.4g | Protein 24.9g | Vitamin D 0mcg | Calcium 133mg | Iron 7mg | Potassium 349mg |

For more great recipes like this one, check out our plant-based recipes column.