This easy 3-Ingredient wonton wrapper recipe is my favorite one on the site. I use it to make all kinds of wontons (including Spicy Sichuan wontons), or sometimes potstickers — they’re especially delicious when fried to make crispy wonton strips for homemade egg drop soup. Plus, you can fill them with just about anything you want. And if you don’t have bread flour, check out this recipe for making wonton wrappers using all-purpose flour instead. As always, you can find step-by-step wonton wrapper recipe photos below.
What are Chinese Wontons?
I’m sure most of you have seen the packages of square wonton wrappers for sale in the refrigerated section of your local grocery store, or Asian grocery store. They’re so quick and convenient to use when you’re in the mood for homemade Chinese food. I love these premade wrappers, but like most of you, I’ve been in a situation where the grocery store was out of stock or didn’t sell them at all. Which is a bummer when you’re really craving Chinese food and have no good takeout options. Making homemade wonton wrappers is not only necessary sometimes, but they also taste way really good.
Wontons are a style of dumpling, that typically uses a square-shaped wrapper to enclose a meat or vegetable filling. Sometimes they include eggs (which gives them a slight yellow hue (like in this recipe). They’re steamed, boiled, or fried (think crispy wonton strips in egg drop soup). In the Sichuan province where I lived, wontons are often served on top of heaping spoonfuls of spicy wonton sauce, and then gently tossed to coat (see photos below) — this is my absolute favorite way to eat Chinese wontons.
Dumplings vs. Wontons — What’s the Difference?
How are Wontons different from Dumplings?
There are several key important differences between typical Chinese wontons and dumplings and it’s not just their shape as you can see in the photos (above). The obvious difference is of course the shape. Dumplings are typically formed using round wrappers and wontons using square wrappers. But there’s a little more to it than that. Here are a few important factors that set these two styles of wrappers apart.
- Ingredients. Standard dumpling dough is typically made using just 2 ingredients: flour and water (sometimes a little salt is added). While wonton dough is often made with the addition of eggs.
- Thickness & Texture. Dumpling wrappers are usually thicker than wontons and have a little more “chew” to them. Whereas a good wonton (according to my Sichuan family and friends) must be paper-thin. No matter what, a good dumpling or wonton should have a pleasant chew to them.
- Shape. Dumplings typically use round wrappers and wontons usually square, rectangular, or triangular wrappers. Both types of wrappers can be shaped into a multitude of different designs depending on the region, type, or style of the dumpling recipe being used.
- Uses. Dumplings and wontons can be used interchangeably in some recipes, like potstickers for instance, but for other recipes like Shanghai Soup Dumplings, dumpling dough is the standard and much easier to use in my opinion.
Why We Love This Homemade Wonton Wrapper Recipe?
- It makes the best chewy yet silky tender wontons (or crispy wontons when fried)
- You can make them as thin or as thick as you like
- The egg in the dough adds richness and flavor
- Using bread flour provides a good gluten structure
- You can use them to make potstickers, fried or boiled wontons, and much more
- Uses flour, egg, salt, and water (how easy is that?)
- Easy to make and roll out using a regular rolling pin (no pasta machine needed)
Homemade Chinese Egg Wonton Wrapper Ingredients (Using Bread Flour)
When you have a good wonton wrapper recipe in your back pocket, you’re never far from your favorite takeout-style dishes. This wonton recipe is for anyone who appreciates the flavor and chew of a well-made homemade dumpling or wonton skin or for anyone who lives in an area without a well-stocked Asian grocery store or access to commercial wonton wrappers. All you need is flour, eggs, salt, and water.
WONTON DOUGH
- bread flour
- eggs
- kosher salt
- water
- cornstarch for rolling out and dusting
How to Make Homemade Wonton Wrappers from Scratch
If you’re curious about Chinese wontons or live in a place without a well-stocked Asian grocery store or takeout food options, you can still get your wonton fix by making your own wrappers and filling them with anything you want. Depending on how you’re going to use them, you can roll them out paper-thin or leave them just a bit thicker if you want. When you make them at home, it’s all up to you.
- Make the wonton dough. In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment), add the flour and salt and stir to combine. Add the beaten egg and stir well to incorporate it (it’ll be a shaggy mess at this point). Slowly add the water 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time just until the mixture comes together and you can form it into a ball. *You may only need to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water depending on the absorption potential of the flour you’re using and also how large the eggs are. Therefore, avoid adding all of the water at once or the dough may end up being too wet.
- Lightly-Knead the dough & rest it. If kneading the dough by hand, remove the stiff dough round from the mixing bowl and knead it for about 2 minutes, place it back into the bowl, cover it with sustainable cling film, and allow it to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes (this helps the gluten relax and makes it easier to knead by hand. If using a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, you can skip letting it rest and begin kneading it right away.
- Fully Knead the dough & rest it. Knead the dough in the mixer using the dough hook attachment on speed 2 for 10 minutes (or by hand for about 12 minutes) until the dough is soft and smooth.
- Roll out the wonton wrappers. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, on a lightly floured countertop, roll the dough out into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Dust the dough and rolling pin with flour as needed to keep it from sticking and fold it like a business letter (see step-by-step photos in the main post). Cover it with plastic wrap while you roll the remaining three pieces of dough repeating the same steps for each. Once all four dough pieces have been rolled, dusted with cornstarch, folded, and covered, allow them to rest for 30 minutes.
- Cutting the wonton wrappers. Remove one piece of rested dough onto a lightly dusted workspace and unfold it. Sprinkle it with flour and roll it out to 1/8 inch thick (paper-thin) dusting as you need it to keep it from sticking. Using a pizza wheel cutter, or a knife, cut the dough into 3-inch (8cm) squares. You may choose to fill the wrappers at this point before rolling out the other 3 pieces of dough which I find easier and it also alleviates the stacked wrappers from potentially sticking to one another). Repeat with the remaining dough. Save the scrap pieces to be added as noodles to soup, or fried to make crispy wontons, and Enjoy!
Homemade Chinese Wonton Wrappers step-by-step recipe photos
How To Fill and Seal Homemade Wonton Wrappers
As tempting as it is, do not overfill the wonton wrappers. In fact, the zigzagged wontons in this post are filled way fuller than a traditional Chinese wonton, but not so much they will break open or tear while cooking. It’s easy to want to put in “just a little more”, but resist the urge to do it. If you overstuff the wrappers they can tear and split apart when you’re forming them or later on when they’re being cooked.
For homemade wontons, the goal is to get a good dough-to-filling ratio that allows you to easily seal the edges, pressing out any trapped air bubbles inside of the formed triangle (without having the filling seep out). At this point, you may choose to either fold and form the triangles into a traditional Chinese wonton shape or make flat triangular potstickers instead. If you are making potstickers, you can usually get away with adding a little more filling, but remember a little filling goes a long way.
Looking for a Few Delicious Ways to Use Homemade Wonton Wrappers?
If you’re looking for a few ways to use wonton wrappers, or other dim dum dishes to round out your takeout night in, below are a few of our favorite recipes we think you may also enjoy.
- BBQ Chicken and Pork Bao Buns (Chinese Steamed Pork Buns) Bāozi 包子
- Lucky Lunar New Year Fried Cherry Pie “Wontons”
- Homemade Chinese Soup Dumplings Xiaolongbao (小笼包) (100% From Scratch)
- Easy Egg Drop Soup with Crispy Fried Wonton Strips (Danhuatang 蛋花湯)
- Easy Japanese Braised Pork Belly (for Momofuku & Ippudo Style Pork Buns)
- Easy Homemade 2-Ingredient Chinese Dumpling Dough
- Easy Pork and Chive Potstickers w/Sautéed Napa Cabbage & Carrots (Jiaozi)
- Crispy Pork and Chive Spring Rolls w/Glass Noodles & Vegetables
- 20-Minute Singapore Mei Fun Noodles (Shrimp Mei Fun)
- Best Ever Chicken Dumplings Recipe (Plump & Juicy Jiaozi)
- Easy Shrimp and Vegetable Stir Fry (w/Cantonese Style White Sauce)
- Easy and Delicious Pork Potsticker Recipe (Cantonese Style Jiaozi)
- Easy Chashu Pork チャーシュー(Marinated Braised Pork Belly Recipe For Ramen )
- Steamed Pork & Chive Money Bag Dumplings (Beggar’s Purse Dumplings)
- Hoisin Garlic-Ginger Oven-Braised Pork Ribs
- Chinese Takeout Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry w/Glass Noodles (a Family Favorite)
- Takeout Style Pork and Green Bean Stir-Fry w/Glass Noodles
- Fluffy-Soft Homemade Pork Buns (Momofuku & Ippudo-Style)
Let’s get started!
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Easy Homemade Wonton Wrappers (Using Bread Flour)
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 32 to 36 Wonton Wrappers 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This easy 3-Ingredient wonton wrapper recipe is my favorite one on the site. I use it to make all kinds of wontons (including Spicy Sichuan wontons), or sometimes potstickers — they’re especially delicious when fried to make crispy wonton strips for homemade egg drop soup. Plus, you can fill them with just about anything you want. And if you don’t have bread flour, check out this recipe for making wonton wrappers using all-purpose flour instead.
Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour (240g)
- 2 large eggs, lightly whisked (90g)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (3g)
- 4 to 6 tablespoons warm water (60g to 88g)
- bread flour or cornstarch for rolling out and dusting the wrappers
Instructions
- Make the wonton dough. In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment), add the flour and salt and stir to combine. Add the beaten egg and stir well to incorporate it (it’ll be a shaggy mess at this point). Slowly add the water 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time just until the mixture comes together and you can form it into a ball. *You may only need to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water depending on the absorption potential of the flour you’re using and also how large the eggs are. Therefore, avoid adding all of the water at once or the dough may end up being too wet.
- Lightly-Knead the dough & rest it. If kneading the dough by hand, remove the stiff dough round from the mixing bowl and knead it for about 2 minutes, place it back into the bowl, cover it with sustainable cling film, and allow it to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes (this helps the gluten relax and makes it easier to knead by hand. If using a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, you can skip letting it rest and begin kneading it right away.
- Fully Knead the dough & rest it. Knead the dough in the mixer using the dough hook attachment on speed 2 for 10 minutes (or by hand for about 12 minutes) until the dough is soft and smooth.
- Roll out the wonton wrappers. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, on a lightly floured countertop, roll the dough out into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Dust the dough and rolling pin with flour as needed to keep it from sticking and fold it like a business letter (see step-by-step photos in the main post). Cover it with plastic wrap while you roll the remaining three pieces of dough repeating the same steps for each. Once all four dough pieces have been rolled, dusted with cornstarch, folded, and covered, allow them to rest for 30 minutes.
- Cutting the wonton wrappers. Remove one piece of rested dough onto a lightly dusted workspace and unfold it. Sprinkle it with flour and roll it out to 1/8 inch thick (paper-thin) dusting as you need it to keep it from sticking. Using a pizza wheel cutter, or a knife, cut the dough into 3-inch (8cm) squares. You may choose to fill the wrappers at this point before rolling out the other 3 pieces of dough which I find easier and it also alleviates the stacked wrappers from potentially sticking to one another). Repeat with the remaining dough. Save the scrap pieces to be added as noodles to soup, or fried to make crispy wontons, and Enjoy!
Notes
- You may use a pasta machine to roll the wonton dough instead of rolling it manually. Flatten the dough pieces (or roll them with a rolling pin) until it will fit on the widest setting of the pasta machine and roll until desired thinness. On my Atlas Mercato pasta machine, I start with zero and increase to the #5 setting which is the perfect thickness for wontons.
- I like to use a rolling pin as a guide to help cut the wonton wrappers. Especially if you use a pizza cutter, a rolling pin will help guide you to get straighter lines.
- If the dough becomes too difficult to roll out, add it to the refrigerator for 20 minutes or more to let it firm up which makes it easier to roll out. You’ll notice in some of my photos, I let the dough get pretty soft, but it’s really forgiving and it turns out great every time.
- Use more cornstarch for dusting than you probably think you’ll need. Make sure you have plenty of cornstarch on hand to ensure the wrappers don’t stick to each other when stacked. Alternatively, you can work on rolling out one piece of dough at a time, cutting them into squares, filling them, and freezing them right away. Then repeat with the remaining dough. This is a good way to work especially if you don’t have a helper who can fill the dumplings as you roll and cut them.
- Don’t throw away any of the scrap pieces leftover after cutting the wrappers. Use these strips and pieces to make fried wonton strips or to add to chicken soup. No pieces should be wasted. You can even freeze these pieces raw if you want to fry them up later on. Just place them into a freezer bag. When you want crispy wonton strips, fry them directly from frozen and use them in wonton soup or as a crunchy salad topper.
- It’s best to use the wrappers straight away, but you can refrigerate them overnight or even freeze them. Just be sure they have plenty of cornstarch in between each wrapper so they don’t stick together.
How To Fill and Seal Homemade Wonton Wrappers
As tempting as it is, do not overfill the wonton wrappers. In fact, the zigzagged wontons in this post are filled way fuller than a traditional Chinese wonton, but not so much they will break open or tear while cooking. It’s easy to want to put in “just a little more”, but resist the urge to do it. If you overstuff the wrappers they can tear and split apart when you’re forming them or later on when they’re being cooked.
For homemade wontons, the goal is to get a good dough-to-filling ratio that allows you to easily seal the edges, pressing out any trapped air bubbles inside of the formed triangle (without having the filling seep out). At this point, you may choose to either fold and form the triangles into a traditional Chinese wonton shape, or make flat triangular potstickers instead. If you are making potstickers, you can usually get away with adding a little more filling, but remember a little filling goes a long way.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Rest Time: 90 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Dim Sum + Dumplings
- Method: Mix & Roll
- Cuisine: Chinese
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 Wonton Wrappers
