Easy Recipe for Making Ground Beef Wontons at Home (2024)

Wontons are flour-based wrappers filled with various meat and vegetable mixtures that are then deep-fried until crispy. Ground beef wontons are an easy appetizer to make at home, but can also be enjoyed as a meal or even a snack.

Wontons are also a popular food item at Japanese Obon festivals in the West, a Buddhist tradition that dates back more than 500 years. Wonton plates are often sold as a meal with rice, salad, and tsukemono (pickles).

You’ll find that wontons are folded in a number of ways, but most Japanese wontons are often folded into simple triangles. This shape is not only easy to make but also quick to prepare, which is important if you are preparing large quantities.

Easy Recipe for Making Ground Beef Wontons at Home (1)

"This is an easy starter wonton recipe. The simple folded shape makes for an easy, fun project to do with the kids. The filling can be altered to taste, adding scallions, using sesame oil, etc. A soy-and-vinegar dipping sauce is typically served with these, as the acid plays nicely with the fried wrappers." —Rick Horiike

Easy Recipe for Making Ground Beef Wontons at Home (2)

A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Easy Recipe for Making Ground Beef Wontons at Home (3)

  2. In a large pan, add olive oil and sauté chopped onions and celery until translucent. Lightly season with salt and pepper.

    Easy Recipe for Making Ground Beef Wontons at Home (4)

  3. Add ground beef, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until browned and cooked through.

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  4. Line a mesh colander with paper towels and drain beef mixture for about 5 to 10 minutes to remove excess oil. This also allows the filling to cool prior to wrapping.

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  5. Prepare your work station with a small bowl of cold water, wonton wrappers, and a tray for the finished wontons.

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  6. Put a wonton wrapper on your work surface and place a heaping teaspoon of the meat mixture in the center of a wonton wrapper.

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  7. Dip your finger in the water and moisten two adjoining edges of the wonton.

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  8. Fold dry edges over meat mixture and seal with moistened edges, pressing firmly and sealing the triangular-shaped wonton closed. (When sealing, try and minimize the amount of excess air inside the wonton. Air will cause the wonton to "puff up" when fried.)

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  9. Repeat with more wontons until all of the mixture is used.

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  10. Heat canola oil in a medium pot on medium-high. The ideal frying temperature is about 375 F. If you do not have a thermometer, test the oil with a small piece of uncooked wonton wrapper and if the wrapper quickly bubbles and floats to the top, then the oil is ready.

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  11. Fry no more than 4 wontons at a time so as not to crowd the pot. It only takes about 30 to 40 seconds on each side to fry the wontons to a golden color.

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  12. Remove wontons from oil and drain on paper towels.

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  13. Once wontons have cooled slightly, serve, with or without a dipping sauce.

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What's the Difference Between Wontons and Dumplings?

Wontons are basically fried dumplings that are filled with a mix of vegetables and meat, typically ground beef or pork. Wontons wrappers are typically thinner and made with wheat flour, whereas dumplings can be made from potato or wheat flour. Both can be boiled, steamed, or fried.

Variation

Feel free to substitute ground chicken, turkey, or pork as lower-fat alternatives. You can also fill wontons with shrimp or even crab and cheese.

How to Serve Wontons

While these wontons can be enjoyed as is, sometimes they're served with a dipping sauce. A simple sauce that is very easy to prepare is a mixture of equal parts ketchup and Japanesetonkatsusauce. Another easy sauce idea is using a bottled jar of duck sauce (which is similar to a mixture of apricot preserves) and savory ingredients such as garlic,soy sauce, vinegar, and chili.

How to Store Beef Wontons

Like many fried foods, wontons are best the day they are made. However, they can be stored in the fridge for 2 to 3 days and reheated in a frying pan on the stove top in hot oil, so as to crisp up.

If you would like to make the filling ahead of time, it is good for up to two days in advance, and can be cooked and frozen ahead of time as well.

Beef Stew With Dumplings

  • Japanese Side Dishes
  • Beef Mains
  • Japanese Food
  • Vegetable Recipes
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
477Calories
43g Fat
13g Carbs
11g Protein

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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 10to 16
Amount per serving
Calories477
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 43g55%
Saturated Fat 4g19%
Cholesterol 27mg9%
Sodium 280mg12%
Total Carbohydrate 13g5%
Dietary Fiber 0g2%
Total Sugars 0g
Protein 11g
Vitamin C 0mg1%
Calcium 14mg1%
Iron 2mg9%
Potassium 164mg3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Recipe Tags:

  • ground beef
  • wonton
  • appetizer
  • japanese
Easy Recipe for Making Ground Beef Wontons at Home (2024)

FAQs

What kind of meat is used in wontons? ›

Wontons are basically fried dumplings that are filled with a mix of vegetables and meat, typically ground beef or pork. Wontons wrappers are typically thinner and made with wheat flour, whereas dumplings can be made from potato or wheat flour. Both can be boiled, steamed, or fried.

How do you keep wontons crispy? ›

Nobody likes a soggy Fried Wonton, and there's a great trick to getting the wrapper ultra crisp. Instead of sealing the wrapper shut like an envelope with water, you leave the majority of the folded wrapper unsealed, using just a dab of water to pinch the ends together.

Can you prep wontons the night before? ›

Serve while hot with the sweet-and-sour sauce for dipping. These wontons can be made ahead and frozen for up to 1 month. You can also refrigerate them overnight and fry them the next day, but don't refrigerate them for longer than that.

Do wontons get soggy? ›

Just like the real thing, wonton noodles get soggy quickly so you should add them right before serving. If you think you'll have leftovers, save some to add fresh when you reheat the soup.

What is the filling in a wonton made of? ›

Make the Pork and Shrimp Wonton Filling

To the pork and shrimp, add chopped scallions, minced garlic & ginger, then season with light soy sauce, shaoxing wine, sesame oil, salt, white pepper, sugar, and msg. Mix in ONE direction with your hand until you see streaks on the bowl as seen in the images below.

What kind of flour are wontons made of? ›

Traditional Chinese wonton wrappers are made from wheat flour, eggs and water, and can be used to wrap around any number of fillings to be cooked in soups or fried.

Why do my wontons fall apart? ›

Homemade dumplings can fall apart for a number of different reasons, or any combination of them. Often they burst during cooking because they have too much filling for the amount of dough. Some doughs are too dry, so the dumplings won't stay sealed. Others can be too wet and sticky and end up tearing.

How do you know when wontons are done cooking? ›

Bring a wok halfway full with water to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the wontons in batches until they float to the surface, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon.

How do you know when wontons are cooked? ›

How do you know when wontons are done? Like ravioli, wontons float to the top of the pot when they're ready. This takes about 4 minutes.

Can you shallow fry wontons? ›

Because while wontons are primarily meant to be used in soups, you can also pan-fry them—if you would rather have some crispy potsticker-y vibes! The method is the same as pan-frying a dumpling, so if you already have experience with that, just take this post as a PSA that it's okay to pan-fry a wonton.

Why do my wontons keep opening? ›

If the filling is too wet, the wonton wrapper will soften and tear. Moreover, you should not overfill the wrapper with too much filling. Fill the center of the wrapper with about 1 tsp filling to prevent it from bursting because of overfilling.

Why are my wontons tough? ›

If you are using a high-protein flour, such as bread flour, the dumplings may be tough. Using a lower-protein flour, such as all-purpose or cake flour, can help to make the dumplings softer and more tender. Overworking the dough: If you knead the dough too much or handle it too much, it can become tough.

Is wonton beef or pork? ›

Wonton filling

There are many types of wonton fillings, but I'd say that pork and shrimp/prawns are the most common. Then there are all sorts of additions, including mushrooms, water chestnuts, chopped up Asian greens and even carrots.

What kind of meat is in Chinese dumplings? ›

Ground pork and shrimp are typical fillings, although as with all Chinese dumplings, traditional and nontraditional variations abound depending on the region. Boiled wontons are popular and are served in a rich broth or soup. Japanese ground beef wontons are fried.

Do all wontons have meat? ›

In Chinese cuisine, there are many distinct varieties of dumplings, and a wonton is one of them. Wontons are often filled with meats, pork, or vegetables, however, dumplings can be eaten with or without a filling across the world.

What kind of meat is in Chinese fried dumplings? ›

Fillings. Common dumpling meat fillings include chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, and fish which are usually mixed with chopped vegetables. Popular vegetable fillings include napa cabbage, scallion (spring onions), celery, leek, spinach, mushroom, carrot, garlic chives, and edible black fungus.

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