One of our all-time favorite dinners is ground beef wontons. My hubby and I love them, and the kiddos fight over the last one every time. I first learned to make beef wontons from my mom, and have fond childhood memories of helping her assemble them in the wrappers. Over the years I’ve made the recipe my own with some ingredient tweaks, and our family truly loves them. You should see the way everyone lights up when they see me bring home wonton wrappers from the grocery store! Today I’m sharing my beef wonton recipe. I hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as we do!
If you’re ready to get cooking, you can Jump to Recipe at the bottom of this post. For some of my tips for preparing these beef wontons (along with some step-by-step instructions with photos), keep reading.
Love wontons? Check out our other popular wonton recipe:
Bacon and Shrimp Rangoons recipe
How to make ground beef wontons
Our homemade ground beef wontons recipe is much easier to make than you might think.
To start, combine ground beef, chopped green onions, sesame oil, salt, garlic powder, pepper, and ground ginger in a bowl and mix well.
Heat frying oil (I prefer vegetable or corn oil) to 350 degrees in a deep skillet or fryer.
Next, set up a beef wonton assembly station. I use about half of a 16-ounce package of 4.5-inch prepared wonton wrappers for this recipe. Place a wonton wrapper on a plate or cutting board (you can also prep a few at a time by placing several of the wonton wrappers out at a time, as long as they’re not overlapping). Pour some water into a small bowl next to the plate.
Dip your fingertips in the bowl of water and swipe some water around the edges of the wonton wrappers.
Form about 1 tablespoon of beef mixture into an oval ball and place it on one side of each wrapper.
Fold the wontons in half so that they form a triangle around the beef mixture.
Wet your fingers with additional water from your water bowl and pinch the edges of the wrapper together. Place the folded beef wontons onto plates (making sure they don’t overlap, or they will stick together and tear) while you assemble the remaining wontons.
Place the ground beef wontons into the hot oil, making sure not to overcrowd the skillet, since things will move pretty quickly. Fry for 2 minutes on one side, then carefully flip the wontons with tongs. Cook on the second side until the wontons are crispy and the edges are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer the wontons to a paper towel-lined plate to let cool while you cook the rest of the wontons in batches (the meat will continue to cook inside the wontons as they cool).
Serve your beef wontons with a mixture of soy sauce and sesame oil for dipping. We love eating them with white rice and soy sauce on the side.
True story, my oldest saw me writing this post and now he’s requesting these for dinner tonight. I’m not kidding; they are one of our family’s all-time favorites.
Here’s my recipe for beef wontons! Enjoy!
Print Recipe
Beef Wontons
One of our all-time favorite dinners is ground beef wontons. I first learned to make beef wontons from my mom, and have fond childhood memories of helping her assemble them in the wrappers. Over the years I've made the recipe my own with some ingredient tweaks, and our family truly loves these crispy, savory, fried treats. Here is my recipe! I hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as we do.
Combine ground beef, green onions, sesame oil, salt, garlic powder, pepper, and ginger in a bowl; mix well.
Heat oil to 350 degrees in a deep skillet or fryer.
Place several of the wonton wrappers on a plate or a cutting board without overlapping. Pour some water into a small bowl next to the plate.
Form about 1 tablespoon of beef mixture into a ball and place on one side of each wrapper. Dip your fingertips in the bowl of water and swipe some water around the edges of the wonton wrappers. Fold the wontons in half so that they form a triangle around the beef mixture.
Wet your fingers with additional water and pinch the edges of the wrapper together. Place folded wontons onto plates, making sure they don't overlap, while you assemble the remaining wontons.
Place wontons into the hot oil, making sure not to overcrowd the skillet.
Fry for 2 minutes on one side, then carefully flip the wontons with tongs. Cook on the second side until the wontons are crispy and the edges are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer wontons to a paper towel-lined plate to let cool while you cook the rest of the wontons in batches (the meat will continue to cook inside the wontons as they cool).
Serve with a mixture of soy sauce and sesame oil for dipping.
Recipe Notes
This recipe can be modified for the air fryer, too! See the recipe and instructions for making my Air Fryer Beef Wontons on Allrecipes here.
Wonton filling can be made from a variety of ingredients and each family has its own preferences and go-tos. My dad makes his filling in classic Cantonese style using pork and shrimp.
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.
Bake the wonton cups and prepare the filling as directed, but cover them separately and refrigerate for 1 to 2 days. Assemble and bake the appetizers shortly before serving.
Freeze any wrapped and uncooked wonton if you plan to serve them later. They are OK to store in the fridge if you will cook them within 2 days. To cook frozen wonton, deep fry or air fry without thawing the wontons. It takes a little longer to cook them but not by much.
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 is the difference between crab wonton and crab rangoon? Crab rangoon is a type of fried wonton, so they are really very similar. The difference is all in the filling. Traditional wontons are not ever filled with cream cheese (which is one of the main components in crab rangoon recipes).
I like to use either peanut oil or vegetable oil for deep frying. Both are neutral flavored and have a high smoke point. They can handle the amount of heat needed to make sure that your wonton strips fry up crispy without absorbing too much oil.
First, you want to spray the wontons with some kind of cooking spray. This ensures that the wonton can turn golden brown but that it won't get soggy from too much oil. Wonton wrappers are normally very thin so adding the weight of too much oil can cause them to lose some crispiness.
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.
In a pinch, egg roll wrappers can be used for wontons. Keep in mind they are larger and thicker than wonton wrappers, so your final result may be different.
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. If the filling isn't cohesive enough, it will tumble out when you bite into it.
How to store our dumplings, wontons, and baos. Our dumplings, wontons, and baos arrive frozen and raw for maximum freshness. When you get them, put them promptly into your freezer. Do NOT thaw them before cooking; they go straight from the freezer into the pan or pot!
Wontons pair deliciously with dipping sauces like soy sauce, ponzu, sweet chili sauce, or this simple wonton dipping sauce recipe. Other classic accompaniments are Chinese hot mustard, ginger scallion oil, or seasoned rice vinegar.
The most common filling is ground pork or chicken and shrimp with a small amount of flour added as a binder. The mixture is seasoned with salt, spices, and often garlic or finely chopped green onion. Factory-made, frozen varieties are sold in supermarkets.
Ground pork: The traditional ground meat to use in wontons is pork, but you can substitute ground dark meat turkey or chicken in this recipe. Fresh herbs: Minced cilantro and scallions/green onions are mixed into the wonton meatballs. If you're not a fan of cilantro, just use scallions.
When comparing Chinese dumplings vs wontons, some key differences are: Wrappers: Wonton wrappers are thinner, are usually square, and may contain egg.Dumpling wrappers are thicker, are usually round, and don't require egg. Filling: Dumplings can be filled or unfilled.
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