TL;DR (Quick-Answer Box)
- What it is: A delicious and fast low-carb riff on classic Asian wonton soup, featuring gingery pork meatballs simmered directly in a savory chicken broth.
- Why you’ll love it: It’s incredibly flavorful, requires minimal fuss + ingredients, and is ready in about 30 minutes, with an option to make a deeper, richer broth.
- How to make it: Mix the pork meatballs ingredients, form the mixture into small balls + drop them into simmering broth until cooked through.
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Naked wonton soup. Now that we have your attention, we’d like to draw your awareness to this blissfully (if decidedly untraditional) low-carb riff on the classic Asian soup, which skips the fussy wrappers and instead gently simmers gingery pork meatballs directly in chicken broth spiked with soy and sesame oil. Gluten-free, keto-friendly, delicious, fast, and kid-pleasing!
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To Make a Richer, More Robust Wonton Broth
This naked wonton soup is a perfect weeknight dinner, but when you have a little more time, why not give the broth a little extra love? This simple upgrade takes this delicious soup from great to absolutely magical. By adding a few key aromatics and letting them simmer slowly, you create a foundation of flavor that makes every spoonful a true delight.
The Next-Level Broth Method
- Brown the Chicken: Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable or peanut oil to a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Brown 6 to 8 chicken wings or drumettes, turning occasionally, until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. This step creates a richer, more deeply flavored base. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Sauté the Aromatics: Lower the heat to medium. Add 4 to 6 ounces sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms to the pan. Sauté, stirring often, until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, 2 to 3 cloves minced garlic, and 1/4 cup sliced scallion whites. Sauté, scraping up any browned bits, for about 1 minute until fragrant. Deglaze with a splash (about 1/4 cup) of the chicken broth, stirring to incorporate the fond.
- Simmer the Broth: Return the browned chicken to the pot. Pour in the 4 cups chicken broth, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, and 1 to 2 teaspoons of fish sauce (optional, for extra umami). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cover and let the flavors meld for 15 to 30 minutes.
- Strain (Optional): Strain the broth to remove the solids for a clearer soup, or leave them in for a rustic texture.
Use this broth in place of the broth listed below, and proceed with the recipe at step 2.
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If you make this recipe, or any dish on LC, consider leaving a review, a star rating, and your best photo in the comments below. I love hearing from you.–David
Featured Review
I made this soup largely as written… The broth, I felt… really needs to simmer for a while with some fresh ginger and scallions and probably a few chicken wings… to bring it to the life it deserves.
The meatballs taste great, and I used a trick I learned from Eileen Yin-Fei Lo for the texture: if you spend maybe five minutes scooping the mixture up in your hand and then throwing it against the side of the bowl… you will tighten the mixture up enormously… The result is lovely, juicy meatballs that actually hold their “ball” shape.
Maggie Topkis
Naked Wonton Soup
Ingredients
For the broth
- 4 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon regular or low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
For the pork meatballs
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/4 cup chopped scallions (2 to 3 scallions)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
- 2 teaspoons regular or low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms or chopped baby bok choy, (optional)
Instructions
Make the broth
- In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the 4 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade chicken stock, 1 tablespoon regular or low-sodium soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil.
Make the pork meatballs
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, gently mix together the 1 pound ground pork, 1/4 cup chopped scallions (2 to 3 scallions), 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, 2 teaspoons regular or low-sodium soy sauce, 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 3 cloves garlic, and 2 large eggs. (Keep the mixture loose—don’t overwork it or your meatballs will be tough.)
- Once the broth has begun to boil, turn down the heat to maintain a simmer. Using a small scoop or melon baller, scoop the pork mixture into 1-inch (25-mm) meatballs and drop into the simmering broth. You should have about 24 meatballs although you may not want to use all of them.
☞ TESTER TIP: If you’ve got way more meatballs than you intend to use in this soup, either freeze the entire blob of meatball mixure or first shape it into meatballs, place on a baking sheet, and freeze for an hour to set and then transfer the meatballs to a resealable bag to freeze. You’ll be able to make the soup even more quickly next time.
- Bring the soup to a simmer. Stir in the sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms or chopped baby bok choy, if using. Cook until the meatballs are cooked through and have an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C), 4 to 5 minutes.
- Ladle the soup into bowls. There may be a layer of pork fat in the bottom of the pan that you’ll want to leave in the pan when divvying up the soup. Serve immediately.
Notes
For a richer, more complex broth:
- Brown Chicken: Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the saucepan and brown 6 to 8 chicken wings or drumettes. Remove them from the pan.
- Sauté Aromatics: Lower the heat. Add the shiitake mushrooms (from the recipe) along with an additional 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, 2 to 3 cloves minced garlic, and 1/4 cup sliced scallion whites to the pan. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Simmer: Return the chicken to the pot and scrape up any stuck-on browned bits. Pour in the broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, plus 1 to 2 teaspoons of fish sauce, and simmer for 15 to 30 minutes. Strain before proceeding.
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Winter is long where I live so a new recipe for a quick soup is always welcome in my kitchen. And this one certainly has made the list of keepers for its speediness, effortlessness, and flavor. Really, you’ll think of this delicious, heady soup when you want to cure a cold in 15 minutes.
The ginger, garlic, and scallion trio is wonderful with the pork (such tender meatballs by the way, almost fluffy) and the sesame oil perfumes the broth beautifully. My pantry is never without these aromatics or store-bought chicken broth (did I say winter is long here?), leaving just ground pork on my shopping list for my commute home.
I mixed the pork and eggs right in my 4-cup measuring cup after measuring the chicken broth, then using a heaping scoopful (#60 disher or about 1 tablespoon) I started dropping the mixture into the simmering soup. I had some baby bok choy in the fridge so I sliced it and tossed it in the soup with the pork.
You could add anything that cooks in 5 minutes—that’s how long it took for the pork—and you’ll be sitting down for a nourishing soup dinner in no time at all.
This was super fast, super easy, and super satisfying! In the middle of a hectic morning of holiday party prep, this recipe came through in my email. It called my name! It took me 15 minutes from start to finish and is now going in my belly as a truly delicious lunch on a jam-packed day. That’s how fast and easy this soup is, that it can be made while doing a million other things at the same time without even really a thought.
While I measured the amounts, this is the kind of soup that’s forgiving. Use more or less of whatever additions you like—I used sautéed shiitakes and a teaspoon of Tuong Ot Toi Vietnam Chili Garlic Sauce. The seasoning level was on-point even before the chili garlic sauce, but now it jumps happily in my mouth!
The addition of soy sauce and sesame oil to my favorite homemade chicken broth was a lovely addition. The meatballs were flavorful and made this a tasty and hearty soup. The ground pork meatballs were delicious.
If you have prepared chicken broth, this flavorful and satisfying soup can be ready in about 35 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised that the meatballs took only about 4 minutes to cook. I added chopped bok choy to round out the flavors and provide a vegetable to the soup.
This recipe made many more meatballs than I needed, so I froze almost half of the meat for a future soup.
This wonton soup with pork meatballs was cozy and warming, just what I needed since I was fighting a cold while I made it. The meatballs were tender, flavorful, and really juicy since they were cooked right in the broth.
I did miss the wonton wrappers when I was eating it, but I admit this probably only took 1/3 of the time as usual to prepare since I wasn’t filling, folding, and sealing individual wontons. I thought only 4 cups of broth wasn’t enough given how many meatballs the recipe made, so I ended up adding some water to the pot. I thought the broth was delicious.
I used regular chicken broth and I didn’t find the final product to be overly salty, just flavorful, but for someone more salt-sensitive, low-sodium broth is probably better.
I used about an inch of peeled fresh ginger. I have found that chopping it finely at the same time I chop the garlic prevents the knife and my fingers from getting all sticky from the garlic.
The meat mixture was quite loose, definitely looser than a normal meatball or meatloaf mixture. Despite this, when I scooped the meat directly into the broth, the balls stayed intact well and kept their shape.
The top 1/4 of the meatballs were not covered once all of them were in the broth, so I added about 1 cup water to cover them. I also put a lid on the pot to keep the steam in.
This soup was so easy to make and so much fun to eat, I had to give it a TC, even if I’m going to have to make more broth to accompany the wontons that we did not eat the first night with the first batch of broth.
I can’t wait to make more broth so that I can use the rest of the meatballs. The next time I make this, I will make a double batch of the meatballs and freeze them so that I can easily make this soup at another time.
This was such a fast and easy recipe and it results in a soup with lots of depth of flavor. This is the soup you want when you are sick or as a first course to an Asian dinner or just paired with a simple salad.
I used ground pork and made the meatballs around 1 inch in diameter, which gave me almost 2 dozen meatballs. There are just two of us so it was nice for each of us to have the leftovers for lunch the next day. I think the suggestion to double the meatballs and freeze a batch is brilliant and I will definitely do this next time. I also might add some lemongrass to the broth to give it a little brightness.
I made this soup largely as written, although I used fresh wood ear mushrooms and water spinach (4 oz. and 8 oz., respectively) as the veg, since…that’s what I had and what I love. I have to say, especially with the veg, this makes a nice hearty lunch. And the meatballs are delicious.
The broth, I felt, not so much. I zhuzhed it up a fair amount — more soy, a glug of sherry, a little Allulose — and that definitely helped, but it’s still a bit meh, and I started with excellent bottled broth. I think it really needs to simmer for a while with some fresh ginger and scallions (strain them out before eating, if you don’t want the carb hit) and probably a few chicken wings, even a chicken paw or two, to bring it to the life it deserves.
The meatballs taste great, and I used a trick I learned from Eileen Yin-Fei Lo for the texture: Because traditional Chinese meatballs (like these) have both no starch binder and also a pretty higher percentage of veg and herbage (fresh ginger, garlic, scallions, cilantro), when you first mix in the egg, it is MAJORLY gloopy. I can’t imagine how anyone would form balls out of this goop. However, if you spend maybe five minutes scooping the mixture up in your hand and then throwing it against the side of the bowl (my rule of thumb is 150 throws — it goes a lot faster than it sounds), you will tighten the mixture up enormously. It’s actually kind of magical, and has something to do with rejiggering the proteins, but that’s all I can tell you. It does radically change the texture, though, and the result is lovely, juicy meatballs that actually hold their “ball” shape.
LOL and oh my gosh, I just realized I already commented on this recipe, three years ago, with….pretty much the same response, except not so verbose.
Maggie, thanks for this amazing comment! As the goal of the recipe is get dinner on the table under 30 minutes, it’s a bit of shortcut. But taking a cue from you, I did add instructions on how to make an enriched broth for those with a bit more time on their hands and who want a richer flavor. Thanks for the nudge!
Don’t hate me, but I am not loving this, even after quite a lot of zhuzhing it up. I added some chopped chilies and ginger to the broth, as well as (after tasting….several times), more soy, a couple slugs of dry sherry, salt, a little low-carb sugar substitute….I think that’s it. And it’s still….a rather boring broth. The meatballs are ok, fairly lacking in flavor, I think. This strikes me as a good idea but the execution needs work.
We’re sorry to hear that you didn’t love this, Maggie. We hope you can find another soup recipe on the site that suits your tastes better.
Can you tell me the net carb count per serve? I can’t seem to find it.
Robbie, the nutrition on the recipe lists total carbs as 7g, with 1g of fiber, so you’d have a net carb count of 6g.