Let the holiday parties begin! I’m ready with this recipe for any occasion.
Now I have to admit that cooking outside traditional and Italian recipes does make me a bit nervous, but I wanted to give wontons a try as they do make a nice appetizer and pair well with other ingredients for dinner. So I went outside my comfort zone — yes I took one for the team as “they” say.
Using extra-lean ground turkey helps this recipe to be a little healthier, and there’s no frying! The recipe makes a big batch, around 50 wontons. They disappear quickly once served so you’ll want to have a lot on hand. Making the wontons ahead and freezing them makes it easy on a busy day to pull them out of the freezer and reheat.
Sauté turkey, pork, and onions. Mix in water chestnuts and seasonings.
The tedious part of this recipe? Wrapping the ingredients in the wonton papers. Maybe it was my less-than nibble fingers? Since there is only about a teaspoon of ingredients that fit in the papers, it was a bit of a challenge for me who wanted to overstuff the wontons. 🙂 But eventually, I did get into a rhythm of stuffing and wrapping.
Wrapped and ready for the oven.
Oven cooked using spray oil on the pan and the wontons. Be careful not to use too many sprays as the wontons may get too greasy (she says from experience).
These are yummy with a variety of sauces: sweet and sour, teriyaki, or even a pasta sauce for dipping. And if you are want to try something different (yes, please!), try a whiskey glaze sauce (recipe below). A tasty pairing for sure!
- 3/4 pound extra-lean ground turkey
- 3/4 pound ground pork
- 1 cup onion, finely chopped
- 1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
- 1/3 cup soy sauce (option: reduced-sodium variety)
- 1/4 cup egg substitute
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- Wonton wrappers (enough for 50 wontons)
- Cooking spray
- Sauté the pork, turkey, and onion over medium heat in a frypan until meat is no longer pink; drain. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.
- Stir water chestnuts, soy sauce, egg substitute, and ginger into meat mixture..
- Put 1 heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of a wrapper. With the wonton wrapper pointed toward you, fold bottom corner over filling, sides toward center over filling and roll toward the remaining point. Moisten top corner with water; press to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
- Place wontons on baking sheets coated with cooking spray; lightly coat wontons with additional cooking spray, being careful not to overspray. Option: use parchment paper on cooking sheet and only spray the tops of the wontons.
- Bake at 400° for about 12 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking. Wontons should be a golden brown when done.
- Serve warm with dipping sauces for an appetizer, or pair with other Asian dinner items.
- They freeze nicely too!
Dipping sauce
Save RecipeIngredients
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup pineapple juice
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
- 1/2 cup whiskey
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like the glaze)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water
Instructions
- Add the oil to a pot along with the minced garlic.
- Cook over medium heat for 30 seconds while stirring, then add the rest of the ingredients to the pot (except the cornstarch).
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.
- Pour the cornstarch mixture into the glaze and whisk to combine.
- Bring the glaze back to a boil to thicken then remove from the heat.
- Ready to serve with wontons.
Nutrition