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Spicy Szechuan Dumpling Soup

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This spicy Szechuan dumpling soup is like a warm hug for your stomach. The savory, sweet, and powerful umami flavors make for the perfect meal on a cold night. Add in a fresh batch of our homemade pork dumplings and you won’t be sad about the coming cold, dark months.

A bowl of spicy dumpling soup topped with chopped scallions in a black bowl served with chopsticks and a spoon

This savory and spicy dish finds the perfect middle ground between a Szechuan dumpling sauce and a Chinese dumpling soup, a goal my dad and I have been striving for since we had some of the best Szechuan dumplings at a restaurant that is now sadly closed.

But of course, that is the whole dream Nicole and I had when we created The Candid Cooks – to make restaurant quality meals at home and allow others to share in that experience. Check out some of our other favorite takeout-style meals like our Japanese-inspired crispy chicken rice bowl or our drunken noodles.

What To Expect

  • Great for: A cozy dinner on cold winter nights.
  • Ready in: 55 minutes, with only 15 minutes of hands on work.
  • Serves: 2 as a dinner, 6 as an appetizer
  • Flavor profile: Savory, sweet, and powerful umami flavors.
  • How to make it: Whisk together the ingredients, simmer for about 40 minutes, cook up some dumplings, combine and serve!

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Featured Review

This recipe turned out great! I bought some frozen pork wontons to add to the broth and it’s soooo tasty.

– Carissa

Key Ingredients

Ingredients for Szechuan dumpling soup: pork dumplings, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, chili oil, hoisin, Szechuan peppercorn, light brown sugar, minced garlic, powdered ginger, scallions, chicken broth, and vegetable broth.
  • Broth – We use both vegetable broth and chicken broth to provide a depth of flavor that is missed with just one or the other. However, if you want a vegetarian Chinese soup, follow the same process using only vegetable broth.
  • Sauce – This is where the main flavor of the soup comes from. Our spicy Szechuan sauce consists of the following ingredients: soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili oil, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, minced garlic, powdered ginger, salt, and of course, fresh finely ground Szechuan pepper. 
  • Dumplings or wontons – We highly recommend using freshly made steamed dumplings (you can find our pork dumpling recipe here). However you can also use the store bought wontons or dumplings of your choice. If making your own dumplings, just be sure they are sealed tight, otherwise they’ll fall apart in your soup. While they may taste the same, all your hard work folding dumplings will be lost!

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Spicy Dumpling Soup

A soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, and chili oil mixture being whisked in a small green bowl.

Step 1: Make the sauce. Whisk together the brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili oil, hoisin, sesame oil, minced garlic, ground Szechuan peppercorn, powdered ginger, and salt until well-combined.

A soy sauce, vinegar, and chili oil sauce being poured into a saucepan with chicken and vegetable broth.

Step 2: Combine the sauce, the chicken broth, and the vegetable broth in a saucepan over medium heat.

A blue ceramic saucepan on the stove with Szechuan soup being stirred.

Step 3: Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.

A pot of Szechuan soup simmering on the stove.

Step 4: Once simmering, cook until the soup reduces by about one third. This should take about 30 to 40 minutes.

A bamboo steamer basked in a large wok with frozen pork dumplings in it, ready to be cooked.

Step 5: Steam the dumplings.

A ladle of Szechuan soup going into a black bowl with pork dumplings.

Step 6: Serve the soup poured over a couple of dumplings.

Expert Tips

  • Make it vegetarian – To make this soup vegetarian, you can use vegetable broth for all 4 cups of broth. Just be sure to use veggie dumplings as well!
  • Scaling – If you’re looking to cook this soup for a crowd, follow our homemade pork dumpling recipe which makes 50 dumplings, and scale the soup by three times while following the same method. You may have to simmer the soup longer to reduce by a third.
  • Serving a crowd – If you’re making a large batch of soup and dumplings for a crowd, we like to transfer the soup to a crockpot to keep it warm and serve the dumplings alongside it in a separate tray. That way the dumplings don’t sit in the soup for too long as they may start to fall apart.
A homemade pork dumpling being lifted out of a bowl of spizy szechuan dumpling soup with chopsticks.

Serving Suggestions

One thing Nicole and I love about this spicy Szechuan soup is how many ways it can be served and enjoyed. Here are some of our favorite ideas:

  • Enjoy as a dinner – Serve a cup and a half of soup with 8 dumplings for a filling meal.
  • Serve as an appetizer or side – Serve a half cup of soup with 4 dumplings to go along with a larger Chinese dinner such as our spicy General Tso’s chicken or pork lo mein!
  • Bring it to a potluck – Keep the soup and dumplings warm in a large crockpot for a crowd to easily enjoy!
  • Feature your favorite dumplings – Serve your favorite dumplings in a little soup to act as a spicy Szechuan sauce, letting the dumplings soak up the extra spice and flavor.

Szechuan Dumpling Soup FAQs

Well, first off, Szechuan peppers aren’t actually peppers at all, they are actually dried berries from the Chinese prickly ash bush. This means that they aren’t actually spicy. And they certainly don’t taste like a traditional pepper! Instead, Szechuan peppers have a flavor often described as bitter, floral, and citrusy. However, what makes these little berries such an interesting ingredient to cook with, and why some may consider them spicy, is the tingling sensation they leave in your mouth!

Yes, you absolutely can use wontons instead of dumplings. And you can use whatever type of wontons or dumplings you like with this recipe.

This soup will stay good in the fridge for 3 to 4 days stored in an airtight container. If you have leftover steamed dumplings, you can store those easily too – but it’s better to put them in their own container. To reheat, simply heat the soup in a covered saucepan over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until warmed through. Reheat the dumplings by steaming for 3 to 5 minutes or microwaving for about 10 to 15 seconds per dumpling.

Related Cold Weather Soup Recipes

Love this recipe? You may enjoy these other comforting soup recipes, too:

Tell us what you think!

We hope you enjoy this recipe! When you try it out, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments below. Happy cooking! – Nicole and Alex

A bowl of spicy szechuan dumpling soup

Spicy Szechuan Dumpling Soup Recipe

Nicole & Alex Langdon
This spicy Szechuan dumpling soup is like a warm hug for your stomach. The savory, sweet, and powerful umami flavors make for the perfect meal on a cold night.
4.60 from 30 votes
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Asian, Chinese
Servings 2 servings
Calories 506 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • ¼ cup light brown sugar
  • 6 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons chili oil
  • 1 tablespoon hoisin
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorn freshly ground
  • 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2⅔ cup low sodium vegetable broth
  • 1⅓ cup low sodium chicken broth
  • Pork dumplings 6 to 8 per serving
  • 2 scallions sliced

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili oil, hoisin, sesame oil, minced garlic, ground Szechuan peppercorn, powdered ginger, and salt until well-combined.
  • Next, add the vegetable broth and chicken broth to a saucepan. Then add the sauce you just mixed, and stir to combine.
  • Cook soup over medium heat until simmering, about 10 minutes, simmer (lower the heat if needed to keep the soup simmering and not boiling) until the soup is reduced by about one third, stirring occasionally. This should take about 30 to 40 minutes.
  • Serve soup immediately over steamed pork dumplings and top with sliced scallions.
One last step:Please consider leaving a review to let us know how it was!

Notes

Pork dumplings: We recommend making a fresh batch of our homemade pork dumplings to go in this Szechuan soup. They soak up the soup so perfectly and are surprisingly easy to make! To time things properly, mix up the pork filling for the dumplings before getting the soup started on your stove. Then fold the dumplings while the soup cooks (keeping an eye on it and stirring occasionally) and cook as many dumplings as you want once you’re done folding. Store the rest in the freezer for easy meals later on! Alternatively, use your favorite store-bought dumplings.
Vegetarian option: You can easily make this recipe vegetarian by just using 4 cups of vegetable broth instead of combining vegetable and chicken broth. Serve with your favorite veggie dumplings!
Scaling: This recipe easily scales to feed a crowd. If you’re making it with our homemade pork dumplings (which makes about 50 dumplings), scale this soup recipe by 3x and have the right proportions for serving dumpling soup at a potluck or dinner party with lots of people!

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 506kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 17gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 6gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 1729mgPotassium: 441mgFiber: 7gSugar: 22gVitamin A: 132IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 78mgIron: 7mg
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If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.

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As a kid, Alex was deemed the pickiest eater ever. That was at least, until he learned how to cook. While he always enjoyed cooking and eating good food growing up, the definition of good food was just really limited. Alex’s world of food quickly expanded in college as a way to get to know new friends. Now he’s constantly looking forward to finding new recipes and cuisines to try.

Alex is a mechanical engineer by degree, but a food blogger by reality. Even though engineering isn’t his day to day anymore, Alex has carried over many lessons learned from the engineering world to The Candid Cooks. With a very detail oriented, analytical mind, Alex thrives in the amount of data, science, and experimenting that comes with both cooking and running a website.

When Alex isn’t cooking or working on the blog, his favorite hobbies include playing soccer, running, hiking, reading a good book, or getting lost in a video game. Alex loves baking bread of all sorts, which is probably why pizza is one of his favorite foods to both make and eat!

4.60 from 30 votes (27 ratings without comment)

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14 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This recipe is so warming and comforting. I keep prepackaged dumplings in the freezer, plus homemade stock, frozen ginger cubes etc. with all that pre-made i just throw all in the pot plus the other ingredients/seasonings w/ bok choy & beet greens from the garden. plus rice in the rice cooker. prep & cook time is only 25 mins. made this many times now. Always hits the spot for a flavorful meal!

    Reply

    1. Thank you for such a kind review, we’re so glad you love this recipe! Adding bok choy and beet greens sounds delicious – we’ll have to try that next time we make it.

      Reply

  3. 5 stars
    This was delicious. I did leave out the additional salt as I used bouillon for the chicken and vegetable broth and I didn’t want it to be too salty. I added frozen dumplings the last few minutes of cooking the soup and it turned out great. I will definitely be making this again!

    Reply

  5. Overall good flavors and ingredient selection, but wayyyy too much sugar. A little for balancing savory flavors I get, and I even used less than the recipe, but it’s still far too sugary.

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the feedback! This recipe was inspired (in part) by wonton soup, so it definitely has some sweetness to it. We also like to use the sugar to balance out the heat. It’s not for everyone, but we hope you enjoyed it overall!

      Reply

  6. We thought of you yesterday, as we made our version of this soup for New England Soup Night. It was a cross between this and Alex’s dad’s less precise recipe. And it was SO GOOD. More spicy than I remember — but then again, Jonathan chose the heat level. 🙂

    Reply

  7. I know who makes the best dumpling soup ever, and we are going to miss it this year, so this may be a timely blessing.
    Wait. You have cold days and dark afternoons where you live? We’re heading for the best part of the year here in Florida. 🙂

    Reply