The managerless visitors - on the day Rob Edwards was given permission to speak to the club ahead of the becoming the new head coach - put in a spirited first half display at Stamford Bridge.
Their defence stood firm to make it to half-time at 0-0, but it was a very different story after the break.
Malo Gusto’s header six minutes into the second half gave them the lead and a brief Wolves fightback was extinguished when Joao Pedro doubled Chelsea’s advantage.
Pedro Neto netted against his old club to condemn lowly Wolves to nine defeats in 11 matches.
Analysis
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Interim head coach James Collins made four changes from the team that lost to Fulham last time out, in Vitor Pereira’s last game in charge.
Jackson Tchatchoua, Andre, Joao Gomes and Hwang Hee-chan all came into the team.
Emmanuel Agbadou was suspended, while Rodrigo Gomes and Matt Doherty missed out due to injury.
Under-21s head coach Collins handed an opportunity to academy youngsters Tawanda Chirewa and Mateus Mane as they were both named on the bench and summer signing Fer Lopez was not included.
The hosts had an early chance when Santi Bueno fouled Alejandro Garnacho and Enzo Fernandez had a sight of goal from a free-kick, but Sam Johnstone tipped it over the bar.
The early chances kept coming and Garnacho should have scored after five minutes when he was played through on goal, but his tame shot was met by Johnstone, who stood firm.
Marc Cucurella then shot through the crowd and Fernandez met it with his head, but directed it wide, as Chelsea pushed for an early goal.
Once Wolves settled down, they became competitive and were finding opportunities on the break, particularly when J.Gomes and Andre were winning the ball in midfield. They just missed the final pass to create a meaningful chance after 20 minutes.
Tchatchoua was on hand to save Wolves when Fernandez’s in-swinging corner was going all the way in, until the summer signing cleared the ball off the line at the far post.
Garnacho got into some space down the right and the ball fell for Pedro on the edge of the box but he scuffed wide, as Wolves’ defence maintained their fairly resolute performance.
That defence stood firm until half-time, as the teams entered the break drawing 0-0.
Just six minutes into the second half, Wolves fell asleep at the back and found themselves behind.
Tchatchoua did not get close enough to Garnacho, as he crossed to the back post for Gusto, who lost marker Toti Gomes to head home from close range.
Wolves responded well to going behind and began to find space in midfield and down the left, as Hugo Bueno’s low cross almost found Jorgen Strand Larsen in the box.
The hosts still carried a threat, however, and Ladislav Krejci needed to be on his toes to turn a Fernandez cross behind with Liam Delap lurking.
Just a minute after coming on, starlet Estevao was the provider as Chelsea went 2-0 up. He got down the right and put in a low cross for the unmarked Pedro to finish from the centre of the box.
In the 70th minute Wolves made two changes, one of which was the introduction of 18-year-old Mane for just his second Premier League appearance.
Chelsea then added a third shortly after with a simple but effective counter-attack. Garnacho was too quick for S.Bueno down the left and he put it on a plate for Neto to score against his old club.
Johnstone did well with a double save, from Pedro and Marc Guiu, to deny Chelsea a fourth.
Marshall Munetsi almost restored some Wolves pride when he pounced on a Cucurella mistake and raced towards goal before firing just wide.
That was the last major moment in the game as Wolves fell to another convincing defeat.
Key Moments
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GOAL 51 Gusto heads Chelsea into the lead
GOAL 65 Pedro adds a second
GOAL 73 Neto finishes off a counter for Chelsea’s third
Teams
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Wolves: Joshnstone, Tchatchoua, S.Bueno, Krejci, Toti, H.Bueno, Andre, J.Gomes, Bellegarde (Munetsi, 70), Hwang (Mane, 70), Larsen.
Subs not used: Sa, Mosquera, Hoever, Wolfe, Chirewa, Arias, Arokodare.
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto (James, 77), Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, Fernandez (Santos, 82), Caicedo, Garnacho, Pedro (Gittens, 82), Neto (Guiu, 77), Delap (Estevao, 64).
Subs not used: Jorgensen, Tosin, Hato, Acheampong.