I am a little embarrassed to admit that I only recently discovered the world of frozen dumplings. For years, my friends and colleagues had sung the praises of Trader Joe's frozen dumplings, and I finally picked some up the other day.
Rather than simply steam or pan-fry the dumplings, I stir-fried them in a hot skillet with sliced bell peppers and scallions, drizzled in some chili crunch and soy sauce, and now can no longer look back. It was so delicious!
Frozen dumplings are a true lifesaver on the busiest nights when you’re at your most tired. They cook in minutes and can be used as a foundation for nearly endless meals. Now that I am a total convert, I checked in with my fellow food editors at Simply Recipes to get inspired and of course, they had no shortage of great ideas for how to enjoy frozen dumplings for dinner.
Editorial Director Ariel Knutson and I agree that there’s no better way to transform frozen dumplings into dinner than to stir-fry them. Swap them in for the meat, shrimp, or tofu in any of your favorite stir-fry recipes. I pan-fry, cover, and steam them right in the pan or wok. Transfer the cooked dumplings to a plate while you stir-fry the vegetables then add them back to the pan with the sauce before serving.
2. Drop Them Into Soups and Stews
“I love to drop them into Korean stews like kimchi jjigae, budae jjigae, or doenjang jjigae,” says Associate Editorial Director Myo Quinn. “I also keep a bag of frozen dumplings in the freezer at all times to add to ramen,” she adds.
Editorial Assistant Munni Pramanik agrees with Myo’s ramen trick, and it’s her go-to meal when she’s feeling lazy. Drop the dumplings in when there are about three minutes of cooking time left so they thaw and heat up without disintegrating into the soup.
Senior Editor Laurel Randolph insists on tossing dumplings into salad. “Instead of adding chicken, shrimp, or another standard protein to an Asian-style salad, sometimes I will pan-fry frozen dumplings and add them instead. It's a major upgrade. This works in Chinese-style chicken salad, soba, other noodle-based salads, and more. I love a mix of thinly sliced cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, edamame, and cilantro with a ginger-soy or sesame dressing, and crunchies like cashews and sesame seeds. The dumplings add a warm element with a totally different texture—salads are all about a mix of textures!”
4. Just Add Eggs
If you’ve spent time on TikTok, you may have seen folks caught folks pan-frying frozen dumplings with a slurry of flour, cornstarch, and water to create a beautiful, crispy lattice, or skirt around them. I like to add an egg skirt instead, which lends extra protein and satisfaction to my dumpling dinner.
Whisk two eggs with a pinch of salt in a bowl. Pan-fry the dumplings, pour in 1/4 cup of water and cover to steam for three to four minutes. Carefully pour the beaten eggs around the dumplings and cook, uncovered, for a few minutes more until the eggs are set. Slide or flip onto a plate and garnish with a little chili or sesame oil, soy sauce, and sliced scallions.
5. Simply Eat Them As-Is With Your Favorite Dipping Sauce
"Frozen dumplings are one of my desperation meals, so I tend to make them on nights when I’m so starving, I can’t comprehend any other meal components and just need to stuff my face super fast,” says General Manager Emma Christensen. Boil, pan-fry, microwave, steam, or even air fry them before dunking into chili crisp, soy sauce, sweet and sour, or your dipping sauce of choice.
Dumplings in alfredo sauce: Alfredo sauce is an easy way to elevate frozen dumplings. Treat them like pasta and cook them in the simmering sauce; sliced onion, chopped garlic, or bacon are all good additions for extra flavor. If you don't have jarred sauce on hand, milk or heavy cream can be a quick fix.
Dumplings in alfredo sauce: Alfredo sauce is an easy way to elevate frozen dumplings. Treat them like pasta and cook them in the simmering sauce; sliced onion, chopped garlic, or bacon are all good additions for extra flavor. If you don't have jarred sauce on hand, milk or heavy cream can be a quick fix.
A dumpling is a small mass of dough that can be boiled, fried, baked, or steamed. There are a ton of dumpling varieties out there, from pork- and cabbage-filled Chinese dumplings to cheesy Polish dumplings.
The best side dishes to serve with Asian dumplings (East Asia) are ramen, tomato and egg stir fry, fried greens, chilli miso steamed aubergine, pork belly fried rice, cucumber salad (Oi Muchim), tahini miso noodles, and claypot tofu.
Dumplings are either boiled, steamed, or fried, but there's a couple of different ways to further differentiate these techniques: Boiled dumplings can be cooked in water or directly in the soup or stew in which they will be served.
Editorial Director Ariel Knutson and I agree that there's no better way to transform frozen dumplings into dinner than to stir-fry them. Swap them in for the meat, shrimp, or tofu in any of your favorite stir-fry recipes. I pan-fry, cover, and steam them right in the pan or wok.
There are three basic ways: steaming, boiling, and steam-frying. There is also deep-frying or serving with a crispy lacy “skirt.” While the cooking method depends heavily upon your mood and what you are craving, it also depends on the shape of your dumpling.
How to pan-fry frozen dumplings. In a nonstick pan over medium-high heat, add ½ cup of water and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Place the frozen potstickers flat side-down and cover the pan with a lid for 8 to 12 minutes, until all the water has evaporated and the flat side of each potsticker is golden.
They're good for lunch or dinner or breakfast. They're good steaming hot just out of the boiling pot, they're good cold, eaten standing in front of the fridge. Between the filling and the wrapper, a dumpling covers at least three food groups.
This is the best way to eat soup dumplings if you prefer eating yours in one bite. However, for safety, we still recommend biting off the pointed top of the dumpling skin to let the steam escape.
Many Chinese restaurants serve pan-fried dumplings with a soy-ginger sauce, which is easy to recreate at home with only four ingredients needed. You simply combine soy sauce, minced ginger, sesame oil, and a little white pepper.
Jiaozi. Jiaozi (pronounced "jow-zee") are perhaps the most common type of Chinese dumpling. Crescent-shaped and formed with an opaque wrapper made from wheat dough, jiaozi are usually filled with ground pork, cabbage, and scallions, and served with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil.
On top of that, it is a great way for the family to spend time together. What makes dumplings special is that they are mixed by hand for some time to ensure the fat in the meat really entraps all the juices. This way when the dumplings are cooked, they have a certain texture—soft, but not falling apart.
Dumplings can be steamed (zhēngjiǎo, 蒸饺), pan-fried (jiānjiǎo, 煎饺), or boiled (shuǐjiǎo, 水饺, literal translation: water dumpling). They are then served with a dipping sauce, like Chinese black vinegar or our favorite dumpling sauce recipe. They can also be eaten with hot pot meals or served in soup!
Do you need to defrost frozen dumplings? No, you do not need to defrost frozen dumplings before cooking, you can take them straight from the freezer to the pan. If you wanted a faster cooking time, let the dumplings partially thaw for 10 minutes before cooking.
Essentially, you fry the frozen dumplings, then add water to the pan and cover them to steam through, then fry them again once the water evaporates. This double-frying creates an extra-crisp bottom crust.
Introduction: My name is Rueben Jacobs, I am a cooperative, beautiful, kind, comfortable, glamorous, open, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Simply-Recipes-Frozen-Dumplings-Ideas-LEAD-01-b14f864a00dd4dacb5eb153ce4a5923f.jpg "5 Ways Food Editors Turn Frozen Dumplings Into the Best Dinner (1)")
