Easy Drop Dumplings for Soups and Stews (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep dumplings from falling apart in soup? ›

The steam that builds up by covering the pot is what cooks the dumplings. Don't boil or stir the dumplings. Vigorous boiling and stirring will cause the dumplings to fall apart.

Don't Overwork the Dumpling Dough

Stir everything together until the wet and dry ingredients are combined and you don't see any more dry flour. The dough might look a little lumpy, but that's okay! Overworking the dough is one of the easiest ways to end up with tough dumplings.

Homemade dumplings can fall apart for a number of different reasons, or any combination of them. Often they burst during cooking because they have too much filling for the amount of dough. Some doughs are too dry, so the dumplings won't stay sealed. Others can be too wet and sticky and end up tearing.

It's best to have your lid ready: Immediately add about 3 tablespoons of water to the pan, just enough to cover the base of the dumplings, then cover and cook for 3–4 minutes, or until the water has evaporated. Lift the lid and allow the dumpling to cook for another 30 seconds, to allow the bottoms to get extra crispy.

Cold water is best for boiled dumplings because it causes the flour's proteins to form the gluten that makes dough chewy and able to withstand vigorously boiling water.

If they are homemade fresh dumplings, just as making breads, a few pitches of flour or corn powder will prevent them to stick together. If those are frozen dumplings, don't use hot water to boil them, out the dumplings in a pot of cold water and then heating them up, then they won't stick.

Dumplings are made from a simple dough consisting of all-purpose flour, water, and salt. The shaped dumplings are either fried in a pan until golden brown or boiled in a soup.

Cover and bring to a vigorous boil. Add roughly one cup of cold water and return to boil while covered. Repeat this step again. The dumplings will be completely cooked and ready when they float on the surface of the boiling water.

Straight-fry/Oil Only

Stir with spoon, shake around (in a controlled way) and turn with chopsticks, flipping all dumplings on all three sides, browning equally. If frozen, add 1-2 minutes per dumpling side, in order to ensure cooked/heated all the way through. Once all dumplings nicely browned, remove from heat.

How do you keep soup dumplings from breaking? ›

There are a few key things to keep in mind when cooking dumplings so that they do not fall apart. First, make sure the dough is rolled out thinly and evenly. Second, when boiling the dumplings, be careful not to overcrowd the pot and stir gently so that they don't stick together.

Keep the pot at a gentle simmer when cooking the dumplings. An aggressive simmer or boiling will break them apart. Keep the heat low and cover the pot so that they steam. The dumplings can cook longer than the suggested times without issues, but agitating them with an aggressive simmer will make them fall apart.

Lower your heat so that your broth is just barely barely barely boiling and drop these pieces in one at a time. It is important that you DO NOT STIR. We are not going to stir these as we don't want our dumplings cooking up. If you do stir, you will basically cause your dumplings to dissolve.