This dumpling sauce is a blend of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, herbs and seasonings. The perfect dipping sauce for a variety of dumplings and potstickers.
I often make my own Asian food recipes like potstickers and fried wonton, and every good dumpling needs some dumpling sauce to accentuate the flavors!
Sometimes you need a little something extra to take your dumplings to the next level. This dipping sauce has the perfect blend of savory, spicy and sweet flavors, and is ready in minutes!
Table of Contents
Dumpling Sauce Ingredients
- Soy Sauce: The soy sauce is the base of this dipping sauce, and it provides a rich flavor along with some saltiness. If you are sensitive to salt, feel free to use low sodium soy sauce.
- Rice Vinegar: You need a little tangy flavor to offset the other ingredients in this recipe, which is where rice vinegar comes in. I use regular rice vinegar, not the seasoned variety.
- Chili Garlic Sauce: This sauce is sold in small jars in the ethnic foods aisle of most grocery stores. Chili garlic has some kick to it, but it’s not overly spicy.
- Toasted Sesame Oil: The sesame oil adds richness and gives the sauce a nice consistency. You can purchase it in small bottles in the ethnic foods area at the store.
- Green Onions: I like a little bit of fresh flavor and color in my sauce, so I stir in some thinly sliced green onions.
- Sesame Seeds: The seeds add texture as well as a more complex flavor. Feel free to toast your sesame seeds for an even deeper flavor.
- Sugar: A touch of sugar helps to balance the acidity of some of the other ingredients. Dissolve the sugar in a bit of hot water before you add it to the sauce.
How Do You Make Dumpling Sauce?
Place the soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce, sesame oil, green onions and sesame seeds in a bowl. In a small bowl, mix the sugar with a little hot water until the sugar dissolves. Pour the sugar into the soy sauce mixture. Whisk everything together, then serve.
Tips For The Perfect Sauce
- Dumpling sauce will stay fresh in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the sauce. If you’re planning to freeze the sauce, omit the green onions and sesame seeds and add them in when you thaw the sauce.
- Chili garlic sauce provides a moderate amount of heat. If you’re not into spicy food, you can omit it and add a little minced fresh garlic instead.
- This sauce pairs well with potstickers, siu mai, shrimp dumplings and soup dumplings. You can also use it as a dipping sauce for homemade egg rolls.
Quick Tip
You can drizzle the sauce over your dumplings, or serve it in small sauce bowls to accompany the food.
Recipe FAQs
Dumpling sauce contains soy sauce and rice vinegar as a base, with other flavorings such as garlic, chili, herbs, sesame and ginger.
I like to serve my dumplings with some Asian inspired side dishes such as Asian cucumber salad, veggie fried rice or a vegetable stir fry.
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Flavor Variations
This recipe is fabulous as-is, but you can add other ingredients to suit your tastes.
- Spicy: This sauce has a moderate heat level. If you want a spicier version, you can add some sriracha or crushed red pepper flakes.
- Herbs: If you don’t have green onions, try chives or fresh cilantro instead.
- Flavorings: Feel free to add some minced ginger, honey or hoisin sauce.
Dumpling sauce is a must-have accompaniment for so many Asian inspired meals and appetizers!
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Dumpling Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons green onions thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
Instructions
- Place the soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce, sesame oil, green onions and sesame seeds in a medium bowl.
- In a small bowl, mix the sugar with 2 teaspoons hot water until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add the sugar to the soy sauce mixture. Whisk to combine, then serve.
Notes
- Dumpling sauce will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- This sauce has a moderate heat level. If you don’t want any spice in your sauce, you can use 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic instead of the chili garlic sauce.
