This potstickers recipe is ground pork with mushrooms, cabbage and seasonings, all wrapped in tender dough and cooked until golden brown. A simple and easy way to make this Chinese food classic in the comfort of your own home.
When I’m in the mood for Asian food, I whip up some of our favorites including vegetable lo mein, homemade egg rolls, sweet and sour chicken and these amazingly delicious potstickers. My version is even better than what you’d get at a restaurant!
Potstickers Ingredients
This recipe is made with potsticker wrappers, ground pork, vegetable oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, cabbage, mushrooms, ginger, garlic, green onions, cornstarch, salt and pepper.
How do you make potstickers?
This recipe starts with a mixture of ground pork, seasonings, green onions, cabbage and mushrooms. The ingredients are all combined to make the filling for the dumplings. Spoon the filling into dumpling wrappers, then fold the dumplings. The final step is to cook the dumplings by searing the outsides, then adding a little water to steam them so that the filling can cook through.
Tips for perfect dumplings
- Make sure to finely mince the ingredients for the filling. I use a mandoline to thinly shred the cabbage.
- This recipe works best with dumpling or gyoza wrappers, you can find them at most Asian markets and some large grocery stores. You can use wonton wrappers in a pinch, but the end result will not be quite the same as what you’d get at your local Chinese restaurant.
- Potstickers stay fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat your dumplings in the oven to crisp the skins. You can also freeze cooked dumplings for up to 2 months.
- When you add the water to the pan to steam the potstickers, there will likely be a little residual oil in the pan which will splatter when the water is poured in. Stand back, wear oven mitts, and cover the pan as quickly as possible after the water is poured in.
How to fold a potsticker
The simplest way to fold a potsticker is to place the filling in the center of a wrapper, fold it up to make a half moon shape, then seal it shut. Traditionally, these dumplings are have decorative pleats along the top. You can pleat your potstickers by folding them into the half moon, keeping the top open, then using your fingers to firmly press the top of the wrapper together. Be careful not to overfill your dumplings or you won’t have enough wrapper along the top to make the pleats.
Recipe FAQs
Potstickers are dumplings that are traditionally filled with pork, cabbage and seasonings. The dumplings are folded into a crescent shape, then pan fried and steamed to create a crispy exterior and tender interior. These dumplings are often served as an appetizer with a dipping sauce.
The legend goes that one day a chef was boiling dumplings, and he forgot about the pot on the stove. All of the water boiled off, and the dumplings were stuck to the bottom of the pot (hence the name potsticker). He served them anyways and they were a huge hit, and thus began the life of the potsticker.
Recipe Variations
This is a fairly traditional version of Chinese potstickers, but you can switch up the ingredients to customize it to your tastes.
- Protein: Try using ground chicken or ground turkey instead of the pork.
- Seasonings: You can add other seasonings to the mix such as chili garlic sauce, hoisin sauce, or rice vinegar.
- Vegetables: Swap out the cabbage and mushrooms for other veggies such as shredded carrots, kale or water chestnuts.
Dipping Sauce
I like to make a simple dipping sauce to serve with my dumplings. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon sliced green onions, 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds and 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes.
In my opinion, these potstickers are even better than what you’d get at a restaurant. They’re absolutely worth the effort!
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Potstickers Video
Potstickers
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms finely minced
- 1 cup shredded green cabbage
- 1/4 cup green onions thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 32 potsticker wrappers
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- Place the pork, mushrooms, cabbage, green onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch, salt, pepper, ginger and garlic in a large bowl. Stir until thoroughly combined.
- Place one potsticker wrapper on a flat surface. Keep the remaining wrappers covered so that they don't dry out.
- Place a little under 2 teaspoons of the pork mixture onto the center of the wrapper. Brush the edges of the wrapper with water.
- Fold the wrapper over and hold it open in a half moon shape. Fold the top of the wrapper over to make pleats. See step-by-step photos in the post.
- Repeat the process with the remaining wrappers and filling.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Place 6-8 potstickers in the oil with the flat side down. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until bottoms are browned.
- Add 1/4 cup of water to the pan then immediately cover the pan to steam the potstickers.
- Steam for 3 minutes, then uncover the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for another 3-4 minutes until all of the water evaporates.
- Repeat the process another 2 times with the remaining oil and potstickers.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- This recipe works best with dumpling or gyoza wrappers, you can find them at most Asian markets and some large grocery stores. You can use wonton wrappers in a pinch, but the end result will not be quite the same as what you’d get at your local Chinese restaurant.
- Potstickers stay fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat your dumplings in the oven to crisp the skins. You can also freeze cooked dumplings for up to 2 months.
- When you add the water to the pan to steam the potstickers, there will likely be a little residual oil in the pan which will splatter when the water is poured in. Stand back, wear oven mitts, and cover the pan as quickly as possible after the water is poured in.
Love the combination of ingredients in this potstickers recipe. Thanks for sharing
My kids love eating this out, so we loved making them at home. Great flavour and thank youfor the simple instructions.
Can’t believe how easy and delicious the filling is. Making the potstickers was new to me, although they got better the more I made!
Perfect combination of ingredients for these pot stickers. I was pleased that they were not difficult to make.
Do you brown the ground pork first?
No, the meat goes in raw!
How do you make dipping sauce?
It’s 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes, 1 tablespoon sliced green onions, 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds.
HI,
I just came across your blog and Love!!!! How do you make the soy sauce to dip them in?
Thank you so much!!
Hugs, Teresa
It’s soy sauce with green onions, red chili flakes and sesame seeds!
These were so amazing! No one believed I made them!
Do you have a recipe to make the dough?
I typically just buy the pre-made wraps as it’s time intensive to make the dough and roll it thin!
Yum, yum! These are simple, delicious, & addicting! Love the filling in these. It’s super tasty!
Delicious! We ended up subbing in ground turkey because I have just never been a fan of ground pork. Love how these turned out with a nice crispiness on the wrapper!
YUM! Ours didn’t look like yours haha. But tasted delicious. Definitely will make again and practice that shaping technique.
This is such a great recipe. We always order potstickers when we get Chinese for takeout. But these potstickers are so much tastier. From now on I’ll always make them myself. Thank you so much for sharing.
I love potstickers! this looks like such an easy recipe, I can’t wait to try it. The steps look so easy to follow to!
Love to make potstickers with Chinese Chicken salad. This recipe looks amazing and the step by step is a great visual. Thank you.
Made these with dinner last night and they couldn’t have been easier! I was nervous at first, but they turned out perfect and hands down delicious!
Can’t believe how easy these were to make at home! Love it!
This potstickers recipe looks incredibly delicious!
Deliciousness! My family will thank you for this recipe! So glad to make potstickers!
Potstickers are my favorite food, and so great to have when having people over. 🙂 Your potstickers are so neat and tidy. I wish I have your skill and patience to make them these pretty. 🙂